Fraoch
Patron
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
- Messages
- 395
Hello:
I'm building a new FreeNAS server. Build details:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220 v3
Motherboard: SuperMicro X10SLM-F
Memory: Crucial CT2KIT102472BD160B (2 x 8 GB 1.35V DDR3-1600 ECC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic SS-660XP2 (660W)
Hard drives: 4 X 2 TB Western Digital Red WD20EFRX in RAID-Z2
FreeNAS will be installed on a surplus 64 GB Crucial M4 SSD
Usage will be backups and file storage although I wanted to have enough power for light transcoding in the future.
I'm still waiting for the motherboard.
I was planning on reusing an old Antec Sonata III case, but I'm concerned about its ability to cool 4 hard drives. It uses a single 120 mm fan mounted behind the drives which pulls air through oval slots in the drive cage. Even with a powerful Noctua fan, I'm not sure how well it will cool 4 hard drives.
I use a Fractal Design Define R4 in my main PC. Hard drive cooling in this case would be much better, particularly if I rotate the main drive cage 90 degrees. This would allow a 140 mm fan in front of the drives to blow directly on them. The drive cage will also act as a duct, containing all air flow over the hard drives. The only downsides are with the drive cage rotated 90 degrees, cable management will be an issue and removal of the hard drives will be difficult - I may have to take the entire drive cage out to remove one drive.
Are there any other cases with good drive cooling that you would suggest? I'm looking for a tower case, not a rackmount case. Size isn't a big issue and although it should be fairly quiet, I'm willing to give up some silence in order to get better cooling. It will be in a location where it won't bother anyone most of the time.
I really like the R4 and it looks like it will work but I'm open to suggestions if there's anything better.
Thank you.
I'm building a new FreeNAS server. Build details:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220 v3
Motherboard: SuperMicro X10SLM-F
Memory: Crucial CT2KIT102472BD160B (2 x 8 GB 1.35V DDR3-1600 ECC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic SS-660XP2 (660W)
Hard drives: 4 X 2 TB Western Digital Red WD20EFRX in RAID-Z2
FreeNAS will be installed on a surplus 64 GB Crucial M4 SSD
Usage will be backups and file storage although I wanted to have enough power for light transcoding in the future.
I'm still waiting for the motherboard.
I was planning on reusing an old Antec Sonata III case, but I'm concerned about its ability to cool 4 hard drives. It uses a single 120 mm fan mounted behind the drives which pulls air through oval slots in the drive cage. Even with a powerful Noctua fan, I'm not sure how well it will cool 4 hard drives.
I use a Fractal Design Define R4 in my main PC. Hard drive cooling in this case would be much better, particularly if I rotate the main drive cage 90 degrees. This would allow a 140 mm fan in front of the drives to blow directly on them. The drive cage will also act as a duct, containing all air flow over the hard drives. The only downsides are with the drive cage rotated 90 degrees, cable management will be an issue and removal of the hard drives will be difficult - I may have to take the entire drive cage out to remove one drive.
Are there any other cases with good drive cooling that you would suggest? I'm looking for a tower case, not a rackmount case. Size isn't a big issue and although it should be fairly quiet, I'm willing to give up some silence in order to get better cooling. It will be in a location where it won't bother anyone most of the time.
I really like the R4 and it looks like it will work but I'm open to suggestions if there's anything better.
Thank you.