45 Drives HomeLab HL 15 most overhyped/overpriced case ever?

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EnderW

[H]F Junkie
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Can someone please explain to me in what universe this thing is worth $800? It looks like any generic $100 ATX case flipped on it's side plus a 15 drive SATA backplane.
Every YouTuber on the planet is pimping this thing like there's no tomorrow. I'm guessing that's because 45 Drives flew them out to their HQ on a private jet.

https://store.45homelab.com/configure/hl15
 
I've worked in Datacenters and Enterprise IT since 2007. If you've ever purchased, at at least quoted out server gear, this is cheap. I agree with Craft completely on this one. If i wasn't already doing all flash on my storage and was still doing HDDs, I'd really consider this.
 
OFaceSIG said:
I've worked in Datacenters and Enterprise IT since 2007. If you've ever purchased, at at least quoted out server gear, this is cheap. I agree with Craft completely on this one. If i wasn't already doing all flash on my storage and was still doing HDDs, I'd really consider this.
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Why? You can pickup a second hand Dell Poweredge R740XD for what just the case costs and just add drives?
 
Yeah these are the videos I’m referring to. I’m still waiting on an explanation of how a $100 case plus backplane = $800. Not to mention the fact it’s a super niche part from a tiny company. Unlike buying a Dell or Supermicro where replacement parts are readily available on the used market and they have a proven track record over decades.
 
OFaceSIG said:
I've worked in Datacenters and Enterprise IT since 2007. If you've ever purchased, at at least quoted out server gear, this is cheap. I agree with Craft completely on this one. If i wasn't already doing all flash on my storage and was still doing HDDs, I'd really consider this.
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Isn’t a lot of the cost of new server gear due to the support contracts? You’re not getting any of that here. Especially on the bare chassis.
 
Another thing is why would anyone want a top loading case over the standard front load design with hard drive sleds/trays? Now you have to either have it at the top of a short rack or rails are mandatory and you have to probably power off and unplug the server to slide it out of the rack just access the drives. And of course any drive identification features are absent.
 
EnderW said:
Isn’t a lot of the cost of new server gear due to the support contracts? You’re not getting any of that here. Especially on the bare chassis.
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Buying from OEMs, nope, yes that is a big cost, but ram upgrades and CPUs spike that price into space real quick!
 
I like this case.

But the naming mislead me into thinking it holds 45 drives, not 15.
 
German Muscle said:
Why? You can pickup a second hand Dell Poweredge R740XD for what just the case costs and just add drives?
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This is for the home. I could've taken home 100s of servers over the years. I've always opted to build my NASs out of consumer gear. Server gear is LOUD-AF. Also, replacement drives, replacement ECC memory, all costly.

EnderW said:
Yeah these are the videos I’m referring to. I’m still waiting on an explanation of how a $100 case plus backplane = $800. Not to mention the fact it’s a super niche part from a tiny company. Unlike buying a Dell or Supermicro where replacement parts are readily available on the used market and they have a proven track record over decades.
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Custom engineering. That backplane alone costs a good amount of R&D time and money to get done correctly. A GREAT backplane like that will save you time, hassle, and cabling woes later. Ask me how I know.

EnderW said:
Isn’t a lot of the cost of new server gear due to the support contracts? You’re not getting any of that here. Especially on the bare chassis.
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Nope, You can buy server gear w/o support contracts and it's still WAY above the cost of consumer gear. The margins on datacenter gear are through the roof.
 
EnderW said:
Yeah these are the videos I’m referring to. I’m still waiting on an explanation of how a $100 case plus backplane = $800. Not to mention the fact it’s a super niche part from a tiny company. Unlike buying a Dell or Supermicro where replacement parts are readily available on the used market and they have a proven track record over decades.
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Part this:
OFaceSIG said:
I've worked in Datacenters and Enterprise IT since 2007. If you've ever purchased, at at least quoted out server gear, this is cheap.
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But otherwise I really like this case. If you want to go the used route with something like a Dell/Supermicro etc... chassis that's your prerogative. They come with a certain level of proprietary features/components and parts on eBay can eventually start creeping up in price as they become scarce. If you want to buy a chassis and put multiple builds in it and have it last a long time, this is a solid product. Good luck keeping your already 10 year old used enterprise stuff going after multiple re-builds. An example of this, I have a SuperMicro SuperChassis 933T-R760. The redundant power supply PWS-0050M is relatively expensive and the CSE-SATA-933 backplane is hard to find and expensive.

The price is justifiable IMHO, you can 3D print tons of stuff for it if you ever need a replacement and there is nothing proprietary to deal with. It's not like they are mass producing these to the point they can come down a ton in cost and they still have to make a profit. You're getting good quality and this is basically a niche market item. Everybody's homelab ends up vastly different, not only in software but in hardware choice too. This is simply just an option for people to decide on and if they like it they can buy it. If you don't think it's worth it, don't buy it and buy whatever you want instead.
uOpt said:
But the naming mislead me into thinking it holds 45 drives, not 15.
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45Drives is the company, HL15 is the model. Not a great company name as one might assume all the servers/chassis support 45 drives but every model does indicate how many they hold like Storinator Mi4, C8, AV15, Q30, etc...
 
so you guys defending the price think a backplane is worth $650? I see a $100-120 case with about $30 in fans
 
Also explain to me how this case will last longer than any other case included used gear? They’re all basically just steal. I have a chenbro chassis that’s going on 15 years old.
 
