Norco is a server case manufacturer that is very popular with home build enthusiasts as they provide inexpensive means to house large quantities of disks in 2U, 3U, and 4U configurations. Like the DIY JBOD/ SAS Expander project posts from a few months ago (using Norco cases nonetheless Iteration 1 and Iteration 2 – A Better Solution) , Norco is releasing new products in the next week aimed at the JBOD/ SAS expander chassis markets.
Here is the line-up:
- The DS-12D is a 12-bay 2U JBOD enclosure using SFF-8088 cables. Expected cost is in the $500 range.
- The DS-12E is a 12-bay 2U SAS 6.0 and SATA III SAS expander chassis that uses an internal Areca SAS expander. Expected cost is in the $1,250 range.
2U Norco DS-12E JBOD/ SAS 2.0 Expander Chassis - The DS-24D is a 24-bay 4U JBOD enclosure using SFF-8088 cables. Expected cost is in the $790 range.
- The DS-24E is a 24-bay 4U SAS 6.0 and SATA III SAS expander chassis that uses an internal Areca SAS expander. Expected cost is in the $1,500 range.
4U Norco DS-24E JBOD/ SAS 2.0 Expander Chassis
Is this anything more then just a shorter 4224 with an internal SAS expander?
Why would I buy this instead of just buying a 4224 and add a SAS expander? Wouldn’t that do the same job a whole lot cheaper?
With this product it seems to me that you’re paying $1150 for the SAS-expander alone.
So the expander chassis uses an Areca SAS expander from what I can see, so it is an upgrade from a HP SAS expander plus power board in terms of a clean install. With that being said, I do think the pricing is too high at the moment, especially since there isn’t the option of installing a standard motherboard in the case if one wants something other than a disk chassis. On the other hand, competition is good.
I just found your site. Exactly what I needed. I am a noob that are thinking about using DAS for the first time.
Because ext4, NTFS, JFS, hw-raid, etc might silently corrupt your data I must use ZFS. My data is precious and valuable to me. Here is information and also research on silent corruption:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS#Data_Integrity
I am afraid of lightning. My friend in a big city, told me that lightning struck into the area where she lives, and much of the home electronic in that entire area was destroyed. Surge protection does not help if lightning strikes, there is nothing you can do. It is too powerful. Thus, I want to have a separate raid chassi that is normally not connected to power. It will be powered off with no cables attached 99% of the time. That way, lightning can not destroy it. Also, disks have MTBF, if they are turned off most of the time then the raid will survive longer.
I want to have a mini-itx chassi with just one SSD and one large 3TB disk that act as temporary storage. To that mini-itx chassi, I want to connect a norco JBOD chassi with 12 or 24 disks. ZFS must use JBOD, or else ZFS can not repair the data. Hw-raid messes up ZFS data repair ability and data is unsafe. Read the link above.
When I am done working with the data on 3TB disk, I power on the raid chassi and copy back and forth and then immediately turn off the chassi. Lightning can not reach the raid chassi because it will be off 99% of the time.
My question is: how do I connect the JBOD chassi to the mini-itx chassi? I am thinking of using LSI2008 card in the mini-itx chassi (flashed to JBOD mode).
I do not want a SAS expander in the JBOD chassi, because that might mess up ZFS data repair ability. ZFS needs direct, exclusive access to the disks. So can I connect lots of SATA cables from LSI2008 card to the JBOD chassi? Or? Can I connect SF-8088 between the JBOD chassi and the mini-itx chassi? How? I dont really understand how to connect the mini-itx chassi and the JBOD chassi. Must I use a SAS expander in the JBOD chassi?