HP Z620 Workstation Disk Configuration SATA & SAS

[dmc2015]

Hi All

I hope everybody is well?

I am looking for some advice on a potential hardware update. I recently purchased a HP Z620 Workstation from EBay. THe specification is listed below:

• 2 x E2620 V2 Processors;
• 128GB RAM;
• 480GB SSD Drive;
• DVD Drive.

I have also added the following to this:

• 4TB Western Digitial SATA Drive;
• 1TB Samsung Evo SSD Drive.

My understanding is that I can have both SATA and SAS Drives. 

What I am looking to do is to get a 4 Drive SAS Caddy and place this below the DVD Drive. I undertand that the Z620 HHD Cable Slots, so assuming that I need to lose the DVD Drive?

Because I am using this Worksation to run VMWare Workstation and run Virtual Machines, or which I can currently run 10 at the same time. I am looking to use either a SAS Raid or SSD Raid in this caddy.

My question is, is this even possble, and what should I buy, I am also on a budget. Should I expect any issues?

Regards

[DGroves]

there are several 2.5 multi drive carriers that fit in a single 5.25 bay these will hold 4 2.5 drives or 2 2.5 drives and one 3.5 drive

https://www.amazon.com/ICY-DOCK-Rugged-Backplane-Mobile/dp/B0040Z924Q/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&qid=158908...

https://www.amazon.com/Oumij-Floppy-Drive-Computer-Mounting-Compatible/dp/B07SKFVVJF/ref=sr_1_13?dch...

the z620 does not have onboard SAS like the z820 systems have, you have to add in a SAS/SATA raid controller card

see the HP quickspecs link below look for "drive controllers"

https://zworkstations.com/site/assets/files/7051/hp-z620-datasheet.pdf

[joselso]

You may find this HP publication useful:

"Workstation support for 2.5” Mass Storage Devices" - HP Z420, HP Z620 and HP Z820 Workstations

http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/downloads/Workstation_support_for_2.5in_Mass_Storage_Devices_101712....

It lists several types of carriers for HDD's and SSD's including 2-in-1 and 4-in-1 , designed for those HP workstations.

[BambiBoomZ]

Dmc2015,

Consider starting with calculations of:

1. Total required data capacity

2. Which capacities require which level of performance

3. Active vs, archiving capacities

4. Expansion capability

5. CPU performance required

For the stated use:

1.  Consider a  500GB, M.2 NVMe OS/ Programs/ VM's drives on a PCIe adapter, thereby freeing the three internal drive bays to run the simplest RAID 1+0. Consider three identical drives to be have a minimum 4TB capacity.

2.  Add an SAS/SATA PCIe RAID controller that includes an esata output and if possible a USB Type C port.

3.  Add an external enclosure, preferably with a switchable  fan containing an archiving drive of at least 6TB connected to the esata or Type C port. Create a partition on that drive containing a pristine system image for disaster recovery.  The value of this external drive is that it is only run when backing up or retrieval so the drive will last forever, isolates important files from phishing / ransomeware detectability and attack, and the system image partition can be used for system recovery.

The current office z620 currently four drives in this way and can add two more internally:

HP z620_2 (2017) (R7) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8C@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid Cooling / 64GB (HP/Samsung 8X 8GB DDR3-1866 ECC registered) / Quadro P2000 5GB _ GTX 1070 Ti 8GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI (PCIe)+ Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB (PCIe)+ HGST 7K6000 4TB + HP / HGST Enterprise 6TB (in external enclosure) > HP OEM Windows 7 Prof.’l 64-bit. The Passmark Disk score for this system is  13751, based on the HP Z Turbo Drive. 

The Z Turbo Drive contains the OS and programs while the Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB is a very fast projects drive:

As z620_2 uses a single GPU, that drive is running in the 2nd GPU x16 PCIe slot. If necessary that slot could accomodate a PCIe adapter with up to 4X 970 EVOs- which require 4X PCIe lanes each- in that slot.

However, given that the HP Z Turbo Drive is PCIe and the HP / HGST Enterprise 6TB is in an external enclosure (Rosewill Armer RX304-APU3-35B - External 3.5" SATA III 6 Gb/s Hard Drive Enclosure - USB 3.0 & eSATA Connection, Aluminum Body, 80 mm Variable Speed Fan with On / Off Switch, LED Display Panel Supports UASP), there are still two empty internal drive bays.

The CPU: The 128GB of RAM is very good this use. However, consider in the future, and as prices drop, changing the CPU's to a higher clock speed. The E5- 2620 v2 6-Core @ 2.1 / 2.6GHz. Passmark Performance Test average CPU Mark = 6090 with a Single Thread Mark= 1257.  For comparison, The E5-1680 v2  8-core @ 4.3Ghz (overclocked and using z420 liquid cooling) the CPU rating = 17178 and Single Thread Mark = 2368 . E5-1680 v2's are now selling for less than $200. If Dmc2015_z620 needs 12 cores, consider a  pair of Xeon E5-2680 v2 10-core @ 2.8 / 3.6Ghz , about $130  ( 5.20) and the system could start with a single.  There is a z620 with 2X Xeon E5-2680 v2 with a CPU= 24281 and average STM = 1801. There are other combinations. If a 10-cores is sufficient, a single E5-2690 v2 can be CPU= 17337 / STM = 1681.

To summarize:

1.  Move the OS /Program drive and the current projects data drive to PCIe, and the archiving drive to an external enclosure.

2.  Consider a faster, single 12-core or pair of faster 8 or 10-core CPUs.

BambiBoomZ

[dmc2015]

Hi All

Thankyou for your responses. It is all very useful information. 

Not sure if I have a SAS Controller included. This is from my Device Manager:

Assumption is that I can also add more memory at a later date:

The Disk ideas for external is a good idea, but I would ideally like to keep everything within the unit, as I am short on space.

Regards

[DGroves]

as i stated, on the z620 the SAS controller is OPTIONAL and is a add in card (read the hp quickspecs)

only the z820 has a motherboard mounted SAS/SATA chip

your device manager shows no such card is installed

[BambiBoomZ]

Dmc2015,

Device Manager is listing the SAS /RAID controller integral to the C600 chipset, meaning that the system supports it. A PCIe add-in card is still necessary.

_There are very good Disk marks (top = 21138) on Passmark listing "Areca ARC-1880-VOL#000". although it's an older design :

http://www.acecomputers.com/documents/ARC1880_series_Specification.pdf

"Supports up to (128) 6Gb/s SAS, SATA or SSD drives using 6Gb/s SAS expanders "  There are external ports.

If space is a problem for an external drive, consider setting it on top of the system, connected to one of the rear USB or esata ports) which is a convenient position for switching.

BambiBoomZ