Post your fileserver's enclosure

I

idea

Gawd
Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Messages
615
Athena Power CA-SWH01B Pedestal Server Case
chassis_CA_SWH01B.jpg



I bought this a few years ago and still use it. I like it cause it's big and heavy (1.2mm metal), and came with two 4-in-3 hotswap enclosures. It's decently quiet, the exhaust fan is 120mm but the two fans on the rear of the backplane is 80mm.

I can't decide if I want to go smaller with a cube-like case, or just go all out and build out a rackmountable enclosure so I can have use a 12U mini rack frame as a piece of furniture like this guy: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=41918
 
K0000147628.jpg


mobo: MSI 785GTM-E45
cpu: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 840 Processor
case: Lian Li PC-V354R
PSU: XIGMATEK ACXTNRP-PC502 500W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
ram: 4gig ddr-2 800mhz
Controller: LSI 9211-8i
NIC: (1)-Intel PCI-E 1x 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps + (1) Intel PCI 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps
HD: (1) Corsair 32gb refub SSD boot drive + (8)-SAMSUNG HD103SJ 1TB drives

Run pretty cool :cool:
 
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Obligatory ;)

rpc4220ff.jpg


Currently has 8x2TB RAID 6 (media), and 2x2TB (ESXi VMs). Will be adding 8x3TB when the other RAID 6 fills up in a few months...
 
Lian-Li PC-Q08
6x2TB storage, 1x40GB OS, 1xOptical
IMG_2267.JPG


Next to my old file server
IMG_2273.JPG
 
raiderj said:
Lian-Li PC-Q08
6x2TB storage, 1x40GB OS, 1xOptical
IMG_2267.JPG


Next to my old file server
IMG_2273.JPG
Click to expand...

Nice, I like your style. I unfortunately couldn't use these enclosures. They are limited to Mini-ITX boards and I am always needing more horsepower and features than those usually provide (IPMI, ECC memory, 1 or 2 memory slots, etc)
 
idea said:
Nice, I like your style. I unfortunately couldn't use these enclosures. They are limited to Mini-ITX boards and I am always needing more horsepower and features than those usually provide (IPMI, ECC memory, 1 or 2 memory slots, etc)
Click to expand...

Thanks! My goal was to maximize my power to weight ratio if you will. My old server is an Atom board with a PCI RAID 5 card - which worked great for what it was. New setup runs ZFS and screams performance wise compared to the old setup not to mention 5x the storage space.
 
CHIEFTEC CA-01B-B-SL-OP
3637.jpg
ohije----chieftec-ca-01b-b-sl-op.jpg


& my own nas in that case: going to get updated soon:
nas1.jpg


3,5 inch, internal 8
3,5 inch, external 2
5.25inch, external 6
-> can easely hold 16 drives. very sturdy & pretty cheap case
 
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raiderj said:
Lian-Li PC-Q08
6x2TB storage, 1x40GB OS, 1xOptical
IMG_2267.JPG


Next to my old file server


kyoko said:
CHIEFTEC CA-01B-B-SL-OP


& my own nas in that case: going to get updated soon:


3,5 inch, internal 8
3,5 inch, external 2
5.25inch, external 6
-> can easely hold 16 drives. very sturdy & pretty cheap case
Click to expand...

kyoko, the only thing i don't lke about your case, is no fans blowing air over the hdd's to keep them cool. :(

raiderj, that is a super slick case & setup, very nice job :)
Click to expand...
 
raiderj said:
IMG_2267.JPG

]
Click to expand...

That is a truly magnificent case! You make me want to run out and buy one. In fact, I'm heading out to the computer centers to look for similar cases. Just curious, how many watts does it uses? Electricity is very expensive here. My electricity bill is about $300 each month. I need to conserve as much power as possible.

btw, I really like the power cord for the 6 hard disks...just the right length. What make and model is the power supply? I assume the power cord comes with the power supply?
 
iTwins said:
That is a truly magnificent case! You make me want to run out and buy one. In fact, I'm heading out to the computer centers to look for similar cases. Just curious, how many watts does it uses? Electricity is very expensive here. My electricity bill is about $300 each month. I need to conserve as much power as possible.

btw, I really like the power cord for the 6 hard disks...just the right length. What make and model is the power supply? I assume the power cord comes with the power supply?
Click to expand...

I did quite of bit of searching before I settled on it, I didn't see any other cases that held that many drives for the size. It's also very quiet, if it wasn't for the obnoxious blue LED fan you'd hardly know it was on.

I posted a detailed build log on Anandtech. There's a part list several posts down.

The short cable set for the PSU came with two 3xSATA adapters. It was easy enough to remove the adapters from the cable, plug them into the hard drives, then restring the power cable across and punch them down with a screwdriver. Really helped reduce the cable clutter in my case.

Not sure how much power it draws, don't have a way to test that. I used a low power i3, so about the only way to reduce consumption would be to use something like an Atom or Zacate board. But, I didn't feel either of those were valid options since I'm running ZFS.
 
dashpuppy said:
kyoko, the only thing i don't lke about your case, is no fans blowing air over the hdd's to keep them cool. :(
Click to expand...

