Looking for 5x 3.5" exposed in a case.

M76

M76

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Yeah, that's what I need. Sounds strange I know, but bear with me.
I need it for these.

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It's a rugged hot swappable 2.5 drive enclosure, for enterprise/industrial use. And obviously I need five of these in one PC.

Since these come with 5.25 adapters it's possible to use a case with 5x5.25 bays, but it would be a waste of space.

Since the point of the whole build is to be able to transfer the data from these external drives the fastest possible way. I also need the case to be able to house some sort of SSD Raid configuration internally in addition to the exposed bays.

Drive bays that transform 2x5.25 bays into 3x3.5 would be good too, but those are for hard disks and not exposed.

Any ideas?
 
The enclosures are a given. They can't be replaced. Five of these are already integrated into our hardware that logs data to five drives simultaneously. They need to be bulletproof, these are certified for 20.000+ insertions. And also cost a fortune around $300 a piece last I checked.
 
Since the point of the whole build is to be able to transfer the data from these external drives the fastest possible way. I also need the case to be able to house some sort of SSD Raid configuration internally in addition to the exposed bays.
Click to expand...

I assume the system drives that you are transferring the data to are also a raid of SSDs. And that you are transferring GB sized files? Otherwise I do not see the point of raiding the external drives you gain nothing over individual drives if the files are small.
 
drescherjm said:
I assume the system drives that you are transferring the data to are also a raid of SSDs. And that you are transferring GB sized files? Otherwise I do not see the point of raiding the external drives you gain nothing over individual drives if the files are small.
Click to expand...

The external drives are individual SSDs or HDDs, non-raid. With both large and small files. From 5MB to a few GBs. The plan is to transfer these files to a RAID of SSD drives. RAID is not neccesarily for performance, but to have enough storage space. We're transferring data from five 500gig drives, and there aren't any 3TB SSDs out there last I checked. I'd also like a system that can hold at least 4-5 sets of the data so roughly 10TB range. (the drives are never completely filled up) And if I'd use HDDs it would kill the whole point of the build since I could only copy one drive at a time then. That I could do with a single enclosure as well.
 
Depending on how the case you are using is set up, you could get a Lian Li hdd cage and just remove the fan, and modify the grill so it has an opening for the hot swap bays. You could probably do that with just about any 3x 5.25 to 3.5 x4 drive cage that has an integrated front cover and is not hot swap. Lian Li is the only one that makes one like that that comes to mind.

The cages themselves are about $40 + shipping new
 
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M76 said:
Yeah, that's what I need. Sounds strange I know, but bear with me.
I need it for these.

thumbnail.php


It's a rugged hot swappable 2.5 drive enclosure, for enterprise/industrial use. And obviously I need five of these in one PC.

Since these come with 5.25 adapters it's possible to use a case with 5x5.25 bays, but it would be a waste of space.

Since the point of the whole build is to be able to transfer the data from these external drives the fastest possible way. I also need the case to be able to house some sort of SSD Raid configuration internally in addition to the exposed bays.

Drive bays that transform 2x5.25 bays into 3x3.5 would be good too, but those are for hard disks and not exposed.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
That hot swap enclosure may take 2.5" drives, but the rest of the enclosure wrapping around it fits in a 3.5" drive bay which in turn can fit into a 5.25" bay with the adapter I see attached to it. If you assume you need an adapter to fit multiple 3.5" drives into 5.25" drive slots, very few options come up. Almost every adapter out there is a single 3.5" drive to 5.25" bay, exactly like the one you showed attached to the hot-swap enclosure.

You could use something like this:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=71_212_960&products_id=30592
But that is a 4-in-3 adapter, 4x3.5" drives in 3x5.25" space. That means you would still have to use another 5.25" bay to fit all 5 drives thus necessitating a case with 4 exposed 5.25" bays. You may or may not have to fabricate a piece to fit in the remaining space. Then what if you need an optical drive too? At that point you are still looking at getting one of the big cases making it pointless to buy adapters in the first place. Many of those large cases already have 4 to 6 front 5.25" bays.

The only other thing I can come up with is a Tray-less 5-in-3 module that you pull the hot swap electronics out of. Like this one. But that's a pain in the ass, and as expensive as a case by itself.

If you could use other 2.5" -5.25" adapters, you could squeeze 4x2.5" drives in 1x5.25" space. Since your hotswaps are 2.5" drives going into a 3.5" enclosures that limits what possibilities you have.


The simplest solution is still getting a case with 5, 5.25" bays in the front. No need to modify a case or come up with a different hot swap enclosure.

I'm fairly certain any one of these cases will fit your needs (ignore the re-direct to Amazon that may mess up, newegg link is a list of cases):
Rosewill Thor V2
CoolerMaster Haf 932
CoolerMaster Haf X
Zalman MS800
Cougar Evolution
Fractal Design Arc XL

If you need something less "gamer" for an office environment I recommend the Zalman and Fractal.
 
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