PC Case That Supports Many Hard Drives?

[dstanley]

I may be a little late to the conversation but I have used the NZXT Whisper case from my WHS SageTV Server. Here ia a review at U-Tube on the case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCcbqOqv3Q8

Lots of drive space in this case!

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by Lucas

The OP did say that it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg.....

I think that requirement has gone out the window for now.

Not wanting my survivors to have *too* much fun when I'm gone, I'm thinking Norco 4220 or, if it makes more sense for my less-than-commercial/high-end/concurrent disc access needs, 4020.

What I can't resolve yet is the SATA card. Some cards cost more than twice as much as the case - and seem like overkill for my use.

The only 4220-compatible I've heard of so far that seems to be in the ballpark price-wise is touted for Windows, but not WHS: http://tinyurl.com/lpcflb

The cable/connector standard seems tb the main diff between 4220 and lower-end 4020.

From context, I get the idea that the lower-end 4020 has regular plain-vanilla-one-cable-per-bay connectors - whereas the 4220 has some sort of combined connector where four bays funnel into a single plug - and it *sounds* like said plug is essential for use with the above-mentioned card.

I'd expect to find low-end cards where it's one connector per drive - i.e. 4020-compatible instead of 4220-compatible. That consideration might steer me to the 4020 instead....

OTOH I've seen comments on the 4020 having poorer-quality bays.

OTOOH, the 4020 seems to lack the "screamer" fans that some complain about - and which don't seem tb needed for lower-end use.

Since I don't intend to do RAID, maybe something like this: http://www.cooldrives.com/8-channel-...-pci-card.html in a 4020.

Am I making any sense?

[whartsell]

Originally Posted by stanger89

You want drive bays, go for the norco 4220, 20 hot-swap SATA trays
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1149005

Throw a 3ware 9690SA-4I and Chenbro SAS expander in and you're good to go

I have a Norco4220 and love it...great case great price

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

I think that requirement has gone out the window for now.

Not wanting my survivors to have *too* much fun when I'm gone, I'm thinking Norco 4220 or, if it makes more sense for my less-than-commercial/high-end/concurrent disc access needs, 4020.

I suppose it's all relative, but the Norco 42x0 are steals considering they're 20-bay cases that include the hot swap drive cages and PSUs. Look around and you'll usually blow way more than $300-400 on just 20 cages.

[quote]What I can't resolve yet is the SATA card. Some cards cost more than twice as much as the case - and seem like overkill for my use.

The only 4220-compatible I've heard of so far that seems to be in the ballpark price-wise is touted for Windows, but not WHS: http://tinyurl.com/lpcflb

The cable/connector standard seems tb the main diff between 4220 and lower-end 4020.

From context, I get the idea that the lower-end 4020 has regular plain-vanilla-one-cable-per-bay connectors - whereas the 4220 has some sort of combined connector where four bays funnel into a single plug - and it *sounds* like said plug is essential for use with the above-mentioned card.[quote]

I don't really consider one lower or higher end than the other, AFIAK you can get adapters to go from the multilane SAS (SFF-8087) to normal SATA for use in the 4020, eg:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00193RTF6

I'd expect to find low-end cards where it's one connector per drive - i.e. 4020-compatible instead of 4220-compatible. That consideration might steer me to the 4020 instead....

OTOH I've seen comments on the 4020 having poorer-quality bays.

OTOOH, the 4020 seems to lack the "screamer" fans that some complain about - and which don't seem tb needed for lower-end use.

Since I don't intend to do RAID, maybe something like this: http://www.cooldrives.com/8-channel-...-pci-card.html in a 4020.

Am I making any sense?

If you want no RAID at all, what I'd look at is just standard SATA plus Port multipliers. There's been some good discussion of that over at AVS. It's definitely the economical way to go. Get a mobo with SATA controller that supports the 5:1 port multipliers and you don't even need an extra SATA controller.

I've seen the SIL controllers recommended a lot.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

Since I don't intend to do RAID, maybe something like this: http://www.cooldrives.com/8-channel-...-pci-card.html in a 4020.

I initially looked at that one, but was pointed to this cheaper one from SuperMicro.

[MrD]

use three of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816101189

and you will use a tenth of the power, use three more to get the same capacity.

[briands]

Originally Posted by MrD

use three of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816101189

and you will use a tenth of the power, use three more to get the same capacity.

