Connecting 10 HHD's to Seasonic X-400 FL

[kevinsky11]

Hi, i have a question about connecting 10 or so hdd's to the Seasonic X-400 FL. I am really a newbie when it comes to hardware so please go easy on me

So I'm trying to build a home server, and I'm planning on putting in 10 (maybe even more in the future) HHD's. One of my goals is to build the server as quiet as possible, and therefore a selected the Seasonic X-400 FL. But the details on e.g. newegg say it has 5 sata connectors. A 3.5" HHD uses about ~10 watts right? Can I like split a couple of cables or something to get 10+ sata power connectors ? (the only other connected hardware will be my MB,cpu and RAM)

 

[smorizio]

most people use the sata raid cages. when it take up 2 5 inch cd-rom bays and let you put 5 sata drives in one of these bays.
most people by the server chasis that lets them put 4 of these bays in like this IIIIIIII then you need one or two adaptec sata/sas cards. most people use the sas cards that have two to 4 ports on them and the sas to sata fan out cables. for the power supply use a larger one you can get a cosair 500w=600 unit onsale with a rebate right now. then order a few 4 pin molex to sata power adaptors. if the ps is modular one you should be able to order or find more sata cables for power. the problem is not the drive noise but the fan noise..trying to keep 10 drives cool in a small case.

 

[zander1983]

Hi, i have a question about connecting 10 or so hdd's to the Seasonic X-400 FL. I am really a newbie when it comes to hardware so please go easy on me

So I'm trying to build a home server, and I'm planning on putting in 10 (maybe even more in the future) HHD's. One of my goals is to build the server as quiet as possible, and therefore a selected the Seasonic X-400 FL. But the details on e.g. newegg say it has 5 sata connectors. A 3.5" HHD uses about ~10 watts right? Can I like split a couple of cables or something to get 10+ sata power connectors ? (the only other connected hardware will be my MB,cpu and RAM)

1st, your motherboard needs to support 10+ SATA connectors (or use a SATA expansion card.)
2nd, you will need a lot more power than the 400w, you will have to look close to 800W and above depending on your pc hardware.
3rd, what's your hardware specs?


As for the PSU, I'd go for something like this, the Corsair AH850 (12x SATA connectors) or go big with the AH1200 (16x SATA connectors)
AX850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015&Tpk=corsair%20ax850
AX1200 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&Tpk=Corsair%20ax

To split the SATA power, look at these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119238
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200468

 

[kevinsky11]

1st, your motherboard needs to support 10+ SATA connectors (or use a SATA expansion card.)
2nd, you will need a lot more power than the 400w, you will have to look close to 800W and above depending on your pc hardware.
3rd, what's your hardware specs?


As for the PSU, I'd go for something like this, the Corsair AH850 (12x SATA connectors) or go big with the AH1200 (16x SATA connectors)
AX850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015&Tpk=corsair%20ax850
AX1200 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&Tpk=Corsair%20ax

To split the SATA power, look at these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119238
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200468

Thanks for the reply,

First of all, do you really think 10 hdd's use 800W ? I've read multiple forums where they said a hdd uses about 10 watts. If the server will really use 800 watts then ill have the rethink the whole thing, 0.8x0.22x365/12= 128 euro!! per month. I really hope that wont be the case.

The main use for the server will be to store lots of data and share with the network. The second functionality besides that will be webserver, after that website development.
My goal is to build a low power, quiet, (and obviously like everyone else) cheap as possible server.

This is what I had in mind (feel free to criticize anything/everything) :

Case: Fractal Design Define XL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352017

Motherboard: ASUS P8B-E/4L I had another question, might as well ask it here now: Can i use the sas ports for sata hdd's?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131723

CPU: i3 2120
url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

RAM: don't know yet, just some cheap 2x4

Disk for OS: SSD Vertex 2 ( I know...got this one from warranty, plan on using it untill it dies again xD )

HDD's: don't know yet, I have 3x2tb 3.5" already, but those are nearly full, plan on adding 2tb a month or so. prob going to start with 5x2tb when i assemble the server.

p.s.: sorry for my grammar, I'm Dutch

 

[zander1983]

You might get away with a 400w PSU and power splitters, but remember they might not support the load of 10 drives.