Actually, if you look here
img1712largee.jpg

you can see there are 3 fans blowing sideways, I even prefer it this way. Air enters & instantly leaves the case, just to cool the hard drives

guess it was hard to see on the other pics
 
Fractal design has some really nice cases like the Array R2 Mini
array2.jpg


Mini ITX with 6 harddrives -> 6 x 2tb : 10 TB usable storage in raid5.... pretty nice !
 
asgards said:
in fact, you can put way more in it
Click to expand...
Indeed ! how did you mount those drives on the top? a bit of casemodding?
atm i'm waiting for drives to add in 2 4 in 3 converters. I'll be filling up the case as well ;)
 
kyoko said:
Indeed ! how did you mount those drives on the top? a bit of casemodding?
atm i'm waiting for drives to add in 2 4 in 3 converters. I'll be filling up the case as well ;)
Click to expand...

accualy, by accident
noticed that 4in3 enclosures fans are screwd with long screws, decided to try if those 4 will hold 4drives, they did
 
raiderj said:
I did quite of bit of searching before I settled on it, I didn't see any other cases that held that many drives for the size. It's also very quiet, if it wasn't for the obnoxious blue LED fan you'd hardly know it was on.

I posted a detailed build log on Anandtech. There's a part list several posts down.

The short cable set for the PSU came with two 3xSATA adapters. It was easy enough to remove the adapters from the cable, plug them into the hard drives, then restring the power cable across and punch them down with a screwdriver. Really helped reduce the cable clutter in my case.

Not sure how much power it draws, don't have a way to test that. I used a low power i3, so about the only way to reduce consumption would be to use something like an Atom or Zacate board. But, I didn't feel either of those were valid options since I'm running ZFS.
Click to expand...

If you don't mind me saying but this is one very expensive mini itx system. Minus the $479 hard disks, this config costs almost the same as my i7-2600 8Gb system, way beyond what I was expecting. Beauty does costs $$$. :). But thanks for you i have my eyes fixed on another system that costs 1/3 yours but running on AMD E350 and using the same case. Beats the hell buying just the HDD enclosures.
 
grogthegreat said:
rmd3003: What case is that? Are there backplanes behind those hotswappable bays?
Click to expand...

It's Lian-Li PC-A77 with four Supermicro CSE-M35 mobile racks.

Lian-Li was $112 from microcenter (floor model). Two cages I've already had and bought two more from ebay (at $86 each). Love this setup for it's mobility and roominess.
 
What I used for the NAS I built at work. Because it's one of our own case designs.

CS774_02_900.jpg
 
iTwins said:
If you don't mind me saying but this is one very expensive mini itx system. Minus the $479 hard disks, this config costs almost the same as my i7-2600 8Gb system, way beyond what I was expecting. Beauty does costs $$$. :). But thanks for you i have my eyes fixed on another system that costs 1/3 yours but running on AMD E350 and using the same case. Beats the hell buying just the HDD enclosures.
Click to expand...

A Zacate or even Atom setup would have been much cheaper, but I wasn't sure how well they would run ZFS. With Llano boards upcoming, they might be a better option than either from a cost/performance perspective.
 
Silenus,

You can't just post a nice looking case like that, and not post a description of it :)

Details !
 
rmd3003 said:
It's Lian-Li PC-A77 with four Supermicro CSE-M35 mobile racks.

Lian-Li was $112 from microcenter (floor model). Two cages I've already had and bought two more from ebay (at $86 each). Love this setup for it's mobility and roominess.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed answer. I was initially thinking that the case came with all those hot swappable bays and it had me drooling. The design of those drive bays matches the design of the case perfectly like they were meant to be together.
 
dashpuppy said:
Silenus,

You can't just post a nice looking case like that, and not post a description of it :)

Details !
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't want to seem like I was selling something. The case is from the company I work for and it's our own design. We mostly are a system integrator selling whole systems but also sell just cases as well. Note that case in question does NOT include the drive carriers. It was made to simply have a bunch of open 5.25" bays. Pic shows it populated with three 5-in-3 drive carriers (Enhance Technology).

More details and lots more photos of the case here:
http://www.gtweb.net/j4615.html
 
Good quality budget case for NAS, just arround $40-50
Supports 8x3.5" + 3x5.25" ;)



 
Currently using a Thermaltake Armor case. Tonight I'll be installing CoolerMaster 4in3 bays and updating all the guts so I can run ZFS.

Pics to come later.
 
This is the one I went with:

fractal_design_define_xl_1.jpg


In a room where it's out in the open it does a good job of being pretty invisible.

Here's a link for anyone who wants to check it out.
 
This is my old case.
case6.jpg


drives01.jpg


My main rig is also my file server and runs 24/7.
it's now housed in a HAF-932 since it wouldn't have been easy to install the Corsair H60 Water Cooler in the old Cube case.
haf-932.jpg
 
I'm bumping this thread to post this bad boy: The LIAN LI PC-Z70B

My favorite features being:
  • High Thermal Performance. Three 120mm fans (front) and 120mm fan (Rear), dual 140mm fans (top) keep hot air from damaging your hardware. Removable anti-vibration fan mounting allows user to choose their fans to face left or right.
  • Supports up to nine SATA hot swap HDDs SATA hot swap HDD cage, using thumb screws with rubber suspension, supports nine 3.5" HDDs and two 2.5" HDDs (use one 3.5" HDD space).

Check that out. Very similar to the Fractal Design XL, but with Lian Li quality (and cost). My only wish was that it didn't have those 3x 5.25" at the top. Who needs those?

LianLi_PCz70b_internals.jpg
 
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