Can anyone suggest an alternative to the AZZA Helios 910?

 

I made a unit once using the helios and norco drive bays and the case easily accepted the drive bays.

The heiios is no longer available... at least not from newegg.

 

I'm making another 12 drive unraid box and am going to be using the norco drive bays again and would appreciate any suggestions for an alternative case.

 

Thanks!

I replied in the 5.25 top to bottom thread about the Zalman MS-800 case.  Looks like a nice contender.......

 

http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=747

 

Kryspy

Those QNAP-looking 2/4/6/8-drive ITX chassis from U-NAS look like they are available in the US now at www.u-nas.com/cases.html  Their store currently only has the 2 and 4 bay models and I'm hoping the 8 bay is available soon. Additional highres pics of the internals can be found here.

 

My setup is brand new but it is installed in an old second hand Enlight EN8950 Server Case that has a few dings and scratches... It must be around 15 years old, i guess.

 

It looks like this:

 

 

I will be moving my vSphere server to one of these that I got from a customer. Mine is black though and has rollers. They are definitely huge and heavy.

The Lian-Li PC-D8000 http://goo.gl/mMf6j! :-)

 

 

It's Enormous! 6x external 5,25 bays (if you don't use the front connection panel) + 20x 3.5!

The Lian-Li PC-8000 is indeed a superb case for large (24 drive) systems => very easy to insert/remove drives without the need for hot-swap cages; and AMAZING airflow (you can put 6 120mm fans in front to blow air directly over the sides of the drives !!

 

For small (7-drive max) systems it's hard to beat the Lian-Li PC-Q25B ... 5 hot-swap bays; a drive cage that holds 2 more; and a 140mm fan blowing directly over the drives.

 

They make a couple really neat cases for 12-14 drive systems as well 

 

Basically, for non-rack-mounted builds, Lian-Li is the way to go.    The only disadvantage relative to some of the other options is that they cost a bit more 

 

 

 

Must say i like my cheap little case, the MS-Tech CA-210

 

http://www.ms-tech.de/ger/index.php/product/detail/pdcid/65/pdid/273

 

I have put 3x 4in3 CM Modules into it giving me 12 drives, the drives are nice and cool and the system as a whole is nice and quite (lives in living room).

 

I'm debating getting 3x 5in3 hot swap cages for it so i can go for 15 drives (got a pro license anyway) but no idea whats out there and need to know the sizes, mainly depth.

Must say i like my cheap little case, the MS-Tech CA-210

 

http://www.ms-tech.de/ger/index.php/product/detail/pdcid/65/pdid/273

 

I have put 3x 4in3 CM Modules into it giving me 12 drives, the drives are nice and cool and the system as a whole is nice and quite (lives in living room).

 

I'm debating getting 3x 5in3 hot swap cages for it so i can go for 15 drives (got a pro license anyway) but no idea whats out there and need to know the sizes, mainly depth.

 

The CoolerMaster 4-in-3 units are superb drive mounts -- they do a much better job of cooling your drives than any hot-swap unit I've tried.  Hard to beat a 120mm fan blowing directly on the drives -- no hot-swap unit I'm aware of using anything larger than 80mm; and they're rear-mounted so are "pulling" air at an offset ... definitely less effective.    Having said that, the hot-swaps DO keep the drives "cool enough".

 

I'm looking for the most compact (non-rack mount) 24 or 25 total drive case.  Any suggestions?

 

Currently I have a Lian Li PC-D8000.  While EXTREMLY nice and definately roomy, I need to convert to something extremely compact while maintaining the max drive limit of unRAID.  I don't really want to go with 2 separate servers if I can really help it.

 

The Zalman MS-800 case looks like my best option.  Any other suggestions?

I'm looking for the most compact (non-rack mount) 24 or 25 total drive case.  Any suggestions?

 

Currently I have a Lian Li PC-D8000.  While EXTREMLY nice and definately roomy, I need to convert to something extremely compact while maintaining the max drive limit of unRAID.  I don't really want to go with 2 separate servers if I can really help it.

 

The Zalman MS-800 case looks like my best option.  Any other suggestions?

unless you plan on mount some inside the case the MS-800 will only allow for 3 of the 5-in-3 and then a single host swap at the top for 16 total hot swap bay.