Personally, I'd stick with the 850.

Yes you can use SATA drives on SAS ports, but not the other way around.

Rest of the system looks good except the CPU and that board, you will have to add a video card as the motherboard does not support the CPU onboard graphics, see here: http://www.asus.com/Server_Workstation/Server_Motherboards/P8BE4L/#CPUS

 

[kevinsky11]

You might get away with a 400w PSU and power splitters, but remember they might not support the load of 10 drives.

Personally, I'd stick with the 850.

Yes you can use SATA drives on SAS ports, but not the other way around.

Rest of the system looks good except the CPU and that board, you will have to add a video card as the motherboard does not support the CPU onboard graphics, see here: http://www.asus.com/Server_Workstation/Server_Motherboards/P8BE4L/#CPUS

I'm confused, I always thought that when a board has connectors for monitors (vga, dvi, hdmi), it has a onboard video card. Isn't this the case here? I plan on accessing the server via rdp or vnc or something (not decided yet) so I only need to connect a monitor once, for the installation.

edit:
Do you btw think that I can pull of a silent pc with that case and 10 hdd's? Or do you think I have to cool the HDD's with fans from the case, that the fanless psu wont matter? In that case, I might as well get a cheap 600w psu.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

Never get a cheap PSU, it's not worth risking your other hardware.

A HDD does indeed pull about 10W max, but as much as three times of that at startup. Most only use about two times as much at startup, though.

Since you are going for that many HDDs, I assume you need to store a lot of data. So going for slower (5400RPM) drives to keep power and noise down might be a good idea. Like Western Digital's Green series.

Even a slow (quality) fan is always better than no fan for cooling, without noticeably adding more noise.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

We build server and other machines...

Take my word, there is NO such thing a 10 drive SILENT machine....no way, not ever...

And you NEED a much bigger psu than 400...think 800 upwards, we usually put in 1000 to 1200...

All the best Brett

 

[kevinsky11]

Never get a cheap PSU, it's not worth risking your other hardware.

A HDD does indeed pull about 10W max, but as much as three times of that at startup. Most only use about two times as much at startup, though.

Since you are going for that many HDDs, I assume you need to store a lot of data. So going for slower (5400RPM) drives to keep power and noise down might be a good idea. Like Western Digital's Green series.

Even a slow (quality) fan is always better than no fan for cooling, without noticeably adding more noise.

Thank for the advice, I think I'm going follow up your advice and go with this one: Western Digital AV-GP WD20EURS 2TB

I looked at the psu's on newegg again with this new info, and found this psu: CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Can I have your opinion on this one? Is this a 'cheap' one? I really don't have a lot experience with psu's. What would you use if you were in my position?

Btw, what do you mean with 'risk your other hardware' ? Can a psu somehow damage the other hardware? I always thought the cheap one just die faster... nothing more.

 

[kevinsky11]

Hi

We build server and other machines...

Take my word, there is NO such thing a 10 drive SILENT machine....no way, not ever...

And you NEED a much bigger psu than 400...think 800 upwards, we usually put in 1000 to 1200...

All the best Brett

Hi, thanks for your input. I was afraid of that yeah, well, the least I can do is build it as silently as possible right?
I'm starting to get a little worried about the heat, what do you think about the case I plan to use?

btw, do you know how much wattage 10 drives draw on average per hour? (presuming they are not reading/writing)

 

[whatsthatnoise]

That PSU is a good choice.

A PSU can damage other components when it "blows up" '(malfunctions), which happens a lot on cheap PSUs, because they are using cheap components and less safety features to save money.

And don't listen to Brat. OFC, he puts in 1200W in a server, everyone does that who builts crap pre built PCs for a living. Somehow you have to make the customer pay extra for stuff you don't need.

If you are unsure, just check some PSU calculators and you will see that 10 HDDs do not need more than a 600W PSU, ever (including startup).

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi, thanks for your input. I was afraid of that yeah, well, the least I can do is build it as silently as possible right?
I'm starting to get a little worried about the heat, what do you think about the case I plan to use?

btw, do you know how much wattage 10 drives draw on average per hour? (presuming they are not reading/writing)

Hi

You are looking at this wattage thing totally the wrong way around....

