Sharkoon Rebel 22

[neilt0]

The Sharkoon Rebel 22 is a combination of my previous two builds -- the Antec Sixteen Hundred (June 2009) and the Sharkoon Rebel 18 (August 2010).
I took the innards from the Antec and put them in the Sharkoon, increasing the capacity by 4 drives, for a total of 22 drives.
I've included a couple of photos from the initial Sharkoon Rebel 18 build in this post, where applicable.

OS at time of building: unRAID 4.6 Pro
CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
Motherboard: P5B-VM (not DO)
RAM: 2x 1GB
Case: Sharkoon Rebel 12
Drive Cage(s): 4x Scythe "Hard Disk Stabilizer x4" 4in3 cages
Power Supply: Corsair TX850
SATA Expansion Card(s): 2x Adaptec 1430SA PCI-E, 2x SIL3114 PCI
Cables: Akasa 8 Pin (F) to 8 Pin (2x4 Pin) extension, 2x BitFenix Molex to 4 x SATA Power, 2x 20cm NZXT Black Molex to 4 SATA Power (NZXT are 2x the price, but are better)
Fans: 3x Antec 120mm fans (with 3 position speed switch) at front, 1x temperature controlled Antec 120mm fan at rear

Parity Drive: 2TB Seagate ST32000542AS
Data Drives: 20
2x 2TB Western Digital WD20EARS (jumpered)
2x 1.5TB Seagate ST31500341AS
2x 1TB Western Digital WD10EACS
3x 750GB Western Digital WD7500AAKS
3x 750GB Seagate ST3750640AS
4x 500GB Western Digital WD5000AAKS
2x 500GB Seagate ST3500830AS
2x 500GB Seagate ST3500641AS
Cache Drive: 1x 500GB Western Digital WD50000YS
Total Drive Capacity: 18TB

Primary Use: Only used to store 1:1 Blu-ray rips
Likes: Very cheap system with space for 22 drives -- the Sharkoon case and Scythe 4-in-3s are dirt cheap. The case is very large, which means it's possible to remove the Scythe cages to swap out drives without having to dismantle the fans at the front of the cage, which was impossible to do with the Antec 1200 case.
So far, it's been cool and quiet, but I'll have to see how the cooling works in the summer.
Dislikes: I'm using 2x PCI SATA cards, so parity checks for the first 500GB are slow. If I replace all the 500GB drives, I'll switch to the SuperMicro SASLP card(s).
Add Ons Used: unMENU, cache_dirs, llink
Future Plans: Upgrade drives, then upgrade PCI SATA cards

Boot (peak): 490W
Idle (avg): 120W
Active (avg): 290W (Parity check)
Light use (avg): --



Sharkoon's PR shot of the case



Another Sharkoon PR shot of the case internals.
Note the white cables coming from the front of the case for USB/audio etc.



Front view
In this shot, note that I've removed the front USB/audio etc. connectors in order to get rid of the unused cables.



Enabling the 12th drive bay.
I popped the rivets holding the case top and removed the 5.25" to 3.5" device adapter. This allows you to mount another 5.25" device, allowing all 12 bays to be used.



140mm fan brackets.
The case comes with 1x 140mm fan bracket. I bought another two in order to use all 12 drive bays for hard drives.



Case internals.
With a bit of work, I've improved the airflow compared to the Rebel 18. There's little in the way of cable routing available in the motherboard, but I have used what there is.



12v motherboard power extension.
This shows where I routed the extension cable.



More cable routing.



Rear of case.
Here you can see where some of the cables have gone, and also the two 80mm fans that cool the hard drive cages at the bottom of the case.



Close up of the 2x 3-drive cages.



Powered on.
I do not like flashy blue LEDs -- all you can see when powered on is the hard drive light. The power light should also be lit, but that's not working for some reason (fine by me!)

If you like the Sharkoon Rebel 12, you should be able to pick one up in Europe or Asia (under a different name). Sharkoon may be discontinuing the Rebel 12, so I'd be quick about sourcing one. I think the Scythe 4in3s are also being discontinued, so be quick there too!

Cheers,

Neil.

[maxinc]

Now this a truly massive build! Impressive. I wonder how much it weights ...

I noticed you have 8 drives on the PCI bus, doesn't that slow down the parity checks?

Edit: Never mind that. I read it now under dislikes...

[kizer]

Wow that's a mess you have their with Sata Cables, but honestly its 100% better than I could of ever done routing them things around. I can't believe you packed that thing like you did. That's simply awesome.

[neilt0]

Wow that's a mess you have their with Sata Cables, but honestly its 100% better than I could of ever done routing them things around. I can't believe you packed that thing like you did. That's simply awesome.

A mess? That's pretty tidy for me! Now, the Rebel 18 -- that was a mess!

It is stuffed to the gills, and yes, it does weigh a lot. I can lift it, but just not very far...

