See here:

 

Many hardware stores will have them.

I've used 3m double sided VHB tape for anything I can think of. It is all weather and sticks to anything. VERY strong stuff and easy to work with. I have 25LB speakers floating under my TV using that stuff. It is very nice to have in a shop or if you are always messing with stuff.

 

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Industrial/Adhesives/Product/Bonding-Tapes/VHB-Tape/

 

 

 

Did some looking around for the cards.

 

http://www.sierra-cables.com/Adapters/SATA.aspx

http://www.oocities.com/scsiway/sataesata.htm

http://www.sportslinkup.com/shop/0-Sata-backplane-1-LOWEST.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/317482757-SAS-HDD-TO-SATA-SAS-Serial-Attached-SCSI-Hot-Swap-Backplane-Adapter-wholesalers.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/378981752-SAS-TO-TWO-SATA-ADAPTER-wholesalers.html

 

Did anyone get out of the dreaming phase with this kind of project?  I only ask because this thread got me itching to try my hand at building something.

Backblaze had an updated server blog and listed the company to get the backplanes from. It was $49 for 9 of them. I'd persue buying them and then making or modifying a smaller case to fit 4 of those backplanes.

 

Personally, I'd have one of the CAD guys at work modify the Backblaze server box smaller for a mini-ITX system and 4 of those backplanes to make for a high density compact enclosure.

 

Peter

Work plans on buying one of these next year. I think I was told the 135TB build that came with all the drives and hardware for 7,000

 

I'll take photos and share them. LOL

Backblaze had an updated server blog and listed the company to get the backplanes from. It was $49 for 9 of them. I'd persue buying them and then making or modifying a smaller case to fit 4 of those backplanes.

 

Personally, I'd have one of the CAD guys at work modify the Backblaze server box smaller for a mini-ITX system and 4 of those backplanes to make for a high density compact enclosure.

 

Peter

 

Maybe we should collaborate.  I have a similar desire to make a 10 -12 drive box based on the Backblaze Pod 2.0.  The biggest problem I've encountered in my many napkin sketches is where to put the PSU.  So I'm thinking about going pico PSU with an external brick... http://www.mini-box.com/Power-Supplies-Kits, but I don't know how the extra power maps to 5v and 12v from the brick, so I'm not sure that would be enough power for 12 green drives and an i3 SM board.  I'm sure someone can shoot the numbers for me and tell me it's a pipe dream.    I have some other ideas for motherboard placement as well.  Basically, I'm wanting to turn this into a Monster HP Microserver, using Backblaze's ingenious drive loading design.

The PicoPSU brick is just a 12V brick. You'd have to use a few of the power supplies to get the necessary voltages.

 

Look at the pictures on the original Backblaze Pod blog. You can see how they have a PS above the motherboard. I'd take that section of the case and keep a single expansion slot to fit an ITX board. Then, I'd just cut the drive side down to only hold 4 of the backplane cards in a 2 x 2 grid.

 

If you wanted to keep the case the rack width then cut off the drive side to leave it 3 cards wide and 1 card deep, move the motherboard and above mounted PS over into the spot where the second PS is and then put a 4th backplane card beside the motherboard.

 

In the end, it doesn't matter because getting a custom made case would be more expensive than a Norco. So, the only way cheaper is to find a cheap, suitable case (likely rackmount), mount those backplanes on the floor and then get a couple of metal or plastic plates lasered or water jetted out to hold the drives in place. Or else buy those backplanes and then make a wooden case for everything.

 

I also just realized the backplanes are $47 each. They list "available in a qty of 9 for $47" but when you look at their prices they list $41 each and $369 total. So, it's really not feasible to use them for a ~20 drive build.

 

Peter

The PicoPSU brick is just a 12V brick. You'd have to use a few of the power supplies to get the necessary voltages.

 

That's what I thought.  I just didn't know enough about them to be sure, so thanks for clarifying.  Obviously using multiples isn't a viable solution, especially when you consider how much one of those costs.

 

In the end, it doesn't matter because getting a custom made case would be more expensive than a Norco. So, the only way cheaper is to find a cheap, suitable case (likely rackmount), mount those backplanes on the floor and then get a couple of metal or plastic plates lasered or water jetted out to hold the drives in place. Or else buy those backplanes and then make a wooden case for everything.