Think about this.... lets assume 10 watts ( I disagree but no matter)...

So 10 watts per drive.... now, is that drive on its own in the machine...no.... does it work with ram/cpu etc ...yes.... now run 10 at once with cpu trying to cope and ram trying to cope... we are nowhere near 10 watts now....

If you want to run a psu under 800 watts its a big risk but its your machine... I wouldnt supply one like that though...as we guarantee our machines...

I repeat, this cannot be cheap and definitely cannot be silent...

Your case is going to get VERY hot with that HD positioning by the way...

All the best Brett

 

[zander1983]

Agree with Brett.

If you are going to put the drives in RAID then DON'T get the WD Green drives. We made the mistake off putting those drives in a RAID5 server and the thing is dead slow. All drives are not running at the same speed so the server has to wait for all the drives to "sync" then continue.

Get the WD Blue (or new Red) or the Seagate Constellations.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

WD Green

read/write 3,60 Watt
idle 2,10 Watt
standby 0,40 Watt

WD Black
read/write 10,70 Watt
idle 8,20 Watt
standby 1,30 Watt


info from WD's site

Even if you assume 30W ... that's still just 300W. Now let's assume the rest of his system uses 200W (with no dedicated GPU and an i3 ). That's about 500W

So where's the damn reason to go for a 800W(+) PSU?

As for heat in that case. You could trust Fractal that they put 10 HDD slots in there, knowing the case will handle them or you could go with a more ventilated case. I'd get another 140mm fan for the front (there's space for two, but the case comes with just one) and you should be fine.

 

[zander1983]

...So where's the damn reason to go for a 800W(+) PSU?
As for heat in that case. You could trust Fractal that they put 10 HDD slots in there, knowing the case will handle them or you could go with a more ventilated case. I'd get another 140mm fan for the front (there's space for two, but the case comes with just one) and you should be fine.

You will need to add a dedicated graphics card if using the i3 CPU. Mobo doesn't support i3 onboard graphics, only Xeon onboard graphics

And I did a bit more research, seems than a 400w should be OK running that cpu, motherboard, 10x drives, 1x optical drive and a entry level graphics card.

As for PSUs, I'd recommend a Corsair or Seasonic and get some of those SATA power splitters.

 

[kevinsky11]

You will need to add a dedicated graphics card if using the i3 CPU. Mobo doesn't support i3 onboard graphics, only Xeon onboard graphics

And I did a bit more research, seems than a 400w should be OK running that cpu, motherboard, 10x drives, 1x optical drive and a entry level graphics card.

As for PSUs, I'd recommend a Corsair or Seasonic and get some of those SATA power splitters.

Thanks for the help.

Ill go with the 600w psu, and buy some molex to sata power splitters (am i using the right terminology here?)

About the 'needing a graphics card', I made a thread in motherboards asking about this, I got the same answer as I got from my boss today: "You wont need a dedicated graphics card, it has an onboard chip" I'm not saying either of you are wrong, because I don't know myself xD. Can you perhaps tell me a bit more on why and how this works the way you say?

 

[delluser1]

About the 'needing a graphics card', I made a thread in motherboards asking about this, I got the same answer as I got from my boss today: "You wont need a dedicated graphics card, it has an onboard chip" I'm not saying either of you are wrong, because I don't know myself xD. Can you perhaps tell me a bit more on why and how this works the way you say?

Don't worry about it, the board has it's own graphics

 

[popatim]

Yup, AST2050. Nice board btw.

 

[zander1983]

About the 'needing a graphics card', I made a thread in motherboards asking about this, I got the same answer as I got from my boss today: "You wont need a dedicated graphics card, it has an onboard chip" I'm not saying either of you are wrong, because I don't know myself xD. Can you perhaps tell me a bit more on why and how this works the way you say?

My bad. Just double checked and there is an onboard video controller, 16MB AST2050. I got it wrong looking at the supported CPU list stating it doesn't support the i3's onboard graphics (Intel HD2000).

Sorry for misleading and causing confusion.