{"id":55211,"date":"2016-04-25T07:58:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T14:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/?p=55211"},"modified":"2024-03-07T20:48:10","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T04:48:10","slug":"open-source-data-storage-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/open-source-data-storage-server\/","title":{"rendered":"Storage Pod 6.0: Building a 60 Drive 480TB Storage Server"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Storage<\/a><\/p>\n

Storage Pod 6.0 deploys 60 off the shelf hard drives in a 4U chassis to lower the cost of our latest data storage server to just $0.036\/GB. That\u2019s 22% less than our Storage Pod 5.0 storage server that used 45 drives to store data for $0.044\/GB. The Storage Pod 6.0 hardware design is, as always, open source so we\u2019ve included the blueprints, STEP files, wiring diagrams, build instructions, and a parts list so you can build your very own Storage Pod. Your cost may be a bit more, but it is possible for you to build a 4U server with 480TB of data storage for less than a nickel ($0.05) a gigabyte\u2014read on.<\/p>\n

A Little Storage Pod History<\/h2>\n

In 2009, Storage Pod 1.0<\/a> changed the landscape in data storage servers by delivering 67.5TB of storage in a 4U box for just $0.11\/GB\u2014that was up to 10 times lower than comparable systems on the market at the time. We also open-sourced the hardware design of Storage Pod 1.0 and companies, universities, and even weekend hobbyists started building their own Storage Pods.<\/p>\n

Over the years, we introduced updates to the Storage Pod design, driving down the cost while improving the reliability and durability<\/a> with each iteration. Storage Pod 5.0<\/a> marked our initial use of the Agile<\/a> manufacturing and design methodology which helped identify and squeeze out more costs, driving our cost per gigabyte of storage below $0.05. Agile also enabled us to manage a rapid design prototyping process that allowed us to stretch the Storage Pod<\/a> chassis to include 60 drives, then produce 2-D and 3-D specifications, a build book, a bill of materials, and update our manufacturing and assembly processes for the new design\u2014Storage Pod 6.0. All of this in about six months.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s New in Storage Pod 6.0<\/h2>\n

\"60<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s new is 60 drives in a 4U chassis. That\u2019s a 33% increase to the storage density<\/a> in the same rack space. Using 4TB drives in a 60 drive Storage Pod increases the amount of storage in a standard 40U rack from 1.8PB to 2.4PB. Of course, by using 8TB drives you\u2019d get a 480TB data storage server in 4U server and 4.8PB in a standard rack.<\/p>\n

When looking at what\u2019s new in Storage Pod 6.0, it would easy to say it has 60 drives and stop there. After all, the motherboard, CPU, memory, SATA cards, and backplanes we use didn\u2019t change from 5.0. But expanding to 60 drives created all kinds of things to consider, for example:<\/p>\n