Case for 14-24 drives


volume

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Hello

 

I would like to move my unRAID built from a Define R3 to a bigger case.

right now i have 10 drives, my needs are:

 

  • room for at least 14 drives (3.5"), ideally 24 drives
  • don't mind if its a standard pc case or rackmount
  • 3x5 SATA CASE isn't necessary (i don't move drives around, only when a drive fail)
  • budget ~250€
  • available to Europe

 

some question about the rack mount servers

1) is the noise too loud?

2) can i replace the fans and make it quiet, like a standard pc case?

3) is there any advantages from a standard pc case? 

(other than the easiest access of the drives)

 

With a little search i have found 2 cases from Nanoxia.

Any thought/comments on those? 

Nanoxia deep silence 1    ~100€

Quote

In the Deep Silence 1 Rev. B a total of 14 hard disk drives can be anti-vibration mounted. Three modular HDD-cages are available for this purpose. Two of the cages are designed for three 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch HDD and the third holds up to five 2.5/3.5 inch HDD/SSD. The hard disk capacity of the Deep Silence 1 Rev. B is expandable through the acquisition of additional HDD cages.

Alternatively, you can put the hard drive cages for two or three drives towards the power supply. Please note that this case no longer permits fan assembly on the bottom; the maximum depth of the power supply is about 200 mm. The hard drives are installed in special mounting carriages, which are designed to accommodate both 2.5" HDD / SSD as well as 3.5" HDD. 

 

Nanoxia deep silence 6    ~200€

Quote

The optical drives can be mounted without requiring tools. Two 5.25 inch to 3.5 inch adaptor are included to permit for example the installation of a card reader. If you want, you can use those to mount additional hard disk drives.

The massive tower is designed for a total of up to sixteen hard disk drives. By using the 5.25 inch to 3.5 inch adapters, you can even install a total of 18 data storage devices. The hard drives are installed in special mounting carriages, which are designed to accommodate both 2.5" HDD / SSD as well as 3.5" HDD. Screws with rubber suspension are used to hold the drives in place.

A special feature of the Deep Silence 6 Rev. B is the newly developed 2.5 inch mounting frame for up to six 2.5" HDD/SSD. For installation, the mounting frame will need three 3.5 inch bays. If you do not want to use this unique feature, sufficiently 3.5 inch mounting carriages are included to use all available slots.

The big tower also features a modular 3-bay HDD cage. The cage may be mounted at different positions on the case bottom. This ensures that for example very thick radiators can be installed without space problems.

 

thanks in advance!

Edited by volume
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On the Rackmount question:

 

You can make them "More quiet" but as they are built for large air flows, by definition you have to move a lot of air through them.  My 24 bay server has 5 fans, I've replaced them with high end fans (Noctua) and have the speed controlled by temp...when the server is being used for a parity check there is a noticeable wind-rushing sound...the fans themselves are nearly silent but the air they have to move to cool the drives is huge in volume.

 

This is all about trade-offs.  You can go with a standard case and use a 5-in-3 caddy with a fan, that has directed isolated air flow so the total volume of moving air would be lower and much more targeted...but if you have 3,4 or 5 of them air is still going to be moving.  It is a little more easy in standard cases to control the other heat generators...for instance I have 2 fans + CPU heat sync fan in my rack mount, in a desktop case it would be a little more simple to use a passive CPU heat sync that is cooled with the exhaust from the 5-in-3's allowing you to optimize things...but the cost is room to work, rack mounts traditionally are cavernous (thus lots of air to hit the right places) while desktops can be much tighter but require less moving air to get them cool.  One last point, with a desktop your temp rise from intake to output is going to be larger, as you are moving less air.

 

Ok, lots of words there, but the summary is that it's all about trade offs, there is no one right answer to this question, both can work and work very well...often the position of the server (In the basement storage room vs in the entertainment center) is what dictates path more than anything else.

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9 minutes ago, tdallen said:

Lian Li makes some nice large capacity traditional (non-rackmount) cases, so does Fractal Design.

 

Have you upgraded to 8TB disks yet?  Personally I'd prioritize upgrading to larger hard drives over buying a bigger case.

 

yes all the drives are Seagate archive 8TB and need more than 10 drives case.

fractal design has the define R2 XL but its very old and don't have the room and features of the nanoxia deep silence 1 and obviously the bigger deep silence 6.

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9 minutes ago, tdallen said:

Something like the Lian Li PC-D8000 would be very nice, but probably blow your budget... 

