Tower cases with 5.25" drive bays top to bottom...


mr-hexen

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SATA's what I meant, doh! Any motherboard/CPU suggestions? While I check my moun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

We use Server grade motherboard for our builds and have not bother looking at "consumer" motherboard in the last 6-12 months.  We user the Supermicro X9SCM boards in our builds.

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You would probably be better off with the 801 version of the fan vs the 800.  I have the 800 and wish I had ordered the 801.  The small difference in noise vs the extra 4.3cfm of air flow would be nice.  With that said, the only time it would really be needed is when you are doing a pre-clear or running a parity check/write.

 

http://www.quietpcusa.com/Coolink-SWiF2-801-Quiet-PC-Cooling-Fan-80mm-P691.aspx

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Thermal take  Tai Chi is another  good case the pimp  I just got mine back swapping out the hardware ( gave the case to my kids a few years ago and putting a in a  Fractal Design Define R3 for them )and restoring the Tai Chi should make a great  unraid case  11    5.5 inch  drive bays from memory  should look good with Norco  :) 5 in 3  hot swaps  it

http://uk.thermaltake.com/db/Editor/Assets/00_vb5000_taichi_inside.jpg

http://uk.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00000086

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while not a tower case, but a 4U server rackmount i would suggest looking at the Norco RPC-4020, a pretty awesome case offering nearly ideal specs to max unraid out (that's in number of hdd's).

i never tried it (we have them mounted in server cabinets where i work), but i am sure you can also just place them in a tower-like fashion.

now before you start yelling about the roughly $300 pricetag, consider the fact that you get 20 sata/ sas hot-swappable bays build in! plus another 2 3.5" fixed hdd cages (i would make that cache and parity). at about $90 for a 5in3 cage this baby paid alread for itself before you count in the case... a way to look at it.

one thing that s*cks a bit are the 7 80mm fans - they are kind of loud. if your "tower" is located in the basement/ another room no problem (they are actually not as bad as many other server case fans), if not - you want to replace them with sth more quiet.

otherwise, solid design (very solid, weighs in just under 50lbs empty LOL), lots of space and config options.

 

a true contender to all the tower options. just do the math! between $50-100 for the tower case, another $90+ per 5in3 cage....

 

L

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The 4220 is a better option in my opinion and the one that I use for my unRAID setup.

i wouldn't argue that. just had never a chance to 'play' with one of them yet. also the the rpc-4224 looks liek a worthy contender, i just cant see the 4 additional bays really being worth a $100 more.

one question about the rpc-4220 i have btw - does it support sata III?

supposedly the 4020 does not, i never tried it. they would kill me at my jobsite if i start to experiment with the servers there LOL.

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one question about the rpc-4220 i have btw - does it support sata III?

I believe the newer versions do.  It is the backplanes that need to support it and I think the newer ones will work just fine with SATA III.

 

supposedly the 4020 does not, i never tried it. they would kill me at my jobsite if i start to experiment with the servers there LOL.

I have the the 4220 in my build for the space up to where a slim drive back can be added and a SATA drive can go.  I use it for ESXi and run unRAID through a VM.

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Ayone have any experience with this case....... Zalman MS-800

 

---> http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=747

 

Looks like a niec case with 5.25 bays top to bottom.

 

Kryspy

 

I've got a system built (just struggling with the parity drive at the moment) with this case and three of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817998145

 

I'm a fan so far. It's fairly quiet (not to worry, those drive enclosures make it plenty loud) and seems solidly built. The specs indicate it only has 6 external 5.25" drive bays but that's not correct... all 10 5.25" slots are removable and can house enclosures. I should've bought 5 of those 3x2s and made it look cleaner and have all bays in the front (15 drives total). Of course my mobo/sata card combo max out at 12 drives... minor details. ;)

 

Like I mentioned above, I'm struggling with the parity drive at the moment. I'm not sure if its the drive, sata cable, sata interface, or HDD bay. Once it's all up and running and stable I'll get a full build post whipped up... here are some pics though:

 

hERjZRol.jpg  dRX1Pn7l.jpg

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
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I picked up a Cooler Master Storm Trooper full tower case the other day, I would've loved a Lian Li d8000 but after shipping to Perth, Australia it would be $500-600 which is well out of my budget at the moment, this case was $175 and available locally. It's a bit over the top for an Unraid server but for the price it's got plenty of room, loads of external connections and is very moddable.

 

it comes with 9 5.25 drive bays top to bottom and includes 2 4-in-3 drive cages. I already had a CM 4-in-3 cage which I transferred across from my old Unraid server giving me 12 drive bays. When it comes time to expand i'll look at replacing them with 5-in-3, there is also an external 2.5" dock which would be suitable for a SSD cache drive and then there is another SSD cage sitting at the bottom of the case which could probably be replaced with another 5-in-3 drive cage as there is lots of space.

 

Only 2 negatives, the new drive cages have red LEDs and my old one is blue, so it looks a bit odd when they're lit. Also the grommet which surrounds the power supply cable hole is pretty flimsy and came out while I was feeding the power cables through, other than that i'm very happy with it.

 

http://www.bjorn3d.com/2011/09/cooler-master-storm-trooper-full-tower-case/

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I am looking for the smallest  aluminum case which have 9x5.25" . Anyone can help ? The Rebel9 Alumium U3 and the LianLi has been out of stock for the whole world :(

The MS800 is the best case I have found as of late.  There are actually 10 5.25 bays in the case.

Thanks but the ZALMAN MS800 is not aluminum case and it quite big thought. I need some thing like the Lian Li PC-A17

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I am getting ready to order the parts for my UnRAID build.  Does anyone know if there is a 5x3 cage that will fit the Zalman MS800 without modifying the case?  Or even another case that will support three 5x3 cages without modification?

 

Thanks!

There are no cases I know of that do not need modification to accept 5-in-3 cages.  4-in-3 cages will fit fine, but 5-in-3 will not.

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I am getting ready to order the parts for my UnRAID build.  Does anyone know if there is a 5x3 cage that will fit the Zalman MS800 without modifying the case?  Or even another case that will support three 5x3 cages without modification?

 

Thanks!

There are no cases I know of that do not need modification to accept 5-in-3 cages.  4-in-3 cages will fit fine, but 5-in-3 will not.

 

What needs to be modified?

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I am getting ready to order the parts for my UnRAID build.  Does anyone know if there is a 5x3 cage that will fit the Zalman MS800 without modifying the case?  Or even another case that will support three 5x3 cages without modification?

 

Thanks!

There are no cases I know of that do not need modification to accept 5-in-3 cages.  4-in-3 cages will fit fine, but 5-in-3 will not.

 

What needs to be modified?

The tabs that are in the cage to hold a DVD/Blu Ray drive need to be bent/cut off

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