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RN4220X backplane question
Hello, So I'm planning on removing the motherboard from this case and replacing it with something newer. Does anyone know if the backplane on the ReadyNAS RN4220X can support SAS drives assuming I...
Check the internal of the RN4220X ... the storage slots are connected by SATA cables, the connectors for the HDDs are pure SATA. FMI https://tech.sina.cn/2010-11-01/detail-ichmifpy4502247.d.html
schumaku wrote:Check the internal of the RN4220X ... the storage slots are connected by SATA cables, the connectors for the HDDs are pure SATA. FMI https://tech.sina.cn/2010-11-01/detail-ichmifpy4502247.d.html
That's a 4200, not a 4220. They are entirely different. The 4220 (and 3220) has three SFF-8087's at the backplane and two SFF-8087's and four SATA connectors at the motherboard. The drive connectors in both will handle both SAS and SATA drives but the motherboard drive controller is SATA only. I suspect that the 4220 was manufactured for Netgear by Chenbro, since the chassis is a Chenbro one, while the 4200 is a SuperMicro design. The motherboard is a Netgear unique one, but I suspect the backplane is also a Chenbro design. There would be little reason to design a unique one. It certainly looks to me like it would support SAS drives, but since the 4220 motherboard doesn't support them, there is no way for me to check.
Unless you have a cheap source for them, I recommend against using SAS, though. They provide far less SMART diagnostics and, with spinning drives, there is no speed advantage. The only reason to choose them over SATA, IMHO, is if everything is dual port, which the 4220 backplane would not support (it has no connectors for another channel). You can, of course, use a SAS controller with SATA drives.
Personally, I'd go with a SuperMicro chassis, as parts are readily available, should you need them.
FYI, the 4200V2 does support SAS drives in the eight slots that connect to the motherboard SFF-8087's. The original 4200 (as in the linked description) doesn't have SFF-8087's or a SAS controller.
Thank you for the in depth feedback.
I was going to replace the motherboard as it seems to be ATX.
From there my plan was to go get a low profile SAS controller card and connect to the backplane. Going to use SATA drives for now but thought, if it supported it, upgrade in the future to SAS.
You recommend a Supermicro chassis, but since I already have the 4220X sitting here I planned to just reuse that. Unless you can recommend a fairly inexpensive way to get a decent Supermicro chassis (maybe from an old used server)?
Is there a chassis you would recommend?
If going with SuperMicro, the CSE-826 2U 12-bay model is very versatile and readily available used on eBay, usually with a backplane and dual power supplies but not always with caddies and rarely with rails, so check what it includes. Depending on where you live, shipping cost can be a big consideration, too. There are multiple backplanes available for the CSE-826, so make sure you get a BPN-SAS2-826EL1, BPN-SAS3-826EL1, or SAS-826TQ. The first two have SAS2 and SAS3 expanders respectively and use SFF-8087 connectors. The last is passive and has 12 individual SATA connectors (it's what's in the ReadyNAS 4200 in the linked article). Note that a BPN-SAS-826EL1 (not SAS2 or SAS3) has a SAS1 expander and won't handle drives >2TB, so avoid it. The ones with a built-in SAS expander only need one SAS connector from your controller, where the one in the 4220 and the SAS-826TQ needs three, which usually means you'll need a second controller or a separate expander since most SAS controllers have only two connections. Then again, the 4220 includes a cable to connect 4 SATA connections to a SFF-8087, and you could use that with another motherboard's on-board SATA connectors. There are models of the CSE-826 with horizontal or vertical expansion slots, depending on whether or not your motherboard uses a riser for the PCIe connectors.
Assuming the 4220 backplane does support a SAS controller, you can always start with that. But if something fails, you may have difficulty finding a replacement part and have to swap to another manufacturer at that point.
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