The price of those 2.5 inch drives is MUCH higher than the 3.5s though... best price I see is about $80 for 500GB...

Also don't know how good the 2.5 are for the read and write demand of video recording/playback.

[MrD]

Originally Posted by briands

The price of those 2.5 inch drives is MUCH higher than the 3.5s though... best price I see is about $80 for 500GB...

Also don't know how good the 2.5 are for the read and write demand of video recording/playback.

this one is even cooler! http://www.supermicro.com/products/a.../CSE-M28E1.cfm

think SSD

not sure how many streams you want but at 10 megabit/s per stream 24 streams is 30 MB/s which is very slow even for 2.5 in drives. Also keep in mind that the network is slower than the slowest disk drive.

that is also an SAS carrier so you can spend money for higher performing drives.

I am about to ditch buying 3.5 drives simply because they are larger and use more power. I do not think 7200 rpm drives are a requirement for this application at all.

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by MrD

use three of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816101189
and you will use a tenth of the power, use three more to get the same capacity.

What I'm getting out of context is that the device in question holds four 2.5" drives, fits into a 5.25" bay on any PC, and delivers four separate SATA connections to wherever one wants (mobo or a SATA card).

Have I got it right?

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by whartsell

I have a Norco4220 and love it...great case great price

Is there an issue with drive orientation?

Over the weekend it dawned on me that the 25" depth won't fit in my closet without sticking out so far from the wall/soil stack that it impedes access to other areas.

OTOH, if I were to turn the case on it's side or back (with spacers for ventilation) it would fit.

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

What I'm getting out of context is that the device in question holds four 2.5" drives, fits into a 5.25" bay on any PC, and delivers four separate SATA connections to wherever one wants (mobo or a SATA card).

Have I got it right?

That is correct. They are also "hot swappable" which means they easily slide out of the case and back again with all the SATA and power connections being made for you. If your hardware can support it, you might be able to swap drives out without even shutting down your computer. This feature is important on mission critical machines, but not so much in a typical residential setting.

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by sic0048

That is correct. They are also "hot swappable" which means they easily slide out of the case and back again with all the SATA and power connections being made for you. If your hardware can support it, you might be able to swap drives out without even shutting down your computer. This feature is important on mission critical machines, but not so much in a typical residential setting.

I just came across this - same idea, different in that it takes 3.5" drives and occupies 3 5.25" bays: http://tinyurl.com/dmgmls

CoolerMaster claims it will fit any case with 3 5.25" bays available.

Just ordered one as a stop-gap - with the intention of ordering the CoolerMaster case (http://tinyurl.com/l8zep3) instead of Norco's bco the form factor.

Although I suspect the Norco can be set on it's side or back without stressing the drives, nobody has confirmed that.

Also, the reviews suggest that the Norco product would benefit from some fan customization (i.e. additional $) for lighter use/less noise.

So I think it's CoolerMaster for me..... Not that I don't reserve the right to back out..... but at least I'm committed to giving the 4-in-3 modules a try right now.

[MrD]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

I just came across this - same idea, different in that it takes 3.5" drives and occupies 3 5.25" bays: http://tinyurl.com/dmgmls

CoolerMaster claims it will fit any case with 3 5.25" bays available.

yep those work too, I have 2 (same idea) from supermicro they work as advertised.

"works" in any case is also a leap of faith. sometimes there is a slight tolerance issue. I had that with the supermicro product that caused me to disassemble it insert it and re-assemble it in the case. I also had issues with other products having slight tolerance issues in PC cases.

watch out for the "cheaper" models, the hot swap doesn't work. What happens is when you swap out a drive there is a power surge and the other drives drop off.

[PeteCress]

Ordered that 4-in-3 drive cage at lunch from work yesterday.

NB that NewEgg is in California and I am near Philadelphia PA (i.e. West Coast and East Coast USA: > 3,000 miles)

Awhile later, I thought to myself "Who are you trying to kid? Yer gonna get the tower case too."; so I cancelled the order for the cage.

NewEgg issued a cancellation acknowledgement within minutes.

Then I ordered the case plus an extra drive cage.

Now, the next day - a little less than 24 hours later - I get an email: the order is "Out For Delivery" on my end.

I'm guessing that NewEgg and UPS have some kind of deal where UPS warehouses NewEgg merchandise at various points around the USA bc this order originated in Edison, NJ.

Sheesh! Talk about instant gratification.

