Question NVME NAS

[Tech Junky]

So, I've been thinking about this more lately and finally scratched the itch.

I have my DIY setup running as a router / AP / etc. + NAS / HTPC / OTA with 5*8TB drives in a Raid 10 configuration.

I've been thinking about converting it over to some sort of SSD configuration though to be more efficient. Not that I need the speed really most of the time even though the HDD's push 400MB/s+ as they spin right now. However dropping the system weight from 15# of drives to less than 1# using M2's is appealing for being able to move it around easier. Maybe find a lighter weight case now that I don't need a HDD rack inside for the drives.

Anyway, I spotted a MSI MPG Z790 Edge WiFi DDR4 on Amazon "used" for $193 shipped. Snagged it since it will be more cos effective than dealing with a high end PLX card offering full drive speed @ $600. I figure for less than the price of a single drive I can handle a new MOBO. The quantity of drives going up under the Z790 banner makes this easier to do with M2's. running through a list of 5xM2 boards there's a limited selection and most disable sockets and don't allow for full use of all of them at the same time. I would have preferred to stick with ASRock but, they full under this issue of disablement. I don't trust the other options that popped up as having the # of sockets I'm looking for. I've used MSI in the past and they were rock solid until I needed something a bit more niche that they didn't offer.

Next up was picking drives. I looked through quite a few options but, a price point I was trying to stick to was $200/drive @ 4TB. Next was speed since it doesn't make sense to go with a slower drive if you can get a better one for the same price. Some of the drives though had some gotchas when looking through reviews. One mentioned speed dropped under 1GB/s after filling it up x%. Another one was iffy on durability and several were showing failures prior to a year of use. I narrowed it down to

Lexar NM790 SSD 4TB / 7400MB/s ($824 shipped)​

and

Kingston NV2 4TB M.2 2280 / 3500MB/s ($779 shipped)​

Kingston had more reviews but, 1/2 the speed. Lexar is a bit vague on which controller they're using but, google fu brings up some reasonable idea of it being a SM based option.

I've been using WD primarily for all things data though and have tried other options over the years that work but, just didn't give that performance feel. Switching things up though from spinning rust to SSD should provide plenty of snappiness even w/o the bulk data hoarding ability for the time being. If I really need the space I could switch things up from R10 to R5 or cough up the cash for higher capacity options. But, 4x4TB drives for the price of a single 8TB makes more sense. There's always the idiot idea of running all 4 drives in R0 for 16TB of space but, I'm a little gun shy on the potential failure of a drive. I can't say I've had it happen yet but, then again I swap drives for testing purposes quite often before they really see heavy use degradation.

 

[mindless1]

I'm a little gun shy on the potential failure of a drive.

If the budget stretches to include offline backup to HDDs, I'd do that. If it doesn't, I'd stick with HDDs for primary storage to leave enough in the budget for offline backup.

Raid is not a backup strategy, only for uptime, not even performance when contemplating which NVME SSD over (which?) LAN speed/bottleneck? I assume you don't have substantial concurrent access from multiple clients?

I suppose I'm wondering why 15lbs difference to move it around easier is the criteria. I mean I move my NAS so little, only significant when I move to a different home and then, the system for it is a lot lighter than furniture and so much more... not trying to discourage you from this goal, just sayin'... what do you use the NAS for? Anything I have on mine, I don't need uber-fast access, have ample local client SSD space to accomodate anything needing fast access.

I do trust HDD less for sudden failure these days, but that's what the offline backup is for. If you want to throw a pile of money at reliability against data loss, have tape drive offline backup.

 

[Tech Junky]

15lbs difference to move it around easier

It's about convenience. It functions as several different things not only a NAS. It's a PC that's used as my router / switch / AP / NAS / HTPC / Plex / FW / etc. Being able to relocate it easier can produce better performance for the 5G FWA ISP box depending on where the strongest signals are coming from. Or moving it to a location that's better for the WIFI signals. There's plenty of reasons other than speed.

Yes, raid isn't a backup and I'm well aware of that and considering putting in a 18TB HDD as a rsync destination that would cover the raid w/o bumping the weight / energy use considerably. I'm also looking at a couple of case options that will shave more space / weight off the system by ~25% / 5-6#. Right now the way it's built it weighs in at about 50# when you add up all of the components. It's a real PITA to deal with when tinkering with the innards.

