Hi all,
Mostly i like working with the smaller SFF cases and have another build to post on them - but for this project it is all about a NAS PC.
Seeing as we needed more NAS storage space and the size (amount of HDD) was known it came down to one thing - the case or chassis to use.
This build will have 12 x 2TB drives and the plan will be for that amount.
Note:
I must add that it is also very expandable as the HD's could be expanded quite easily. Another 6 can be added by using a 3rd SATA PCIe card - perhaps even 2 more as there are slots available (all x1 PCIe)
(and possibly even using the unused onboard MoBo SATA another 6 - but i dislike dissimilar "paths")
However - the case would be the limiting factor - and designing a 18 or 24 drive housing needs to be done from the beginning. So a good price vs storage ratio seemed to be 12 HD.
Now for a case to hold them using the criteria mentioned below. But the nearest suitable looking case here in ZA is the Lian Li PC-P60 or P80 - and they are not ideal either.
Main criteria:
So - working on a wine farm - what comes to mind that is hollow with lots of space?
Of course - a wine barrel or VAT. More specifically the smaller 110L ones sometimes used for small volumes of a select cultivar. The standard 250L VAT's are just too large to manhandle - then a custom chassis may be better suited.
Well - what the hey - it seemed like a better option than retrofitting a normal chassis - and with the main criteria in mind it was a "yes".
So it was back to the drawing board to see if all would fit - and how to fit the parts.
Using Sketchup to get some ideas of how to structure it i made some initial layouts to scale and it looked promising.
So i hope this is the right spot to upload some pics of the build.
Cheers,
Jan
Mostly i like working with the smaller SFF cases and have another build to post on them - but for this project it is all about a NAS PC.
Seeing as we needed more NAS storage space and the size (amount of HDD) was known it came down to one thing - the case or chassis to use.
This build will have 12 x 2TB drives and the plan will be for that amount.
Note:
I must add that it is also very expandable as the HD's could be expanded quite easily. Another 6 can be added by using a 3rd SATA PCIe card - perhaps even 2 more as there are slots available (all x1 PCIe)
(and possibly even using the unused onboard MoBo SATA another 6 - but i dislike dissimilar "paths")
However - the case would be the limiting factor - and designing a 18 or 24 drive housing needs to be done from the beginning. So a good price vs storage ratio seemed to be 12 HD.
Now for a case to hold them using the criteria mentioned below. But the nearest suitable looking case here in ZA is the Lian Li PC-P60 or P80 - and they are not ideal either.
Main criteria:
- The case must have fans blowing lots of cool air over the HDD - OK for Lian Li
- But as my two other normal chassis with Icy Dock bays show - one also needs INSULATION for/against the vibration (dampening) - not OK in the Lian Li 'case' - unless i mod/get their external cages and then it gets messy. And pricey too!
- Will it be easy to maintain and swap out drives/upgrade SW etc?
- Would the cooling and anti-vibration be achievable?
- Wood...?
So - working on a wine farm - what comes to mind that is hollow with lots of space?
Of course - a wine barrel or VAT. More specifically the smaller 110L ones sometimes used for small volumes of a select cultivar. The standard 250L VAT's are just too large to manhandle - then a custom chassis may be better suited.
Well - what the hey - it seemed like a better option than retrofitting a normal chassis - and with the main criteria in mind it was a "yes".
So it was back to the drawing board to see if all would fit - and how to fit the parts.
Using Sketchup to get some ideas of how to structure it i made some initial layouts to scale and it looked promising.
So i hope this is the right spot to upload some pics of the build.
Cheers,
Jan