June 17, 201115 yr Is anyone running the 590 with three 3x5 cages? I'm looking specifically at the Norco SS-500 or similar. Also, is anyone running a rackmounted case vertically? It's about the same price for a Norco rack as three 3x5 cages. Unfortunatly I don't have run for the case to be horizontal. I'm trying to decide between the two. Thanks! Jason
June 17, 201115 yr Woah there cowboy, you are blazing new territory here. Just kidding. A CM 590 with three 5-in-3 cages is one of the most popular designs in the unRAID community. The CM 590 cases are very difficult to find these days, so I hope you have one already. You will have to flatten the tabs dividing the 5.25" bays. I recommend using a C-clamp (a very deep one is needed). The Norco SS-500 drive cages will work fine, and they are my favorites of the various offerings. You can also run a Norco rackmount case on its side, I've done just that. However, you will have to place it on a surface (such as a table, or cinder blocks) that allows the edge to hang off. It will not sit flat on the ground, and you don't want to run your HDDs at funny angles. Also keep in mind that the Norco cases are far longer than tower cases, so even if running it on its side helps minimize the footprint, it might still be too long for the space you have. The dimensions are: Norco 4224/4220: 25.5" x 19.0" x 7.0" CM 590: (W) 8.27 x (H) 17.32 x (D) 20.08 You might also be able to remove the front panel and handles on the Norco rackmount cases to get them to sit flat on their side, but I haven't tried that myself.
June 17, 201115 yr Author Woah there cowboy, you are blazing new territory here. Just kidding. A CM 590 with three 5-in-3 cages is one of the most popular designs in the unRAID community. The CM 590 cases are very difficult to find these days, so I hope you have one already. You will have to flatten the tabs dividing the 5.25" bays. I recommend using a C-clamp (a very deep one is needed). The Norco SS-500 drive cages will work fine, and they are my favorites of the various offerings. You can also run a Norco rackmount case on its side, I've done just that. However, you will have to place it on a surface (such as a table, or cinder blocks) that allows the edge to hang off. It will not sit flat on the ground, and you don't want to run your HDDs at funny angles. Also keep in mind that the Norco cases are far longer than tower cases, so even if running it on its side helps minimize the footprint, it might still be too long for the space you have. The dimensions are: Norco 4224/4220: 25.5" x 19.0" x 7.0" CM 590: (W) 8.27 x (H) 17.32 x (D) 20.08 You might also be able to remove the front panel and handles on the Norco rackmount cases to get them to sit flat on their side, but I haven't tried that myself. Thanks for the awesome reply! I do already have a CM 590, and it looks like three 3x5's is going to be the way to go! Thanks again!
June 21, 201115 yr My Centurion 590 with 3 x XX500 5 in 3's ,, I ordered them from Xcase.co.uk and they are Norco SS500 lookalikes,rebranded, clones. http://www.xcase.co.uk/hotswap-stoarge-kit-p/hddkit-xx-500.htm http://www.dumpyourphoto.com/files2/64076/IvwJesbZn8C.jpg
June 22, 201115 yr Author Awesome! I can't wait, they should be getting here today! I'm not sure if I will be able to wait until the weekend to get everything wired.
June 30, 201115 yr Author To get the cages to fit into the case, did you guys cut off or bend the metal tabs where the HD/CD/DVDRom sits on?
June 30, 201115 yr To get the cages to fit into the case, did you guys cut off or bend the metal tabs where the HD/CD/DVDRom sits on? Yezz,, i did,, With the case still empty i first tried to bend them, but a NO GO for me and my limited set of tools. then i tried with a big metal file,,(is that the right word?) to get rid of all the metal tabs,, but 30 minutes later , a sore hand and only 5 tabs further :-( i gave up. Went to the garage with the case and took my smallest angle grinder and carefully got rid of all of them within minutes. In the picture you see that in some places the metal got a little hot and has a different color.
