UnRAID Server Case Recommendations

Hello everyone,

I wanted to ask if anyone had some decent case recommendations for unraid -- I am looking for something like a 20 drive case. Something that has great cooling and perhaps hot-swap bays for easy upgrading.

 

Thanks

Do you really need 20 drives? Drives are getting bigger all the time. I have as much capacity as the system in your sig and

i have only 5 data drives.

I guess I don't really NEED that -- I have 12 now, I could use another 4 (as I have 4 sitting around) not being used as my case is at full capacity

case wise go as big as you can physically handle...

 

I am looking for myself for an expansion at the moment.. I really want 15 hotswap bays externally reachable... Preferably even more...

case wise go as big as you can physically handle...

 

I am looking for myself for an expansion at the moment.. I really want 15 hotswap bays externally reachable... Preferably even more...

 

Let me know if you come across anything -- 15 would be a nice number / hot-swap drive bays

 

I am tossing a different CPU and RAM in this week, due to my issue last week.

 

My system seems so armature compared to some of the systems ran here

If you're looking for a tower case, even a pretty large one, you're usually capped at about 15 drives, without getting really creative.  You can get a case that has 9 top-to-bottom 5.25 bays, and fit it with 3 5x3 cages for a total of 15 hot-swap bays.  I have seen a couple of tower cases that can fit 4 5x3 cages (like this one).

 

Otherwise, it's easy to find rack-mount cases on ebay for pretty cheap, with tons of hot-swappable bays, though I can't speak to their cooling abilities, especially if noise is a concern.  You might also look into external eSATA enclosures, and connect one to your current box, if you don't mind the additional footprint.

I am still using the good old CM 590 case and have it equipped with:

 

4 times a 2x3 cage to hold 12 HDDs (my data disks)

1 times a 1x4 cage to hold 4 SSDs (my cache pool)

 

So this midi-tower case holds 16 disks altogether. All disks are hot-swappable and as you can see SSDs take far less space, something you might want to consider in your purchase.

 

Mine cost a pretty penny - but I'm good for the foreseeable future.

 

I'm using a LSI 9206-16e card (4x HD external mini sas connectors). Its currently tied to a single Areca 4036 External SAS JBOD Enclosure, with its own SAS Expander, so I can expand to other enclosures down the line. Of course if 8+TB drives were actually available locally (or affordably for that matter), I wouldn't need to buy another enclosure.

 

Lian-Li PC-A77, with 4 kit of 5-in-3, this is what I have :

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/31tbamml69xk6le/server_front.jpg?dl=0

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzkmpbbx5drceqy/server_side.jpg?dl=0

If you're looking for a tower case, even a pretty large one, you're usually capped at about 15 drives, without getting really creative.  You can get a case that has 9 top-to-bottom 5.25 bays, and fit it with 3 5x3 cages for a total of 15 hot-swap bays.  I have seen a couple of tower cases that can fit 4 5x3 cages (like this one).

 

Otherwise, it's easy to find rack-mount cases on ebay for pretty cheap, with tons of hot-swappable bays, though I can't speak to their cooling abilities, especially if noise is a concern.  You might also look into external eSATA enclosures, and connect one to your current box, if you don't mind the additional footprint.

 

I just ordered myself the Antec Lansin 1200 V3... I found that case earlier, it is a bit expensive but I have not found anything else cheaper and capable of holding 12 5 1/4" drives (meaning 4 bays that do 5in3). I allready have one Supermicro 5in3 and will try to find two more.. That will keep me going for  while longer..

 

Drives are indeed getting larger and larger but unfortunately so are video files... When I started out collecting a movie was a couple of 100megs, now 7 gig is regular...

Lian-Li PC-A77, with 4 kit of 5-in-3, this is what I have :

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/31tbamml69xk6le/server_front.jpg?dl=0

 

 

Awesome! Do the 5-in-3 unit have fans on the inside of the cage? Do you have problems with dust?

Lian-Li PC-A77, with 4 kit of 5-in-3, this is what I have :

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/31tbamml69xk6le/server_front.jpg?dl=0

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzkmpbbx5drceqy/server_side.jpg?dl=0

 

That is a fantastic setup, but that case combined with 4 5x3 adapters, and you're looking at well over $500!

