Does a rack mount case like this exist?

[superderpbro]

- 2u (maybe 3u)

- Inexpensive

- Short

- At least 4 x 3.5 inch HDDS

- HDD noise dampening<--

 

I am thinking about building a cheap network rack out of an ikea rast nightstand. Would love to put the small unRAID NAS i am also planning in it. It will need to be quiet.

[bubbaQ]

No.  You are running the equivalent of a 60 to 150 Watt (or more) light bulb inside a closed box.

 

The system generates heat.  Heat has to be removed.  Q=UAdT.  Heat removal is based on heat sinks with limited area and airflow.  So increase U, A, dT.

 

U you can't change much at all... it is coefficient of heat transfer of airflow over metal fins.

 

A - you can use larger heat sinks.

 

dT, you can increase dT by more airflow, better sinks (more heatpipes) lower ambient temp of the air, or higher temp of the sink (run CPU hotter).

 

Or reduce Q, the amount of heat you have to remove.  Pick low-power components.

 

Air has to get into the case, which means sound escapes through the same holes.  Plus the air makes noise entering and existing the case.

 

The quietest you can get is to try to go passive cooling, but you can only do that with a case large enough to hold a LARGE heat sink.... and that is not 2U or 3U.

 

So you are left with watercooling.

 

See if you can find one of these:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118111

 

http://techgage.com/article/zalman_reserator_2_fanless_water_cooling/

 

These are 10 years old, so you will have to get your own water blocks for modern CPU sockets and other parts to go with the rads.

 

Warning... external radiators accumulate dust and need to be regularly cleaned to maintain peak performance.

 

Warning 2... external radiators make moving your rig a bitch.

 

As for hard drive noise, a case-inside-a-case with baffles is the only way to deal with that effectively. But that kills any chance of using hot-swap cases/bays.  Arrange all air intake and exhaust so they point down to carpet or rug.

 

There are some waterblocks for hard drives out there... Koolance made several.  I personally never tried them.  Hell, there are even water-cooled PSUs... a new one was at CES this year.

 

Suggestion #2.  Don't have unrealistic expectations.  Learn to accept an appropriate amount of noise, and concentrate on making it an acceptable tone and volume.

 

I built a silent system with a Zalman external rad many years ago.  It was so quiet it magnified the sound of the head seeking on the drives so it was MORE annoying than a little fan white-noise on the CPU cooler that pleasantly masked the sound of the hard drive seeks.

[superderpbro]

There are plenty of 2u cases that are exactly what i want... They just don't have HDD vibration dampening.

 

I have run the equivalent hardware in much smaller than 2u boxes (that just aren't rack shaped).

 

"As for hard drive noise, a case-inside-a-case with baffles is the only way to deal with that effectively."

 

I am running 4 HDDs right now in an Antec SOLO using just the grommets (not suspended). It's pretty rare that i ever hear them. I can't remember the last time i heard them actually (box is 3 feet from me).

 

I don't need silent. Just very quiet. I hate hearing the sound of a vacuum cleaner mixed with the slow hum of opposing HDD vibration resinatng through the entire case (or either on their own). Hehe

[bubbaQ]

Depends on the drives and just how quiet you want to be.  SSDs are silent.  Seagate 8TB Archive drives are not regardless of vibration-insulating mounts.  If you want to silence a noisy drive, baffles on air-flow channels is the way to go.  The Antec SOLO *is* a baffled case.... the fans for the hard drives are not facing a grill for air intake.... you'd get a more drive noise with the front bezel open.  The bezel is the baffle.

 

BTW, some drive manufacturers recommend AGAINST rubber grommet mounting because it allows the drives to oscillate more, increasing the likelihood of damage when the head moves.  They should be mounted tightly to the chassis (indeed, some rack-mount server chassis come with thread-lock on the drive screws to secure them to the trays).  That is also part of drive cooling, i.e. the conduction to the case from the mount.  Vibration protection is one of the enhancements the NAS drives (WS Reds) feature.

 

Here's a link to a real-world demonstration of why you want drives secured as firmly as possible:

 

<

 

You are going to be very limited in rack-mount choices.  You might consider using a rack shelf instead, and use a small case that can sit on the shelf.

[superderpbro]

Thanks for the info. I am going to risk it though. I have been running all my HDDS mostly suspended or on grommets for about 11 years now. Knock on wood.. not a single problem yet (other than a seagate that died in 2 days).

 

I am just about to give up looking for a rack mount case that makes me want to buy it. Normal desktop case it is! hehe