Hey all,
Hobbyist Proxmox user that has 3 node cluster with (3) Minisforum MS-01.
Workloads are very light and storage needs minimal.
MS-01 DOES require that U.2 be no more than 7mm in height.
I am open to both new and used drives. Given a budget of 750-1500 for the three drives it appears that am looking for 3.84TB drives.
Never purchased new/used enterprise type drives.
Any recommendations for vendors or drives?
Thanks,
James
The website spec says it connects U.2 drives at PCIe 4.0 x4. While older drives that connect at PCIe 3.0 speeds are readily available on the second hand market (eBay), PCIe 4.0 drives will likely stay relevant longer.
You will have to decide what route to take.
Check out reviews for some enterprise class drives starting with the recent review of the Micron 7500 Pro. The review lists a couple of comparable drives that you can use to further your investigation.
Before purchase, make sure to look up the drive specs on the vendor sites. Many (most?) drives will be 15mm high and not fit into your case (case in point: Micron 7500).
Lastly, last-gen drives are U.3 drives, which are electrically compatible with the U.2 standard.
Good luck!
I’m been satisfied with the PM9A3’s I’ve got and they can be had in 7mm height. A cheaper PCIe gen3 alternative are PM983’s.
Where do you get these? The only ones I’ve been able to find were pulled drives on ebay that were OEM drives. The firmware couldn’t be updated, the Samsung enterprise software couldn’t recognize them and no management software from Dell/HP/Lenovo would recognize them.
Since I couldn’t update them, nor manage them, I didn’t want them. Would like to be able to find some that were Samsung factory and not OEM.
I have been happy with Micron 7450 Pros, though.
That is a good question, my buddy gave them to me; I assume they’re OEM pulls but not 100% sure.
I haven’t ventured into firmware updates yet because they’re running the newest firmware but I know there is a thread over on STH dedicated to the drive with all the form factor specific firmwares available to flash to the SSD.
ahh I just looked at the 7450 spec sheet and some of them are 7mm height drives, but some are also 15mm height. As long as OP was careful with exact part numbers the 7450 could be a good option as well.