Lenovo/EMC 2-bay PX2-300D ($99.99), IX2 ($59.99) and 4-bay IX4-300D ($109.99) NAS units @ Newegg (Sold by Centrix Intl.)

[|JosephB17331|]

Nice! If you get that running, that will be a whole new life for it for sure.

For some reason v5.2-5967 wasn't showing S.M.A.R.T. info for my disks, so I scrapped that and chose to use a loader for v6.0.2-8451. Everything seems to be working as expected with this version. I have it patched all the way up to the last update of Update 11 for this version. Running 4 WD Greens in a RAID 10, with a couple of budget SSD's for cache.
I'll use this to present some storage to Proxmox cluster, so nothing is critical if this "configuration" takes a dump

 

[chiquito3]

Can any one tell me how to set a vpn connection with my Lenovo EMC PX4-400d using my subscription to Surfshark?

 

[SamirD]

...does anyone know definitively what the biggest pair of drives you can put in them with the latest firmware update?

I have an 8TB in my IX2 currently and don't think it will be any issue to put my 16TB in it.

 

[SamirD]

For some reason v5.2-5967 wasn't showing S.M.A.R.T. info for my disks, so I scrapped that and chose to use a loader for v6.0.2-8451. Everything seems to be working as expected with this version. I have it patched all the way up to the last update of Update 11 for this version. Running 4 WD Greens in a RAID 10, with a couple of budget SSD's for cache.
I'll use this to present some storage to Proxmox cluster, so nothing is critical if this "configuration" takes a dump
View attachment 38527View attachment 38528View attachment 38529View attachment 38530View attachment 38531

This is AWESOME! What's the model numbers of everything and total cost? How hard was it to do once you used the 6.x version?

 

[|JosephB17331|]

This is AWESOME! What's the model numbers of everything and total cost? How hard was it to do once you used the 6.x version?

$12 for USB to TTL serial adapter - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075N82CDL
16gb USB thumbstick storage drive
$165 for the diskless PX6-300D

Actually just put this as permanent for my home storage. Was stable the entire time of testing, so I bit the bullet and it will be my home storage.
The 2nd PX6-300D I have will be for a replacement/backup, IF this one takes a dump. I pulled the 2gb dimm from it and placed it in the primary box that is running.
Drives are Seagate IronWolf's 6TB, ST6000VN001's , x 6 for 36TB total.. set up in a RAID 6

 

[SamirD]

Nice! That's a fraction of the cost of a 6-bay synology, even a used one.

 

[mikeford]

We need a place to collect all this orphan Lenovo EMC information, suggestions?

 

[SamirD]

We need a place to collect all this orphan Lenovo EMC information, suggestions?

Perhaps a wiki? The challenge will be to keep this information alive. All the info for the Intel ss4200-e, which was a very popular nas in its day is completely gone because all the various forums died or deleted threads. We should ensure that whatever platform we use does not suffer the same fate or all our work will be lost.

So the only ss4200-e resource that is still alive is a wiki on pbworks, which has a free account:
"Your free account includes:
• Up to 15 internal users
• Up to 5 external users
• Up to 5 wikis
• 50 MB of storage
• Free email customer support
• No credit card required"

Thoughts?

 

[SamirD]

$12 for USB to TTL serial adapter - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075N82CDL
16gb USB thumbstick storage drive
$165 for the diskless PX6-300D

Okay, this has got me really thinking...what do you think could be done with the 12 bay px12-400r?

Lenovo EMC PX12-400R Network Storage 4TB 8TB 12TB 24TB 48TB DL

Lenovo EMC PX12-400R Network Storage Array. 12 Hot Swap Bays for up to 48TB of storage(12x4TB) Intel I3 3.3GHz Dual Core 4GB RAM

www.parallelminer.com

Because a comparable synology is well over $1000.

