BUILD Rack Mounted Case/Chassis Suggestions

[RemyZ]

I currently have a Chenbro RM41300-F which is a 4U Rack mounted server case that is housing my ESXi Server. I am in the process of building a FreeNas Server. I haven't bought the case for the Freenas setup as of yet. I am currently using a 24U Skeletek Rack that I will be tossing. I am looking to toss this Rack and downsize to about a 12-15U rack. I will be moving to another apartment and don't need this monstrous rack which I have lived with for a year. Originally wasn't an issue as I was deep into my studies and didn't give a f*$!. Now that I am making more $ and moving to a nicer spot will need to change this up.
I wanted some suggestions on how to go about this properly.

Specs on both Builds

ESXi Server Build ( Already Built )
USB Boot Drive
Full ATX Motherboard
Slim DVD Drive
2.5" 500GB SSD
4x Quad Nic Full height Internal PCI Cards (Intel I340-T4 E1G44HT E1G44HTBLK NIC)
---These Nics can be resold and I only need the 1 motherboard NIC. Went thru several revisions but following INE Networking topologies and this is my final revision. So in essence I wont need 4x Quad nic cards futurewise but could possibly save 1 Quad nic card to use for load balancing on my FreeNAS/HTPC Server Build.

FreeNas/HTPC Server Build (40% Built)
Micro ATX SuperMicro SSH-F Motherboard
Ability to fit 4-6 3.5" Internal HDD's
Ability to fit Slim Blu Ray Drive
I haven't ordered any HDD's, Boot Device (Satadomm), case and ram as of yet.
I have looked at some Supermicro 1U cases but are pricey brand new and have looked at old servers on Ebay but get confused on if the model# that includes the case will support my build.

Option 1
I can keep the 4U Rack Mounted Case I have and move the FreeNas/HTPC Server build to that. Then move my existing ESXi Build to a 1 or 2U case since it is only using a Full ATX Motherboard, USB Drive (OS) and one 2.5" 500 GB SSD Drive. The 4U case can hold 4 3.5" internal drives and has a cage for hotswap options. This options puts me at the limit of the 12U rack with all other hardware mounted. With this option what case should I look into brand new and used if I can get a whole server that has the case on Ebay that I can gut out.

Option 2
I can buy 2 1 or 2U Rack mounted cases and move my existing ESXi build to that and the FreeNas/HTPC to the other case. Then sell my 4U case. This option would free up space on my 12U rack and give me some breathing room but will obviously cost more than the 1st option. What this option what cases should I be looking at brand new and/or what cases are part of a cheap old server I should look at in Ebay.

Any help/suggestions is appreciated.

 

[RemyZ]

Just looking for assistance on a good case solution that will house both servers
1. ESXi Server Move from 4U to 1U
2. NAS Server 1U Case that houses a Micro ATX and 4 3.5" HDDs

 

[jgreco]

Supermicro->Products->Chassis->1U->SC813->SC813MTQ-350CB, ~$220.

Note that this will only fit a Supermicro mainboard and you probably need to do some homework.

 

[RemyZ]

Thanks,

Alright that helps I guess for the FreeNas server and will most likely accommodate that SuperMicro MicroATX board and is listed on their website as being compatible. Any suggestions on a 1U case for my ESXi server which houses an Asus Z97C Full ATX Board ?

 

[jgreco]

No. It's not a board that you would want to put into a 1U server. Notice how the memory slots are perpendicular to a proper front-to-back airflow? You can't get a proper passive cooler for that in 1U, you end up with an EZ-bake oven instead. You can probably pick some random cheap Plink 2U P.o.S. chassis and make it work, but you'll need to be mindful of the airflow.

 

[RemyZ]

No. It's not a board that you would want to put into a 1U server. Notice how the memory slots are perpendicular to a proper front-to-back airflow? You can't get a proper passive cooler for that in 1U, you end up with an EZ-bake oven instead. You can probably pick some random cheap Plink 2U P.o.S. chassis and make it work, but you'll need to be mindful of the airflow.

Gotcha.
What about these line of 2U Cases listed below. Even though the stock images show the memory slots being perpendicular to the rear I/O I think they will better than the 1U SuperMicro Case for the ESXi Server. I like the RM21706 out of all the chenbro cases. Let me know what you think.

http://www.chenbro.com/en-US/products/RackmountChassis/2U_Chassis/1
I like the RM21706 Model specifically

 

[jgreco]

It'll be better than the 1U, but also sufficiently expensive that it might be worth pondering if there's an option that involves ditching the Asus board and just buying a conventional hypervisor like the SuperServer 5018D-MTF?

The thing is that you can probably find a nice chassis for that Asus board, yes, but that feels like throwing good money away to spend $200+ on a chassis to hold a board that isn't even a server board. Get something that's built and designed for the job, and is 1U on top of it all.

