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Lian Li PC-A77FA and Supermicro Mobile Racks

smoldersonline

By smoldersonline
in Hardware

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smoldersonline Explorer

smoldersonline

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As part of my first post here (but after a lot of reading), please allow me to express my appreciation for the character of this forum.

 

After two upgrades of off the shelf options (2x Synology, and currently a Thecus product), I'm getting close to feeling comfortable to build (my first) Unraid server.

 

For a couple of reasons (not price...) the Lian Li PC-A77FA seems an attractive option for me. My plan would be to (maybe gradually) use 4 Supermicro Mobile Racks (CSE-M35T-1B) for a 20 drive server. I guess this case should be able to accomodate the racks but I have to work from pictures and those somewhat confuse me, especially the front (3) fans. I was hoping that someone could confirm that after removing the fans I can stick in the racks. Any other feedback on this combo would also be greatly appreciated.

 

Take care,

 

Dirk (The Netherlands)

 

 

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Kode Enthusiast

Kode

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Thats a smart looking case, there should be no reason you couldnt use the racks in that case, the only reason it wouldnt fit is if there were lips to support the bays, but they look smooth, so should work fine.

 

*edit* Actually it looks like the top 3 might have lips, but you should be able to bend them back if they do, but the remaining 9 appear to be smooth.

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smoldersonline Explorer

smoldersonline

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I'm pretty clear on the parts for this venture, except the drive cages. Just re-read a couple of threads, but that did not really help, still struggling a bit. I may switch to the Icy Dock cages as they are reported to be less noisy. As an alternative, I could replace the fans of the Supermicro, I understand that that is easy?

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Orbi Apprentice

Orbi

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It's a nice case, but for the money its questionable when pit against the Norco 4220 or even 4224.

 

$700 = $300 PC-A77F + (4 * $100 5-in-3 HotSwap Bays)

$300 to $350 = Norco 4220

$400 = Norco 4224

 

 

Yeah, but the looks are not comparable, especially if he's going to put the server in the study next to an imac. Lian Li make such beautyful cases!

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Kode Enthusiast

Kode

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It's a nice case, but for the money its questionable when pit against the Norco 4220 or even 4224.

 

$700 = $300 PC-A77F + (4 * $100 5-in-3 HotSwap Bays)

$300 to $350 = Norco 4220

$400 = Norco 4224

 

 

He lives in europe, so those prices arent quite the same.

 

In the UK the Lian Li is about £250, if he went with http://www.xcase.co.uk/hotswap-stoarge-kit-p/hddkit-xx-500.htm instead of the supermicro that would total about £490.

 

The X-case RM420 which i think is the Norco 4220 http://www.xcase.co.uk/X-Case-RM-420-Hotswap-4u-p/case-rm420.htm is £350 (about $540) so while the Norco is still cheaper, the Lian-Li is a much nicer looking case.  Not sure what the prices are like in the netherlands.

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smoldersonline Explorer

smoldersonline

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Pricing in the Netherlands is very similar. I've also looked at those Xcase kits (discussed here), but have some doubts whether I will be able to keep the drives adequately cooled. From a cost perspective they are indeed very attractive, and they would look good too in the Lian Li - maybe even better as compared to the Supermicro's (but that's a matter of taste, I guess).

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smoldersonline Explorer

smoldersonline

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Not really, other than a couple of comments on the Supermicro's along the lines: "the stock fans could cool the whole house". Considering this again: both have a 90mm fan which seems to be (quite) centrally located, right?

 

edit: not so sure about the fans. Newegg tells me that the SS-500 has a 90mm fan, while Norco indicates 80mm. Or am I missing an obvious point here (not unlikely in my case).

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smoldersonline Explorer

smoldersonline

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exh34sb.jpg

 

Lian Li EX-H345 - It is 4-in-3 (instead of 5-in-3), but wouldn't this look really nice?

 

From Lian Li's FAQ: The SATA back panel doesn’t have a RAID or SATA chip on the PCB. It requires a motherboard which has RAID onboard and SATA capabilities to enable the hot swap and RAID features. No doubt a n00bish question, but do I need electronics in the cage (I think the other cages do..)?

 

Seriously tempted, so any feedback is again greatly appreciated!

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razmajazz Rookie

razmajazz

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First, I completely agree with your decision to spend the extra money on a quality case since this box is going to be in a living space. I made the same decision to go with Lian Li (PC-K12) and have not regretted it for a second. It's the best case I've ever owned, both in ease of initial build and in reliability/maintenance. Second, since this is going to be in a living space minimal noise with adequate cooling should be a top, if not the top, priority. I wanted near silent operation and that ruled out most hot swap cages for me.

 

The EX-H345 is the one hot swap cage I considered for my build but ultimately decided to go with the the EX-34N. I like the H345's 120 mm fan but the PCB on the back seemed too likely to block airflow and would require higher fan speed (and noise) to overcome the resistance. Also it was borderline too deep for my case and would have pushed against the MB but that's probably not a problem for the A77FA. I have been able to undervolt the fans on the 34N to be virtually silent and still keep all the drives at 35C or less on a parity check. Combined with a Corsair power supply and undervolted rear fan I can't hear anything from this machine unless I put my ear next to it.

 

It's definitely a pain to add or remove drives with an internal cage and every time I have to do it I wonder if I should have gone with the H345. If I had 16 drives to deal with it would probably be a bigger deal to me but I've only got 9 and I've found I can get by with just removing the cages a few times a year. YMMV but that's my 2 cents worth of advice.

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smoldersonline Explorer

smoldersonline

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Thanks a lot for this. Both (A16B & K12) are very nice cases.

 

@razmajazz: think I understand your point on the PCB (and fan), I guess this drawback would be relevant for you for all 5-in-3's? I'm leaning towards (also) the Lian Li cages and I am weighing pro's & con's.

 

@adelias: any particular reason for your preference for the Norco's?

 

As always; very grateful for your support.

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razmajazz Rookie

razmajazz

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Razmajazz, have you ever tried to cool fast 7200 rpm drives like the Seagates with the EX-34N? What drives do you have? Could you post some pictures. Thanks!

 

Here is my post in the Pimp your rig thread which shows my case and EX-34N. I've since added 2 more drives. I have all Samsung drives but there is a mix of older 7200 RPM and newer green drives. In the thread I note that that the highest observed temperature was 37C but that was probably during the initial data transfer. Ambient in the house is around 25-26C in the summer (thanks to A/C). Lately I hardly ever see temperatures above 32C but I don't always see parity check temperatures (thanks to the monthly, unattended checking script). As you can imagine a cage with 4 drives has slightly warmer temperatures than an unfilled one.

 

There is some question about the reliability of Samsung's temperature readings. My green F2 drives are up to 10C off but I think my older 7200 RPM drives are not that bad -- maybe 2-3C low.

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