Best case to use for computer/server with large number of drives that is not too big

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humvee

196 posts

Master Geek

#40285 27-Aug-2009 21:14

I am building a server for home which will probally run WHS but may run unraid (linux)

I am seriously considering the Silverstone LC20B-M
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_spec.php?pno=LC20&area=usa

But I started thinking maybe I should go a little bit bigger and less restrictive. I would also like toolless drive bays which the LC20 does not have.

So the question is what is the best case that meets the following requirements

Min Bays
2 x 5.25 (external) 3 would be good
6 x 3.5 (internal)

Max budget is $250

I am open to considering both HTPC style and tower style cases

Regs

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Snowflake

#251146 27-Aug-2009 23:20

where are you going to locate this case? i liked the saturn cube cases, but now that BDT is gone i'm not sure if they are still available.

the style of case really depends on where you're likely to locate it - in the garage, or out of the way you can use a big ugly case. in the lounge you'll obviously want a pretty one...

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Snowflake
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humvee

196 posts

Master Geek

#251181 28-Aug-2009 07:43

At this stage my plan is to locate it on a shelf in a wardrobe

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

#251230 28-Aug-2009 10:44

The antec 902 isn't toolless but it has 3 5.25" and 6 hdd bays and generally can be had for around 250, not exactly very server looking but your parts will never be cooler.

Desktop: i7 920, GTX 275, asus P6T, antec 1200, 6gb ram, 1tb spinpoint f1, 1tb spinpoint f3, Logitech Z2300, Zero DAC, Shure SRH440
Laptop: Toshiba satellite, T5300, Go 7300
Home Theatre: 32" loewe CRT, Harmon kardon amp, dvd player, image 418 speakers, rega planar 25 turntable :)

meesham

973 posts

Ultimate Geek

#251244 28-Aug-2009 11:11

I have a Cooler Master Silio 500 for my server, I currently have 6 hard disks in it by using one of the Cooler Master 4-in-3 modules. The case is quite nice, it has insulation in it to try to dampen the noise from it (it's pretty quiet anyway), useful when the server sits next to my desk all day (I work from home).

humvee

196 posts

Master Geek

#251360 28-Aug-2009 16:01

samwooff: The antec 902 isn't toolless but it has 3 5.25" and 6 hdd bays and generally can be had for around 250, not exactly very server looking but your parts will never be cooler.

Yes heat is one thing that worries me with the silverstone case, also when I started looking I was only going to use a processor rated at 45watt but the one I'm looking at now is 65watt

I also was hoping to use seagate 1.5TB Low Power drives but No one in NZ has the 1.5 Tb drives only
2TB which are too dear. So I may need to use the standard 1.5Tb seagate's

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

#251385 28-Aug-2009 17:31

Although they won't generate anywhere near as much heat as a cpu 6 hard drives will need cooling. I personally don't use any seagate drives but they've been getting a bad reputation of late, I'm pretty sure western digital and samsung both do low power 1.5tb hard drives, well at least having "green" in the name leads me to believe so.
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=8528
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=9778

humvee

196 posts

Master Geek

#251431 28-Aug-2009 21:57

samwooff: Although they won't generate anywhere near as much heat as a cpu 6 hard drives will need cooling. I personally don't use any seagate drives but they've been getting a bad reputation of late, I'm pretty sure western digital and samsung both do low power 1.5tb hard drives, well at least having "green" in the name leads me to believe so.
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=8528
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=9778

See I'm a bit opposite to you - Ive only used western digital on 3 occasions in the last 7-10 or so years and regretted it every time. I have used seagate almost every other time an never really had a problem. (I haven't used any 1Tb's though) biggest I have used are 750gb and 1.5Tb. I have also used ALOT (100's) of their 320gb sata and 160gb IDE

Never really used samsung and don't really have anything for or against them

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Regs

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Snowflake

#251433 28-Aug-2009 22:15

the samsung spinpoint drives were always rated highly for being quiter than the rest. i bought some for my HTPC and they were certainly quieter than the seagates i have in there wth them. i would have bought sammy's again, but they didnt have the stock or capacity or whatever the reason at the time...

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meesham

973 posts

Ultimate Geek

#251434 28-Aug-2009 22:18

I think every manufacturer has had a bad batch at one point or another. The Seagates had that problem recently with the firmware locking up the drives, and in the past I've had a couple of WDs fail. I'm now running 5x WD 1TB Greenpower disks in my server (RAID-5) and so far no problems, they're very quiet and don't use much power.

boby55

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#251437 28-Aug-2009 22:22

Ive had drives from, Samsung, Western Digital, Seagate and Hitachi all fail on me over the years and have come to the fact that HD's fail, its just a matter of when not if

OmniouS

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#252291 1-Sep-2009 16:32

boby55: Ive had drives from, Samsung, Western Digital, Seagate and Hitachi all fail on me over the years and have come to the fact that HD's fail, its just a matter of when not if

Yep, same here ;)

I just ordered 2 1.5TB Samsung Drives $219 @ Computer Lounge http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=9778

humvee

196 posts

Master Geek

#253738 7-Sep-2009 13:19

Hi Guys,
Thanks For the help I ended up going for a bigger case then I origionally intended - Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570B (~$220+GST),

For the hard drives I have decided to go with the Samsung Ecogreen 1.5Tb instead of the seagates, so thanks of alerting me to these/recomending them. They are about $12 cheaper then the standard seagates too, and I still cannot find the Seagate 1.5Tb LP drives in NZ

richms

28189 posts

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#255490 14-Sep-2009 03:21

All large drives I have tried recently have had failures of some sort - just had another seagate 1TB start to smart error about the number of relocated sectors. So yet again its buy an new drive, clone it, put the new one in the raid and ship the broken one off to singapore at $25.

Got 2 200's that are almost out of warranty going back there too. Once the replacement ones are back its time to sell them and hopefully get enough to go a reasonable way towards a new drive.

Richard rich.ms