And I'm wondering about the px4-300r too as it's only $100:

Lenovo EMC PX4-300R 0TB 4TB 8TB 12TB 16TB Network Storage Array

Lenovo EMC PX4-300R 0TB-16TB rackmount array that is powered by the LenovoEMC storage technology. It has a maximum storage capacity of up to 16TB.

www.parallelminer.com

 

[mikeford]

Those are each different processors, and may have very little in common other than drive carriers. Generally the rack mounts will be a lot noisier, but they do offer each a step up in cpu, with the 450 iirc being a dual xeon.

 

[|JosephB17331|]

Okay, this has got me really thinking...what do you think could be done with the 12 bay px12-400r?

Lenovo EMC PX12-400R Network Storage 4TB 8TB 12TB 24TB 48TB DL

Lenovo EMC PX12-400R Network Storage Array. 12 Hot Swap Bays for up to 48TB of storage(12x4TB) Intel I3 3.3GHz Dual Core 4GB RAM

www.parallelminer.com

Because a comparable synology is well over $1000.

And I'm wondering about the px4-300r too as it's only $100:

Lenovo EMC PX4-300R 0TB 4TB 8TB 12TB 16TB Network Storage Array

Lenovo EMC PX4-300R 0TB-16TB rackmount array that is powered by the LenovoEMC storage technology. It has a maximum storage capacity of up to 16TB.

www.parallelminer.com

Funny you mention these.. I was tempted on one of those px12-400r's. Appears if it is Ivy Bridge, that would mean 3rd gen i3-3xxx of some sort..
Wife wouldn't have been pleased if she saw another storage server delivered lol.

Both of those would most likely make great "xpenology" nas's... it would be a matter of discovering if there are any special nuisances with each model.. not sure if there is much info out there for this sort of tinkering..

 

[SamirD]

Those are each different processors, and may have very little in common other than drive carriers. Generally the rack mounts will be a lot noisier, but they do offer each a step up in cpu, with the 450 iirc being a dual xeon.

I wonder if the performance of the 4-bay is enough to saturate gigabit. For $100, that would be a pretty nice nas.

Found some more detailed specs on the hardware as well as some pictures:

Iomega Lenovo EMC PX4-300R Storage Server 4x1TB HDD 2.2GHz 2GB [PX4-300R] - $968.50 : Professional Multi Monitor Workstations, Graphics Card Experts

Professional Multi Monitor Workstations Iomega Lenovo EMC PX4-300R Storage Server 4x1TB HDD 2.2GHz 2GB [PX4-300R] -

www.compeve.com

 

[SamirD]

Funny you mention these.. I was tempted on one of those px12-400r's. Appears if it is Ivy Bridge, that would mean 3rd gen i3-3xxx of some sort..
Wife wouldn't have been pleased if she saw another storage server delivered lol.

Both of those would most likely make great "xpenology" nas's... it would be a matter of discovering if there are any special nuisances with each model.. not sure if there is much info out there for this sort of tinkering..

Typically the closer you get to this form factor, the more is starts to become a standard rack mounted PC. I think it would actually be easier to put xpenology on this if not freenas or something else. You could probably even boot it as a standard server or maybe even a hypervisor. And they also have a px12-450r which I'm guessing must have even more cpu power.

 

[mikeford]

450r is dual xeon iirc, maybe low end devices, but maybe upgradeable. The "deal" IMHO is the one with 12x 4TB drives, keeping in mind these are new drives, just old stock.

 

[SamirD]

I think the biggest deal is that this unit can be converted to a much more expensive synology. The storage is a good price, but when I'm finding deals, they're better then these because they still have a factory warranty.

 

[mikeford]

To be fair some new units have no better real support. OTOH if I was getting a nas for a business serious use, Dell, even if its an old Dell.

 

[SamirD]

For new, definitely better support because you have a longer warranty in case something breaks. But as far as tech support--oh yeah, you're on your own.

I dunno. I have a lot of Dell and HP stuff and one of these seems like it would go head-to-head with a supermicro, which will cost a lot more.

