My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

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Panter
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:39 am
Location: Norway

My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by Panter » Mon Sep 27, 2010 12:38 pm

Over a year ago I built a new Windows Homer Server. I had to do some work on it now so I took some pictures.

The enclosure was an old and heavy Chieftec like this
http://www.chieftec.eu/index.php?option ... view&id=21
The case had a lot of openings on both sides for fans, but none for 120mm.
I wanted to change this and make the air directions front->back. I also wanted to add more drive bays.

First I cut some metal plates to cover the ventilation holes on both side doors.
Then I needed 2 fans in the front of the Hdds. The top fan you can see in the pictures, had to cut some plastic on the door.
The bottom fan is also hidden behind the front mesh in front of the hdds. Had to cut the case metal and some plastic and then a 120mm fan was fitting just perfect.

Normally I use a fan controller for my pc's, see links in signature, but for this server the included three-speed switch on the Antec fans are working great. I have access to the switches behind the front door, see picture.

For HDDs bays I use the same Scythe Hard Disk Stabilizer x4 as in the P182 pc, see signature. The bottom 2 are hanging in the same O-rings as I used in a earlier version of the P182. The Hard Disk Stabilizers are not touching the inside or bottom of the case.

The components:
Chieftec LCX-01B-B-SL
Gigabyte GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5400. Lapped
Arctic Cooling Freeer 7 Pro
Corsair 4GB DDR2 KIT TWIN2X4096-6400C5
Corsair CX400W
Nvidia 7300 LE
SDM SD-ES3132-2IR PCI-E Serial ATA II Controller Card
4 * Samsung 1.5TB HD154UI
2 * Samsung 2TB HD203WI
1 * Samsung 1TB HD103SJ for OS
1 * Western Digital 1TB
1 * Samsung 400GB HD401LJ
3 * Scythe Hard Disk Stabilizer x4
Dvd
ebmPapst 4412 F/2GLL 120mm Fan
2 * Antec TriCool 120mm fan

With these components and the modification of the case the server is very good and silent.

Edit, 4th jan 2011, added 2 Hdds and a Sata controller, more pics later in the thread.

The enclosure was like this one:
Image

Sides modification:
Image

Inside:
Image

HDDs and bottom front fan
Image

HDDS, front fan and fan switches
Image

Image

Front:
Image

Back:
Image
Last edited by Panter on Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.

bozar
Posts: 305
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Location: Sweden

Post by bozar » Tue Sep 28, 2010 6:54 am

Great job! I love modded Chieftecs, they may not be that quiet out of the box but they are sturdy as hell so they can withstand most modding.

Is the vents welded into the metal plates? Looks really good and sturdy in my opinion.

piglover
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:32 am
Location: California

Post by piglover » Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:37 am

Looks like you've blocked all the side inputs and added some front intake vents (and maybe fans)? Got any photos of the mods to the front of the case?

Panter
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:39 am
Location: Norway

Post by Panter » Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:18 pm

Yes, all side inputs are blocked. It's not welded, but kind of glued. Don't know what it's called in English, but it's similar to Tec7.

2 * 120mm fans are behind the front mesh. That way I have an air direction front -> back over all the Hdds.

I have attached a picure of the top fan without the mesh. The silicon fan mounts are brown because no one sees it :-)
The bottom fan is a bit like that except that I also had to cut the case metal. Sorry, don't have a picture of it, but see picture 2 attached.

And yes, it's sturdy as hell..

Image

Image

Panter
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:39 am
Location: Norway

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by Panter » Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:53 pm

Just a small update.

Added 2 * Samsung SpinPoint F4EG 2TB HD204UI and a HighPoint Rocket 620 2P SATA III controller.
Removed the 1 * Samsung 400GB HD401LJ.

A total of 10 HDDs with 16 TB.

Updated the firmware on the Samsung SpinPoint F4EG HD204UI before installation.

Image

Image

piglover
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:32 am
Location: California

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by piglover » Tue Jan 04, 2011 3:52 pm

Nice work. Love the big Chieftec cases!

Take a look at the WHS app "drive balancer". Look for it on wegotserved.com.

Panter
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:39 am
Location: Norway

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by Panter » Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:37 am

Thanks for you comment piglover.

I'm aware of the "drive balancer" app, but I see no big reason to install it except for the visual aspect.
I do not want to install lots of programs with possible complications. It's just a simple server, keep it simple..

speedkar9
Posts: 307
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:39 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by speedkar9 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:58 pm

Would it not be better if the psu was turned upsided down so the fan doesnt ramp up because of the cpu heat? The case has enough space above the psu.

Panter
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:39 am
Location: Norway

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by Panter » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:15 am

It's the first time I have heard that this should be a problem. It's a normal way to mount a Psu.

Anyway, it's no problem here. The Cpu is 99.9% of the time doing nothing so heat is no issue.

:-)

zerosleep
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:28 am

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by zerosleep » Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:56 pm

Is this the current version of Home Server or the new Vail beta?

Panter
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:39 am
Location: Norway

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by Panter » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:33 am

This is WHSv1, not Fail, sorry, Vail (Microsoft have done some changes recently in Vail that the Homer Server community considers as total mistake).

Vail Preview is absolutely not ready to use in production servers.

zerosleep
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:28 am

Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by zerosleep » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:48 am

I think I know what you're talking about. I read they are removing that handy disk/space management feature.

I'm currently using a 4 bay netgear NAS with dual nics and streaming from it. I have 8tb worth of disks in it and can't imagine running out of space, but I really like your setup and would like to someday mimic this. Great work!

KillerCroc
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Re: My WHS, modified Chieftec Mesh, 10 HDDS, 16.0 TB, silent

Post by KillerCroc » Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:32 pm

You did a great job with the wiring - neatly bundled and out of the way to smooth the airflow through the case - great work!

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