> cause when I did - the x45xx's/zfs were between 18 to 20% slower on disk > i/o alone compared with a supermicro box with dual areca 1220/xfs. > > the thumpers make for decent backup or vtl type roles, not so much for > online high density storage. Speaking of thumpers and Supermicro, it looks like Supermicro has a very close answer to the thumper. http://www.supermicro.com/storage/ The SC847 has an existing configuration that goes up to 36disks and another that will go up to 45 in 4U of space although the 45 disk case does not seem to have a page just yet.