Comments for Greenleaf Technology

Comment on The search for a new budget board continues… by Gregory Smith

Gregory Smith — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 02:45:16 +0000

I love your blog

I have read this article and enjoyed it

Comment on (New) Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage Review by sshumaker

sshumaker — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:14:08 +0000

Did you use the provided screws to secure the SS-500 V2 to the chassis? If not, then the screws you used may be too long. If this is the case, then the drive tray may be hitting the end of the screw. I recommend removing the screws securing the drive cage to the chassis to see if the stuck tray comes loose. The only other solution I can think of is to insert the tray all the way and then try to pull it out again, though you have probably already tried that. Worst case scenario, if you have to break it a replacement tray is only $5 + shipping from Norco’s storefront: http://www.ipcdirect.net/servlet/Detail?no=213 Good luck!

Comment on (New) Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage Review by Ivan Toniolli

Ivan Toniolli — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:54:24 +0000

Hi there, I just bought a v2 myself, and one of the drive trays is stuck, will only come out a little bit, and I am afraid of snapping the lever. Any suggestions on how to get it out safely? (apart from sending it back, which I would like to avoid)

Comment on (New) Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage Review by Kevin Lepard

Kevin Lepard — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 23:39:27 +0000

I have some additional information I can add, that I hope is helpful.

I disassembled my SS-500. The board inside lists a date of 8/8/2012 and version 1.2. The traces show a logical arrangement, so the highest port corresponds to the highest bay, lowest port to lowest bay, etc. That’s good as it’ll make it much easier to keep track in a RAID. I know that seems “only logical” and I agree, but but you never know until you check.

I pulled the fan, and I now understand the issue with taking it out. The posts that you can break feed through the holes of the fan bracket both on the bottom and top, and are the full thickness of the fan. To take out the fan, you need advance each corner a little at a time to slide it off without snapping a post. I was able to remove mine without damage, thanks to your description.

I can also tell you that one reason people seem to have such different experiences with fan noise is that they don’t always use the same fan. The one I pulled was a Delta Electronics, model AFB0812H. The product sheet is here:

To summarize for anyone looking to replace it, here are some data on it. The fan is 80 x 80 x 24 mm. Rated for 12 volts, with an operating range of 7 V to 13.8 V, 3000 RPM, 35.31 CFM, maximum air pressure 4.04 mm of water. Noise rating of 31 db.

The Coollink SwiF2-801 you mention had metrics of 11.0 dBA / 23.4 CFM / 1500 RPM, so _much_ quieter, but only about two-thirds of the airflow. Any testing with that fan for temperatures would be appreciated. I don’t want to run my drives hot, but having 4 cages at 31 db each, instead of 11 db is not going to fly with the family as I don’t have a dedicated server room (though I can dream), but if I need to look for something quiet that pulls 35 CFM instead of 23 CFM, I’d like to know.

Anyway, thanks for the great review. I hope this helps clarify a few issues, especially with regard to fan noise, I’ve read elsewhere with these cages.

Comment on (New) Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage Review by sshumaker

sshumaker — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 18:56:46 +0000

Great suggestion! I’ll add that to our to-do list.

Comment on (New) Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage Review by sshumaker

sshumaker — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 18:55:43 +0000

I don’t know offhand, but if you remove the rear fan mounting plate you should be able to follow the traces (wires embedded in the circuit board) and visually see which SATA ports correspond to which drive bay.

Comment on (New) Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage Review by Kevin Lepard

Kevin Lepard — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:13:11 +0000

Another test case that would be interesting to see is temperatures with empty drive bays blocked with foam. I’d like to know if that reduces, increases, or does not change drive temperatures.

Thanks for the great review. I actually just bought 4 of these for my Antec 1200.

Kevin

Comment on (New) Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage Review by Kevin Lepard

Kevin Lepard — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:09:24 +0000

Any idea which SATA port on the backplane maps to which drive bay? I cannot seem to find this information.

Comment on 4 TB Hard Drive Compatibility Testing by sshumaker

sshumaker — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:29:37 +0000

Unfortunately we don’t have any more 4 TB drives to work with. We haven’t seen any issues with the Supermicro X9SCM-F and unRAID 5.0-rc8a in our test environments. I’ll take a look at the forums to see what issues others are having. Thanks!

Comment on 4 TB Hard Drive Compatibility Testing by Paul

Paul — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 22:32:16 +0000

I would be interested if you would rerun the following test on the latest Unraid 5.0-rc8a, especially on the Supermicro X9SCM-F.

If you read the forums on lime-tech, you’ll see a number of users reporting poor write speeds with this board and the latest version.