[PeteCress]

Just like the review says: this case is beeeeeeg.

Kind of nice having all that room just for the ease of getting one's (size XXXXXL gloves) hands in there easily.

I still suspect the Norco would have been more elegant.... but this solution seems to offer plenty of storage for my needs.

Took awhile for the optional system drive hanger at the top of the case to dawn on me. Drive up there runs hotter than the 1-TB SATAs in the cage. 110 degrees F vs 84-86 degrees in the cage. OTOH, it's an IDE drive and it seems to have a lot of activity.

Only negative I perceive is that it's kind of a shame that one is real-world limited to only two of those 4-in-3 cages bco the necessity of taking up one of the nine bays with a DVD drive. Another little hiding place for a DVD drive, like they have for the system drive, would have been nice.

But all-in-all, I'm a reasonably happy camper with this thing.

[Fuzzy]

For the sake of cooling and simplicity, I'd rather go with an external drive tower, or just a basic second case, and run a eSATA cable to it with a multiplier or two in there...

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

For the sake of cooling and simplicity, I'd rather go with an external drive tower, or just a basic second case, and run a eSATA cable to it with a multiplier or two in there...

That one crossed my mind early in the game and I trolled a little for solutions in that vein.

But I'm so clueless in that respect that a lack of responses led me to drop the idea.

Now I'm committed to the monster case. Got one 4-in-3 fully populated with 1 TB drives and an empty 4-in-3 ready to go.

Push comes to shove, I have the option of replacing the currently-installed DVD drive with an external USB2-wrapped one and putting in a third 4-in-3 module.

Next step is to acquire a basic SATA card or the port multiplier thingie and one or more additional green 1 TB drives.

Tangentially, I'm seeing very low drive temps (30-ish centigrade, even 29) on the 4-in-3 drives and, from what I've read so far, that may be borderline too-low. Lacking the know-how to control fan speed, I'm going to try a little gauze or something over the fan's inlet to see if I can get the temps up in the low-to-mid thirties.

OTOH the system drive up in it's little fan-less loft is running around 44.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

I'm guessing that NewEgg and UPS have some kind of deal where UPS warehouses NewEgg merchandise at various points around the USA bc this order originated in Edison, NJ.

Sheesh! Talk about instant gratification.

The NJ location is an actual NewEgg warehouse. A lot of companies have multiple shipping locations like that. A lot easier on everyone with one on each coast. It does make orders quick too. Though every once in a while an item is only available from the CA location, then you wait unless they offer the free 3-day shipping.

You can check the place out here.

Sounds like a good buy. I picked up something cheap but not quite as roomy a while back. I was mainly looking for something with lots of drive bays but wanted it to have some nice big, slow 120mm fans too. My HDD cage is full but I can still expand into the big drive bays. Honestly right now I have more space than I need, and I can easily replace my small 160GB drives with some big ones first.

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by Djc208

Server: ...480 GB in pool, 500GB WHS backup drive, 1x750 GB & 1x1TB Sage drives... Windows Home Server SP2

Can you dumb down the rationale for not having everything in the WHS pool for me?

Right now, I've got all my storage in WHS's pool with Sage writing it's OTA recordings to \\[ServerName]\Recordings.

Something to do with backup strategies?

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

Can you dumb down the rationale for not having everything in the WHS pool for me?

Right now, I've got all my storage in WHS's pool with Sage writing it's OTA recordings to \\[ServerName]\Recordings.

Something to do with backup strategies?

Not backup, if you set up an external backup drive in WHS you get to choose which folders get backed up to it. You could have multiple backup drives that each only back up portions of your server.

My rational for not putting the recoding drives in the pool was that I didn't see the huge advantage of it. I have to format the pool to 64K sectors then limit Sage's total size so I still have space for everything else. I'm not going to use duplicate folders on my recordings and adding recording space is not really any different in or out of the pool, just slightly more manual.

My Sage drives are shared with the system, and show up in the shared folders link with all the other WHS folders if I want direct access. Sage uses UNC paths so clients can find everything. But only the Sage drives are formatted for 64K sectors and Sage hides the fact that the recordings are spread across different drives.

I still use the pool for DVDs and archived recordings, since they are more static. For me it just made it easier to partition my recording space from my everything else space.

The backup drive I started because I had the external drive and for right now didn't need the space in the pool, so I use it for an off-site backup of my duplicated folders for additional security.