July 3, 201115 yr Author Just wanted to post a small update. I had to buy an angel grinder thanks to Rembro's suggestion, my dremel could not fit. It took me about an hour to grind down the tabs as I've never used an angel grinder before (lots of fun!) I hooked everything back up and it's worked perfectly! It's a bit louder than I thought it would be but hey, I have more fans in there now and it's better cooling. Can't complain! Thanks! Edit: 2 things, I can't seem to get the hard drive in slot A for the middle and bottom cages, all the others fit fine, any ideas? To the above point, seems like the mounting screws were in the way of the hard drive? Took them out and it went in....weird? Looks like the screws I used (same as the other cages) were too long? Too sum up the above issue, the hitachi 2tb drive is a tiny bit (prob 1mm-2mm) thicker than the disk in the top slot A, found some shorter screws and the drive fits now. Though the cage now has about .5mm of wiggle room since the screws do not tighten all the way. also Forgot to ask, there is a blue light in the top right corner of each drive, what's that light for? I only have the only in slot E on, the others don't glow blue.
July 3, 201115 yr :-) a lot of DIY'ing with UnRaid, but i've never been happy'er with a NAS. About the screws: In each box with a 5 in 3 cage from X-Case i got 2 little plastic bags with at least 30 of perfectly fitting tiny screws to fit for those hard-drive bays. didn't you got those with your Norco's? For the standard fans of my X-CASE KIT-XX500 : (Can't speak for the Norco's) They are one the edge of beying LOUD: high RPM fans with really good airflow; they kept my WD20EARS steady on 28C Celsius , even with parity check or pre-clearing. (standard fans are from GAO NONG MOTORS CHINA - DC Brushless model GNF802512HS DC12V 0.26A ) But they are too loud for me , so i changed them with a 80mm NF-R8 Noctua (Easy to swap) Really Quiet but not so steady and low in temp. anymore. normal progress , between 32 and 34 with peaks to 38, and when parity checking for hours then they can rise up to 42c. I'm thinking of changing the backplate to make a 92mm fan possible with a Dremel. I have a couple of HP 92mm case fans with 4 pin PWN laying around. (HP P/N 392185-001 ) for connecting directly to the supermicro mainbord. (the C2SEE has 3 , 4 pins PWN fan connectors just at the right places for these hotswap cages) About the LED's: Each hard-drive bay has a (left) green and (right) blue LED: The green ones are permanent on, ( all 5 ) and the blue one's blink showing hard-drive activity. ( all 5 ) All the drive-bays in my top cage are filled with hard-drives.
July 7, 201114 yr Just wanted to post a small update. I had to buy an angel grinder thanks to Rembro's suggestion, my dremel could not fit. It took me about an hour to grind down the tabs as I've never used an angel grinder before (lots of fun!) I hooked everything back up and it's worked perfectly! It's a bit louder than I thought it would be but hey, I have more fans in there now and it's better cooling. Can't complain! Thanks! Edit: 2 things, I can't seem to get the hard drive in slot A for the middle and bottom cages, all the others fit fine, any ideas? To the above point, seems like the mounting screws were in the way of the hard drive? Took them out and it went in....weird? Looks like the screws I used (same as the other cages) were too long? Too sum up the above issue, the hitachi 2tb drive is a tiny bit (prob 1mm-2mm) thicker than the disk in the top slot A, found some shorter screws and the drive fits now. Though the cage now has about .5mm of wiggle room since the screws do not tighten all the way. also Forgot to ask, there is a blue light in the top right corner of each drive, what's that light for? I only have the only in slot E on, the others don't glow blue. Attach your hard drives to the tray with the supplied small very flat head screws. They almost go in completely flat and that is so the next hard drive/tray doesn't get hooked up on the screw head. Unaware of that, it happened to me too.
July 7, 201114 yr Author Yup yup, I found the issue, the case screws I was using to hold the cages into my case are a tiny bit long for the Hitachi 2TB HD, used a couple of shorter screws and all is well Even though the fans kinda sounds like crickets chirping if I really listen
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