Needs a Name!

Well. I was going to go straight into the Norco 24 bay case and go all out.. but my new budget mentality kicked in.... so here is the current setup.

Case: Antec Case File Server Case SX1030B

Free (Hand Me Down)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1157114,00.asp

PSU: Corsair TX650

$89.00

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020&Tpk=Corsair%20TX650

Little worried after reading so many complains about fan noise issues (running 100%).

But it’s quiet!

Motherboard: Supermicro C2SBA+II

$60 (Ebay / Refurbished)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182150

CPU : Intel Dual Core E5500 @ 2.8 Ghz

FREE (I upgraded a family members pc and they gave me the old parts)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116367CVF

CPU Fan: CoolerMaster Hyper 212

17$ (Sale)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Ram: Kingston Value Ram 2GB

$18 (Sale)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134636

* Will be upgrading to 4 as I run AirVideo and other addons.

SATA CARD: Vantec 2 Port SATA II 300 w/ Raid (Silicon Img Chipset)

$32 – Reg Price

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815287014

* I only need 8 ports right now and motherboard has 6.

Drives:

129.99 / each  ||| 2 x 2TB WD GREEN (EARX) ||| Yeah. Ouch.

89.99 / each ||| 4 x 2TB Seagate Barracuda LP ||| Pulled from my 4 Bay MediaSonic Pro-Raid Box so they were already paid for last year.

89.99 / each |||  2 x 1 TB WD GREEN (EARS) ||| 3 Years old.

Cooling:

2 Rear Fans (1 Antec and 1 Artic Cooling)

Both Drive Cages Contain 92mm fans.

You are asking yourself... you have 8 drives.. Case only holds 6. You bought a 3 into 5 cage right?

No.

I ran into the workshop and found these two things (joist joiner/mending plates. Pre-drilled)

Surprisingly, the holes actually line up. I did no drilling.

(PS. The drywall metal corner pieces ALSO have holes that line up. But could only squeeze 4 drives in to those)

I took two 4 inch ones and placed them like so:

only one side of the drives is being held by them and they lay on their side that does not have the plate inside the 5.25 area.

I then wedged a 120mm fan (stolen from my main desktop seeing as I stopped gaming) in between the front of the case and the drives now sitting in the 5.25 drive bay area.

(Will fit 4 Standard Size Drives and 1 Slim 500Gig Drive snug)

Voila. Poor Mans Cage.

I have even figured out a method to use EVERY open space (around PCI slots and under the bottom drive cage for more drives) using the Rear Slot Covers from the case.

I could be able to squeeze another 6 at the bottom of the case and 1 hot-swap 5.25 to 3.5 tray at the top of the case.

Brings the total possible drives to:  21

Yes. It is not super pretty. BUT... it works.. until I can budget in a Norco Case and the SAS SATA Cards

Drive Temps:

WD: Green hover between 26 and 29 degrees

Seagate Barracudas range from 29 to 32 degrees

CPU Temp

Never deviates from 36 degrees. (which worries me a little as 0 deviation is kinda odd?).

But it’s chugging along happily.

Sound level:

It’s not the quietest PC, though, you can’t hear it from 15 feet away (and it’s located near the electrical panel in a secluded part of the basement)

She / He needs a name. Suggestions welcome!

Rube...

Short for "Rube 'Murphy' Goldberg". 

Love it! Nice to see those old Antec cases still kicking around.

Patch

Hes all patched up to keep alive. LOL

WN² (Waste not, want not.)

I love the mending plates idea.  It is quick, easy, and expandable.

Joe L.

Will go with this for the cover.

So funny!!!! 

You need to add a "patch" level in that tag line 

WN² (Waste not, want not.)

Fixed for mathematical truth?

i Love it!

Fixed for mathematical truth?

 

  You know, I considered the incorrect math syntax when I made the suggestion, but figured nobody else would be anal retentive enough to care.

  You know, I considered the incorrect math syntax when I made the suggestion, but figured nobody else would be anal retentive enough to care.

You should have known better, after all, this is the UCD sub-forum.

LOL thats funny as hell

Nice find on the mending plates. who would have thunk?

I think I still have one of those old antec (or a clone) boxes kicking around somewhere.

for what it is and where you have it, It is perfectly fine example of you don't need the latest and greatest or a "super server" and matching case to get the job done.

I have this case, only in black. I went with the 5n3 as space was a premium on this case.  I've had the same case for 10 years and it's a damn tank!

Sad i'll be retiring her for a newerish 24bay monster.

Update: This server is still running. Have had 2 drive failures (Western Digital Green Drives). Recovered nicely from both incidents.

UnRube currently runs version 5.0.5 of Unraid (with no real issues)

It has 12 disks (Cache+Parity+Data). Total space now is 20TB

The SATA card has been updated to AOC-SAT2-MV8. I just got another one on ebay for 36$!

I don't want to get rid of this setup, but it's getting a little hot in there and the case is getting heavy to pick up.

I am looking for a vintage floor radio. Will gut it and build in the Unraid into it. Will start a new thread when I get it going.

Start thinking up new names...

Maybe name it after one of the old time radio shows

I don't want to hijack this post but

I was browsing through the new posts yesterday when I found this thread...I have to add my 2ct.

My first build is based on the same enclosure like the unRUBE.

In Europe the enclosure is called Chieftec CS-600. My main PC is in this type of enclosure

and when a fried of mine retired his, I suddenly had a second one.

It's a nice and rock solid case, easy to access for maintenance.

With my little mod it can hold 15 hard disks. I have an idea how to push it to 17 drives...

Now that I have gathered some experience with this case, I can tell about the cons:

- it is pretty crowded

- the two lower trays are cooled with a 80x80x10 fan hidden behind the front cover panel. But there is no room to fit one for the upper tray so those drives have no cooling.

By default there is a clip that can hold a fan inside the tray but that will push the drives further into the case. Then it won't be possible to remove the tray without pulling the controller cards.

- removing drives/trays is a PITA. Chances are high that something gets loose when doing so.

- the 3in2 enclosures are too tight. Cooling at a reasonable noise level is a problem.

While I could handle the temperature problems, maintainability is getting a bigger issue.

I don't like the idea of ripping apart the whole rig to switch a drive. Chances are high to cause another

disturbance and jeopardize the recovery procedure.

At the moment I'm preparing a Rebel12 that could handle 22 drives.

Unfortunately the quality of this enclosure is far, far away from the chieftec.

I have a rebel12 and 4 5in3s. I am not sure what you are saying from a quality perspective but I am more than satisfied. I get very good cooling, it is easy to get in and out of, has a small footprint, and meets my needs very well.

Noise is not a concern for me as the server lives in an unfinished basement. But it is lot excessively noisy.

I would recommend it, although warn you getting the topmost 5in3 installed takes some modding.

Yea, I probably read every thread about the Rebel12.

I intend to use the CFP-52B caddies since they're available and affordable here.

But they require some extra modding to fit and I'm still working on a solution.

My quality concerns are about the material, stiffness and manufacture.

But it's still better than nothing.

Cooling should be no problem with that case.

It has as many holes as a swiss cheese.