this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2024
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180
Just a bunch of enclosures (JBOE) (lemmy.ca)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Been on USB enclosures using Linux software raid for 20 years and never lost a bit so far.

Didn't go cheap with USB jbod, and i have no idea if zfs is more sensitive to USB... But I don't use zfs either so don't know.

But again I have been using two jbods over USB:

  • 4 SSDS split on two RAID1s on USB3
  • 2 HDDs on RAID1 on USBC

All three raid are managed by Linux software raid stack.

The original one I think I started in the 2000's, then upgraded disks many times and slowly moving to ssds to lower heat production and power usage.

Keep them COOL that's important.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

What an assertion - if you're not using ZFS, how do you know you've "never lost a bit so far"?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I go to my disks and count my bits every morning, the total is always there, never lost one!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You must be reasonably decent at counting!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, you know there are only 10 types of people in the world: those who can count in binary and the others...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Found the bit counter

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I've been on the USB train since 2019.

You're exactly right, you gotta get devices with good USB-to-SATA chipsets, and you gotta keep them cool.

I've been using a mix of WD Elements, WD MyBook and StarTech/Vantec enclosures (ASM1351). I've had to cool all the chipsets on WD because they like bolt the PCBs straight to the drive so it heats up from it.

From all my testing I've discovered that:

  • ASM1351 and ASM235CM are generally problem-free, but the former needs passive cooling if close to a disk. A small heatsink adhered with standard double-sided heat conductive tape is good enough.
  • Host controllers matter too. Intel is generally problem-free. So is VIA. AMD has some issues on the CPU side on some models which are still not fully solved.

I like this box in particular because it uses a very straightforward design. It's got 4x ASM235CM with cooling connected to a VIA hub. It's got a built-in power supply, fan, it even comes with good cables. It fixes a lot of the system variables to known good values. You're left with connecting it to a good USB host controller.

WD PCB on disk