The Enclosure Thread


Blofeld

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Hi,

 

It is my first post I am new to unRaid but I read you guys everyday for some times.  I am trying to organize my ideas at the moment for my first build.  I don't need 12-15 drive but maybe around 8-10 so I am looking for a case with six external bays.

 

I saw these cases today:

http://www.istarusa.com/istarusa/product_speclist.php?series=Tower⊂=JBOD CASE

 

My plan would be to get the S-7B-JB with 2X BPN-DE340SS.  That would give me 8 drives in a nice and clean case.

 

Somebody tried one of them yet?  Are they good?

 

thanks!

 

 

 

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My plan would be to get the S-7B-JB with 2X BPN-DE340SS.  That would give me 8 drives in a nice and clean case.

 

Indeed, it looks to be a decent case to put your drives in.  What case will you use for your motherboard/processor, and what connections will you use between the two enclosures.

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Hi,

 

It is my first post I am new to unRaid but I read you guys everyday for some times.  I am trying to organize my ideas at the moment for my first build.  I don't need 12-15 drive but maybe around 8-10 so I am looking for a case with six external bays.

 

I saw these cases today:

http://www.istarusa.com/istarusa/product_speclist.php?series=Tower⊂=JBOD CASE

 

My plan would be to get the S-7B-JB with 2X BPN-DE340SS.  That would give me 8 drives in a nice and clean case.

 

Somebody tried one of them yet?  Are they good?

 

thanks!

 

 

 

 

Take a look at Rajahal's prototype thread in the UCD forum and more specifically this post.  There is a 9 drive budget box build in there that sounds like it could fit the bill for you nicely.

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My plan would be to get the S-7B-JB with 2X BPN-DE340SS.  That would give me 8 drives in a nice and clean case.

 

Indeed, it looks to be a decent case to put your drives in.  What case will you use for your motherboard/processor, and what connections will you use between the two enclosures.

 

Well,  to be honest, reading the description on the iStarusa site, I didn't realised it was not a regular case where I could fit a motherbooard/CPU and everything with the drives.

 

Not so nice for a first post.  Anyway, thanks for your answer.

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Hi,

 

It is my first post I am new to unRaid but I read you guys everyday for some times.  I am trying to organize my ideas at the moment for my first build.  I don't need 12-15 drive but maybe around 8-10 so I am looking for a case with six external bays.

 

I saw these cases today:

http://www.istarusa.com/istarusa/product_speclist.php?series=Tower⊂=JBOD CASE

 

My plan would be to get the S-7B-JB with 2X BPN-DE340SS.  That would give me 8 drives in a nice and clean case.

 

Somebody tried one of them yet?  Are they good?

 

thanks!

 

 

 

 

Take a look at Rajahal's prototype thread in the UCD forum and more specifically this post.  There is a 9 drive budget box build in there that sounds like it could fit the bill for you nicely.

 

I saw these prototypes and they are nice.  I was just trying to get a case with 6 external bays so there is no empty sections but it is not so important.  I will follow your advice and go for a prototype build for my first one.

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer. 

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I saw these prototypes and they are nice.  I was just trying to get a case with 6 external bays so there is no empty sections but it is not so important.  I will follow your advice and go for a prototype build for my first one.

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer. 

 

Of course I recommend my prototype builds, my personal server is actually very similar to the 9 drive budget box.  Also take a look at ilovegoodnugz's build as well.  The case he chose comes with 9 built-in hot swap drive bays (they use trays, not trayless), and he added a 10th drive bay to the top.  I think the outcome is pretty nice.

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Hey thanks for the shoutout Raj, actually the case comes with 6 built in hot swap bays but I chose to buy another 3, total for the case and 9 hotswap bays plus the extra comes out to about $150 shipped in the US. The extra is a trayless monoprice one. So basically I have 9 bays for HDD and 1 for parity. In the future I plan to add 5 3 in 2 for a 15 drive max but I would have to switch out alot of parts to make that happen.

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I see, thanks for the clarification.  I really like your build.  Could you add the total price of your server (without drives) to your UCD post?  I think your build is probably a bit more expensive than my 9 drive prototype, but I still like it.

 

Thanks that means alot to me especially since I couldn't have done it without all of your advice and guides I am actually working on taking better pictures and posting temps with my build on my ucd page so will update all pricing as well. Thanks again

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Xclio Balack hawk 8/10 (£39.99 today only special at Scan over the holiday weekend)

 

Pros - Big case, plenty of room. Lots of fans. 12 front accessible HDD bays (8 x 3.5 bays behind bottom two fans). Additional 3 x 5.25 bays at top for 4 or 5 more HDDs. 3 built in fan controllers (side, top and front). Holds 8 drives during parity to mid thirties (3 or 4 deg. typ. increase).  

 

Cons - Cable management is poor (couple of little cut outs, little space behind MB tray). No heatsink hole in MB tray. Fans are not filtered. HDDs arent hot swappable. Front fans a super fiddly. Manual says to be careful to not bend pinds but not how-to remove fans the correct way!  

 

Took me 4 hours to swap out the old cooler master titan case and build the new one.

 

To Do: Re-orient PSU so cable exit is near rear of case. Should allow tidier cable management. Zip tie SATA cables. Take some pictures!

 

Would I buy another? Yes at £40, but has a lot of serious competion at full price it is up against...

