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Raid 5 Case Suggestions?

pyrodex

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 12, 2004
Messages
105
I am looking for a Case that will be able to house 8 drives for a raid 5 card. Looking for something under 300 if possible. I am using a 3ware raid card so the IDE cables will have to reach below the PCI card so I am looking for something that is basically ALL 5 1/4" drive bays... or anyone with suggestions for a case that has a good number of internal 3 1/2" drive containers would be welcomed. Someone had a case up here the other day that was like 8 or 10 5 1/4" drive bays and was a mid tower or just slightly larger than that.
 
You could even do it with a mid-tower. Just get one of these:

http://servercase.com/miva/miva?/Me...roduct_Code=BR-IDE35&Category_Code=ATA100/133

It takes 3 5.25" bays but handles 5 out of the 8 drives. Many mid-tower cases have room for 3 3.5" hard drives anyway, so you'll be set.

By the way, if that hotswap enclosure is too expensive, here is an alternative:

http://www.stayonline.com/internal_chassis_brackets/5445.asp

If you search futher, you could probably find a 5-drive version as well, or make one.
 
I think i found a good one that has enough internal 3 1/2". Its a little more than I want to pay but with this I do not have to buy IDE HDD 5 1/4" Racks. for the bays.

Lian-Li PC626



Review
 
Actually the PC-626 is old, the PC-78 replaced it and for 95 bucks over my 300 limit it aint a bad deal.
 
Get one of the U2-UFO cases from mountainmods.com. They can handle 9 hard drives in one stack internally. Its the case I'm using for my 8 drive array and 1 boot drive. Also they have a ton of room inside and great cooling. You can pick up a plain case for complete with fans for $340. Trust me they are worth it.
 
Originally posted by brycejones
Get one of the U2-UFO cases from mountainmods.com. They can handle 9 hard drives in one stack internally. Its the case I'm using for my 8 drive array and 1 boot drive. Also they have a ton of room inside and great cooling. You can pick up a plain case for complete with fans for $340. Trust me they are worth it.

That is a nice case. The only issue I would have is making sure my IDE cables are long enough. Does anyone know any company selling rounded IDE cables of 24IN and 36IN length that has only one device connection (not 2)?
 
This may sound cheesy, but if brand isn't important to you, I'd suggest looking at compgeeks . They have a few no-PSU cases that can handle a whole load of hard drives . Here's one that actually looks pretty decent, has 7 x 3.5" internal spots and 4 5.25" ones. It's only $22.50 + shipping.

<runs as he sees the tide of "that's a terrible case" posts coming>
 
Thing only thing about those cheap cases is that usually the front intakes stink (no airflow). An 8 drive array gets pretty hot without enough cooling.
 
I found them finally! All day searching and finally came across IDE cables that are round and have just one device and bigger than 18in.

CablesAmerica

They have 24in and 36in IDE round cables for 7.17$ a pop. Thats a killer deal IMHO.
 
You DO know that those cables are out of spec, right? It might not spell eternal doom for your hard drives, but do use them at your own risk...
 
Originally posted by xonik
You DO know that those cables are out of spec, right? It might not spell eternal doom for your hard drives, but do use them at your own risk...

How is that out of spec? I thought cables below 40 inches were still in spec? No matter how many IDE connections it had or not.
 
18 inches is spec. With the small size of the wires in the ribbon cable, the potential for interference, the clock speed, and the amount of data, eighteen inches is the longest length cable with guaranteed data integrity.

You may (and probably will) get away with longer cables, but you're taking a calculated risk. The worst that can happen is data corruption--there's no risk to your hardware.
 
Wow, you really seem to downplay data corruption. I mean, drives are replaceable, but is your personal data?
 
Wow, you really seem to downplay data corruption. I mean, drives are replaceable, but is your personal data?

You have a good point--I assumed that this would be a fresh install and everything. Data corruption due to long cables should show up fairly early. Daily or weekly backups are a good thing. Maybe just because I've lost all my data so many times I've lost the sensitivity I once had to data loss!
 
Originally posted by Teancum
Maybe just because I've lost all my data so many times I've lost the sensitivity I once had to data loss!
Heh, could be!
 
Originally posted by pyrodex
I found them finally! All day searching and finally came across IDE cables that are round and have just one device and bigger than 18in.

CablesAmerica

They have 24in and 36in IDE round cables for 7.17$ a pop. Thats a killer deal IMHO.

I don't know if you already have the Controller and drive but if you're buying them as well, you might wanna switch to SATA for longer cables and easier cable management

3Ware makes 8 and even 12 Drives SATA RAID 5 controllers
http://www.3ware.com/products/serial_ata8000.asp
 
Originally posted by biomods
I don't know if you already have the Controller and drive but if you're buying them as well, you might wanna switch to SATA for longer cables and easier cable management

3Ware makes 8 and even 12 Drives SATA RAID 5 controllers
http://www.3ware.com/products/serial_ata8000.asp

I was going to get a PATA 3ware card since I have PATA drives but after hearing the 18inch comments i was thinking of getting PATA to SATA converters for all the drives.
 
I used a big AOpen HX800 for my RAID5 server:

svr1.jpg
 
Originally posted by PS-RagE
I used a big AOpen HX800 for my RAID5 server:

svr1.jpg

Holy shit thats nice. Looks like you are using cables longer than 18in... any issues with data? I thought about using all hot swap bays but I could not find a good size case with 9-10 5 1/4in bays. 9 would do (8 drives + DVDROM).
 
This is driving me crazy with the case... anyone happen to have a Lian-Li PC76 or PC78 (Non SCA version) that could measure from the part of the case where the PCI/AGP slots are to the drive cages for the case? I am trying to get a idea if I should go and get SATA converters and use SATA cable or if 18inch single device IDE Cables are good enough. I am afraid of data corruption...
 
Originally posted by pyrodex
Holy shit thats nice. Looks like you are using cables longer than 18in... any issues with data? I thought about using all hot swap bays but I could not find a good size case with 9-10 5 1/4in bays. 9 would do (8 drives + DVDROM).

This case is long, rather than tall. All the cables are to spec. That said however, in my big purple beast, I have 36" cables for a RAID0 array and have never had a problem.
 
I was going about this all the wrong way.. I was thinking harder and not smarter.. Well I own a PC70 which is basically the PC76 but like 2x the width. So I took a spare 18inch floppy cable and it was more than enough room so 18inches will work. That is good since my vendor sent me like 10 free rounded IDE 18inch cables the other day.
 
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