 

[killster1]

any of these boxes will do 200mb/s? i remember someone on reddit had one for sale that was supped up looked like it would work nicely, i just use a nuc hooked to two 5 bay das's with 10gb/s usbc, till i find the perfect nas's to replace it with.

 

[SamirD]

any of these boxes will do 200mb/s? i remember someone on reddit had one for sale that was supped up looked like it would work nicely, i just use a nuc hooked to two 5 bay das's with 10gb/s usbc, till i find the perfect nas's to replace it with.

I would say the 12-bay rackmount ones probably will with a 10Gb card and the right nas os.

 

[mikeford]

I assume the PX12-450r is the fastest, maybe by a lot.

This is cut and paste of my old post in other forum section.
Sorry if I "B" "b" confusing, or have them mixed up. In all my references to speed, when talking directly about ethernet, like 1 GBe, I mean bits, with drives I mean bytes. Moving a 4GB file around right now to get some speeds.

68MB/s IX4 to SSD C, brief ramp up at start from about 20MB/s, less than a second.
113MB/s PX4 to PC internal C drive, a 2.3 SSD thing.
50MB/s SSD C to IX4
85MB/s SSD C to PX4, VERY bumpy with big dips down to 50MB/s, choppy around 85MB/s, some longer 100MB/s.
135MB/s SSD C to HGST 7200 rpm internal, about a second long burst at start of 400MB/s
149MB/s SSD C to WD 5400 rpm external via USB 3.0 / Sata, flat line almost on rate start to finish.
83MB/s SSD C to WD 5400 rpm internal, about a second long burst at start of 500MB/s.

Specifics on drives and system in first post, many of these "movie" files are one big MKV, others have dozens of smaller files which kill xfer rates. File used about was a single 3.99GB AVI.

 

[SamirD]

I assume the PX12-450r is the fastest, maybe by a lot.

This is cut and paste of my old post in other forum section.
Sorry if I "B" "b" confusing, or have them mixed up. In all my references to speed, when talking directly about ethernet, like 1 GBe, I mean bits, with drives I mean bytes. Moving a 4GB file around right now to get some speeds.

68MB/s IX4 to SSD C, brief ramp up at start from about 20MB/s, less than a second.
113MB/s PX4 to PC internal C drive, a 2.3 SSD thing.
50MB/s SSD C to IX4
85MB/s SSD C to PX4, VERY bumpy with big dips down to 50MB/s, choppy around 85MB/s, some longer 100MB/s.
135MB/s SSD C to HGST 7200 rpm internal, about a second long burst at start of 400MB/s
149MB/s SSD C to WD 5400 rpm external via USB 3.0 / Sata, flat line almost on rate start to finish.
83MB/s SSD C to WD 5400 rpm internal, about a second long burst at start of 500MB/s.

Specifics on drives and system in first post, many of these "movie" files are one big MKV, others have dozens of smaller files which kill xfer rates. File used about was a single 3.99GB AVI.

Were all of these transfers using the stock ix4 nas software?

 

[mikeford]

All are so far running Lenovo EMC at current update. Note for the test the px4-400d was in jbod mode, not raid. Now running raid5 on one of them so I may retest.

 

[Lanyap]

Be careful about ordering individual bare HDDs from Parallel Miner / Centrix International. I ordered two Hitachi 1TB HDDs for the IX2-DL I ordered from them last year. The HDDs were on sale for $28 apiece and apparently came out of IX2 units because they already have IX2 firmware and pull handles. I was shocked at the packing when I received them. The bare drives were in ESD bags and placed on top of each other with a small amount of lightweight brown packing paper on top. So these bare drives were bumping around all the time they were in transit.

 

[SamirD]

Yeah, it seems no one spends anything on packing material anymore. I can't believe it is that much cheaper for companies to keep eating shipments that are damaged. I know I couldn't when I shipped a lot.

 

[Jimminy]

I can see why. The last time I bought packing supplies, I was shocked at the cost. I started saving foam peanuts and other material from things I ordered