15TB of parity-protected data in a box the size of a toaster, for less than $800


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So I don't know how I missed this before, but there is a spot for a 40mm fan to mount onto the inside-front of this case.  It just so happens that I have a Noctua 40mm fan not being used, so I went ahead and installed it.  I also taped up a couple more spots inside the case to further promote airflow over the drives.  The places I taped would normally result in almost no airflow over the processor/ram, but since I have the little 40mm fan blowing now, I figure I can get away with it.  I've never seen that processor get over 50C.

 

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Good find, Now I understand why the airflow wasn't enough through the drives.

 

Is the CPU cooled with a fan or is it passive?

 

Love that spot fan, you may need to use something like that to direct flow. However if the air outside is cool enough, I bet the lil exhaust fan and the large exhaust fan will create enough air flow to keep it cool inside. you may need to consider the direction of airflow and use the spot fan to push it that direction.

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Good find, Now I understand why the airflow wasn't enough through the drives.

 

Is the CPU cooled with a fan or is it passive?

 

Love that spot fan, you may need to use something like that to direct flow. However if the air outside is cool enough, I bet the lil exhaust fan and the large exhaust fan will create enough air flow to keep it cool inside. you may need to consider the direction of airflow and use the spot fan to push it that direction.

 

The CPU is passive.  I've been really impressed with it so far, not that I'm taxing it by any means.  I might install Plex at some point just to see if it can transcode.

 

I actually have the 40mm blowing into the case, not exhausting.  I went back and forth about it, but since it's at the bottom of the case, the fiercely debated convention is to blow air in.  Honestly that 40mm doesn't move enough air that in vs out would make much of a difference, especially since I have it at half throttle via BIOS.  The open pci slot (due to the 120mm fan cable) acts as the exhaust for the air that the 40mm is pushing through the bottom of the case.

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I recently upgraded my server and moved to an iStarUSA s-917. I used the iStarUSA BPN-DE350 cages, which use an 80mm fan. I installed Noctua NF-A8 ULN fans to lower the noise, but they didn't provide adequate cooling. My first parity check had one drive hit 50 degrees.

 

So I did a bunch of research and ended up with a pretty simple solution. I switched to the Noctua NF-A8 PWM, which have more than 50% greater airflow at full speed. I'm controlling the speed of the fans using a 4-pin connector on my motherboard and the Dynamix System Temp and System AutoFan plugins. It allows the fans to move slow and quiet most of the time and then speed up to increase airflow as required automatically.

 

I also researched the 80mm to 120mm adaptors, but read mixed reviews on their effectiveness. So if that still doesn't work for you, you may want to try a PWM version of the Noctua fan (either 80mm or 120mm) because they often have higher peak speeds and higher peak airflow.

 

(I also found that with the front door closed on the s-917 the case is starving the fans and they're not able to move enough air. It's kind of annoying, but keeping the door cracked open all the time also helps a lot.)

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I recently upgraded my server and moved to an iStarUSA s-917. I used the iStarUSA BPN-DE350 cages, which use an 80mm fan. I installed Noctua NF-A8 ULN fans to lower the noise, but they didn't provide adequate cooling. My first parity check had one drive hit 50 degrees.

 

So I did a bunch of research and ended up with a pretty simple solution. I switched to the Noctua NF-A8 PWM, which have more than 50% greater airflow at full speed. I'm controlling the speed of the fans using a 4-pin connector on my motherboard and the Dynamix System Temp and System AutoFan plugins. It allows the fans to move slow and quiet most of the time and then speed up to increase airflow as required automatically.

 

I also researched the 80mm to 120mm adaptors, but read mixed reviews on their effectiveness. So if that still doesn't work for you, you may want to try a PWM version of the Noctua fan (either 80mm or 120mm) because they often have higher peak speeds and higher peak airflow.

 

(I also found that with the front door closed on the s-917 the case is starving the fans and they're not able to move enough air. It's kind of annoying, but keeping the door cracked open all the time also helps a lot.)

 

Unfortunately, my mobo doesn't supply a PWM (4-pin) fan connection, only 3-pin, so only the BIOS can control the fan speed as far as I know.  Otherwise, I would definitely have gone with a high-output PWM fan from the beginning.  It's one of those things that I simply didn't think to research before selecting the mobo for this build (not that it would have changed my mind though).

 

WRT the Noctua ULN fan, I've never really understood the point of that one.  It seems to me like it would always be smarter to buy the FLX version of the fan, which offers 3 different speed options.  I know the ULN version can go down to 600RPM vs FLX only goes down to 700RPM, but I can almost guarantee the sound difference would be negligible.  Maybe I'm missing something.

 

I also noticed that the FLX version actually flows more air than the PWM version, when both are at full speed.  If I had a setup that supported PWM, I'd definitely find a fan that flows a lot more air at full speed.  It could be set at a low, quiet RPM for normal day-to-day temps, then go to rocket speed when a parity check is executing.  Since the box is in the living room, I really don't care how loud the fan is at 3am when the parity check is scheduled.  :)

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