 

I also just realized the backplanes are $47 each. They list "available in a qty of 9 for $47" but when you look at their prices they list $41 each and $369 total. So, it's really not feasible to use them for a ~20 drive build.

 

I assumed this would be more expensive by around double or more than a Norco solution.  But frankly, I haven't been satisfied with any pedestrian towers out there, and I don't want a full on rackmount case either.  So I'm going boutique style.  I gave serious consideration to wood for my first go around.  The only issue is that the thickness throws off any re-use of templates I might use for wood construction.

Great project, I definitely look forward to the results.

 

I wonder if someone could make their own ghetto 'backplanes' by strapping together a few of these SATA power/data combo cables:

 

 

I expect the main issue would be getting them to be sturdy enough as a unit to support hot swapping a drive.

 

I gave this some thought - how to make a home made backplane - when building my new rig.  I did a lot of searching and found no reusable plans for such a project.  I tried to come up with something myself, but concluded designing/building a sliding mechanism for mounting the drives (trayless or trayed), within the tight tolerance to slide into a rigidly mounted sata and power adapter, was beyond my skills.

 

In searching I found some ideas about using a dissassembled DVD drive to build a cage, and actually build a 5 in 3 that works ok and took only a little effort / ingenuity, but it is far from hot swappable.

I gave this some thought - how to make a home made backplane - when building my new rig.  I did a lot of searching and found no reusable plans for such a project.  I tried to come up with something myself, but concluded designing/building a sliding mechanism for mounting the drives (trayless or trayed), within the tight tolerance to slide into a rigidly mounted sata and power adapter, was beyond my skills.

 

That's part of what I like about the Backblaze solution.  Using gravity to hold the drives in the backplane sockets is clever, and if the airflow is directed from front to back, or side to side, like they do, then the drives will get plenty of cooling.

Norco sells the backplanes they use in their SS-300, 400, and 500 drive cages:

 

Only $11 plus shipping.  Might be helpful to some.

they also sell the 4020 an 4224 backplanes for $50. i bet you can get them cheaper in bulk.

 

Honestly... for a home build, i would just drop the hard drives into the case with the connectors "up" and runpower/sata wires to each drive. it would save a ton of time and material cost.

 

You can do some sort of cable management with just zip ties and keep it looking nice.

 

if you are using a SAS expander for this build. just get some nice breakout cables  in various length and be done with it.

 

 

Looks like these would be fairly easy to assemble a backplane with. At $6.99 a pop.

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7634/cab-120/Silverstone_CP05_Hot_Swappable_Sata_II_Cable.html

Looks like these would be fairly easy to assemble a backplane with. At $6.99 a pop.

Nice find!  That's actually for the Raven series cases, right?  I have one at work, so now I'm starting to hatch a plan... 

Looks like these would be fairly easy to assemble a backplane with. At $6.99 a pop.

Nice find!  That's actually for the Raven series cases, right?  I have one at work, so now I'm starting to hatch a plan... 

 

No, I have raven 2 and that thing is not in my case.

Have you seen these?

 

http://www.corsair.com/obsidian-series-800d-sata-6gbps-upgrade-kit.html

 

cheap enough.

Have you seen these?

 

http://www.corsair.com/obsidian-series-800d-sata-6gbps-upgrade-kit.html

 

cheap enough.

 

Certainly is cheap!  What's on the back of it though?  I'm not sure how it connects to the rest of the system.

Have you seen these?

 

http://www.corsair.com/obsidian-series-800d-sata-6gbps-upgrade-kit.html

 

cheap enough.

 

Certainly is cheap!  What's on the back of it though?  I'm not sure how it connects to the rest of the system.

 

Have a look on this work log of a G5 mod, this guy made his own hdd rack using one,

 

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=26083

Certainly is cheap!  What's on the back of it though?  I'm not sure how it connects to the rest of the system.

 

That absolutely looks like the ticket!  If I'm correct, this page shows the reverse of that board: http://www.corsair.com/blog/upgrading-the-800d-to-a-sata3-backplane

 

Front:

 

Back:

 

I may think about making my own Backblaze-ish chassis...

Nice!  That looks like just the thing for a backblaze-style build.  Good luck!

I have AutoCAD skills and can draw in 2D pretty easily from detailed plans with dimensions.

 

Here's something I drew last Fall in a mechanical design class.