Overview
The NetApp DE6600 is a very capable 60 bay JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) which is an older model that is available in aftermarkets now for rather reasonable prices. The same model was white labeled for Dell as the MD3060e. These JBODS have compatible unrestricted SAS2 EMMs using 8088 plugs available for them at rather reasonable prices. They often come with incompatible EMMS that feature Infiniband and/or Fiber Channel and may be in a vendor locked state (to my knowledge, please correct me if you know how to get IB working on these) relating to the lack of Santricity. Check out the video for even more in detail spec reviews on them.
Strengths
- Cheaply priced typically per tray
- Available fairly easily
- Energy efficient if you can keep the temperature under 77F
- Not as loud as you might assume
- No need for caddies
- Cheap spare parts on eBay
- APC rail trick can work for these – Check out the video
Weaknesses
- Very likely to have some issues if you remove trays
- What I suspect was a poorly designed IC layout can kill a tray easy
- Lots of sharp sheet metal parts, easy to cut self
- 220VAC only operations
- Locked EMMs are a bummer
- Harder to troubleshoot issues with a unit than a DS4246/DS4243
DE6600 Parts Listings
NetApp DE6600 https://geni.us/netapp_de6600_60bay
DE6600 SAS2 Modules https://geni.us/6600_SAS2_EMM
DE6600 PSU X-48564-00-R6 https://geni.us/DE6600_PSU
DE6600 Replacement Tray X-48566-00-R6 https://geni.us/DE6600_tray
DE6600 Fan Canister X-48565-00-R6 https://geni.us/DE6600_fan_canister
Conclusion
These are not ideal for everyone. If you are scaling out into the ~1 PB range, then, yes, a 60 bay JBOD is a great idea to go with. I have had a fair amount of frustration dealing with troubleshooting the ones I got from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) haul, but once they are racked up and running, they are very nice to work with. Do keep in mind I have good acoustic separation in my rack setup front to back and that helps with noise levels. If you are a tinkering person who is patient and understands troubleshooting hardware and has time to spend on that, then these are possibly the best value around at the moment. I do dislike the way the arm cables are done and the clipping that can occur on the tray IC however that is not impactful in the second tray layout, just keep it in mind if a tray is presenting issues. Great upper intermediate JBOD.
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