If you're looking for a tower case, even a pretty large one, you're usually capped at about 15 drives, without getting really creative.  You can get a case that has 9 top-to-bottom 5.25 bays, and fit it with 3 5x3 cages for a total of 15 hot-swap bays.  I have seen a couple of tower cases that can fit 4 5x3 cages (like this one).

 

Otherwise, it's easy to find rack-mount cases on ebay for pretty cheap, with tons of hot-swappable bays, though I can't speak to their cooling abilities, especially if noise is a concern.  You might also look into external eSATA enclosures, and connect one to your current box, if you don't mind the additional footprint.

 

Just found two used supermicro 5in3'a on Amazon, bought those... I allready have one in my current system and its really a good quality product..

 

Now I only have to find a way of modding my current 4in1 2,5" supermicro into the system without taking up an slot.. Then I can add the final 5in3 case... That way I will have 20 regular drives and 4 SSD's.. That will simply need to suffice... Otherwise I wil expand to another server.. My current case I will reuse for my backup system.. My backup system will be reused for my new to be build desktop setup :-)

I just ordered myself the Antec Lansin 1200 V3... I found that case earlier, it is a bit expensive but I have not found anything else cheaper and capable of holding 12 5 1/4" drives (meaning 4 bays that do 5in3). I allready have one Supermicro 5in3 and will try to find two more.. That will keep me going for  while longer..

 

Drives are indeed getting larger and larger but unfortunately so are video files... When I started out collecting a movie was a couple of 100megs, now 7 gig is regular...

Hmm I wonder if I can simply replace my current CM 4in3 drive bays for hot swap inserts --- got me thinking ... I like that last post... looks nice

What about dust management? Huge factor for a headless server IMO.

Norco 4224 is always a popular choice. Holds 24 drives, not too expensive. I have one, and except for some backplane headaches it's a fine case.

 

http://www.scsi4me.com/images/Norco_RPC-4224.jpg[/img]

Norco 4224 is always a popular choice. Holds 24 drives, not too expensive. I have one, and except for some backplane headaches it's a fine case.

 

http://www.scsi4me.com/images/Norco_RPC-4224.jpg[/img]

 

What backplane issues?

Google it,  many reports of dodgy backplanes.  Not really surprising given the price point of the Norco.

Google it,  many reports of dodgy backplanes.  Not really surprising given the price point of the Norco.

I must have gotten lucky.  I have three 4224s in service and except for a user error have had NO backplane problems with mine.  NOTE user error was breaking the plastic shell of the power plug on the backplane when I pushed too hard and it slipped.  Bought two new backplanes but even broke the backplane still works just didn't want to chance it.

I must have gotten lucky.

 

I was lucky for 3 years, my luck ran out today. 5 bad drives due to a Norco backplane. You might want to consider switching.

 

Ive been looking at the thermaltake W100 case

http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002802

Conversely, if you need a bunch of drives but in a compact case, look at the Fractal Node 304. Holds up to 6 HDDs and at least a couple SSDs. Used that case in my recent build and am quite pleased with how little space it takes up. Now have to balance drive quantity vs drive size, as currently have 4x 3TB WD Reds, one going for parity.

On 8/24/2016 at 1:07 PM, Pducharme said:

Lian-Li PC-A77, with 4 kit of 5-in-3, this is what I have :

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/31tbamml69xk6le/server_front.jpg?dl=0

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzkmpbbx5drceqy/server_side.jpg?dl=0

Nice .. that looks like the set up I'm looking for

You can take a look at:  Fractal Design Define XL R2

 

Without adjustments you can fit 8 HD's in the bays. There is room for one 5-in-3.  That makes 12 HD's.

 

At the bottom you can add another 4 HD bay. That totals at 16 disc's. If you are creative you probably add a few more disc's. Benefits is a quiet case with good cable management for a normal price.

On 04/06/2017 at 7:04 AM, Mortumus said:

Nice .. that looks like the set up I'm looking for

 

I'm still running my initial Unraid setup (2014) in that case, but now all 20 bays are in use.  I only had problem once on 1 bay, maybe was the cable, never happened again since then.  Really like that case and 5-in-3, it's all Aluminum, feels High-end.