![]() ![]() More PCIe slots allow using three Syba SATA II (3.0gbps) Silicon Image 4-port cards and no PCI controllers. The dual Intel NICs provide more throughput to the box. KVM-over-IP is important in this scenario because it lowers your labor costs to maintain this many devices since remote administration can occur for things prior to booting into Linux. Moving to the X8SIL-F gave Backblaze storage pods a few things including remote management via KVM-over-IP, dual Intel 82574L NICs, more PCIe slots, and the ability to use a newer 32nm CPU. My DIY SAS Expander Enclosure with a Supermicro X8SIL-F next to the HP-SAS Expander and PCMIG setup with both power supplies (this was just a POC at the time so the wiring is scary) Utilizing a Linux OS now with ext4, Backblaze is able to use commodity hardware to greatly lower costs. For version 2.0 Backblaze upgraded the motherboard and CPU to a Supermicro X8SIL-F and a 32nm Core i3-540 which is very similar to the X8SIL-F and Core i3-530 combination seen on this site. Miscellaneous hardware aside, those have been the big mainstay’s of the storage pod. The Backblaze storage pod consists of a few key parts: It puts my DIY DAS to shame, but does look fairly similar with the dual PSUs and X8SIL-F to my DIY SAS Expander Enclosure V2 from last summer. Better yet, they are freely distributing how they did this. Backblaze recently revealed its updated v2 platform with 3.0gbps drives providing 135TB of capacity for under $8000. ![]() It was essentially a lower cost and lower performance Sun Thumper that utilized commodity parts to achieve high storage densities at a very low cost per TB (or PB since that is the scale the company is looking at.) For those not familiar, Backblaze is a cloud storage provider offering $5 for unlimited storage. One project that inspired some of my own work has been the Backblaze storage pod v1 which held 67TB in a custom 45 drive 4U chassis.
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