The Enclosure Thread


Blofeld

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both the coolermaster centurion 590 and the Fractal design R3 are on my shortlist.

one question for owners of one of those. how easy is it to keep dust out? are there proper filters or modifications necessary?

 

and for the R3 is i sufficient able to cool all the drives if it is fully loaded?

 

thanks in advance!

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both the coolermaster centurion 590 and the Fractal design R3 are on my shortlist.

one question for owners of one of those. how easy is it to keep dust out? are there proper filters or modifications necessary?

 

and for the R3 is i sufficient able to cool all the drives if it is fully loaded?

 

thanks in advance!

 

In my experience, the most important thing for dust management is to just keep your server off the floor.  Raising it even a foot or two off the ground will do more to keep dust out than any filter will.

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that is  a good tip

 

I must say tho that the filters in my cosmos s1000 case have done wonders for my current pc.

It's standing on the ground with both the PSU and intake getting cold air from the floor (on a carpet) it nearly as clean as when i bought it, a  couple of years ago.

since that whenever possible i'd love to have dust filters :)

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Regarding the Thermaltake V6:

 

Unfortunately, you CANNOT install a 5-in-3 drive cage into the upper most bays.  I tried it today with a Supermicro 5-in-3 and there's no way to make it fit.  The cabling that connects the case internals to the top-mounted hot swap bay stick down just slightly too much, as you can see in these photos:

 

W2G3ol.jpg

 

8sLjpl.jpg

 

qugMQl.jpg

 

It is easy to remove the hot swap bay's cabling if you don't want to use it.  If you do that, then the 5-in-3 will fit just fine.

 

So my take on this case is that it is good for a 9 drive server (8 single hot swap bays + the top mounted bay) or a 13 drive server (2 x 5-in-3s + 2 single hot swap bays + the top mounted bay) or possibly even a 14 drive server (2 x 5-in-3s + one 3-in-2 + the top mounted bay).  If you are looking for a cheap replacement for the CM 590 and don't care about sacrificing the top mounted bay, then this case would work for that as well.

 

The upper-most bay isn't a total waste either.  You could install a 2.5 or 3.5" drive internally in that bay.  Technically you can even get away with a single hot swap bay - it fits, but the drive itself rubs against the top hot swap bay's cabling, which makes me uneasy.

 

Overall I'm fairly happy with the case.  It is lightweight and yet surprisingly quiet, given how thin the metal is.  It is well designed and easy to work with.  The front panel comes off easily (you have to remove it to remove the 5.25" bay covers).  Most of all, it is cheap.

 

One other note - the metal tabs between the 5.25" bays run nearly the whole length of the bay, so they take a bit longer to flatten.  Took me probably about an hour to flatten the tabs in the entire case (using a c-clamp).

 

Edit: More thoughts on and pics of this case here.

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15 drive server (2 x 5-in-3s + one 3-in-2 + the top mounted bay)

 

This only makes 14 drives. Will 3 5-in-3s fit?

 

Right you are, I fixed my post.  You can fit a maximum of two 5-in-3s in this case if you still want to be able to use the top mounted hot swap bay.  If you remove the cabling for the top mounted hot swap bay, then you can fit a full three 5-in-3s (just like the CM 590).

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4 drives?! What next -- a lovely 2-drive Media Server?  ;D

 

Ask and ye shall receive,

 

http://dune-hd.com/hd_players/current/152-dune-hd-duo.html

;)

 

 

That's a player, not a server. My point is that unRAID was designed as a Media Server -- designed to serve data from many hard drives. 4 is not many!

 

Yeah I know, just having a laugh, I only have 3, I feel inadequate :'(

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Cooler Master CM iTower 930

 

After looking at Queegs miniTen server with envy I set about looking for a case with a similar design of two sets of three 5.25 bays. Surely someone had done it?

 

Well they have, good looking too IMO, what more they stuck 4 hot swap bays in the middle for good measure.

 

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6

 

http://www.coolermaster.com/upload/product/6/featured/top1.jpg?1589907198

 

http://www.coolermaster.com/upload/product/6/featured/top4.jpg?1722199912

 

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This is the case I am using to build an unRAID solution for my mothers Photography business. I originally purchased this for a gaming case back in the day and think it will be great for unRAID.

 

I purchased 2 aditional iCages for a total of 3.

 

I also removed the front wings as they made alot of vibration noise when the unit is running.

