Quanta MESOS CB220 Continuous Availability NAS Review

Introduction

There is a good chance you already own a product manufactured by Quanta Computer Inc. and just don't know it. The company is the largest ODM builder in the world, manufacturing a majority of notebooks, desktops, and servers in the market today. Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT) is a subsidiary of Quanta Computer, but the subsidiary functions in a similar way, making industry leading solutions that are sold to other companies for branding and resale.

QCT's product stack consists of enterprise servers, storage, and networking products. QCT also uses the products in full rack solutions like Rackgo X, a product inspired by the Open Compute Project. This is an important aspect to consider when making a purchasing decision. QCT not only builds, but also uses their products. I can't count the number of times I've used a product and wondered why the final design came as it did. By using their products before sending them to market, QCT should eliminate those moments.

Today we're looking at the main component from the MESOS Storage system from Quanta. The MESOS CB220 is a dual node, twelve-bay storage server that ships in standard, or high performance configurations. The CB220 delivers one notch higher than high availability, continuously available. This comes from the system's LSI Syncro CS technology that provides node level transparent failover for the highest possible system uptime.

Hardware Specifications

As mentioned, the Quanta Cloud Technology MESOS CB220 ships in two hardware configurations. Both systems use the same X5 (2U chassis) with the same Intel Xeon E5-2609 processors (two per node, four total per server). The Value SKU ships with 32GB of DDR3 DRAM per node, while the Performance SKU doubles that to 64GB per node.

Other differences between the two product SKUs reside in the SAS controller system and network options. The Performance SKU uses a LSI 927108i HA-DAS controller in each node for hardware RAID, and LSI Syncro CS technology. The Value model ships with a LSI 9211-8i HBA in each node, and uses Windows Storage Spaces for RAID. The performance model also has a dual 10GbE SFP+ option for network connectivity. Both models ship with dual Intel I350 one gigabit ports with an option for Intel's X540 10GBE RJ45 ports, again per node.

An Intel I350AM1 offers SerDes communication between each node. This adds to the continuous availability by allowing communication to the other node should a communications cable be lost, or a failure occur in the network infrastructure.

Twelve 3.5" hot-plug SAS drive sleds are shared between the two nodes. The drive sleds support both 2.5" and 3.5" drives. Our system shipped with Seagate 2TB 3.5" SAS drives. We have the performance SKU in for testing, and verified the LSI 9271-81 cards support CacheCade SSD caching, but our system didn't ship with any solid state drives.

The system uses two 1100w high efficiency redundant power supplies to power the system.

Expansion

QCT offers two 4U JBOD expansion enclosures for use with the MESOS CB220 system.

The first is the M4240H, a 24-bay SATA III / SAS II JBOD with redundant 760w PSUs. This JBOD has six 6Gb/s min-SAS ports with two console ports, and two controller modules. We found the M4240H online for as low as $2,822.

The M4600H brings extreme capacity to the MESOS product family. With sixty 3.5" hot-plug drive bays that also support 2.5" drives, and dual 1400w high efficiency redundant PSUs, the M4600H is your go to JBOD for high capacity in your continuous availability system. The M4600H ships with two host interface modules, each with 4x 6Gb/s miniSAS ports. We were unable to find the M4600H online with a price associated with it from a channel seller.

Pricing

We asked QCT about pricing, and a representative came through. The CB220 Value SKU with 48TB of disk storage (12x 4TB SAS) came in at $18,610. The Performance SKU with the same 48TB of disk storage paired with Syncro CS hardware RAID is $25,163.

After researching online, we found that Serversdirect.com sells the Value SKU without disks, or the 10GbE mezzanine card, for just $9,225. The SFP+ dual 10GbE NIC add-on will set you back $315, and the X540 dual port 10GbE RJ45 NIC sells for $318. Servers Direct quotes a three-year warranty period.

PRICING: You can find the Quanta MESOS CB220 (Value SKU) for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing, but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The Quanta MESOS CB220 (Value SKU) retails for $9,491.00 at Amazon.