New Build: OMV Virtualized and SAS Enclosure D2700

Hi,

I'm adding a second NAS instance to my network and after quickly zapping through the alternatives I decided to setup OMV number #2 :-). Similar to my primary OMV installation also this box will be virtualized on top of ESXI 5.5 with 4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM and dedicated M1015 cross-flashed to IT Mode (P20 firmware).The hardware underneath is an Proliant DL165G7 with 96GB RAM, 2 x 12 Core CPUs and Dual 10Gbe card. The server has a small internal SSD to provide a datastore for the OMV system disk. All the data drives will be externally in an D2700 enclosure.

About the D2700 Enclosure:
I had a hard time to find these facts on the internet - so I thought I'd share:
-Dual 6 Gbps ports on two separate I/O cards
-Redundant 80 Plus Gold Powersupplies and FAN Pods
-Heavy, solid and build like a tank
-Idle power consumption: 49 Watts which is what I was expecting for newer gear
-Noise Level: The only significant source of noise are the two FAN pods, each equipped with dual PWM FANS. Overall really not too noisy but I might give it a try to flip the PWM fans into lighter duty low noise fans.
-Costs I got mine for 40 bucks and it looks like new and came with all cables which is a real steal

SAS vs SATA ?
I'm not yet sure what I will throw in but as far as I know I can't mix SAS and SATA on a SAS channel. I got 2 SAS 10K drives just to test this thing and they are drawing 12 Watts on the killawatt which is a lot. Once the box is fully hooked up I will try throwing in various SAS and SATA drives including SSDs and I will post my test results here....

Update:
The 10'000 RMP SAS disks (single channel) performed poor and did not provide SMART data both effects might be related to the fact that I'm not using a SMART array controller and / or that the firmware on this box isn't up-to-date. I got these two disks 72GB for free and I'm disposing them
I used the frames to hotplug an Kingston SSD Now V300 that was on my shelf and it does report SMART and it runs at the expected speeds (Average read with 235 MB/s / write 395 MB/s)
I also tested an Toshiba 500GB SATA that also provided full SMART data and measured with average read 115.4 MB/s and write with 83.5 MB/s)
Interestingly adding these two disks didn't increase the idle power consumption which defines SATA as way forward. I'm glad that my offer for 10K SAS disks expired

As next step I'm shopping some disks and frames and I'll try to hack the FAN pods - they are a bit too noisy for me...

I hope this adds some valuable information

Cheers
Mic

Thanks for the info That's good to know that match and mix should work. I ordered a 12 pack of 500 GB disks, Trays and 4 x 60mm Noctura FANs to complete the project.

Quick update:
I managed to get the SES stuff going. I can see all temperature probes, all status messages from the box, the power supplies plus SAS expanders and I can fully control the 50 LEDs (2 per drive) to e.g. flash the red LED in case of SMART failures or the blue one to locate a drive. The only thing that doesn't work is to set the fan speed lower - I have tried all options / variants without success. Today the silent PWM fans should come in and eventually I drop in a picture of the unmodified and modified FAN pods. In addition I will create an Nagios python script to fully monitor the box including RPMs and Temperatures to see if the noise reduction works out without overheating....

Some update on the noise optimization of the fan pods:
1.) The stock fans are Delta 12v 1.68 Ampere 60x60x38 fans. Each fan pod has 2 of them and there are 2 fan pods. This adds up to 12 x 1.68 x 4 = 80 Watts cooling. Absolutely not required for 2.5" desktop drives with 7200 RPM that are designed to run without active cooling in notebooks and other devices....
2.) There aren't many PWM fan options in 60x60x38 -The Noctua that I ordered are expensive and a joke for this application - expensive and zero airflow
3.) I was switching the pods from dual fan into single fan mode which worked out fairly well and with zero cost. The blue wire on the proprietary PWM connector is the speed signal. Basically I was cutting the leads from FAN2 and only connected the blue wire with an Y connector to the blue wire on FAN1. As result the box is quieter and draws less power without raising an alarm. ( FAN 1 and 2 report the same speed and FAN 3 and 4 report the same speed)
4.) Unpluging both fan pods doesn't bother the disks at all but the temperature of the SAS I/O modules slowly goes up until it reaches 48 C. If someone doesn't mind the fault LEDs this might be an ok way to go. I can't stand fault leds so I'm still investigating to find the best possible compromise having full stock functionality with less noise and power