 

Antec 900

Fractal Designs XL

Xigmatek UTGuard

Sharkoon Scorpio

Antec Dark Fleet

NZXT Tempest

CM 690

CM Haf 922

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just wanted to mention the upcoming NZXT Source 210.  It's supposed to be very affordable (~$40) and with 3 5.25'' bays and 8 3.5'' internal bays you can run a single 5 in 3 cage and hit 13 drives for significantly less than the cost of running a 15-bay tower build.  It's also very slick in terms of aesthetics.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just wanted to mention the upcoming NZXT Source 210.  It's supposed to be very affordable (~$40) and with 3 5.25'' bays and 8 3.5'' internal bays you can run a single 5 in 3 cage and hit 13 drives for significantly less than the cost of running a 15-bay tower build.  It's also very slick in terms of aesthetics.

 

I'm about 10 seconds away from pulling the trigger on this very case.  I almost bought the Antec 100 with 6 internals, but decided to search some more.  I frankly see no need in my world for 5x3 bays since they just cost money, add noise, and can't possibly be as cool running as the slightly more spaced out 8 drive stack in the NZXT.  And for the price, sheesh how can I go wrong :o $39.99 + $9.99 shipping from newegg.  Not so sound like a shill but here is a link to some sweet pics on the NZXT web site http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/classic_series/source_210 ... can anyone tell me .. .it looks like they have the slots for tool-less install but not the actual guts to make it happen.  Am I mistaken?  Can I buy those somewhere if I'm right?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here is my newegg review http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146076&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=100&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

 

Pros: Inexpensive but well built. Overall it is just a simple case without many bells and whistles. You can tell it could incorporate some tool-less drive holders for the 3.5 stack but that is only available on the "Elite" case that no one actually seems to sell yet. I got the white version because I wanted the inside of the case to be bright (without using LEDs), and it really does look sharp with the contrasting black bezel.

The build went fairly smoothly with 6 drives installed and a micro-ATX motherboard. As the specs show there are plenty of places for fans for cooling if needed. For my Unraid build, the most important are the two spots in front of the drive stack to keep the drives cool. It is a tight fit but they make it in there. For the price I can really recommend this case. I’m very pleased with it despite my cons below. I also liked that the fan grills are pushed out to give the fan blade more clearance for more flow and less noise.

 

Cons: Specific issues I have that would be ideally addressed by NZXT but can also be dealt with by the user:

 

1) Front panel removal is a challenge. The power/rest switches and the usb header wires are actually long enough except that they are zip-tied in place making them too short to pull the cover off to screw in the front fans. You can cut the zip-ties but it begs the question, why zip-tie them in the first place.

 

2) It can get cramped between the top 3.5" dives and the motherboard power and sata connectors. That is partly the motherboard, but given that it is also a micro-atx board I would say that the case needs just an extra 1/2" front to back to avoid the situation all together. Moving the drives forwards alone would impede airflow.

 

3) The gaps on the front panel for the fans to draw through are too small and cluttered making quiet fans a good bit louder. Some creative trimming solved it 90% but they really just need to add some more room or give the front panel a grill.

 

Other Thoughts: For an Unraid builder who doesn't want the expense, cooling, or sound issues of using 5x3 drive bays, this case is really a great choice for a mid-sized build. Add a 4x3 rack with a front fan to the 5.25" bays and you can hold a total of 12 drives with decent and quiet cooling at a reasonable price and without a huge case.

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Stop it you guys before I get the bug to build another machine. LOL

I like my Cooler Master 590, but they seem to be harder and harder to find. I really only wish that you could install the 4-3's without having to pull everything out to take out one drive, but I'm guessing that's just the way it is.

 

I also ended up with this case due to its size/price ratio... was plenty disappointed at all the extra work I had to do bending the tabs away so I could install my Supermicro 5x3 mobile racks... in the end, I should have spent less money on a Norco RPC-4220 or similar (the Supermicro cages add up quickly) but my drives are nice and cool, and much more so than if I had gone the 4220 route.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

There's a few new 12 x 5.25" bay cases on the market by Xigmatech:

 

Xigmatek Elysium Black Server Edition (non window) CCC-HSA0DS-U03 All Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Super Tower Computer Case - $220 + shipping

 

d1yYk.png

 

ABclr.png

 

Xigmatek Elysium Black CCC-HSA0DS-U01 All Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Super Tower Computer Case - $220 + shipping

 

OJIRD.png

 

Xigmatek Elysium Silver CCC-HSA0DS-U02 Black / Silver Aluminum / Steel ATX Super Tower Computer Case - $220 + shipping

 

Pricing is roughly half-way between the Lian Li cases and Antec cases.  I still prefer the looks of the Antec 1200 to these, although the Xigmatechs appear to have lots of rubberized cable management cutouts, which is a nice feature.  The built-in casters (wheels) in two of the three models are also very nice, as 20 drive servers are heavy!

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There's also a few new 4 x 5'25" bay cases by Gigabyte.  This one is my favorite:

 

GIGABYTE GZ-X5BPD-500 Black

 

YFeI1.png

 

I think it looks pretty sharp, and it also sports a 120mm rear fan.  Some of the others have 80mm rear fans.

 

GIGABYTE GZ-P5HA3W Black

 

GIGABYTE GZ-P5HA3W Black

 

GIGABYTE GZ-X6BPD-500 Black (shiny!)

 

GIGABYTE gz-KX9 Black (interesting look...but a little too weird for me)

 

GIGABYTE GZ-X2BPD-500 Black (dig it!)

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