Storage server case with good HDD capacity + center of gravity

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sphinx99

[H]ard|Gawd
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Dec 23, 2006
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I’m looking to transition my storage server to a new system. The previous few iterations bounced between 4u racks (Norco and the like) and super tower cases with gobs of bays up front (think Antec 1200). A few years ago I “downsized” to a Fractal Node 804 which though limited to 8 bays, was much smaller and for the first time seemed to put the drives closer to the center of gravity, resulting in something that wasn’t ridiculously front-heavy.

So... fast forward a few years and I’d like to start redoing this setup (need more storage etc.) I’d like to expand the number of 3.5” bays I have closer to ~12, but I don’t want to go back to an extremely deep (Norco) or tall (EATX tower with 12 bays up front) setup that’s super front heavy. Any suggestions on something more cuboid like the Fractal, but perhaps a bit larger more expandable?

I’d like to have a ATX case if possible (the 804 MATX was somewhat limiting in terms of MB choices with ECC etc.) but otherwise I’m open to options.
 
Have you considered doing 5.25" bay conversions? Plenty of options out there to convert 3 x 5.25" into 5 x 3.5". I know that does not fix the front heavy-ness you are looking to avoid, but could allow you to cram more HDDs in some of these enclosures.

Something like the Antec 300 gives you 6 internal 3.5" plus with the space to drop in the 3 to 5 conversion to allow a total of 11 drives.
 
Yes, my Antec 1200 based setup was exactly this way. I hated how front heavy it was. Hence the post.
 
This one? 12 sata hot swap bays, got mine for under 100 a while ago. Good server case...with modifications. Tossed the old crappy 12cm fans, added my own and an external rheobus fan controller (remember those?) after the mods the case runs cool and at a quiet DB level.
 
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