I currently have a case like this, but I'm only running two drives in it and an old Dell Mobo that is kinda retarded so I had to modifiy the fan inside to keep it alive.

 

Anyways what I was wondering what anybody else would suggest for a rack mount application for a case for running unRAID. I plan on keeping this case for what I'm using it for, but I'm thinking of picking up a second one for either this unless somebody else has a better idea because I'd love to here it. The one I'm pointing out doesn't mention Power Supply, but the one I have has a 600Watt power supply, but doesn't have a dedicated pigtail for each drive so I'm sure you would have to split some connections and possibly use an adapter to power a Sata Drive. Click Here

 

I did notice however doing some more search on Ebay there is a lot of mention of rack mount and many from this same maker, but some are only 6 bay.

People like the Norco's I.E. RPC-4220

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16811219033

http://www.newegg.com/Store/BrandSubCategory.aspx?Brand=10473&SubCategory=412&name=Norco-Technologies-Inc-Server-Chassis

Thanks.

 

Wow, didn't realize they where that spendy. I do like the layout thou.

People like the Norco's I.E. RPC-4220

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16811219033

http://www.newegg.com/Store/BrandSubCategory.aspx?Brand=10473&SubCategory=412&name=Norco-Technologies-Inc-Server-Chassis

 

Do you have one of those? 

I don't.

I have a Cooler Master Stacker 810 with 4 Supermicro 5in3's.

I need it to fit under my desk and roll on the castors.

I thought about the Norco's and was very close to getting one, but heard complaint about the noise.

Since I changed the Supermicro fans from the Sanyo Denkis to the Gield, it's pretty quiet.

My computer room is always a whir of fan noise, but has dimished a great deal over the days as I've migrated most spinning storage to a large unraid server.

That also depends on what you want but if you look on ebay, you can buy used very cheap sometimes. Just make sure you get the right stuff 'cause many of those are for scsi drives..but some come with PSU 'n all 

After I saw your post on my request for a rack mount I started looking at some of those cool master cases. Some of them are pretty nice.

 

Anybody think there would be a problem with laying one on its side after mounted or do you think that would change the dynamics of the air flow. You know hot rising at the wrong place or the drives being on their side. Then again doesn't some of those 5 in 3 gizmos put the drives on their side anyways?

Some rackmount cases are spendy, and the Norco 4220 is popular because for the feature set, it's actually pretty cheap.

 

Depending on how many drives you want to run, rackmount cases can be found under $100. I bought a few of these to rack up some other servers in my house (not unRAID): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811192047

 

They have enough room for one 5-in-3 but there are similar case designs that allow for two 5-in-3's.

 

I would tend to think that ventilation of a tower on it's side would be OK if you overdid the airflow, but that would definitely vary a lot on the components used.

 

Anybody think there would be a problem with laying one on its side after mounted or do you think that would change the dynamics of the air flow. You know hot rising at the wrong place or the drives being on their side. Then again doesn't some of those 5 in 3 gizmos put the drives on their side anyways?

 

It could easily improve the airflow.  If the rear case fan is mounted at the left edge of the case then all the heat would naturally flow out it even better.  Also, most cases have vents on the left side for extra fans.  Either put a fan blowing out or cover the vent so the rear fan doesn't suck the outside air in though the vent.  

 

 

At $300 the Norco 4020 is hard to beat if you need that many drives.  That's $15 per hotswap bay.

Even though the big Norco 20 bay is popular around here, but if its too much for someone the actual best value per bay is something not hot swap like:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219030

 

That plus a cheap 4 in 3 gives you 15 bays for your drives.

 

Honestly I am not a fan of rackmount stuff because its LOUD unless you blow an extra $60+ on really premium fans, and even then it is still loud compared to my Antec 1200 (with no fan smaller than 120mm).

 

I HAVE though about buying that 20 bay Norco when it goes on sale (one of those $300 shipped deals Newegg randomly has) and taking all the hot swap bays out and putting them in my Antec 1200. Anyone know if that would work?

I HAVE though about buying that 20 bay Norco when it goes on sale (one of those $300 shipped deals Newegg randomly has) and taking all the hot swap bays out and putting them in my Antec 1200. Anyone know if that would work?

 

There are no hot swap bays in the Norco 20 you can remove, the removable drives plug directly onto a backplane.

Have a close look at http://www.norcotek.com/product_images/flyer/rpc4220_6.jpg

Thanks MCS, you kept me from wasting $300!