Good PSU for 16 HDD flexRaid server on WHS2011?

Mfusick · 11-18-2012, 10:46 AM

I have Cosmos II case. Planning a 3570k.

My main concern is SATA power as its mostly HDDs with no video cards.

I'll have two super micro SATA pci x8 cards.

aaksheytalwar · 11-18-2012, 12:56 PM

How can you have no video cards?

Getting a 1000 watts quality psu should be more than enough though even a 850 watts may cut it just fine.

lehtv · 11-18-2012, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaksheytalwar

How can you have no video cards?

Step 1. don't buy a video card
Step 2. connect monitor to motherboard
Step 3. profit!

MaxICH · 11-19-2012, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lehtv

Step 1. don't buy a video card
Step 2. connect monitor to motherboard
Step 3. profit!

Good one!

Mfusick · 11-19-2012, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lehtv

Step 1. don't buy a video card
Step 2. connect monitor to motherboard
Step 3. profit!

Lol. I laughed.

Yeah I have a video card in my desktop.

My server will use intel integrated graphics.

Mfusick · 11-19-2012, 04:03 PM

I was thinking 600 watts is enough ??

20 watts per HDD is only 260 watts. A normal integrated build runs fine on 300 watt PSU

So 600 seemed good. I could buy more but I doubt I'll need it.

Looking for a good PSU with lots if SATA power good for server

Suggestions

OVerLoRDI · 11-19-2012, 04:10 PM

Oh boy, that is a lot of hard drives.

Hard drives are good for what, 20-25 watts max? Maybe a little more during initial spin up?

You'd be fine with a decent 600 watt PSU. Maybe even a 500 watt like the Corsair 500 watt builder series.

Phantomaniac · 11-19-2012, 04:34 PM

You will likely want a PSU with a lot of amps on a single 12v rail. That way you'll know for sure there will be no issues with the initial power spike on boot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151119

This is a higher wattage version of what I have. I run 7 HDDs on the 360w version and I'm sure I could run a few more.

WhoBeDaPlaya · 11-19-2012, 05:32 PM

Both of my identical 15x 7200rpm drive, Phenom II X4 @ 3.6GHz fileservers run on Corsair TX750s. No problem with the HDD motor inrush current.

Mfusick · 11-19-2012, 05:49 PM

It's on 25/7 btw.. But I'll spin down when idle

WhoBeDaPlaya · 11-19-2012, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mfusick

It's on 25/7 btw.. But I'll spin down when idle

So's mine. It's more the inrush at cold startups that's the problem, unless you have a BIOS capable of doing staggered spin-ups.

VirtualLarry · 11-19-2012, 10:41 PM

24/7, I hope you mean.

Mfusick · 11-20-2012, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

24/7, I hope you mean.

Yeah. Lol. Typo

_Rick_ · 11-20-2012, 03:22 AM

I'm running 12 drives on a 430W Seasonic PSU, with an i5 650 (73W TDP class).
No staggered spin up.

Never had issues with the PSU, except for one that died, but after 4 years or so, well within acceptable PSU death parameters....

So I'd say anything above 500W is utter overkill, in fact 450W should be enough. Just make sure to get enough SATA adapters and Y-connectors to get everything wired up.

You might want to consider getting a Xeon and a C216 board instead, as ECC support is quite nice to have, and the added cost pales next to 16 HDDs. Plus, you may be able to get a board with full AMT support. Makes headless operation much less painful, if you get it to work. (SeaMicro X9SAE boards and a Xeon 1220V2 or 1265LV2 would be my recommendation)

Mfusick · 11-20-2012, 03:36 PM

I have a 400 watt now and a 460 watt.

I'm just concerned splitting the two SATA power lines with so many splitters ....

I'd like something more appropriate I think.

Budget $100 or less. I can use PSU I have now for another project.

I have:

Antec neo 400 watt ( in my HTPC)
Coolermaster 460 watt cheapo I got new egg egg saver for 25$. Only has two SATA power lines. Not modular.
Rosewill lightning 1000 watt modular installed in my desktop.

