Server Chassis Options

[silverback]

Hello to All,

I am currently looking to upgrade my server capacity and have outgrown my fractal design case. I am reluctant to invest in Supermicro due to expense and potential noise levels beyond what I deem acceptable.
Does anyone have experience with hot swap chassis by IStarUSA such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165653
It has 120 mm fans so maybe it won't be that loud. I just wonder about the stability and reliability of the backplane. Any comments or suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[joeschmuck]

I am reluctant to invest in Supermicro due to expense and potential noise levels beyond what I deem acceptable.

I do understand that Supermicro may cost a little more (and I do mean a little) but I don't understand the noise comment. Do you think there is some buzzing noise or something which a Supermicro board makes?

As for the 16 drive case, while it looks impressive, I'm only going to talk about noise since this appears to be a concern of yours.
Here is the link to the iStar website and you can check out the power supplies which can fit into the case.
http://www.istarusa.com/istarusa/products.php?model=EX3M16#.V7iSpaLLmjI
You will need to look at the compatible power supplies link. Notice that all of these have small fans. These things make a huge amount of noise, not bad in a server room but at home, terrible.

 

[silverback]

I do understand that Supermicro may cost a little more (and I do mean a little) but I don't understand the noise comment. Do you think there is some buzzing noise or something which a Supermicro board makes?

As for the 16 drive case, while it looks impressive, I'm only going to talk about noise since this appears to be a concern of yours.
Here is the link to the iStar website and you can check out the power supplies which can fit into the case.
http://www.istarusa.com/istarusa/products.php?model=EX3M16#.V7iSpaLLmjI
You will need to look at the compatible power supplies link. Notice that all of these have small fans. These things make a huge amount of noise, not bad in a server room but at home, terrible.

You are correct Joe I completely missed the power supply requirements for that chassis. I guess I will keep pecking at the hole until I find what I am looking for.

 

[joeschmuck]

What are you looking for? Some of the folks here might be able to point you right to a solution.

 

[silverback]

What are you looking for? Some of the folks here might be able to point you right to a solution.

16 to 20 bays, SAS2, Something I can be in the same room with. If that is possible. Thanks

 

[joeschmuck]

That is a tall order. I personally don't know of any case which could hold that many drives and not be noisy. Someone may read this posting and jump in with an answer.

For me, if I were looking for that many drives and noise was the main factor, I'd build a custom setup. You could use the 16 drive bay as you mentioned before and then make a few custom power connections to use a standard ATX power supply and maybe the power supply would be external to the case. In the big hole where the power supply would have mounted, you could mount a large fan to help pull air across the hard drives and out of the case. But you get the point, if you just make some clear plans then you can achieve it.

 

[danb35]

IIRC, @Mirfster speaks highly of the Dell 2100 servers, and says their noise levels aren't too bad. Not sure how many bays you'll get with one though. I like my Supermicro 847 chassis, but it's noisy enough that you don't really want to be in the same room with it. OTOH, 36 bays in 4U are an attractive proposition...

 

[CraigD]

I wanted a case that could support many drives, but it had to be normal upright case that didn't look out of place in my home, no rack mountable cases were considered. Because of price I settled on a Zalman MS800 case as it has 10 5.25" bays, by adding 3 cheap 3x5.25" to 5x3.5" drive cages with cooling and one hot-swap bay to it, it supports 16 drives, with the help of additional SATA power cables and fans, drives haven't hit 30C

Bend some of the 5.25" tabs up in the case and your good

Have Fun
PS Exert for an upcoming blog post

 

[Stux]

I wouldn't r commend a norco case for other reasons, but with a 120mm fan wall and all the fans replaced with Noctuas, the loudest part is now the HDs in my Rp-4224

I wouldn't recommend the case because of the trouble I had getting sliding rails for it. The norco ones do not fit a standard s-post rack

Thus, a rack mount 4U case with 120mm fans is probably a good choice.

 

[Mirfster]

Dell C2100/FS12-TY does have a 24 Bay 2U version. But it only takes 2.5" drives. Also if you are not careful and get the actual drive caddies, you are looking at like at least $15.00 each. I have two of these fully ready, but no drives since I am waiting for prices to come down.

While I love these systems and actually have 3 fully loaded 12 bay units running in a server rack not more than 5 feet from me without noise concern, I would say to be cautious on the 24 bay units as far as the drive caddies are concerned.

Search the forums for "Ode to the Dell" post for my thoughts.

 

[silverback]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. At this point I think I need to look at moving the server outside my living area. So many more options that way.