[sacretagent]

HI,

got today the icute 18 aka sharkoon 12 in my hands here in Thailand and for only 2900 bath :0

gonna copy your build but with hotswap cages .... and my current other hardware
just might take some time to get the 4 times 5 in 3 hDD cages as they are expencive here in Thailand (6350 bath for  ICYDOCK MB455SPF-B)
still looking for a cheaper brand ....

will need to saw out the plastic on top though ... to put a 5 in 3
anyway happy i got the big case now
will take pictures while building

[neilt0]

HI,

got today the icute 18 aka sharkoon 12 in my hands here in Thailand and for only 2900 bath :0

gonna copy your build but with hotswap cages .... and my current other hardware
just might take some time to get the 4 times 5 in 3 hDD cages as they are

That'd be a Rebel 26, then! Or an iCute 26...

[Chuck]

Nice, very nice!

I wish these were easy to come by in the states.

[kizer]

Sorry I what I was trying to say is that's a mess of wires. Stupid slang, when I was trying to say that is a lot of wires. As well I didn't want to come across sounding like an ass towards you.

Anyways I still can't believe you packed as much as you did into that case. Any ideas how much is weighs?

[neilt0]

Sorry I what I was trying to say is that's a mess of wires. Stupid slang, when I was trying to say that is a lot of wires. As well I didn't want to come across sounding like an ass towards you.

Anyways I still can't believe you packed as much as you did into that case. Any ideas how much is weighs?

Haha! No worries. Actually, I did some guesstimations of weight a few days ago in order to decide on whether to put it on it on a CPU stand with castors to make it easier to move around.

CPU stand
---------
Sharkoon weight = 16kg
Drives =~ 550g (x22 = 12.100kg
Plus other parts
Total weight: ~30kg (66 pounds)

Fellowes stand max = 50lb (22.7kg) |  Premium CPU Stand CRC: 91781
** 9169201: CPU Stand - Graphite
Sharkoon width = 215mm - 8.47"

[bfeist]

That a seriously nice cabling job. I'm trying to figure out my server's snake nest. Was there any particular method you used to figure out the best way to bundle the SATA cables?

Oh and sacretagent, check out my DIY 5-in-3 bay discussion in the hardware forum. It might be a good option for you since you mentioned that the bays are hard to come by in Thailand.

[neilt0]

That a seriously nice cabling job. I'm trying to figure out my server's snake nest. Was there any particular method you used to figure out the best way to bundle the SATA cables?

Thank you!

Well, if you see the cable mess I created with my first and second server builds, you'll realise that it takes a bit of practice. 

What I did initially was to work out the minimum lengths possible for each group of drives and use the appropriate cable. All cables are locking SATA.

The cables to the top right (going from the motherboard ports to the cages near the top) are extremely short -- I can't remember the exact length, but they are shorter than the 0.45m cables, so maybe 0.3 or 0.25m.

So I have 0.25(ish)m, 0.45m and 1m cables in the build. Having the appropriate length keeps the clutter down.

I ran all the cables first, and worked out which ones could be grouped together. Then I created the curve (you're not supposed to bend SATA cables too tightly) and secured with a cable tie.

All the power cables for the drives in the front 4 cages are connected using Molex -> 4 SATA braided cables (available at Scan or MonoPrice). The Molex is fed through to the back, as you can see in one of the photos. This keeps all the power cables out of the way.

Before doing all this, I read through the entire original "Pimp My Rig" thread, looking for ideas on how to manage cables. I always go for "good enough" -- I've seen much neater work from other people, but this is good enough for me. There's plenty of airflow in the case, and that's the primary goal, as far as I'm concerned.

Cheers!

Neil.

[Rajahal]

Then I created the curve (you're not supposed to bend SATA cables too tightly) and secured with a cable tie.

You see, 0's are round, so they can flow past a kink in the cable without issue.  But the 1's are pointy, so if there are any kinks in the cable, the 1's will get stuck.

I also recommend you give your cables a good Swedish massage every 6 months to a year to keep them in good health.

[BobPhoenix]

I also recommend you give your cables a good Swedish massage every 6 months to a year to keep them in good health.

Dam now cables are getting a massage just like the "chair massages" we keep getting emails at work about.   

[artagnan]

And where do you have the pen with Unraid? Which mobo adapter did you use?

I think I'm going to mount the same Unraid Server

[neilt0]

And where do you have the pen with Unraid? Which mobo adapter did you use?

I think I'm going to mount the same Unraid Server

I'm using this Super Talent flash drive:


http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-super-talent-stu8gmab-pico-mini-a-usb-20-30mb-s-blue-pen-drive

It's so small, it's in the back of the machine because it protrudes less than any of the cables.
I did buy a Lycom motherboard USB adapter:


http://www.scan.co.uk/products/lycom-ub-109-internal-motherboard-header-2x5-pin-usb2-header-to-2-usb-a-type-adapter

But I'm not using it at the moment.