 

thermaltake.jpg

 

thermalside.jpg

 

Case Type    Super Tower 

Material    1.0 mm SECC 

Front Bezel Material    Aluminum 

Color    Black 

Side Panel    Transparent Window 

Motherboard Support    Micro ATX,

ATX,

Extend ATX,

BTX 

Motherboard Tray     

5.25" Drive Bay    10 

Ext. 3.5" Drive Bay    1

 

Int. 3.5" Drive Bay    6 

Expansion Slots    7 

Front I/O Ports    USB 2.0 x 2,

IEEE 1394 Firewire,

Audio & Speaker ports 

Cooling System    - Front (intake) :

  120 x 120 x 25 mm, blue LED fan, 1300 rpm, 17 dBA

- Side (intake) :

  250 x 250 x 30 mm fan, 600 rpm, 15 dBA

- Rear (exhaust) :

  120 x 120 x 25 mm blue LED fan, 1300 rpm, 17 dBA

  90 x 90 x 25 mm, 1800 rpm, 19 dBA

- Top (exhaust) :

  90 x 90 x 25 mm, 1800 rpm, 19 dBA 

Liquid Cooling Capable    Yes 

Liquid Cooling Embedded    No 

Power Supply Supported    Standard ATX PSII 

Power Supply Included    No 

Dimension (H*W*D)    20.9 x 8.7 x 22.0 in

530 x 220 x 560 mm 

Net Weight    34.8 lbs

15.8 kg 

Security Lock   

 

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I'm currently looking at these cases.

It comes with 1 (hs1) or 2 (hs2) 3in 3 hotswap hd cages. which can be removed for a total of 10 bays, so if my math is correct 16 drives.

3x5in3 an 1x1in1 or 2x5in3 and 2x 3in2

I'm leaning towards the hs1 since I already purchased 2 icybox

 

I have an HS2 on the way to me now.  I know the drive density is not the best with the built-in 3-in-3 units but this will be my first build for unRaid and felt the value for a six-drive hot-swap system was fairly good.  I'm more concerned about adequate cooling and low noise than I am about drive density at this point.

 

I will post a review (hopefully in about a week) detailing my results.

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I have an HS2 on the way to me now.  I know the drive density is not the best with the built-in 3-in-3 units but this will be my first build for unRaid and felt the value for a six-drive hot-swap system was fairly good.  I'm more concerned about adequate cooling and low noise than I am about drive density at this point.

 

I will post a review (hopefully in about a week) detailing my results.

An hs1 is on the way .

it seems a neat case other than these "gamer" boxes that i'd only buy if i could hide it somwhere. ^^.

It will still take some time until the rest of the components will arrive. i hope around the 10th to have a working system. fingers crossed.

 

Mod Edit: Fixed the quote tag

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I am looking for a replacement for the COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 Case. It seems to have been removed from Newegg, and is no longer on Amazon. I love this case (besides those metal tabs) and would hate it if I cant find it.

I have found these:

Thermaltake V6 BlacX Edition Gaming Chassis Mid Tower Steel Computer Case BlacX Top Mounted HDD Docking Station VM100M1W2Z

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133180

Thermaltake V5 Black Edition Mid-Tower Gaming Chassis With Embedded Handle VL70001W2Z

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133099

but was wondering if anyone has found a good 9 spot case that can hold 3 5-bay hot swaps

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The V6 is a nice case, and a nice alternative to the CM 590.  The only downside is that you have to sacrifice the top mounted bay if you want to stuff it with 5-in-3 cages.  See my pictures earlier in this thread.  The V5 looks the same except for the handle, so I expect either one would work.

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I have an HS2 on the way to me now.  I know the drive density is not the best with the built-in 3-in-3 units but this will be my first build for unRaid and felt the value for a six-drive hot-swap system was fairly good.  I'm more concerned about adequate cooling and low noise than I am about drive density at this point.

 

I will post a review (hopefully in about a week) detailing my results.

 

I'm using an HS2 and I've added a third hot swap bay giving 9 hot swap in total. As has been said, not the highest drive density but then hdd cooling is not an issue. I added one of these http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/casefanaccessories/kaze-server and have each drive cage fan controlled by putting a temperature probe in the back of each one. Most of the time, the fans are idle. Be aware that the second drive cage in the HS2 does not come with a fan (but if you buy a third, it does).

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For info about the Zantec cases, and this may also apply to many others with both top and rear vents. I played around with temperature probes and fan contollers quite a bit and I found that, if you run just a rear fan as an exhaust, then most of the air is drawn in through the top vents (hardly anything through the front or bottom) and you get very little circulation through the case. Likewise, if you use just a top fan, most of the air is drawn in through the rear vents and you get very little internal cooling. Initially, I used just a rear fan and taped up all the vents in the top of the case. That worked well and drew most of the incoming air through the front (over the HDDs) and the bottom giving much better cooling of all the internals. The downside was that I lost the passive cooling effect of warm air simply escaping through the top vents and the fan needed to run more often. My final strategy was to use both a rear and a single top fan connected together to one channel of my fan controller. So, I still get passive cooling and at "idle" none of the case fans run at all. When I'm streaming or otherwise using the server and the temperature rises, both fans come on (slowly at first) and draw air in through the front (over the HDDS) and the base. 

