SH1FT Storage Server Build

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vischo

Gawd
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I am looking for some input on cases/enclosures for my server upgrade. Currently, I am storing about 2.5TB of DVD's/Music/Pictures (using 6 HDDs, right now). I'd like to double that quickly so I will be buying HDDs steadily. I'm using Seagate 500GB HDDs. My current box is maxed out with space and power. Here are some different items I have been looking at; please let me know your thoughts. More info about my setup is here http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1252288

CM Stacker 810:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119092
but the you'd have to buy these 5.25 adapters correct?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999169
or these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405

Eagle Tech 5U Rackmount Case (cheap)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811117106
needs adapters as above, right?

PS Rage just built a beautiful Chenbro case, I thought maybe something like this:
http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?serno=92

Give me some input guys, need to hear opinions before spending some money on this.


The server is a humble P4 machine with Rosewill Silicon Image PCI 4 SATA ports Controller Cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132006
 
Check my galaxy project threads. I used both the Supermicro 5 in 3 and the Coolermaster 4 in 3 in my galaxy projects.


For cost, go with the 4 in 3, it's cheap and holds 16 drives. For density and functionality, go with the supermicro units.


The 810 is a great case (also used in one of my galaxy buids) and allows for custom modification so you can put more drives in there (internally)
 
Most storage space for the buck is a MountainMod UFO case.

Like one of the OptiMax's http://www.mountainmods.com/computer-cases-u2ufo-optimax-c-21_60.html

And this is the cheapest Optimax - at $295 or so http://www.mountainmods.com/u2ufo-optimax-brushed-aluminum-solid-top-p-80.html

Specs
Specifications:
Material - Aluminum 5052
Thickness - 1.65mm-3.25mm
Dimensions - 18x18x18 inches
Finish - Brushed
Power Supplies - Holds up to 2
HD Bay - Removable Holds 9
5.25 Bay - 2 Removable
5.25 Devices - Holds 10
MB Tray - Removable
Form Factors - mATX/ATX/EATX
Fan Mounts - 5-120mm
Empty Weight - 15 lbs.
Click to expand...

That's 9 X 3.5 drives and 10 X 5.25 drives.

And you can add 3 more 3.5 drives at each 120mm fan location (that has room behind it) for $15.99 with these http://www.mountainmods.com/120mm-hard-drive-rack-black-wrinkle-p-416.html

So that's 6 more 3.5 drives you can add in front, beneath the 5.25 drive bays - before you have to start buying 4in3 or 5in3 units.

15 X 3.5 drives & 10 X 5.25 drives.....

That enough for you???
 
If you care about your data then invest in a true hardware raid card from a mainstream company that supports at least RAID5.
 
Shaggy3zx said:
If you care about your data then invest in a true hardware raid card from a mainstream company that supports at least RAID5.
Click to expand...

Ya, because hardware RAID is soooooo much better than software RAID. :rolleyes:
 
Software/Hardware both have their own merits. :p Instead of preaching my professional views I should have said that you probably want to operate the raid in 5 or 6 with one hot spare per array. If you want to be certain you won't have to re-rip dvd's in the event of a catastrophe then you should also put an automated backup in place. Consumer level SATA drives are not completely reliable and I have encountered situations where multiple drives were lost in a single array and data was lost.
 
rodsfree said:
Most storage space for the buck is a MountainMod UFO case.
Click to expand...


This is incorrect. MountainMod cases does nothing other than show or tell and cost a ton of money. For the same price, you can maximize your efficiency and squeeze out a much higher capacity using other cases or even rack mount cases for the price you'd invest in a MM case.

Now if you custom a MM case, then you'd get a good bang for the buck, but the buck starts at $2,000.
 
I think the quickest easiest cheapest is building Ockie's Galaxy 2.0/3.0
CM Stacker with 4 in 3 HDD Bays
16HDD-20HDD's
 
I'm extremely happy with my Chenbro RM-4140. 16 hot swap SATA bays:

http://www.circotech.com/rm-4140-ra414-16-bay-hot-swap-sata-4u-ra414-rackmount-computer-case.html

I ordered it with the SATA backplane, 4 SFF-8087 cables, redundant power supply and rails and it came to about $1155. Circotech also had great customer service. I was just asking about their case, not making any purchase commitment and wanted to know if the 8087 cables were what I needed for my ARC-1160ML2. The sales guy actually called Areca to verify that they were going to get me the right stuff. I was impressed :)
 
Strahan said:
I'm extremely happy with my Chenbro RM-4140. 16 hot swap SATA bays:

http://www.circotech.com/rm-4140-ra414-16-bay-hot-swap-sata-4u-ra414-rackmount-computer-case.html

I ordered it with the SATA backplane, 4 SFF-8087 cables, redundant power supply and rails and it came to about $1155. Circotech also had great customer service. I was just asking about their case, not making any purchase commitment and wanted to know if the 8087 cables were what I needed for my ARC-1160ML2. The sales guy actually called Areca to verify that they were going to get me the right stuff. I was impressed :)
Click to expand...

