I'm looking for a case that would be suitable for 10 to 12 drives. I have seen some recommendations around SPCR for various CM Stacker cases as well as the Antec 1200. I'm not delusional in thinking that I can build a system like this and have it be completely silent, but I would like it to be as quiet as possible and housed an a case of good quality and construction.
Are there any other suggestions or should I choose between the CM RC-810, STC-T01, and the Antec 1200? If between the previous three, can anyone give me some first hand info regarding any problems you might have had with a particular case or why you chose your case over some other case? Thanks!
server case
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I think soft mounting is the first prerequisite and that can be achieved with many 5.25" bays. For example the Lian Li PC-A77B can hold up to 12 drives. Aerocool has a case called "Baydream", which is quite self-explanatory. Chieftec's high towers can hold up to 8 3.5" drives plus 6 5.25". Also, don't forget about NZXT's Khaos - maybe not the best looking case (matter of taste), but holds 11 5.25" and 8 3.5".
My point is: there are many products that meet your criteria, I'll let you do the googling
My point is: there are many products that meet your criteria, I'll let you do the googling
old cm stacker?
So, as it turns out I have an old cm stacker that I replaced with a Cosmos, but I'm not really planning on doing anything with the cm stacker, want to buy it? Should be easy to toss a whole bunch of drives in it, in my last configuration I had 9 drives in it plus an optical and a 5.25" floppy drive, and all the drives were in removable drive trays so they weren't really packed in. Interested?
With that many HDDs you need case which can contain/muffle noises instead of leaking them all out directly unless you're shoving it somewhere where its noise doesn't matter. And soft mounting is definitely mandatory unless case is solid (=heavy) enough to need forklift for moving it around.pyn wrote:as far as large cases with decent stock sound would it be best to go with one of the cm's, the 1200, or the whisper? also, how are cm's and nzxt's as far as quality goes?
Also you'll want HDD cages which leave some space between them for allowing easy cooling so that they don't bake each others because densely packed HDDs get easily really hot and you obviously don't want to have high speed fans for pushing air.
NZXT is pretty much that bling bling ping pong cheap chinese toy maker who doesn't even try to cross the fence but just crawles under it.
Whisper is actually one of their decent cases but has those cheap restrictive stamped meshes in front of fans, also with lot of HDDs their cooling doesn't look that good. Airflow routes itself through lowest impedance so without forcing those "hanging" cages won't have much any of that and uppermost HDDs none (trays block airflow from cooling from below) and 80mm fans just aren't good for moving air at low speed:
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_imag ... iew/10.jpg
Lian Li A71 with generous applying of BeQuiet Noise Absorber mat (2mm bitumen + 8mm foam) to everywhere keeps seek noises of AAM disabled WDs (Caviar Blacks and Blue/SE16s) nearly completely inside when door is closed. It has space for 10 HDDs with good airflow for all of them and 5 5.25" bays so could take more of them.
Chieftec has plastic rails as HDD mount which isn't good... regardless that it's heavy steel case.KadazanPL wrote:Chieftec's high towers can hold up to 8 3.5" drives plus 6 5.25". Also, don't forget about NZXT's Khaos - maybe not the best looking case (matter of taste), but holds 11 5.25" and 8 3.5".)
And that NZXT has 8 densely packed HDD bays in two 3x5.25" modules leaving free five 5.25" bays.
@EsaT
wow, thanks for the extremely insightful and informative reply. I've only purchased Antec cases in the past, but I was looking at some Lian Li cases previous to reading and posting on SPCR. as I said in my first post, I'm not going to drive myself crazy trying to make a box like this completely silent. I suppose build quality would be my primary concern while keeping a close eye on acoustic integrity.
wow, thanks for the extremely insightful and informative reply. I've only purchased Antec cases in the past, but I was looking at some Lian Li cases previous to reading and posting on SPCR. as I said in my first post, I'm not going to drive myself crazy trying to make a box like this completely silent. I suppose build quality would be my primary concern while keeping a close eye on acoustic integrity.
Re: server case
Are you able to locate the server out of hearing range?pyn wrote:I'm looking for a case that would be suitable for 10 to 12 drives... [snip] ... I'm not delusional in thinking that I can build a system like this and have it be completely silent, but I would like it to be as quiet as possible and housed an a case of good quality and construction.
Alternately, I've recently set my sights on the Coolermaster Centurion 590. You can get 12 drives in it (nine 5.25 bays) by adding two additional CM 4-in-3 drive bay converters (it comes with 1). They make some attempt at soft-mounting, but it's inferior to proper suspension.
This is moot if you can just locate the server somewhere where noise won't be an issue. This is my interest - I've been looking for the cheapest case with a LOT of 5.25 bays. For $60 I think the CM 590 takes it.
Out of curiosity, what controller(s) are you using?
[EDIT]
Here's a SPCR Gallery thread using this case: "My Coolermaster 590 WHS build".
From the photos I've seen online, it looks like the side panels are reversable. Unfortunately both panels feature ventilation holes, but at least there's fewer (that we need to block) on the other panel.
I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do as far as controller cards go. I wanted to build this server using an old A7N8X-E Deluxe and Athlon XP 3200+. The problem with this being that the motherboard has 1 AGP slot and 5 PCI slots and I can't find a PCI controller card that supports more that 4 drives.