I'm planning on using my desktop case (cosmos II) for server so I guess I could just get another PSU for desktop instead but it seemed overkill.

imagoon · 11-20-2012, 05:00 PM

I always ball park 20-25watts for start up ~12 for operation. This of course depends on the drive. If you have Greens or Reds that have a seek power of <4watts then you can often get away with less power. Also you could use PUIS (reds do have this (pins 3/4 I think))

16 red drives only would use 64watts in normal use so a small psu could run it. run a bunch of 15k rpm drives at 12-15watts -> 240. Design around your drive.

_Rick_ · 11-21-2012, 10:06 AM

The Super Flower Golden Green Modular 600W ATX 2.3 (SF-600P14XE) has 10x SATA and 9x IDE, so with 6x IDE-SATA adapters, you should be able to do without Y-connectors.
Price should be around US$100.
Below 600W, there's the Antec TruePower New TP-550, 550W ATX 2.3 (0761345-07657-9/0761345-07658-6), but that's not cheaper, less efficient, using a smaller fan, only 9x SATA.
Antec has 5 year warranty though.

To get 16x SATA out of the box, you'll be looking at this: Enermax Revolution85+ 850W ATX 2.3 (ERV850EWT) at 200 dollar, and vastly overpowered. For the same price, and slightly more efficient, supposedly, there's also this: SilverStone Strider Gold Series 1200W ATX 2.3 (SST-ST1200-G)

Mfusick · 11-21-2012, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Rick_

The Super Flower Golden Green Modular 600W ATX 2.3 (SF-600P14XE) has 10x SATA and 9x IDE, so with 6x IDE-SATA adapters, you should be able to do without Y-connectors.
Price should be around US$100.
Below 600W, there's the Antec TruePower New TP-550, 550W ATX 2.3 (0761345-07657-9/0761345-07658-6), but that's not cheaper, less efficient, using a smaller fan, only 9x SATA.
Antec has 5 year warranty though.

To get 16x SATA out of the box, you'll be looking at this: Enermax Revolution85+ 850W ATX 2.3 (ERV850EWT) at 200 dollar, and vastly overpowered. For the same price, and slightly more efficient, supposedly, there's also this: SilverStone Strider Gold Series 1200W ATX 2.3 (SST-ST1200-G)

That's basically same as Rosewill lightning.

I'm basically thinking a modular that I can use more SATA power would make sense

_Rick_ · 11-22-2012, 01:38 AM

Well, I guess you have to ask around your social network, to find out whether people are more likely to have extra modular cables lying around, or extra 4-pin - SATA adapters. The latter work always and are/were included with a lot of mainboards in the last few years, the former are more practical, but tend to have custom attachments on the PSU side.

You can probably get one of those for free. Once you do find a PSU that has 4/5 outlets for SATA/IDE power that match your acquired cable.

Mfusick · 11-24-2012, 10:34 AM

Thanks keep the ideas coming... I am looking for deal under $100.

Mfusick · 11-30-2012, 07:28 PM

any more suggestions?

bigi · 12-06-2012, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mfusick

I have Cosmos II case. Planning a 3570k.

My main concern is SATA power as its mostly HDDs with no video cards.

I'll have two super micro SATA pci x8 cards.

Get a good unit 500-600W will do.
Make sure you have staggered HDD spin up set up adequately to your # of HDDs.

Startups are what is killing PSUs/Arrays.

VirtualLarry · 12-06-2012, 04:11 PM

I have an Enhance 500W (ENP-GH5150 or something like that). It was an old Hot Deal, for like $14 or $16 at Geeks.com. I bought ten of them. Had a couple left over, decided to use one for my server box. Server has ten 2TB HDs, all Hitachi, six 7200RPM and four 5400RPM drives. No problems with spinup. Mobo is P35, CPU is Q6600, not overclocked.