One project that inspired some of my own work has been the Backblaze storage pod v1 which held 67TB in a custom 45 drive 4U chassis. It was essentially a lower cost and lower performance Sun Thumper that utilized commodity parts to achieve high storage densities at a very low cost per TB (or PB since that is the...
LSI has been fairly dominant in the 6.0gbps HBA/ RAID 0/1/10 market for quite a while now. Early market entry, low cost cards, and a myriad of OEM wins have made the SAS 2008/ SAS 2108 architectures the de-facto standard for use with software RAID or as RAID 0/1/10 devices. Adaptec paper launched their 6 series controllers which support...
It is no secret that Netflix is a hugely popular streaming and DVD rental service. When it was announced that Netflix was decoupling the streaming and DVD-by-mail services and that one would pay more for the former level of service, both colleagues sitting next to me that just received raises cancelled their subscriptions to Netflix. I have a feeling...
It is no secret that the LSI 1068e controller was one of, if not the most widely supported SAS controllers around but 3.0gbps serial interconnects have given way to 6.0gbps interconnects. Unlike the LSI 1068e based parts, support for things like 3TB drives is much better on 6.0gbps parts to the point where I have yet to encounter an...
The HP Smart Array P411 is a fairly inexpensive 6.0gbps SAS 2 and SATA III controller. To enhance performance, the HP Smart Array P411 has a variety of cache options available. This is a quick guide installing a 512MB DRAM plus BBU kit to the controller. A similar setup must be used in order to do things like flash...
As a lot of people know at this point, Amazon.com has terminated all contracts with affiliates in California. That decision, in response to the new California law will have a negative impact on this site. For those wondering, on 28 June 2011, the state's legislature incorporated an online sales tax as part of the passed budget. The next day,...
Keeping a server online as much as possible means that one needs to manage several things. Good examples include maintaining network connectivity, ensuring all server components are functioning correctly and maintaining power to a server. In facilities such as Tier 1 data centers, keeping network connectivity and power feeds operating are both primary concerns. In the SMB and home...
One question I am often asked is what do I think about port multipliers. The short story here is that I think they can be valuable and I can see that they have a place in the market. The Silicon Image SiI3124 controller is an inexpensive SATA II controller that runs natively on a PCI-X bus. One of the...
Today we are looking at the Supermicro X9SCM-F which is going to be a very popular mATX server motherboard. One of the most popular mATX server motherboards reviewed on this site was the Supermicro X8SIL-F. It provided a small form-factor, relatively inexpensive platform with features one would want from a low-cost server motherboard. With the new Sandy Bridge Xeon's...
One bit of news that I thought deserves some attention is that Apple has sent a cease and desist letter regarding the open source Amahi's use of the term "app store" in an attempt to vigorously defend what Apple believes is its trademark. Aside from what I believe (albeit as someone with a tech background and a Juris Doctor...