 

i was looking that case at the moment.. it cost 390€, don't have the features of the Nanoxia (dust filters, chimney, silent fans, fan control in front, noise reducing materials)

and have almost the same space (20 drives +6 or 10 drives with additional purchase of 5,25 to 3,5 adapters or two 3x5 cases) for HDD 
as the Nanoxia deep silence 6 (capable of 20 drives, 18 drives without addition purchases)

Edited by volume
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That Nanoxia is a nice case man, I have been looking at something to replace my 24 bay rack mount so I don't have to stuff it in the unfinished basement...that might just put me over the edge.
If you already have 24 HDDs, i don't know if you can fit them all at the DS6 (deep silence 6).. Maybe with the purchase of additional internal HDD case.
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Something else to consider is ease of drive replacement, especially with regards to the potential for dislodging cables on good drives while replacing a bad drive.  The more drives in the case, the more often you might be in there.  I can tell you from personal experience and watching the forums here that a dislodged or damaged cable during maintenance happens very frequently, unfortunately.

 

The best solution is externally accessible hot swap bays.  A case like the Antec 900 with a set of Supermicro CSE-M35T-1B cages in the externally facing 5.25" bays is great.  Internally accessible hot swap bays are another option, common in Lian Li cases.  If you can't go with either of those options, then the ability to remove both sides of the case so you can work the drive removal from both the front and back of the drive is very nice.  Hot swap feels like a luxury until you have case stuffed with drives, a mass of power and SATA cables, and the need to surgically remove a drive in the middle of it all.  I'm not sure whether you can remove both sides of the Nanoxia, it's probably worth studying the pictures and any available videos.

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Something else to consider is ease of drive replacement, especially with regards to the potential for dislodging cables on good drives while replacing a bad drive.  The more drives in the case, the more often you might be in there.  I can tell you from personal experience and watching the forums here that a dislodged or damaged cable during maintenance happens very frequently, unfortunately.
 
The best solution is externally accessible hot swap bays.  A case like the Antec 900 with a set of Supermicro CSE-M35T-1B cages in the externally facing 5.25" bays is great.  Internally accessible hot swap bays are another option, common in Lian Li cases.  If you can't go with either of those options, then the ability to remove both sides of the case so you can work the drive removal from both the front and back of the drive is very nice.  Hot swap feels like a luxury until you have case stuffed with drives, a mass of power and SATA cables, and the need to surgically remove a drive in the middle of it all.  I'm not sure whether you can remove both sides of the Nanoxia, it's probably worth studying the pictures and any available videos.


Yes with the nanoxia, you can remove both panel sides. I have a dual parity on unraid and of course i don't mess around with hot swap replacement. If a drive fail, i will shut down the server, remove both side panels and replace carefully the failed HDD. And if you make a good cable management i don't think that you can accidentally remove a sata cable or power cable.. Of course with the unraid shut down.
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28 minutes ago, volume said:
32 minutes ago, Tybio said:
That Nanoxia is a nice case man, I have been looking at something to replace my 24 bay rack mount so I don't have to stuff it in the unfinished basement...that might just put me over the edge.

If you already have 24 HDDs, i don't know if you can fit them all at the DS6 (deep silence 6).. Maybe with the purchase of additional internal HDD case.

I'm down to 10 drives at the moment, and 4 of those are 6TBs (Rest are 8TB with a 10TB Parity).  Have lots of free space, that's what has me thinking about downsizing :)

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I'm down to 10 drives at the moment, and 4 of those are 6TBs (Rest are 8TB with a 10TB Parity).  Have lots of free space, that's what has me thinking about downsizing

Until you reach 16 HDD, you can also go with the DS1, saving some money for more HDDs, as well as it has smaller footprint.  

 

I may also go with that route, since i also have only 10 drives..

 

 

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Nothing beats a Supermicro 24 or 36 bay case IMO, but you can certainly go with an Antec 1200 with 4x5 hot swap bays for 20 drives which should last you awhile. Nice thing about the Antec solution is that you are not as restricted on motherboard size as you are with a Supermicro and being a tower, the Antec is more versatile in where it can go as well.

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Antec 1200 or similar with 4 5in3 CSE-M35T-1Bs.

 

Below is an Antec 900 with 3 of them (15 drives)

 

I have a Sharkoon Rebel 12 which is no longer made, but allows the 4 5in3s. (20 drives)

 

I also have one extra 5in3 that I use externally - giving me the 24 drive capacity you also desire.

 

Works pretty well in an unfinished basement or other unoccupied location where a bit of noise is not a big issue. I believe it is still quieter than a big rack, but not sure.

 

I have never used a big rack mount case, but it would take a lot of room and be difficult to manage. The tower is a small footprint and suits me better.

 

59f14e900c379_Antec900with5-in-3s.png.acf21b47563a408f94cd6543789c45ca.png

 

 

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