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Zalman HS2 Mini-review

 

I received the HS2 this week and built out the server.  This is my first unRaid build but one of dozens of builds for Linux boxes.  The first impression for the case is that it is beautiful.  Clean lines and good thinking are evident in all aspects.

 

The airflow in the case seems to be excellent:  filter on the bottom under the PSU, vents and 120 mm fans at the top of the back and back of the top.  I augmented the included 92mm fan on one drive enclosure with one (not included) for the second enclosure.  Even during parity build, my drives are sitting around 31C.  At other times, they have been at 28-29C.

 

The drive bays are the best and worst qualities on this case.  These are not professional quality enclosures.  Let me repeat:  not professional quality.  However, they are functional and cheap.  When I say cheap I mean that I spend about $170 for the case and the two included 3-in-3 SATA enclosures.  The enclosures are plastic and will not take heavy usage.  However, I knew this when I bought it.  I did not see them as a cheap alternative to a $100 4-in-3 enclosure but as a more functional alternative to cheap 4-in-3 mounts like the Cooler Master drive caddy.  For users that will not be moving drives a lot, the six removable trays offer a lot of flexibility with ample airflow.  As an added benefit, the power connections for the enclosures are 4-pin molex power adapters.  This means I get away with a cheaper PSU and less cabling because the enclosures only take 4 cables each (3 SATA + 1 4-pin power).

 

Pros:

  • Excellent build quality and design on the case itself.
  • Good price $170 for six bays of removable caddies
  • Excellent airflow with the included fans, easily upgraded by predrilled spots for 2 additional 12mm fans (bottom and top) and one additional 92mm fan (for back of the second enclosure)
  • Padding on one side panel, padded mount point for PSU to reduce noise
  • About the cheapest way to get a high quality case and enclosures if your goal is 6-9 drives

 

Cons

  • Retention mechanism for drives is prone to sticking
  • LEDs for drives only indicates connection, not activity
  • They could have included more fans but it may be cooling well enough as-is (I have yet to install the additional 12mm fan I purchased because it is so cool and quiet as-is)

 

Result

 

I recommend this case for builds requiring 6-9 drives (Zalman sells extra enclosures for roughly $60) that will not be moved a lot.

 

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an interesting case indeed, I wonder if they sell it in Europe.

On a different note, I just found this installation of fans in "Golden Computer Arcade" in Hong Kong, a bazaar of crazy geek stuff. So much fun walking around that place, if you can think of a computer-related thing, they got it. Anyway, these fans....quiet, they're most certainly NOT. BUt to me, this is almost an art installation...check it out here:

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I'm in the planning phase of my first unRAID box. The goal is to build an expandable system to stream HD content, do torrents, and store my photos. Space and expandability is a priority, quietness second, cooling third. I'm not sure how much cooling is really needed for an unRAID box - I'd imagine less than for a gaming rig or a photo editing box, for example?

 

Here the shortlist of cases in order of current preference. All have plenty of space for HDDs, quite a few fans, and are supposed to be solid premium contenders and relatively quiet. Does anyone have any pluses or minuses why one would be preferred over the others?

 

NZXT Phantom http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/crafted_series/phantom

 

Fractal Design Define XL http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2∏=55

 

Bitfenix Colossus http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/chassis/colossus#overview

 

Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product.aspx?c=1400&id=1829#Tab1

 

Thermaltake VA8003BWS http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1277&ID=1405#Tab1

 

Antec DF-85 http://store.antec.com/Product/darkFleet/df-85/0-761345-15238-9.aspx

 

Corsair Graphite Series 600T http://www.corsair.com/cases/graphite-series/graphite-series-600t.html

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Cooling an unRAID box is probably more complex than a gaming rig. Basically if it runs cool during parity check, it probably runs too cold (for the disks) most of the time. If it runs ideal when a few disks are spinning it tends to run hot during a parity check.

 

But you are correct that less cooling is needed.

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Cooling an unRAID box is probably more complex than a gaming rig. Basically if it runs cool during parity check, it probably runs too cold (for the disks) most of the time. If it runs ideal when a few disks are spinning it tends to run hot during a parity check.

 

So that would imply that a fan controller would be useful? I'd prefer to have an automated system, though (software or mobo).

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Cooling an unRAID box is probably more complex than a gaming rig. Basically if it runs cool during parity check, it probably runs too cold (for the disks) most of the time. If it runs ideal when a few disks are spinning it tends to run hot during a parity check.

 

So that would imply that a fan controller would be useful? I'd prefer to have an automated system, though (software or mobo).

 

That's one option.  I prefer to just build servers that run a bit hot during a parity check (in the high 30s to low 40s), then run optimally during normal use (in the low to mid 30s).  As long as you stick to mostly green drives I haven't found cooling to be too much of an issue.  In my personal server, the only drives that ever breach 40C during a parity check or other extended use are 7200 rpm drives.  All my green drives stay in the 30s no matter what.

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