If you like the Lian-Li PC343B, check out the D8000  => basically the same case, but a much "cleaner" front panel without all the 5.25" bays ... instead it's got 20 drive cages that you access by popping off the front panel (it just pulls off) => you can either directly cable the drives; or you can buy optional hot-swap panels that mount in the back of the cages to turn all 20 into hot-swaps.  VERY nice case ... by far my favorite for a high-drive-count system in a tower system.    And SUPERB cooling ... 6 120mm fans blow air directly across the drives.

 

has anyone tried this trayless number from monoprice:

 

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130701&p_id=10061&seq=1&format=4#feedback

I'm looking for the most compact (non-rack mount) 24 or 25 total drive case.  Any suggestions?

 

Currently I have a Lian Li PC-D8000.  While EXTREMLY nice and definately roomy, I need to convert to something more compact while maintaining the max drive limit of unRAID.  I don't really want to go with 2 separate servers if I can really help it.

 

Any suggestions?

 

I've seen a few new cases come out on the market but nothing that will hold the max amount of drives (parity+data+cache) for unRAID.  I'm sure there has to be something out there that doesn't have to be modded to death to get a max unRAID build.

 

I'm still loving my PC-D8000 but my motherboard's south bridge fan is super loud.  I've gotta fix that and then it will be a very quiet box.

The Lian Li PC-Q25b is a popular and well designed case for NAS building. In a recent thread on these pages it was noted there's not much room for a full sized power supply. see: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=28860.0

 

Has anyone tried the PE-01 Power Supply Extender? Care to comment??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811995021 (currently out of stock)

 

Thanks for the help!

The best choice for the PC-Q25B is to use an SFX power supply.  This works very well:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256063

 

as does the modular version:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256084

Lian Li PC-A79

 

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/32547/lian-li-unveils-new-brushed-aluminum-pc-a79-full-tower-chassis/index.html

 

Looks like a nice tower case.  I wonder how many drives you could get in it.  I may go ahead and get one (when released) and try and max it out without too much modifications.  Would be nice to swap over from my PC-D8000.

has anyone tried this trayless number from monoprice:

 

Those are the iStarUSA units.

Is the Lian Li D8000 the best option of 20+ disk case if you don't want a rack case? Thing is I noticed its discontinued on New Egg.

 

I currently have 11 disks, I can fit one more in at a push  - don't want to go to two boxes plus I'd like to eventually go virtualized.

Not sure if anyone has seen this case as of yet but it looks like an interesting option for those that want something HP microserver like but want to build it themselves.

 

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1371-page3.html

I have one of the older Chenbro's, it reminds me of that one. For the life of me I could not figure out how to properly remove the front of it. I ended up accidentally breaking the front trying to remove it. It really pissed me off that there were no instructions and they did not make it easy. The case was rather expensive for what it was also, I think around $180. I hope they are more reasonable.

Is the Lian Li D8000 the best option of 20+ disk case if you don't want a rack case? Thing is I noticed its discontinued on New Egg.

 

I currently have 11 disks, I can fit one more in at a push  - don't want to go to two boxes plus I'd like to eventually go virtualized.

 

Or possibly an older Lian Li, they had several options in the past to support large amounts of drives. I guess I got my d8000 at the right time.

Cae labs, http://www.caselabs-store.com/, has some double wides that will support more drives than unraid can use.  Some of the single wides setups will also.  These cases are made primarily for modders and are a touch pricey depending on the route you go but I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Is the Lian Li D8000 the best option of 20+ disk case if you don't want a rack case? Thing is I noticed its discontinued on New Egg.

 

I currently have 11 disks, I can fit one more in at a push  - don't want to go to two boxes plus I'd like to eventually go virtualized.

 

Or possibly an older Lian Li, they had several options in the past to support large amounts of drives. I guess I got my d8000 at the right time.

I have some Lian Li V2000 cases they support 12 drives out of box.  Add 2 5in3 cages to up the total to 22 drives.  If you add a Double Twin in the top 5 and 1/4 drive bay to up it to 24 drives.  You could also add an additional 5-6 drives above the power supply if you can attach them together to up the total another 5-6 drives.  Unfortunately they are not sold any more.

has anyone tried this trayless number from monoprice:

 

Good price!

One of my favorites is the Supermicro SC847E16-R1400LPB for 36 hot-plug drives in only 4U.

 

Here a review with images and a lot of details

http://www.natecarlson.com/2010/05/07/review-supermicros-sc847a-4u-chassis-with-36-drive-bays/

 

The product page at Supermicro's site

http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4u/847/sc847e16-r1400lp.cfm