Mass storage cases

iostream212

iostream212

Active Member
Looking for a new case for my 16tb server. Previously I was using a Silverstone htpc style case, but my 1 year old likes to open the front flap and stand on it. Also it is a chore to do any maintenance as the drive bays aren't hot-swap and I have to dismantle the whole pc to add hardware or swap drives. I would like 8-10 hd bays and to keep costs in area of 300-400. I really like this one and this one based on looks and specs, but can't find any info on the actual manufacturer. What do you guys use for mass storage? Anyone know who makes this case?
 
Have a look at this thread....if you are looking for a stand alone versus a rack mounted case....
 
http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/24657-16-hard-drives-1-case/
 
Today I have multiple NAS boxes including one which is a 1U rack mounted hot swap set up.  It is large and very loud though.
 
Two of the NAS boxes are built into standard cases with 4 to 3 hot swap drive cages which have big footprints and standard motherboards in them.  I am reading now that you can also purchase 5 to 3 drive cages for DIY's.
 
The last one I built was a DIY and was an 8 drive hot swap including motherboard set up.  Very tiny and functional.
 
I got the case from China and it was a bit under $200.
 
It was an 8 drive hot swap case with a built in side mounted mini-itx board.  A DIY using an AMD mITX board and an IBM SATA 8 port modded M1015 card.  It was built only to be a NAS box and nothing else. The same company sells 4-6 mini-itx cases.  It is very quiet and utilizes a standard rack style mounted power supply. 
 
TV streaming/recording (I don't watch TV though) is coming from an Ubuntu headless combo MythTV / Squeezebox server talking to Aopen digital engines (and other devices) connected to the LCD TV's running XBMC these days.  Last week tested an atom based "do what" table top combo (DECT phone thing) with a Broadcom Crystal HD card in it to stream HD live video and it works great. 
 
Attached are pictures of the NAS cases sold by the same company and the one I purchased.  Personally I liked the small footprint of the case.  Its easy to build and the case is well constructed.
 
BTW the company I spoke to when purchasing this drive was looking for more business and they were very friendly.
 
I could probably do a group buy of a number of these cases at a very reasonable cost should their be an group inclination for a DIY NAS box / case.   It would be also something good for CT here as it would be an inclusive to CT forum users only not available anywhere else domestically.
 

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Thanks for the links and advise. I had no idea this form factor could get so long! On the plus all that space could fit anything I would ever need in a server. On the down side I would have to relocate the whole machine as it would then no longer fit in my media center. We're talking two feet plus on some of these cases. Wow!
 
That's because server racks can accommodate servers around 28" deep - but server cases are the best place to look for hot swap drives.
 
If you don't have the depth, then you can use a separate hard drive enclosure instead - this would let it stay in the same place.
 
Many many years ago I do recall the endeavor of making all of the kitchen cabinets child proof.  It was a PITA. 
 
I did at the time have a media cabinet with glass doors (with wood frames) and had to do some custom work on them to make them child proof after hearing stories of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches fitting nicely in the old VHS front loaders.
 
That and I remember having a Nakamichi Dragon and Thorens turntable and this that...I did "lose" (totally trashed) by accident though my Technics Mark XX platter)....remember now that I hired a wood crafter to retro fit the nicer cabinets such that they were child proof.....
 
Never did have an issue it turns out and it took as long to remove the child proof latches as it did to install them.
 
iostream212 said:
Thanks for the links and advise. I had no idea this form factor could get so long! On the plus all that space could fit anything I would ever need in a server. On the down side I would have to relocate the whole machine as it would then no longer fit in my media center. We're talking two feet plus on some of these cases. Wow!
Click to expand...
My Norco server case is 22" long not counting the rack handles, the hot swap drive bays are 10" deep, it also came with 8 fans so it was very loud, I actually removed 4 of the fans and it still runs nice and cool.
 
Yup; here my 1U on the rack in the basement 4 drive hot swap NAS was just shut off mostly because it was the loudest of all of the servers.  It did have double of everything and the two power supplies fans were really loud inside of the case.  It is totally headless using embedded wintel.
 
The one raid case mentioned above uses a new rack style power supply / fan combo (front and back of PS) which is really quiet and rarely kicks on full speed.  It did quite working after about one year being on 24/7.  The warranty was 3 years and the company was nice enough to send me two new PS's replacing the defective one...and I didn't need to RMA it...so tossed it.  Note though the power supply didn't come with the case....
 
It also has two large 5" (?) speed controlled fans on the back which are very quiet.  Its not the average DIY as the box is just a bit longer than the hot swap drive cages to back plane.  From the back plane the back of the case is just maybe a few mm deeper than the fans.  The passive cooled motherboard sits almost flush to the case on one side.  There are "mini" chases for the wiring throughout the case.  Going to the 4 to 1 SATA port cabling for the SATA3 controllers reduced the wiring footprint a tad.  The hot swap drive cages and drive holders are half metal (skeleton with plastic). I did only utilize one port on the motherboard for a boot drive which can sit in one little space utilized for the SATA 3 card.  This is the only drive which isn't accessible unless you remove the top cover of the case.  I switched from Intel to an AMD CPU based motherboard on this box; first AMD in a few years now.  I did have issues with the AMD bios recognizing the modded IBM M1015 card (SAS firmware updated).
 
thelostswede, those are some great looking cases. Thank you for the link. Do you know any websites that are selling? Can't find any pricing / purchase info.
I think I found the case I had mentioned in the first post from a company called http://www.newegg.com/Server-Chassis/BrandSubCat/ID-1918-412]iStarUSA[/url]. They have a lot of nice looking options as well. So many choices, so little time.
pete_c, thanks, as always, for the details on your setup. I think I am leaning towards HTPC/Server case now instead of a NAS box.
 
I built a basic external eSATA case using Monoprice mobile hdd racks and a power supply. I think 1 eSATA will do 5 drives. It's just any tower that with lots of external 5.25" bays.  Here's a really blurry picture:
photo%20(1).jpg
 
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