 

[RemyZ]

This got me to thinking
I have 3 Machines
1) Personal PC Intel Nehalem Platform dated from 2009 ( Intel Core i7 930, Asus P6X58D MB, Radeon 5850 GPU, )
2) ESXi Server ( Asus z97C Mb, Intel Core i5 4690, 32Gb Ram, 500GB SSD )
3) FreeNas Build ( SuperMicro X11SSH-F, 32GB Ram Unbuffered DDR4, 64GB Satadomm, Intel Core i3 6100)

My personal Pc has been chugging along for the most part and I have been planning on a rebuild. I wanted to use Skylake for my future build which runs on 1151 but I guess sacrifices have to be made instead of wasting parts. I can just repurpose my ESXi server which has Z97 MB with 1150 Socket and a nice Intel Core i5 for my personal PC and build around that. Then I can buy a cheap SuperMicro server on Ebay or just do another custom build centered around a server motherboard for my ESXi setup. Damn too many options lol

 

[jgreco]

No, really, that's not too many options. That's a very good option (to repurpose the ESXi to something more appropriate) combined with the most awesome option, to figure out what actually makes sense for a hypervisor for your specific needs.

 

[RemyZ]

If searching for an ESXi MB replacement and looking for a cheap server style motherboard from SuperMicro what options do I have....?
I went X11 for the options and futurewise for my FreeNas Box. What is a cheap X10 Motherboard I can buy or a cheap Supermicro server that is built around the X10 platform on Ebay I can buy to use to repurpose my ESXi build ?

 

[jgreco]

A hypervisor really doesn't need to be the latest and greatest thing in most cases. The X9SCL/SCM, X10SLL, etc., are all fine choices. There isn't much value to picking an X11 board at this time, and for FreeNAS it could actually be detrimental because of the lack of well-debugged driver support.

 

[RemyZ]

A hypervisor really doesn't need to be the latest and greatest thing in most cases. The X9SCL/SCM, X10SLL, etc., are all fine choices. There isn't much value to picking an X11 board at this time, and for FreeNAS it could actually be detrimental because of the lack of well-debugged driver support.

Looks like the X10SLL will be the best option since it uses an 1150 Socket.
http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SLL-F.cfm
One thing that bothers me if it is even possible to take my Intel Core i5 from my ESXi build and xfer it to this motherboard since it uses the same socket 1150 but the documentation says otherwise(ESXi dont care for ECC Ram).........
1. Single socket H3 (LGA 1150) supports
Intel® Xeon® E3-1200 v3/v4, 4th gen.
Core i3, Pentium, Celeron processors

Other than that I did the research on the X11SSH-F board before I bought it. Making sure to read these three threads
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/so-youve-decided-to-buy-a-supermicro-x11-board.39549/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/supermicro-x10-x11-motherboard-faq.23332/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/hardware-recommendations-read-this-first.23069/
I have bought Satadomm 64gb for my boot drive to take care of the USB AHCI issue and the NIC port drivers seem to be supported just fine

 

[RemyZ]

To summarize it looks like
one motherboard will be X10SLL-F for ESXi
one motherboard will be X11SSH-F for FreeNas.......

Getting closer to a resolution and wanted to thank you for all ur help so far.

 

[RemyZ]

I will be going with this case SC813MTQ-350CB Thanks

Can the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 HDD drives (Model#ST1000DM005/HD103SJ) be used in a NAS ?
Are Supermicro PSUs that come with the cases recommend and same quality as Seasonic Server PSU ?
Any other thoughts and/or suggestions I may run into ?

 

[RemyZ]

After doing some research looks like my Intel Core i5 4690 CPU may not be able to move from my Desktop Mb to a SuperMicro MB even though it is a socket 1150 CPU. In addition, Looks like there may be boot up issues with non-ECC memory. This would mean more planning and more money shelled out lol

Still looking for answers to these questions.....
Can the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 HDD drives (Model#ST1000DM005/HD103SJ) be used in a NAS ?
Are Supermicro PSUs that come with the cases recommend and same quality as Seasonic Server PSU ?
Any other thoughts and/or suggestions I may run into ?

 

[RemyZ]

Found the answers to my own questions. Went with a SuperMicro 500watt platinum power supply and my existing old Samsung drives can be added as a part of their own vdev to the pool.

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[RemyZ]

2U Case for Freenas
4U Case for ESXi

I would like to downsize on the ESXi setup and possibly make it a 1U or 2U but it does have a full atx board .In addition, the memory slots isn't lined up like a server board so this may affect cooling. Any ideas on this would great

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[Fuganater]

It would be cheaper/easier just to pick up a used Dell 2U server for your ESXi host.

 

[RemyZ]

Then gut it out and retrofit the internals.I could do that any models in particular i should look for on Ebay?

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[Fuganater]

Then gut it out and retrofit the internals.I could do that any models in particular i should look for on Ebay?

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Nah. What it comes with is good enough. I use 2x Dell R710 with 36GB RAM and dual Xeon in each but I will be upping the RAM soon. (comes full with 2GB DIMMs and 4GB DIMMs are super cheap) I have seen others recommend the Dell C2100 but I did not look into it as I already bought my R710s. Use your other mobo for a 2nd FreeNAS system and have 2 copies of all your data on the LAN.