If it was a simple DAS/NAS and not a full ATX build it wouldn't be as much of an issue to just move around data but, it's not the case. This setup has been evolving since it was built originally ~2015 starting with a single HDD / NVME / HTPC / NAS and has blossomed and changed quite a bit over the years. I'm just reevaluating the purposes and tech inside the case occasionally as things change in the world of tech. Simplifying things w/ M2's collapses things a bit from the bulk of 5*HDDs. I'm not shooting for 100GE data access but, for $10/drive for double the speed could make an impact in terms of data backups / transfers down the road.

If I want a real workout I'll go wrench on my car. Even working on the tech on the car takes considerable effort to pull things apart. I ripped apart the MMI system and replaced a few things to bring it up to date and preventive maintenance like swapping the aging HDD to a mSATA, when they killed off the 3G modem I swapped in an Android panel and tied it into the OEM harnesses, and my latest project was pulling off the supercharger and replacing a bunch of aging HW to boost the performance.

I tend to look for efficiencies and attempt to minimalize things from their original form. I've just been a bit lazy in converting this setup due to the high prices of the drives but, they've come down considerably in the past few months. I would really like to go w/ 8TB drives to match my existing HDD's but, 1 of those is the equiv of the 4 drives I picked up. If the 8TB version came down in price I would have just simply gotten 2 of those and put them in a R1 to mirror them and a supplemental backup of a HDD already in the setup while removing the other 4 drives.

I'm still debating whether or not to do R10 or switch it up to R5 for more space.

 

[mxnerd]

I really don't see the point that running RAID 10 for a home user. It could be a must for business because business can't afford down time , but not so much for home user.

I would like to describe RAID 1 as a relay race however one baton is hold by two runners at the same time, does it make athlete run faster? no. But runners get tired at the same time (individual drive gets used with the same wear down during same period, and will get the same virus!), data & config backup is more important. You already knew that RAID is not backup.

As you have already mentioned earlier yourself, you probably can get away with 4x4TB NVME and one or two 18TB drives to reduce the mass.

I would consider UNRAID and build an AIO machine.

 

[Tech Junky]

AIO machine

It's working as an AIO already with various functions. UNRAID won't work for everything I have running on it. Vanilla Linux allows me to piece things together as needed and rip them out when the goal moves. I've been messing around with this system and iterations since ~2015. Things change and the box grows as well over time.

Another option could be putting the NVMEs into a R0 and mirroring that with a 16TB HDD to make a different set of R10 or pair up a couple of 8TB drives in R0 to do the same. If you think about things you can come up with a dozen different ways to accomplish the same goal. I'm over the whole keeping everything forever idea at this point and paring down a bit. I don't need 16TB of usable space. I went through a bunch of old files and got it down under 6.5TB and could easily wipe out a big chunk of that even and be happy still. I have plenty of drives laying around that have old data copies on them and need to dump them all onto a central location and then clean them out at this point and sell them off. I have a box of 2.5" drives of varying sizes as well. Handfuls of M2/USB options from old revisions of builds.

Redoing this system / setup is motivation to do a bit of purging and simplifying life. I've already transplanted it from one MOBO or case to another a few times and then overhauled it to ADL from CFL. It's done quite a bit and evolved over the past few years. It's my personal lab for testing things out that come to mind and sometimes it helps others to post about them.

I really don't see the point that running RAID 10

It was more of a personal challenge originally seeing as though I'm more networking oriented than "IT". Curiosity was more of the inclination to do it in the first place. Now, it just feels second nature to have that redundancy there if something were to fail. Even w/ a business need though you would still have downtime unless you're using hot swap cages to put in replacement disks on the fly and then letting them rebuild. I'm not bothering with all that as it's not that important to have 99.999% uptime. Taking it down for a few minutes isn't a huge deal with how the network is setup at this point with a built in AP on the ISP device as a backup / which is currently disabled for better signal on the real AP connected to the server.

 

[mxnerd]

Another option could be putting the NVMEs into a R0 and mirroring that with a 16TB HDD to make a different set of R10 or pair up a couple of 8TB drives in R0 to do the same.

The NVME's writing speed will be slowed down to HDD's speed, NVME will always have to wait for HDD, and you absolutely don't want to do that.

 

[Tech Junky]

Been poking around before hitting the buy button for a case and stumbled across something different.

https://www.ceptagon.com/home - $100 on Amazon - weighs in @ 12# and takes a totally different approach to the I/O being placed on top / front to make things easier to access.

 

[bba-tcg]

You can get 95% of that by standing your case on its face. IMO, that thing is fugly.

 

[Tech Junky]

You can get 95% of that by standing your case on its face. IMO, that thing is fugly.

