Cases?

[grover11]

Would either of these 2 cases be a good choice for a new unraid server?

 

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2950

 

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6653

 

Which would bew a better choice?

 

Thanks

[WeeboTech]

They both look nice and would suffice, the second seeming to have more cooling.

If I were building a gaming rig or a desktop I would go for #2

 

As an unRAID server, I would choose the antec 1200.

I like consistency of setup. Plus I like 5in3 removables.

 

Over time the machine gets to be a dust magnet, plus I prefer to swap drives without going inside the machine.

It's only a matter of when a drive fails. So making it as quick and painless as possible is important to me.

 

[SSD]

Would either of these 2 cases be a good choice for a new unraid server?

 

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2950

 

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6653

 

Which would bew a better choice?

 

Thanks

 

You've told us nothing about what capacity and/or number of disks you expect to need or grow to.  I'd multiply whatever you are thinking by 1.5 or 2, because most users find they grow their arrays beyond initial plan.

 

Each set of 3 vertical 5.25 slots can hold a "5 in 3" cage, offering room for 5 drives with a dedicated cooling fan.  You don't have to buy the cages right away, but at least you know you have an upgrade path.  The cages also, as Weebo mentioned, offer an easy way to swap disks.

 

So with 6 continuous 5.25 slots (+ 2 add-on 5 in 3 cages), you can hold 10 drives.  WIth 9 slots (+3 cages) you can hold 15 drives.  And with 12 slots (+4 cages) you can hold 20 drives.  

 

An Antec 900 has 9 slots.  The Antec 1200 have 12 slots.

 

If you are in Europe, you should look at the Sharkoon Rebel 9 and Rebel 12 (also marketed under brand name iCute) cases.  I have a Rebel 12 with 12 slots + 6 internal 3.5 slots (case will hold 26 drives).  Love it but shipping to US was expensive, and a slight design flaw makes top slot a little tricky to use.

 

There are also the Norco cases.  They are rack mounted cases that come standard with 20 or 24 hot swap cages.  If you add up the cost of a tower + cost of add-on 5 in 3 drive cages you'd spend lots more than a Norco.  But a tower let's you grow over time, so initial investment is less, plus some people (me included) prefer the form factor of a tower (tall and skinny), over that of the norco (short and fat).  But Norcos are very popular so you should consider one.

 

There is a whole thread on cases ("The Enclosure Thread") at the top of the stickies in this Hardware subforum.  Read through that to learn the ins and outs of lots of cases.

 

Case is important.  Choose wisely.

[PeterB]

For a 15 drive system, I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending my Thermaltake V5.  Review of my iStarUSA drive cages to appear soon - check it out. Later, I will post more general details in the UCD forum.

[grover11]

This is what I'm thinkg so far.....

Motherboard -  ASUS M4A78LT-M

CPU - AMD Athlon 2 255

Power Supply - Corsair HX 650

Case - Antec 1200 V3

Ram - 4GB

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 Marvell 6480 8 Channel SAS/SATA RAID PCI-E Card 

 

 

Other than cables and the Hard Drives will this allow me to start with 8-10 drives?

 

Thanks

[graywolf]

 

There are also the Norco cases.  They are rack mounted cases that come standard with 20 or 24 hot swap cages.  If you add up the cost of a tower + cost of add-on 5 in 3 drive cages you'd spend lots more than a Norco.  But a tower let's you grow over time, so initial investment is less, plus some people (me included) prefer the form factor of a tower (tall and skinny), over that of the norco (short and fat).  But Norcos are very popular so you should consider one.

 

 

Early morning, haven't had my coffee yet. So it is Stupid Question time.

 

With the Norco cases, other than the case cost, can you still grow over time? You don't need to fill all the drive slots for it to be functional...correct?

 

 

 

[SSD]

 

Early morning, haven't had my coffee yet. So it is Stupid Question time.

 

With the Norco cases, other than the case cost, can you still grow over time? You don't need to fill all the drive slots for it to be functional...correct?

 

Correct. Nothing to force you to populate the Norco with more than a few drives.  But it is a huge case for a three drive array!

[graywolf]

Great. I'm getting close to full on my CoolMaster so I'm thinking about new case. Think I might get the 4220 (watching for it to hit a sale price) then move all the drives over to it and maybe repurpose the CoolMaster (start playing with VM maybe)

 

Got 1 5x3, the 4x3 that came with the CoolMaster full, and 2 of the internal slots full, got space for 1 more drive unless I buy another 5x3.

 

If I knew I'd grow this much, I probably would have gone with the 4220 initially.

Probably will get the "accessory" plate to replace the fan drives with 3 120's to help with the noise factor since it'll reside in my "office" area.