OFaceSIG said:
This is for the home. I could've taken home 100s of servers over the years. I've always opted to build my NASs out of consumer gear. Server gear is LOUD-AF. Also, replacement drives, replacement ECC memory, all costly.
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I have multiple servers at home in my office where my GF works and takes calls. You havent worked with servers recently because the LOUD-AF isnt even a factor anymore. The R740 is one of the quietest servers i have.

Your worried about cost but your advocating for a case with backplane that costs $800 over a fully working server that you just add drives to for the same cost. The cost of drives is up to you either way. ECC DDR4 isnt anymore expensive then regular ddr4.
 
This is where things get really hilarious.

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LukeTbk said:
Do they not start at similar or higher price (new ?), comparing used vs new would be a bit strange, of course used solution would be cheaper.
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They arent sold new anymore. When they were new they were exponentially more expensive but they were also cutting edge and came with a same day parts and labor 3 year warranty. Im comparing used as this is exactly what the target audience for this product does. It is a bit strange but 45 drives isnt exactly selling cutting edge equipment. The unused older xeon scalables they are bundling are the same gen as the R740.
 
German Muscle said:
I have multiple servers at home in my office where my GF works and takes calls. You havent worked with servers recently because the LOUD-AF isnt even a factor anymore. The R740 is one of the quietest servers i have.

Your worried about cost but your advocating for a case with backplane that costs $800 over a fully working server that you just add drives to for the same cost. The cost of drives is up to you either way. ECC DDR4 isnt anymore expensive then regular ddr4.
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Compared to the stuff I build out of consumer gear servers are still louder, and more expensive. I'm not saying Server gear can't be in the home. Just not in my home. I deal with that at work. Don't need it in my home.
 
Perhaps the most direct comparison. Here is NEW 3U chassis with 10 hotswap drives for $300 shipped. With the superior design of being front loaded. So again, how does 15 drives for $800 make sense? Actually I think 45 Drives charges shipping on top of the $800 but you can't even tell without making an account.
https://www.sliger.com/products/rackmount/3u/cx3701/
 
EnderW said:
Perhaps the most direct comparison
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regular PSU, silent regular case fan, USA made according to the promo, seem really close.

10 instead of 15 bay but with 22-24 TB now maybe not that big of an issue for many.

ITX vs mini itx and way more room for GPUs, network cards, etc...

Someone building an large data AI rig could prefer having ITX here, for a regular NAS probably not many advantage outside the +5 bays (and you can buy 2 of them to have 20 with that price difference, that really nice and would consider it if I ever change my large regular PC case).
 
EnderW said:
...it’s a super niche part from a tiny company...
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You just answered your own question. I watched the L1T video, and he mentioned that it included 3D-printed parts. That's significantly more expensive than mass-produced injection-moulded parts. Low demand means no economy of scale, which leads to high cost. I certainly wouldn't buy one of these at that price, but if you need what it offers, then that's what you have to pay.

EnderW said:
Perhaps the most direct comparison. Here is NEW 3U chassis with 10 hotswap drives for $300 shipped. With the superior design of being front loaded. So again, how does 15 drives for $800 make sense? Actually I think 45 Drives charges shipping on top of the $800 but you can't even tell without making an account.
https://www.sliger.com/products/rackmount/3u/cx3701/
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10 <15? If you need more storage in a single system than you can get from 10 drives, then a 10-drive chassis won't do.
 
Mr Evil said:
You just answered your own question. I watched the L1T video, and he mentioned that it included 3D-printed parts. That's significantly more expensive than mass-produced injection-moulded parts. Low demand means no economy of scale, which leads to high cost. I certainly wouldn't buy one of these at that price, but if you need what it offers, then that's what you have to pay.


10 <15? If you need more storage in a single system than you can get from 10 drives, then a 10-drive chassis won't do.
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Just because it costs them more money to make it doesn't mean it's worth more. Sliger isn't a big company either but they managed to make an extremely similar product for much cheaper.

Yeah sure if you need exactly what 45 drives is offering, there doesn't seem to be any alternative so you gotta pay. But there are tons of very similar options at roughly half the cost.

Sliger case is $30 per bay vs $53 for the 45 drives. And Sliger one is smaller. Usually the smaller you go the higher the cost per bay.

And as long as you have an extra 2U of rack space to spare, you could get 2 of the Sliger cases for a total of $600 and 20 bays vs $800 for 15.

The vast majority of homelab and home NAS users are interested in finding good value. Otherwise we'd all be paying full price for new enterprise gear instead of buying used stuff on eBay.
 
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