No RAID, I'm assuming? This one should work:pyn wrote:I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do as far as controller cards go. I wanted to build this server using an old A7N8X-E Deluxe and Athlon XP 3200+. The problem with this being that the motherboard has 1 AGP slot and 5 PCI slots and I can't find a PCI controller card that supports more that 4 drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6815121009
You'll have some pins hanging and performance when accessing multiple drives at a time will be abysmal, but PCI-X is backwards compatible with PCI.
ilovejedd's linked supermicro card is almost a "standard" in the DIY crowd.
With 10-12 drives, maintaining them is going to require some dilligent accounting work! You're going to need to ID the drives somehow, physically and/or in software, because inevitably you'll have some fail and you'll need to know which one to pull. A system with 10-12 drives is also going to be a bear to move (wight & fragility) and work on internally (10-12 sata and power cables). If you're suspending that many drives, replacing one gets even more hairy.
Here's where I'm going with this... While it's not impossible nor unreasonable to want a silent storage server, IMO factors other than noise become more important with large HDD arrays. Mainly: security, expandability, cooling, easy maintenance. For practical reasons, hot-swap backplanes should be a consideration. High-density backplanes come in 3, 4 or 5 drive sub-chassis, meaning you'll need 3 to 4 of them. Considering that they're typically around $100 each, you're over $300 just for hot-swap backplanes. So, if I were building a 10+ drive system today, I would buy the Norco 4020 - the current drive density champion (20 hot swap bays for $290), and can be modded for quiet operation. It's HUGE. You can remove the rack ears to make it a tower. Still, I would want something this massive out of sight.
Here's some more inspiration for ya: "The [H]ard Forum Storage Showoff Thread" (10TB and over systems).
I only have 3 drives (2 data + 1 parity), am using unRAID, and am shopping for a chassis. It's going to take me a while to exhaust my 2TB, which is why I'm not looking at the Norco (yet!). But if I had as many drives as you do, I'd need hot-swap convenience, and the Norco would be the 1st on my list because of price-per-density.
With 10-12 drives, maintaining them is going to require some dilligent accounting work! You're going to need to ID the drives somehow, physically and/or in software, because inevitably you'll have some fail and you'll need to know which one to pull. A system with 10-12 drives is also going to be a bear to move (wight & fragility) and work on internally (10-12 sata and power cables). If you're suspending that many drives, replacing one gets even more hairy.
Here's where I'm going with this... While it's not impossible nor unreasonable to want a silent storage server, IMO factors other than noise become more important with large HDD arrays. Mainly: security, expandability, cooling, easy maintenance. For practical reasons, hot-swap backplanes should be a consideration. High-density backplanes come in 3, 4 or 5 drive sub-chassis, meaning you'll need 3 to 4 of them. Considering that they're typically around $100 each, you're over $300 just for hot-swap backplanes. So, if I were building a 10+ drive system today, I would buy the Norco 4020 - the current drive density champion (20 hot swap bays for $290), and can be modded for quiet operation. It's HUGE. You can remove the rack ears to make it a tower. Still, I would want something this massive out of sight.
Here's some more inspiration for ya: "The [H]ard Forum Storage Showoff Thread" (10TB and over systems).
I only have 3 drives (2 data + 1 parity), am using unRAID, and am shopping for a chassis. It's going to take me a while to exhaust my 2TB, which is why I'm not looking at the Norco (yet!). But if I had as many drives as you do, I'd need hot-swap convenience, and the Norco would be the 1st on my list because of price-per-density.
+1. Well, not really about the Norco (haven't tried it but from reports, build quality isn't all that great), but the hot-swap factor.Jay_S wrote:I only have 3 drives (2 data + 1 parity), am using unRAID, and am shopping for a chassis. It's going to take me a while to exhaust my 2TB, which is why I'm not looking at the Norco (yet!). But if I had as many drives as you do, I'd need hot-swap convenience, and the Norco would be the 1st on my list because of price-per-density.
I'm in something of a similar situation as pyn, I'm looking for a case to stash 10-12 drives, but there is an qualification in that I'm hoping to use a mid-tower case, rather than full-tower.
I came very close to getting a rackmount rig, all the parts were specced out and I came very close to placing the orders, but my original location for putting the equipment became unavailable to me, and now I have to place it somewhere I will hear whatever noise it makes. I'm not sure the rackmounts can be quieted enough, and with the space I have, I'm really hoping not to have to use something as large as a full tower case. What about using a P183 or an FT01 with all of the 3.5s filled and bay converters or suspension used for the rest of the discs? Would another mid-tower be better, if this is recommended at all? Would the drives get enough cooling and could the sound still be kept as low, or nearly as low, as configurations using these cases that only have a couple drives? The purpose of the case is relatively low-intensity, a media server with WHS, and the drives would be SPCR recommended for noise and power consumption.
I came very close to getting a rackmount rig, all the parts were specced out and I came very close to placing the orders, but my original location for putting the equipment became unavailable to me, and now I have to place it somewhere I will hear whatever noise it makes. I'm not sure the rackmounts can be quieted enough, and with the space I have, I'm really hoping not to have to use something as large as a full tower case. What about using a P183 or an FT01 with all of the 3.5s filled and bay converters or suspension used for the rest of the discs? Would another mid-tower be better, if this is recommended at all? Would the drives get enough cooling and could the sound still be kept as low, or nearly as low, as configurations using these cases that only have a couple drives? The purpose of the case is relatively low-intensity, a media server with WHS, and the drives would be SPCR recommended for noise and power consumption.