Node 804 - 11 data drives + parity + cache (room for more!!)


Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

I am trying to cram as many drives as possible into a Node 804.  It has 8 hard drive bays plus room for two in the main chamber.  I have fit 4 in the main chamber using OWC Multimounts, giving 11 data drives plus parity and a SSD for cache connected via the eSATA port on the motherboard.

 

wNzxnd8.jpg

ec5XsSP.jpg

 

There is room for at least one more drive above each pair in the main chamber (which would take it to 13 data drives) but I don't know how to mount them securely.  An adapter such as this would probably do the job but it looks a bit flimsy, and is half way around the world from me..

 

NWTG5MOUNT3HD_hero.jpg

 

Any idea on alternatives for this?

 

Case: Fractal Design Node 804

Mobo: ASRock fm2a75m-itx

CPU: AMD A6-5600

Controller: Supermicro AOC-SAS2LP-MV8

Link to comment

It looks like any solution is going to be pretty custom.  I'm not familiar with the Node 804 but it appears that you could run a brace or piece of metal across the span over the CPU.  You might be able to screw into the case fans on either end to secure the brace.  You could then suspend two drives above the CPU.  It would restrict air flow, but would keep the drives cool!

Link to comment

I have ordered two of the 3-drive mounting cage/brackets pictured in the original post from http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer+Technology/G5MOUNT3HD/

 

I'm hoping these will let me fit 6 drives in total in the main chamber instead of 4.  I'll then need two more free SATA ports and will have to swap the mobo - the current one only has 4.

 

I can then squeeze an extra two drives in using the OWC Multimount, placed in the second chamber secured by Velcro (which came with the case, currently occupied by an SSD but this can be moved into one of two 2.5inch drive bays) - but again I'll need an extra 2 SATA ports.  The plan is to get a mobo that also has a mPCIe slot so I can put in a card such as this: http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PM362.html

 

PM362_2.jpg

 

If all goes well this will take the Node 804 up to 15 data drives + parity + cache.

Link to comment

Fractal design has dimensions for this case of 344 x 307 x 389 mm, or 0.041 m^3

 

15 data drives at 6 TB each result in 90 TB of unRaid capacity.

 

That gives a data density of 2195 TB per cubic meter.

 

My system is a paltry 92 TB per cubic meter.

 

Kinda a case of reductio ad absurdum!

Link to comment

Unfortunately the NewerTech G5 3-drive bay is a few mm too tall which means it will not fit in the main chamber beneath the controller card.

 

So realistically all I can do is fit two more drives in the drive chamber using another OWC multimount - that would mean 13 data + parity + cache.  Still not too shabby for such a tiny box!

Link to comment
  • 4 years later...
On 3/10/2015 at 1:42 PM, flaggart said:

Hi all,

 

I am trying to cram as many drives as possible into a Node 804.  It has 8 hard drive bays plus room for two in the main chamber.  I have fit 4 in the main chamber using OWC Multimounts, giving 11 data drives plus parity and a SSD for cache connected via the eSATA port on the motherboard.

 

wNzxnd8.jpg

ec5XsSP.jpg

 

There is room for at least one more drive above each pair in the main chamber (which would take it to 13 data drives) but I don't know how to mount them securely.  An adapter such as this would probably do the job but it looks a bit flimsy, and is half way around the world from me..

 

NWTG5MOUNT3HD_hero.jpg

 

Any idea on alternatives for this?

 

Case: Fractal Design Node 804

Mobo: ASRock fm2a75m-itx

CPU: AMD A6-5600

Controller: Supermicro AOC-SAS2LP-MV8

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread. But does anyone know which OWC multimount @flaggart used to get the two hard drives stacked? I just got the same case and I’m looking to do the exact same thing, please!

OWC has so many multi mounts. I want to make sure I get the same one that word here. 

Edited by maxse
Link to comment
On 4/1/2019 at 2:14 AM, maxse said:

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread. But does anyone know which OWC multimount @flaggart used to get the two hard drives stacked? I just got the same case and I’m looking to do the exact same thing, please!

OWC has so many multi mounts. I want to make sure I get the same one that word here. 

It is a:

OWC OWCMM52T35 - OWC Multi-Mount 3.5 to 5.25 Bracket

I have also used a "Nexus DoubleTwin" for the same purpose.

