Relocating server to basement, time to upgrade case. Which one?

[tmchow]

Moving to a new house soon and have luxury of not having same space constraints as before when I first built my UnRAID tower

 

My current setup is the following:

 

Model: Silverstone DS380

M/B: Asrock E3C224D4I-14

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231-V3 3.4Ghz

Parity: 6TB Western Digital Red NAS

Array: 3 x 6TB Western Digital Red NAS

Cooling: Noctua NF-S12B redux-1200 PWM case fans, drive cage swiss-cheesed with 1/4" holes, cardboard skirt

 

I chose that Asrock motherboard due to it supporting IPMI and having SAS connectors for better storage expansion down the road.

 

Downside was it didn't fit into the case without hitting the power supply so I have to drill new motherboard standoffs to shift the motherboard slightly. It was a nightmare but I got it to work!

 

The good thing about the DS380 was that it was small enough that I could fit it in my entertainment stand so it wasn't consuming floor space and was out of the way from my toddler

 

Downsides are that the room in the case is really constrained making it hard to work on when I've had to replace or add new HDs. Also, the cooling isn't as good as it could be.

 

With the new house I am moving the unRAID to the basement. I have opportunity to go to a larger case with better airflow and better room for more HD expansion.  In future I could see wanting 8-10 drives.

 

My plan was to reuse almost all my hardware except the case and potentially change the motherboard since I can get a large one with potentially more connectors. Currently replacing motherboard isn't high pri since it works for my setup. So in reality I only need to change the case right now.

 

Given it's in the basement I don't case as much about looks. I need good airflow, room for more drives, easy to work on.

 

What cases do you all recommend I look at?

[Johnny G]

If it's going in the basement, would you not consider a rack-mount solution? Plenty of scope for drive expansion, can run the fans up to keep it cool as well?

I've put mine in the garage for that reason. I've got a couple of 4U boxes, a 1U and a switch. At present they're on a bench, but as soon as the cabinet arrives they'll go in that.

[tdallen]

The Fractal Design Define R5 is my favorite case that I've never actually used, lol.  It does look really good and a number of people here have used it.

 

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-r5-black

 

I like how both sides come off, making it easy to access the drives from front and back.

[dikkiedirk]

If it's going in the basement, would you not consider a rack-mount solution? Plenty of scope for drive expansion, can run the fans up to keep it cool as well?

I've put mine in the garage for that reason. I've got a couple of 4U boxes, a 1U and a switch. At present they're on a bench, but as soon as the cabinet arrives they'll go in that.

 

+1

[dikkiedirk]

At present they're on a bench, but as soon as the cabinet arrives they'll go in that.

Got a SCE846 myself. What cabinet are you getting?

[Brucey7]

Do a risk assessment for flooding, as a generalisation, computer kit in basements isn't always a good idea.  Even the large corporates sometimes get that wrong.

 

[jollymonsa]

I did love my antec 900 with 5 in 3's. But I went to a Supermicro 24 bay 4u and wouldnt look back now. Redundant PSU's FTW. I did have to upgrade them from the screaming 901's to the 721's and they are much better.