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"I ended up between the Supermicro SSG-6048R-E1CR60L or the SSG-6048R-E1CR90L – the E1CR60L is a 60-bay 4U chassis while the E1CR90L is a 90-bay 4U chassis. Th
by rsync 9y ago
"I ended up between the Supermicro SSG-6048R-E1CR60L or the SSG-6048R-E1CR90L – the E1CR60L is a 60-bay 4U chassis while the E1CR90L is a 90-bay 4U chassis. This nice part is that no matter which platform you choose Supermicro sells this only as a pre-configured machine – this means that their engineers are going to make sure that the hardware you choose to put in this is all from a known compatibility list. Basically, you cannot buy this chassis empty and jam your own parts in"
This is a major departure from the Supermicro business model and practices and basically broke all of our next generation expansion roadmaps.
This was not a technical decision - it is the same old economic decision that every large VAR/integrator/supplier has succumbed to for the last 30 years. They aren't the first ones to try this trick and they won't be the last.
We (rsync.net) are not playing ball, however. After 16 years of deploying solely on supermicro hardware (server chassis and JBODs) we bought our first non-supermicro JBOD last month.
- wmf 9y agoWhat specifically is the problem? Overpriced drives?
- rsync 9y agoYes. $30-$50 each. Multiply that by 60 or 90 and multiply that by (however many you put in a rack). That adds up to five figure premiums on drives we're going to burn in anyway. We know how to read an HCL - it's not rocket science.
- flattone 9y agoEven if reading hcl were rocket science a more validating vendor would preserve buyer self determination
- qaq 9y agoOk 60X50 is 3K even with extra 3K Supermicro is still a lot cheeper
- codyps 9y agoWhen drives are never replaced, yes. In the case where the chassis lasts longer than the drives (which I'd imagine is often), extra cost in drives adds up.
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- dsl 9y agoCan you say what vendor you are using now?
- rsync 9y agoWell, our vendor continues to be IX Systems (for the most part). However, instead of buying exclusively supermicro from them, we are now buying these Hitachi 60bay JBODs: http://www.hgst.com/products/platforms/4U60G2-storage-platform http://www.hgst.com/products/platforms/4U60G2-storage-platfo... It really bugs that supermicro went this way. They used to be a very boring company that did nothing but build great chassis. I used to jokingly say that "supermicro is the rsync.net of hardware". But now they're getting cute and that's never a good sign.
- Spooky23 9y agoThey're starting to see enterprise growth. Enterprises spend lots of money but are usually pretty dumb.
- linker3000 9y agoThose are HGST parts. Hitachi is NOT HGST. /Pet peeve //Used to work for HGST alongside the EMEA 4U60 team, so perhaps a bit sensitive! ///Was often asked to help move the damn things on/off trolleys when the fully-loaded demo units came back for refresh before going out again - it was a 4-person lift with under-unit webbed straps - I'm sure my spine was compressed and I left the job a couple of cm shorter!
- gtirloni 9y agoWe once wanted to buy 200+ JBODs from them and they seemed very happy to put us in touch with their engineering team so we could ask for any modifications we wanted. It felt like they were very flexible and knew how to close deals. We ended up buying that quantity but without any modifications. Maybe they have gone too large and now have to explore the same tactics from other big companies, like you mentioned. That seems the most plausible explanation.
- brianwawok 9y ago
- wazoox 9y agoThe HGST JBOD is built in a much more robust way than anything from Supermicro anyway. The second generation is almost perfect with its integrated ethernet console and standard micro-SAS ports.
- hengheng 9y agoWhat competitors are there? Their hardware is getting more and more specific, looking at e. g. their four-socket systems or their 2U quad-systems. Nothing that doesn't handle like any other computer, but hard to cross-shop for.
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