JBOD stands for Just a Bunch Of Disks and is a type of multilevel configuration for disks. It refers to a collection of disks in a computer system or array combined as one logical volume.

JBOD is used by organizations that need an efficient on-premises storage method and it offers huge amounts of storage that can be configured depending on the user's needs.

In a JBOD storage architecture, multiple hard drives (HDD) or solid-state drives (SSDs) are placed together in a single housing. Data is written to a JBOD configuration in a sequential way, avoiding the more complex steps involved in writing data seen in redundant array of independent disks (RAID) systems.
 

JBOD Cabling

Step 1. Connect a Mini-SAS HD cable to one of the RED ports (see picture above), physically marked ‘IN’ on the JBOD

Step 2. Connect a RJ45 Ethernet cable to the ORANGE port (see picture above), to have "BMC/IPMI" access to this machine

Syneto Cabling

Connect the other end of the HD Mini-SAS cable (previously connected on the JBOD) to the lower port of the Syneto external SAS connector.

The External SAS connector is located on the right side of the main node.

Add an Additional JBOD

Step 1. Connect one Mini-SAS HD cable to the blue ‘out’ port of the first JBOD (also connected to Syneto)

Step 2. Connect the other end of the HD Mini-SAS cable to the red ‘in’ port of the second JBOD

Step 3. If you have more than two JBODs, repeat steps 1 and 2, where the first JBOD will become the second JBOD, and so on

Add a JBOD Controller

Step 1. Power off the ESXi host and disconnect it from the power source

Step 2. Install the SAS controller into an available PCIe slot on the server

Step 3. Power on the ESXi host

Step 4. Connect to VMware ESXi (via GUI)

Step 5. Navigate to Host > Manage > Hardware > PCI Devices and locate the newly installed SAS controller in the list of PCI devices

Step 6. Enable Passthrough for the SAS controller and confirm the operation

Step 7. Reboot the ESXi host to apply the passthrough configuration

When restarting ESXi, keep all virtual machines and SynetoOS powered off

Step 8. Edit the SynetoOS VM settings and add the SAS controller as a PCI Device

Step 9. Power on the SynetoOS VM