You know that case, how easy is it to put SATA hard disks into and are the enclosures for tha harddrives included ?

We are thinking of buyin 5 of the 16bay cases for our backup SAN at work as all of the HP and Dell systems are wayy more expensive, it works out a lott cheaper just to build up the systems ourselves ! ( we need to somehow backup over 5TB of data and sooner or later we are planning to do disk image backups on all of our mobile systems now too)

We already have a HP based SAN system which is veryy good but we dont need that just for our backups, and it was not very cheap either :eek:
 
vischo said:
I think the quickest easiest cheapest is building Ockie's Galaxy 2.0/3.0
CM Stacker with 4 in 3 HDD Bays
16HDD-20HDD's
Click to expand...

Yes, this would be by far the cheapest. If you are lucky, you can get a Stacker 810 for sub $100 price (includes an internal cage), then buy 3 more cages for $17-20 each. Your looking at a grand total of $160 + shipping... not shabby. When you are ready to add more drives, you can either purchase a fixed 5 in 3 for $35 each or you can look at something like hot swap bays for about $100 each.


One thing that makes the stacker a fine choice is the flexibility you have, thanks to a large tray and a plethora of 5.25" consecutive bays. It also has great airflow to boot.
 
vischo said:
I think the quickest easiest cheapest is building Ockie's Galaxy 2.0/3.0
CM Stacker with 4 in 3 HDD Bays
16HDD-20HDD's
Click to expand...

Indeed. I have a Stacker with capacity for 14 drives right now. 1 4-in-3 module and 2 5x3 SATA hot swap units.

The case have great ventilation, the ability to use two power supplys, and are easy to work in.
 
Ockie said:
This is incorrect. MountainMod cases does nothing other than show or tell and cost a ton of money. For the same price, you can maximize your efficiency and squeeze out a much higher capacity using other cases or even rack mount cases for the price you'd invest in a MM case.

Now if you custom a MM case, then you'd get a good bang for the buck, but the buck starts at $2,000.
Click to expand...


Maximium number of 4-in-3 modules that you can get into a CM Stacker 810 is 3.

You only have 11 X 5.25 drive bays and NO internal 3.5 drivebays without the use of a 4-in-3, 3-in-2 or a 5-in-3 module. Therefore, the maximun number of 3.5 drives that will fit in an 810 is 18 with no available 5.25 bays open for DVD-ROM drives. The Mountain Mods Optimax STARTS at 15 X 3.5 Drives and STILL has 10 X 5.25 drive bays open - so using 2X 5-in-3 and 2 X 3-in-2 drive cages we will be able to add another 16 X 3.5 drives.

Total of 30 X 3.5 Drives.
$295 for the base case
2 X $15.99 for the 120mm mounts
2 X $100.00 for the 5-in-3 hotswap cages
2 X $100.00 for the 3-in-2 hotswap cages

Plus $100.00 S&H

= $827.00

(Note I picked the most expensive route)

How does that equal $2000.00?

And show me how to fit 30 drives into a CM Stacker 810.:D
 
rodsfree said:
Maximium number of 4-in-3 modules that you can get into a CM Stacker 810 is 3.

You only have 11 X 5.25 drive bays and NO internal 3.5 drivebays without the use of a 4-in-3, 3-in-2 or a 5-in-3 module. Therefore, the maximun number of 3.5 drives that will fit in an 810 is 18 with no available 5.25 bays open for DVD-ROM drives. The Mountain Mods Optimax STARTS at 15 X 3.5 Drives and STILL has 10 X 5.25 drive bays open - so using 2X 5-in-3 and 2 X 3-in-2 drive cages we will be able to add another 16 X 3.5 drives.

Total of 30 X 3.5 Drives.
$295 for the base case
2 X $15.99 for the 120mm mounts
2 X $100.00 for the 5-in-3 hotswap cages
2 X $100.00 for the 3-in-2 hotswap cages

Plus $100.00 S&H

= $827.00

(Note I picked the most expensive route)

How does that equal $2000.00?

And show me how to fit 30 drives into a CM Stacker 810.:D
Click to expand...

This is incorrect. The most drive modules you can fit in a stacker (4 in 3 or 5 in 3 modules) are 4.

A PC-343B case runs 36 Drives with no modifications. You can exceed 40 with very little modifications. A stacker can exceed 20 drives in capacity.


I suggest you look at my galaxy project logs before you continue any further. I have also witnessed a person shoving 36 drives in a stacker, however, it has been highly modified. I have run both PC-343B with 36 drives and a stacker with 22 drives. And as for your $2,000 price dispute, I have communicated with Mountain Mods and this was the price I was estimated for a custom cube case with nothing but a high drive capacity.
 
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