Problem w/ that is you kill your airflow. Aesthetics are personal preference. Functionality if a higher priority than looking pretty. Putting the useful stuff on on end that's accessible and the PSU on the other end makes sense. Also, if I need it to be WIFI having the antennas open to less obstructions means a better signal / speed. Then again I do have a set of antennas w/ a base and long cables available as well.

I'm considering maybe putting the 5G FWA equipment inside of it if there's room to zip tie it to the internal post for the HDD mounts. Run the antennas outside of the case and use a PCI slot cover to secure them into place. Since all it needs for power is USB that's easy enough to accomplish. Something I wouldn't even consider with the other 2 cases I was looking at before this trashcan case.

If it turns out to be obscene in person then it's an easy return to Amazon and a pivot to one of the other cases. It's not that big of a deal it's just different from most gamer cases or industrial rack looks.

 

[mxnerd]

trashcan case

Paint it white and it will look much better. 😁

 

[bba-tcg]

Paint it white and it will look much better. 😁

Goes against my every instinct:

 

[bba-tcg]

OP, sorry for going off-topic - I couldn't resist.

 

[Tech Junky]

OP, sorry for going off-topic - I couldn't resist.

No problem. We all tend to deviate from time to time. It's not the best looking case by standards but functionally it hits the mark on paper until I get it and see how things fit together. It's a bit of a gamble compared to using FD options I'm used to buy I have some hope for it. The whole conversion should shave off 50% in weight from my current setup which is a good amount of heft @24 pounds. Not to mention it should be about 25% smaller footprint.

 

[Tech Junky]

Well the case showed up and went back about as soon as it showed up. It turned out to be flimsy and no real way to attach the cover for the "front". It had some quick connect snap in stubby pegs and it just didn't cut the mustard for what I was looking for. So, all of you were right.

@bba-tcg @mxnerd

Trying to decide on which one to go with again. I have a short list from before of a few FD models and a couple of others.

GD09B-C - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DTHNPPD​

Fractal Design Pop Air - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SRBTYGK​

Fractal Design Meshify C - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079FPKPN3​

Fractal Design Torrent - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KT8DGQL​

Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0822W433F​

 

[Tech Junky]

GD09B-C - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DTHNPPD​

Fractal Design Torrent - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KT8DGQL​

Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0822W433F​

Scratch 2 off the list and either go purposefully horizontal and slightly smaller with the SS HTPC case or do what I do now and lay either FD on its side.

 

[Tech Junky]

Fractal Design Torrent​

Went with this one for the Front/Bottom fans instead of all 4 sides in the Mesh2. One less surface to dust / clean. Intrigued by the 180mm fans though on the torrent but can swap them out for 120/140's easily. Having the top panel closed off might make the airflow more directed as well compared to the Mesh2.

 

[mxnerd]

Well, you just made your decision

I did a search

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=NAS+ATX+case

Since you only need 2x3.5"
I'll go with Corsair 4000D like a lot of users did

Amazon.com

or JONSBO D41

Amazon.com

 

[Tech Junky]

Since you only need 2x3.5

Never said that. Don't need any, the case I sent back has room for 2 of them if I wanted to add a backup disk to the mix.

 

[mxnerd]

Never said that. Don't need any

But you were looking at 2 EXOS drives in another thread?

Want to make sure because Fractal Design Torrent Compact you linked only has 1.

 

[Tech Junky]

Yeah, the Exos was before going nvme. I did spot they have a new one out though x22 / 20tb. Single disk to backup the array might be something to do as the drives age a bit. On my wd reds though I haven't had any reason to add more drives in 8 years. Won't have the new case until the end of next week and the nvmes are taking their sweet time for some reason as well.

 

[Tech Junky]

I guess an output showing the final config might be valid as well.

lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 12th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 12th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x16 Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:01.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 462d (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation AlderLake-S GT1 (rev 0c)
00:06.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 12th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x4 Controller #0 (rev 02)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a60 (rev 11)
00:14.2 RAM memory: Intel Corporation Device 7a27 (rev 11)
00:14.3 Network controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a70 (rev 11)
00:15.0 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a4c (rev 11)
00:15.1 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a4d (rev 11)
00:15.2 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a4e (rev 11)
00:15.3 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a4f (rev 11)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a68 (rev 11)
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a62 (rev 11)
00:19.0 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a7c (rev 11)
00:19.1 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a7d (rev 11)
00:1a.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a48 (rev 11)
00:1b.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a40 (rev 11)
00:1b.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a44 (rev 11)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a38 (rev 11)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a3a (rev 11)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a3c (rev 11)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a30 (rev 11)
00:1d.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a34 (rev 11)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Device 7a04 (rev 11)
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Device 7a50 (rev 11)
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Device 7a23 (rev 11)
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 7a24 (rev 11)
02:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Sandisk Corp WD PC SN810 / Black SN850 NVMe SSD (rev 01)
03:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Shenzhen Longsys Electronics Co., Ltd. Device 1602 (rev 01)
04:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Shenzhen Longsys Electronics Co., Ltd. Device 1602 (rev 01)
06:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Shenzhen Longsys Electronics Co., Ltd. Device 1602 (rev 01)
08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller I225-V (rev 03)
09:00.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2812 (rev 01)
0a:00.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2812 (rev 01)
0a:02.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2812 (rev 01)
0a:03.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2812 (rev 01)
0a:08.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2812 (rev 01)
0a:0a.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2812 (rev 01)
0a:0b.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2812 (rev 01)
0c:00.0 Ethernet controller: Aquantia Corp. AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet Controller [AQtion] (rev 02)
0d:00.0 Ethernet controller: Aquantia Corp. AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet Controller [AQtion] (rev 02)
0f:00.0 Ethernet controller: Aquantia Corp. AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet Controller [AQtion] (rev 02)
10:00.0 Ethernet controller: Aquantia Corp. AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet Controller [AQtion] (rev 02)
11:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Thunderbolt 4 Bridge [Maple Ridge 4C 2020] (rev 02)
12:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Thunderbolt 4 Bridge [Maple Ridge 4C 2020] (rev 02)
12:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Thunderbolt 4 Bridge [Maple Ridge 4C 2020] (rev 02)
12:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Thunderbolt 4 Bridge [Maple Ridge 4C 2020] (rev 02)
12:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Thunderbolt 4 Bridge [Maple Ridge 4C 2020] (rev 02)
13:00.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Thunderbolt 4 NHI [Maple Ridge 4C 2020]
4a:00.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Thunderbolt 4 USB Controller [Maple Ridge 4C 2020]
81:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Shenzhen Longsys Electronics Co., Ltd. Device 1602 (rev 01)

sudo inxi -F
System:
  Host: server Kernel: 6.5.0-060500rc6-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 Console: pty pts/15
    Distro: Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar Lobster)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: Z790 AERO G v: -CF serial: N/A
  Mobo: Gigabyte model: Z790 AERO G v: x.x serial: N/A UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: F7
    date: 07/24/2023
CPU:
  Info: 12-core (8-mt/4-st) model: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K bits: 64 type: MST AMCP cache:
    L2: 12 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2340 min/max: 800/4900:5000:3800 cores: 1: 800 2: 3600 3: 3600 4: 800 5: 800
    6: 3600 7: 3600 8: 3600 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 3600 13: 800 14: 3600 15: 800 16: 3600
    17: 800 18: 3600 19: 3600 20: 3600
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel AlderLake-S GT1 driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.8 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 tty: 177x59 resolution: 3840x2160
  API: OpenGL Message: GL data unavailable in console for root.
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel driver: snd_hda_intel
  Sound API: ALSA v: k6.5.0-060500rc6-generic running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel driver: iwlwifi
  IF: wlo1 state: down mac: 60:a5:e2:e8:25:33
  Device-2: Intel Ethernet I225-V driver: igc
  IF: enp8s0 state: down mac: 74:56:3c:47:d8:60
  Device-3: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
  IF: enp12s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 24:5e:be:4d:c4:53
  Device-4: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
  IF: enp13s0 state: up speed: 2500 Mbps duplex: full mac: 24:5e:be:4d:c4:54
  Device-5: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
  IF: enp15s0 state: down mac: be:09:a4:c4:49:a1
  Device-6: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
  IF: enp16s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: be:09:a4:c4:49:a1
  IF-ID-1: bo0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: be:09:a4:c4:49:a1
  IF-ID-2: bonding_masters state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
  IF-ID-3: br0 state: up speed: 2500 Mbps duplex: unknown mac: d2:9c:a6:15:1d:b0
  IF-ID-4: nordlynx state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel type: USB driver: btusb
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 state: up address: 60:A5:E2:E8:25:37
RAID:
  Device-1: md0 type: mdraid level: raid-10 status: active size: 7.45 TiB report: 4/4 UUUU
  Components: Online: 0: nvme2n1 1: nvme4n1 2: nvme1n1 3: nvme3n1
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: raw: 15.81 TiB usable: 8.36 TiB used: 6.14 TiB (73.4%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 size: 931.51 GiB
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 vendor: Lexar model: SSD NM790 4TB size: 3.73 TiB
  ID-3: /dev/nvme2n1 vendor: Lexar model: SSD NM790 4TB size: 3.73 TiB
  ID-4: /dev/nvme3n1 vendor: Lexar model: SSD NM790 4TB size: 3.73 TiB
  ID-5: /dev/nvme4n1 vendor: Lexar model: SSD NM790 4TB size: 3.73 TiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 915.32 GiB used: 59.14 GiB (6.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 47.5 MiB used: 6 MiB (12.7%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 25.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 443 Uptime: 18h 30m Memory: 15.37 GiB used: 2.13 GiB (13.9%) Init: systemd
  target: graphical (5) Shell: Sudo inxi: 3.3.25