Link to comment

Thanks! Which one do you like best?

 

also, do both compartments of the case have the necessary hole in the bottom tk

mount these? I remember seeing only one side allowing to mount 2 hard drives to the floor of the case. 

 

Thanks so much! Love this case

Link to comment
On 3/16/2015 at 6:43 AM, flaggart said:

Unfortunately the NewerTech G5 3-drive bay is a few mm too tall which means it will not fit in the main chamber beneath the controller card.

 

So realistically all I can do is fit two more drives in the drive chamber using another OWC multimount - that would mean 13 data + parity + cache.  Still not too shabby for such a tiny box!

@flaggart I got the OWC multimounts thanks for the tip! But how do you mount them in the drive chamber? I don't see any holes to mount the drives to in the drive chamber, only in the motherboard chamber.

 

I want to set it up all at once even though I don't have that many drives yet, to make it easier in the future

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...

@flaggart quick question. 

 

I just got the drives and brackets in. 

So the drives just screw right into the floor right? It’s okay that the green board of Drive is touching the metal case? It’s not going to short?

 

also, I was only able to line up 2 of the screw holes on one side of the drive at the bottom of the case .. I guess that’s how it should be?

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I have some comments/questions.

 

Man, this is neat. I am also going to be doing a build in this case, since my current Antec 300 can't fit a GTX 970 that I have laying around which I want to have running Folding@Home when the server is idle.

 

Right now I have ~17TB + 8TB parity (2 8TB, 3 2TB, 1 3 TB) drives, so I will at least in the short term fill the two cages on the back side of the case.

 

How has your build done in terms of cooling with all of those drives over the years? Have you seen any degraded performance/thermal issues due to how close the drives are to each other/how the cooling in the case is configured? How stable are the drive cages (i.e. do they vibrate much when full of drives)?

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Hi Flaggart,

 

Reviving this thread again to ask you a question about your space management with the HDD bay directly above the PSU. I currently have 8 drives installed, and can't get the drive bay above the PSU to fit. What kind of cables are you using to make this work? I'd really appreciate it if you could drop a link.

Link to comment
On 3/27/2020 at 6:09 AM, doowstados said:

How has your build done in terms of cooling with all of those drives over the years? Have you seen any degraded performance/thermal issues due to how close the drives are to each other/how the cooling in the case is configured? How stable are the drive cages (i.e. do they vibrate much when full of drives)?

I retired it towards the end of 2019, so it had a good 4.5 years.  I had three fans in the drive chamber using Fan Auto Control to ramp up with drive temp and never had an issue.  If anything, the 4 drives in the main chamber were the ones that got the hottest so I'd suggest putting drives there that maybe have less use or fewer platters, whatever makes them less likely to heat up.

 

In terms of vibration / noise, I had the box in the same room I slept in for a few years.  I would not describe it as quiet but it wasn't bothersome. 

Link to comment
7 hours ago, jdlancaster13 said:

Hi Flaggart,

 

Reviving this thread again to ask you a question about your space management with the HDD bay directly above the PSU. I currently have 8 drives installed, and can't get the drive bay above the PSU to fit. What kind of cables are you using to make this work? I'd really appreciate it if you could drop a link.

I am not sure which drive area you mean

 

if you mean the white 4x drive bay directly above the PSU - there should not be any issues with this regardless of cables?

if you mean the space with velcro strap to the left of the PSU in the images above, I think I had to orient the drive length ways so that the connectors were pointing towards the cable-management hole through to the other chamber.  This matches the more recent image from stuntman83 above.

Link to comment
  • 2 years later...
On 1/12/2020 at 3:36 AM, stuntman83 said:

Hi

I needed room to add a 2nd parity drive, as unraid at the time of my build did not have the dual parity feature. I squeezed the extra hdd in behind the psu, and made a custom 3d printed bracket to screw in to the holes used by the velcro. It's available on thingiverse thing:4095147 (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4095147) if this is still of interest to anyone 😀

 

 

featured_preview_DSC_0195.jpg

featured_preview_DSC_0192.jpg

featured_preview_Tinkercad___Create_3D_digital_designs_with_online_.png

awesome, thanks

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.