Need advice on on Hot Swap cage

[p1lot]

First of all,

 

I'm very pleased that I found this great forum and that I have come across this nice little OS.

 

 

About 1 - 1,5 years ago, I have built a server for XBMC streaming purposes. I installed Ubuntu on it without a RAID setup and it ran quite well.

As 2 x 2TB disks became too small for my media archive and I didn't want to lose all my data on a HDD crash, I decided to step up the server game and go for a RAID Setup. unRAID turned out to be the best choice for my purposes.

 

 

My hardware consists of:

 

Mainboard: ASRock M3A785GMH/128M (great board, only 5 SATA ports though)

CPU: Athlon X2 240 (should come in handy for SABNzbd, Sickbeards, CouchPotato etc.)

Case: Sharkoon Rebel 9 Economy

Power supply: be quiet L7 300W (83% efficiency)

 

2 x 2 TB WD20EARS drives

 

I have just ordered 4 more of those disks and a PCI-Express SATA-Controller so I can run 6 drives in total.

 

I'm very happy with this build and think it's perfect for unRAID, do you agree?

 

 

Now my problem, it is impossible to find how swap cages for a decent price here in Austria.

 

Instead of getting 2 x 3-drive cages, I could as well get a Fractal Design R3 for about 40 Euros less... There's no point really.

I know those "slots" of the Fractal are not really the same experience as a Hot Swap cage, but it's still better than adding or removing a HDD in the Sharkoon Rebel 9.

 

 

Now I have 4 available options:

 

1) Run 5 disks only (I could get a quite cheap 5-slot hot swap bay in the UK)

 

2) Do not buy Hot swap cage at all.

 

3) Get a new case (maybe Fractal Array or something that's small and fits nicely on a table?)

 

4) I also have an old Antec P182 case I don't use, what do you think about using this one as a server case?

 

 

What would be the smartest choice here?  

 

Thanks in advance,

p1lot

[Rajahal]

Your core components look fine, with the exception of your PSU.  I can't find much information on it, but this picture seems to indicate that it has dual +12V rails with 18A each.  That means that you very likely have only 18A to power all of your hard drives.  That's enough for 4 or 5 green drives, but that's it.  I recommend upgrading your PSU to one with a single +12V rail with a high amperage rating, such as a Corsair CX430.  The actual model you choose will depend on how many drives you want to support.

 

Is 8 TBs (using only 2 TB drives) or 12 TB (using only 3 TB drives and unRAID beta) enough space for you?  If so, then I vote for option 1.  You'll never know why hot swap bays are so nice to have until you actually get to use them.  Once you do, I'll be you'll be hooked.

 

The Rebel 9 is a very versatile case, you have a lot of options with it.  For example, you could also look into individual hot swap bays such as this.  In my personal server, I use 9 single hot swap bays similar to those in an Antec 902 (which is kind of similar to the Rebel 9).  I think it is a great set up.  One of the cheaper hot swap options, completely trayless, and no extra fans required.  With this option, you could achieve a 16 - 24 TB server for relatively cheap.

 

I built my first server out of an Antec p180 (very similar to the p182).  I don't recommend it.  Those hard drive cages are a real pain to use when full.  Replacing a single drive requires you to unplug the data and power cables to every single drive in the cage...not fun.

[p1lot]

Thanks for your fast reply, I will further investigate into the PSU issue. If what you say is true, I will get a new one.

 

As 3TB drives are twice as expensive as 2TB ones, I think I will go the 6 x 2 TB drives route => 10GB of useable space, right? Should be enough for quite a while.

 

I think I will get 1 x 1 HDD hot swap cages just as you recommended, thanks! This one is cheap and according to reviews very good too: http://geizhals.at/284555 - can't go wrong with them as long as they are sufficiently cooled (no fan attached or attachable).

 

EDIT: I can get this one relatively cheap and there is a 80mm cooler mountable on them: http://geizhals.at/457171

 

I think this is the better route.

 

 

Let me know what you think so I can order. 

[cyrnel]

I've used quite a few of those bays for customers, singly and in pairs. The majority of those I've bought were "Connectland" brand via Monoprice.com.

 

The main requirement for cooling with these bays is to have healthy case airflow. Since the frames are very open, in my opinion, adding more fans suggests the case isn't properly ventilated.

 

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10824&cs_id=1082402&p_id=3857&seq=1&format=2

 

It's a great company but I have no idea how they look from your side of the pond.

[Rajahal]

Either the single drive cage or the 3-in-2 should be fine.  The single drive trays don't need cooling as long as your case is cooled properly.  I run my Antec 902 with all stock fans on the 'low' setting, and my 9 drives in the single drive trays stay very cool (in the 30s, even 20s sometimes).  I too use the Connectland cages, they work well.

[p1lot]

OK, I will just go for the cheaper solution.

 

I will change the PSU for a CoolerMaster Silent Pro M500, this one is single rail and I have one of them laying around.

[lionelhutz]

Both cages look good. The 3 into 2 will make a little better use of the slots in a case.

 

The "trick" to cooling such a setup is to make sure all other openings are blocked off so the exhaust fans must suck the air into the case through the cages.

 

Or else, put the fans all blowing in with the cages as the only way for the air to get out. You just have to ensure that the PS fan is seperated or you push enough air in to compensate for the PS exhausting some of it.

 

Peter

[bcbgboy13]

My hardware consists of:

 

Mainboard: ASRock M3A785GMH/128M (great board, only 5 SATA ports though)

CPU: Athlon X2 240 (should come in handy for SABNzbd, Sickbeards, CouchPotato etc.)

Case: Sharkoon Rebel 9 Economy

Power supply: be quiet L7 300W (83% efficiency)

 

2 x 2 TB WD20EARS drives

 

I have just ordered 4 more of those disks and a PCI-Express SATA-Controller so I can run 6 drives in total.

 

I'm very happy with this build and think it's perfect for unRAID, do you agree?

 

What would be the smartest choice here?  

 

Thanks in advance,

p1lot

 

In mine opinion and with only 4 new ED20EARS drive the smartest choice is to keep everything you have and only buy a single 4in3 such as this one:

 

http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=STB-3T4-E3-GP&x=17&y=20

 

This will provide excellent cooling for the four new HDs (and I assume the two others are presently taken care of)

 

The 300W power supply is probably powerful enough to handle the 6 HDs and is with excellent efficiency.

[p1lot]

Yeah I assumed that 6 Green HDDs are not a problem at all with a non-single-rail 12V PSU. I will see if it works well, if not I still got the CoolerMaster.

 

My current system does not run on unRaid, so I have to start from scratch anyway.

I just bought the 3-in-2 cages because they were the cheapest and best choice.

 

Thanks all for your advice!

[p1lot]

Do you think I should opt for another 2 gigs of ram? Does sab, sick and couch plus streaming 1080p demand that much?

[lionelhutz]

You say another so you have 2gig I'm assuming. You're fine with that unless you just "must" upgrade. I've been running the same plus BOINC (grid computing client) running both CPU's at 100% most of the time on 2gig for about 6 months now. My server was only off during a storm about 5 weeks ago. Otherwise, it's just left on all the time and doesn't see a reboot for months. Actually, I almost forgot but my cache disk had a filesystem issue late last week so it was rebooted then.

 

Peter

[Rajahal]

Start with just 2 GB and then add a second 2 GB only if you find you need it.  I expect you won't.