 

[No_Huckleberry_1514]

Go 12 m2 slots-

https://www.newegg.com/asustor-flashtor-12-pro/p/N82E16822225069

 

[Tech Junky]

Go 12 m2 slots-

https://www.newegg.com/asustor-flashtor-12-pro/p/N82E16822225069

I looked at those as well. The issue with those is the bottleneck of the 10GE NIC. Also, it's over priced as a micro PC with the additional costs of the CPU/RAM/etc. For $800 and no storage it's a bit of a rip off. For someone starting out w/o an existing system though it could be a good starting point. For someone looking for an ultra compact setup it fits the bill though. The concern then would be how does something like that exhaust the heat from the drives to not throttle or fry them over time? I doubt that it's transferring heat through the case via direct contact with the drives. With this in mind temp control will be accomplished by gimping the drives potential intentionally to reduce claims for failure. Instead of going that route you could take an E-GPU case and put a board into it for drives and boost the throughput to 40gbps over TB. There are some that already do several drives out of the box.

OWC External Drives

From pro-performance ultra-portables to high capacity rack-mounted storage, there is an OWC storage solution for every project, including yours.

www.owc.com

4 Bay Thunderbolt 3 NVMe Enclosure - External Drive Enclosures | StarTech.com

4 Bay Thunderbolt 3 NVMe Enclosure, For M.2 NVMe SSD Drives, 1x DisplayPort Video and 2x TB3 Downstream Ports, Up to 40Gbps, 72W Power Supply

www.startech.com

I went a different route when I found a better idea than using M2 format and went 2.5" via U.2/U.3 where I can get a 16TB NVME 4 drive for ~$1050 where an M2 format 8TB is ~$800 and Gen3. The drive I went with is Micron 7450 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHGSXB4T

Two things this does is removing the need to use Raid to get the capacity at a competitive price compared to the M2 format. Runs cooler in the system and can be place in more than one location and removing the heat from the MOBO for keeping the system cooler.

If you have deep enough pockets you can even go bigger w/ 30/60TB options or even higher with different models / brands. Or just raid them at lower capacities if you have enough slots or sockets to provide bandwidth to the drives. There's a couple of options from PCIE cards to mount the drives directly to the slot or you can get M2 / SAS cable adapter setups to extend them to location inside the case other than on the MOBO. If you have an AMD based system you can do this cheaper with a 4 port PCIE card using bifurcation allowing up to 4 drives to be used off a single slot to keep things neat and tidy when it comes to cabling.

Pros of M2's - easy
Pros of U2/3 - more capacity / cheaper / run cooler

 

[Tech Junky]

https://www.superwarehouse.com/micr...3-15mm-non-sed-mtfdkcc15t3tfr-1bc1zabyyr.html
$1,069.43 shipped / no tax

Seems like a bit of savings considering w/ tax Amazon for me comes out to $1,135.54 / $65 more w/ tax

 

[Tech Junky]

Ok, 2nd Micron drive borked out and lost data. This one lasted almost a week compared to the other that did it the same day. I though I was out of the danger zone but, went to add some data and got an error. Was able to READ data or at least list it in the drive but, it was acting funny and rebooted the system and bam it was all toast like the last drive.

I'm not even going to mess with it at this point and looking at some different brands instead. 2 failures is enough for me.

Looking at the Samsung PM1733 or Intel D7-P5520 both come in the 15.36TB configuration same as the Micron but, aren't Micron.... I even bothered to update the firmware on this one which I couldn't on the last one since it freaked out and I wasn't aware there was an update until I went TSing the damned thing. So, I swapped the adapter card the drive sits in w/ the new drive as well to rule out cheap CN crap being the issue at the same time. I don't get why they keep failing though. What are the odds of 2 drives from different batches doing the same thing? Maybe there's a reason they're showing up for sale? Maybe the 9 series version is more stable?