High storage density tower case?

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sphinx99

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Suggestions on a high capacity storage chassis with more of a tower form factor than rack mount?

I've seen some very large tower cases with no shortage of 5.25" bays but a shortage of 3.5" bays. Where are the tower cases with 1 or 2 5.25" bays and a whole bunch of hard drive slots?

I've seen the Lian Li PC-V2100A which seems to fit the bill, but it seems no one has reviewed it on newegg for 3 years... why?
 
There's the rackmount ones - this Norco unit is pretty popular: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219021

Most folks either go that route, or a case with a lot of 5.25" bays (Antec 900 /1200, CM Stacker, etc) and use gizmos like this to turn the 5.25" bays into 3.5" bays. In either case, you get the added benefit of hot swap. With hot swap, you also gain the ability to permanently tuck away cables, as you no longer have to disconnect a cable to change a drive.
 
Stackers with hatswap bays, as Adidas said, and Lian Li V2000 series, as you found. Some of the big Silverstones would work too.
 
I'm a firm convert to the Norco camp, you can remove the handles, set it on its side and it's smaller than a TJ07 (my old WHS case). Cheaper to.
 
I already have the Norco. I am looking for a second unit in a more upright tower configuration. I haven't seen anything particularly tempting except for the Lian Li linked in the top post. Everything else seems so 5.25"-oriented.

It looks like the stacker would handle 14 3.5" drives using two 5-in-3 trays? (It also looks like it would fit a third tray for up to 19 drives, but then no optical.) Hmm.
 
Lian Li PC-A70B with an EX-34B will get you a full tower with 14 3.5inch HDD bays.

Or this Chieftec with 2x Coolermaster 4in3 racks will get you 16 HDD bays in a full tower. And you could add another 3 or 4 bays in front of the top fan with a little modding.
 
I've got a Lian Li V2000B Plus (12 internal) with 2 Supermicro hotswap 5 into3 bays. That's 22 drives. The thing gives me back pains just thinking about moving it, lol.
 
i love my sharkoon rebel 12 ( i think iCute int eh US) its technically got room for ~24HDDS
 
for high density tower lian li v2010 or v2110 comes in mind
8x 3.5 + 7x 5.25 ... in case of simple 4in3 bays, its 16hdds + dvdrom
with 5in3 or 3in2 you can bump it to 17 or 18

for myself im using chiftec way with two 4in3 bays ... the best and cheapest way howto score 16drive case
 
I've got a CM Stacker 810 with 4x 5-in-3 cages for a max capacity of 20 drives. I've got 17 drives in it currently.
 
You could do a Antec 1200 with (4) 5-in-3 adapters for 20 HDD's, no optical though. You'd also have to bend down the tabs for each of the 5.25 bays.

It's going to be hard to get the same storage density of rackmount in tower form.
 
I would just grab a norco, remove the handles, and set it on its side...its essentially the same thing
You could buy a slim slot loading DVD drive and replace all the fans with quiet ones, and it will still be cheaper than a CM stacker or Antec 1200 plus 5in3 adapters.

Thats kind of the reason that a lot of us have moved to rackmount is because by the time you buy the hotswap adapters you could already have a case with 20 hotswap drives.
 
nitrobass24 said:
I would just grab a norco, remove the handles, and set it on its side...its essentially the same thing
You could buy a slim slot loading DVD drive and replace all the fans with quiet ones, and it will still be cheaper than a CM stacker or Antec 1200 plus 5in3 adapters.

Thats kind of the reason that a lot of us have moved to rackmount is because by the time you buy the hotswap adapters you could already have a case with 20 hotswap drives.
Click to expand...

Bingo.
 
Just get a cheap 9-10x5.25" bay mini tower and put 5 in 3 drive bays in it.
=15 drves + DVD! :)
 
King of density? Supermicro SC216A and SC216E2.
http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/2U/216/SC216A-R900U.cfm
16 2.5" hotswap SAS bays in 2U. That gives you 48 bays in 6U, beating out...

.. the Chenbro RM91250, in second place.
http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?sku=45
48 3.5" hotswap SAS bays in 9U, plus two independent SAS hotswap for OS RAID1.

Third place goes to the AIC RSC-8ED.
http://www.aicipc.com/ProductDetail.aspxXXXXXXXRSC-8ED-0Q1
40 3.5" hotswap bays in 8U.
 
If you can get a rocketfish case it will hold 8 hard drives as is and you can add 2 cooler master 4-3 cages for $20 more. That nets you 16 hard drives in 1 case for under $150 at most.
 
nitrobass24 said:
I would just grab a norco, remove the handles, and set it on its side...its essentially the same thing
Click to expand...

There is still the issue of depth... the Norco is a good 3-5+ inches deeper than other cases. I would've preferred to have bought one but it wasn't feasible with where I needed to put it. :(

Certainly not an issue for all (or probably even most) people but still worth keeping in mind.
 
rhouck said:
There is still the issue of depth... the Norco is a good 3-5+ inches deeper than other cases. I would've preferred to have bought one but it wasn't feasible with where I needed to put it. :(

Certainly not an issue for all (or probably even most) people but still worth keeping in mind.
Click to expand...

No I realize its not the one-size fits all solution
But its damn close

For what you get for your money with the Norco its just impossible not to reccomend it when it comes to high density storage
 
for the price of 5 in 3 bays along with the case, isnt it more cost effective to just go with the norco?


5in3 * $100 + $100 case = $400. +$100 for an additional 5in3 enclosure.
 
That's pretty expensive for a piece of metal.

I'd pay at most 16 dollars, not the $29 that they're charging. Probably also really noisy, acoustically, with a couple of drives simply just screwed in to it.
 
veritas7 said:
That's pretty expensive for a piece of metal.

I'd pay at most 16 dollars, not the $29 that they're charging. Probably also really noisy, acoustically, with a couple of drives simply just screwed in to it.
Click to expand...

not to mention, there's no possibility of just pulling a single failed drive and hot-swapping it....you'd have to power down the entire machine to remove the entire drive rack, then unscrew the screws holding the single drive that failed, replace it with another one & screw those screws back in, then re-mount the entire drive rack, then power the machine back up. :eek: :eek: :eek:

no thanks....i'll spend the extra money and be able to quickly/easily swap out just a single drive by pulling the hot-swap tray while the machine stays running......
 
I agree. Thank goodness I found another Lian Li V2000 case for sale, its hard drive bays are essentially hotswap, or at least the most accessible drive bays I've experienced for a full tower case.

Lian Lis are always worth the money.
 
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