Rackmount Case options

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Ellipsis

142 posts

Master Geek

#257405 1-Oct-2019 10:43

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with obtaining rackmount cases (3 or 4U) for not crazy prices?

Either PB tech seems to sell them for bloody expensive prices, or if you import them from overseas the import / freight prices make it unrealistic to purchase.

I just want to build a home sever and have it in a rack environment. Any / all help is appreciated

Cheers

Benoire

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#2327527 1-Oct-2019 10:45

I found rosewill chassis from Ebay to be the cheapest option overall for 4u. They cost me around ~$300NZD each with crappy rails delivered from the US but I don't think the base price is the same now as when I bought mine. ... 1/2 the cost was in the shipping!

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2327539 1-Oct-2019 11:04

What do you consider a crazy price? I'd consider $300 to be a good price for a 3U rackmount case. My 3U case cost $274.62 including delivery (from Procase) in Dec 2015. It's not fancy, but it does the job.

3U tends to be more expensive than 4U as it's the smallest case in which you can install standard components (e.g. full ATX power supply).

mentalinc

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#2327545 1-Oct-2019 11:22

Also interested in a rackmount that can support ideally 12+ 3.5" drives.

Anything from overseas has shipping equal or more expensive than the product which for home use is too high a cost...

Something like this, might work, but can't see pricing?

http://www.procase.co.nz/IPC/4U/C4ET/C4ET.html

CPU: AMD 5900x | RAM: GSKILL Trident Z Neo RGB F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC-32-GB | MB: Asus X570-E | GFX: EVGA FTW3 Ultra RTX 3080Ti| Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 2560x1440

Quic: https://account.quic.nz/refer/473833 R473833EQKIBX

PANiCnz

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Ultimate Geek
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#2327566 1-Oct-2019 11:50

In my experience your best bet is importing something off Amazon or Newegg but you're looking at anywhere from $300 - $800 depending on specs etc. The moment you add hotswap functionality the price jumps up.

Something like this is the best option I've seen locally. Especially if it includes the power supplies.

Otherwise, be patient and keep an eye on TradeMe. I picked up a 2U chassis with 8 hot swap bays for $150 a few months ago.

Ellipsis

142 posts

Master Geek

#2327629 1-Oct-2019 12:29

PANiCnz:

In my experience your best bet is importing something off Amazon or Newegg but you're looking at anywhere from $300 - $800 depending on specs etc. The moment you add hotswap functionality the price jumps up.

Something like this is the best option I've seen locally. Especially if it includes the power supplies.

Otherwise, be patient and keep an eye on TradeMe. I picked up a 2U chassis with 8 hot swap bays for $150 a few months ago.

Oh wow thats all good! I dont mind paying $400 odd - its just where it becomes like $600 + shipping or shipping is more than the cost of the case. Thats where I have an issue. NZ is a great country but its geographic isolation sucks!

That Hardware hub is only charging $7 for shipping. Whats the bet they will come back and ask for more??

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2327631 1-Oct-2019 12:31

Ellipsis:

That Hardware hub is only charging $7 for shipping. Whats the bet they will come back and ask for more??

Their Website says the stock is local, so $7 will probably cover up to 20kg.

EDIT: Hardware Hub is HD Net Ltd. Do some research on here to see if you want to deal with them or not.

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PANiCnz

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#2327633 1-Oct-2019 12:50

I've never bought anything from Hardware Hub so can't vouch for them. Did email them once about a switch they had listed and the response was inept. I would be hesitant to buy anything online site unseen, and would only buy from them in person so you can inspect the hardware before committing to the sale. Most of their stuff is ex-lease or DC pulls, so the quality and condition could probably vary. If I recall correctly they do have a show room on the North Shore.

Also just be aware that Supermicro chassis has a SAS2 backplane so will be limited to SATA 3Gb/s speeds. More than sufficient if you just building a Unraid box, but might be a bottleneck if you're building something that needs more performance. I think you can probably source a replacement backplane off eBay, but its probably not that cheap.

Benoire

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#2327635 1-Oct-2019 12:55

SAS2 is 6GB/s so will run at SataIII levels, its SAS1 which is limited to 2Gb & SataII only; SAS2 = 600MB/s per channel and there are 4 channels per port.

Benoire

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#2327636 1-Oct-2019 12:56

Also some of the cheaper SM chassis you see online from PBtech etc. use the TQ backplane which is SAS2/Sata 3 direct connect. For these you won't need a SAS HBA and can isntead feed directly from the motherboard.

waikariboy

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#2327734 1-Oct-2019 14:14

Have found this but i dont know too much about company. For the price i would like to get one, but i dont know if PSU is included

https://hardwarehub.co.nz/supermicro-cse-846e1-r900b-black-4u-rackmount-server-ca?search=4U

Anyone hear know much about them?

Balm its gone!

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2327742 1-Oct-2019 14:22

PANiCnz:

Most of their stuff is ex-lease or DC pulls, so the quality and condition could probably vary.

Pricing certainly suggests this is the case, but none of the products appear to be listed as used. They only claim "Hardware hub saves you time and money by only stocking the best value server & network equipment imported directly from overseas and stocked locally"

Either way, I wouldn't buy from them myself.