Looking for a small non rackmount DAS solution. I got 10x8TB from a project refresh and I'd like to eliminate my aging ZFS fileserver by adding onto my main server.
Trying to keep a small footprint, looking for ideally a 6 or 8bay. SAS or ESATA preferred - all the USB DAS I've seen are hot garbage.
Truenas mini is tempting but I'd prefer just a DAS instead of a full system if possible. Any recommendations?
Posted Sep 6, 2021, 4:58 PM UTC
I've been using an Areca ARC-4038-12 for the last 2.5 years or so.
Not exactly cheap, but it runs quietly and is a SAS expander so you only need a single SFF-8644 cable no matter how many disks you put in it.
Side benefit of any external JBOD solution is rebooting your PC doesn't power cycle the drives, which reduces wear and tear.
Interesting I hadn't seen this. Not having any luck tracking down at first glance but thanks!
I bought mine from Amazon (I live in New Zealand, and they were one of the only options to ship internationally).
Qnap do a 8 bay USB C DAS for about £450 and a SAS one for about £525. They look pretty good.
I've had very good luck with MediaSonic's 8-bay enclosures. I've got a couple of these that I used before getting rack-mount disk shelves. They're nice and simple, don't require any tools to insert disks, and they've lasted for years.
Thanks I had ran across those but I had heard they are not very friendly towards heat. Did you run into any concerns?
Interesting. No, I haven’t had any troubles at all. They’re not the fastest things in the world because of the limitation of the single esata connection, but heat hasn’t been an issue.
Node 804 with a RAID controller and one of those sas-8088 PCI brackets?