Help me pick out a Media Storage Case!

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Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
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Hey all,

I recently received a nice little gift in the form of 10 1TB WD RE4 hard drives. I'm working on building a media server for XBMC streaming...but the case I have no will in no way support 10 more drives.

I currently have 4 drives running in an unRaid box, and I want to expand that out to have a 14 drive server. Eventually I'd like to go with something like a Norco 4224 in a rack, but I don't really have the coin for that at the moment....

That said, I'm looking for some non-rackmount cases that can support 14 drives (Or even 12-13 will do, as I could use two of my existing drives for other purposes...probably not a bad idea actually).

I'd really like to avoid using a full tower, but I could if need be. The case I'm looking at right now is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811163190

9 3.5" HDD bays, plus some 5.25" bays that I can convert it looks like? Unless that extra bay farther back is for 2.5" drives...not sure. EDIT: looks like the Temjin has a similar back drive cage which is for 2.5 in drives...so that kinda sucks. oh well.

I couldn't really find any reviews on this case, but the Temjin series review on AT looks okay...anyone have any thoughts?
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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OK, so I think the physical case is the least of your worries right now. Have you given some thought about how you're going to provide SATA ports for 14 drives?
 
Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
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truckerCLOCK said:
The NZXT 210 has 10 3.5 bays..$39 at Newegg...he could use an LSI SAS3081ER or IBM BR10i / Intel SASUC8I (rebranded LSI cards) and just flash it to IT firmware. It will allow 8 ports plus your motherboards ports
Click to expand...

Man, that case isn't too shabby... If I put a 4-in-3 bay on those 5.25 bays, theres 12 HDD's it looks like? That would definitely do I would think...

Looking at some reviews of the case, seem slike the HDD mounts are a little different...not sure. Anyone tried this case? NEver used NZXT before...but they seem like a decent enough brand for a budget (though, I'm trying to open my budget a little bit for this build. I typically couldn't care less about cases, but for something thats holding a lot of HDD's, might be worth it to spend a tad extra).
 
M

mfenn

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Jan 17, 2010
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Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
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mfenn said:
Have you already purchased that? The reason I ask is that with unRAID, you don't really need a full RAID controller because you're going to be using software RAID anyway. You really just need an HBA like this LSI. Then you can buy a real SAS enclosure (sans drives) for only a little more than the internal RAID card and a new case.
Click to expand...

Nope, haven't purchased it yet. Still, I'm trying to avoid going with a Rack solution as A: I don't have a rack, and B: I don't really have room for one right now. If I did I'd buy a Norco 4020 or 4224 and be done with it. Sadly, not an option at the moment.
 
Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
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truckerCLOCK said:
I've never used any of NZXT cases but they look pretty decent. That H2 you listed looks badass.
Click to expand...

Yeah the H2 looks pretty cool. I LOVE the segmented and 2 column look of the Fractal Define XL...but not sure if its worth the cash / space.
 
Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
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mfenn said:
A 3U rackmount is nothing but a desktop turned sideways, you don't really need a rack for it. Suit yourself though. :)
Click to expand...

Hahaha, yeah I hear you. I'd love to get a small like 6-8u rack for a few things, but whatever. Tower just seems simpler for the moment, and simple/cheap is what i need for the moment. As much as I'd love to go a little more crazy with it and get set up for the long term, I just can't justify it right now.
 
M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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Chapbass said:
Hahaha, yeah I hear you. I'd love to get a small like 6-8u rack for a few things, but whatever. Tower just seems simpler for the moment, and simple/cheap is what i need for the moment. As much as I'd love to go a little more crazy with it and get set up for the long term, I just can't justify it right now.
Click to expand...

Meh, what kind of enthusiast are you if you don't have a data center in your basement? :D

For the "cheap and has lots of bays" tower I definitely like the Source 210 suggested by truckerCLOCK. Add one of these guys and you are set for less than $70.
 
Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
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mfenn said:
Meh, what kind of enthusiast are you if you don't have a data center in your basement? :D

For the "cheap and has lots of bays" tower I definitely like the Source 210 suggested by truckerCLOCK. Add one of these guys and you are set for less than $70.
Click to expand...

The lame part? I would...if I HAD a basement...unfortunately I dont, and theres already 4 computers crammed into my 8x10 room...gets mighty hot in here sometimes.
 
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tmsmith124

Junior Member
Jul 18, 2012
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I hope I'm not hijacking the thread but I'm a little curious regarding the Intel SASUC8I and IBM 44E8689.

Do both of these cards provide up to 8x SATA drives using the following cable - NORCO C-SFF8087-4S (or something cheaper)? On Ebay the IBM seems to be going for a lot less. I tried to do a little digging but can't find exactly the information I'm looking for. Any help would be appreciated.
 
krnmastersgt

krnmastersgt

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Jan 10, 2008
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I love this NZXT M59 case I bought for this system and NZXT is pretty awesome about their support. I couldn't find my 2.5" drive bracket so I asked if they could maybe send a new one; ended up finding the bracket 2 hours later but by then I checked my e-mail and they had already shipped it from their parts warehouse and I could expect it in about 3 days :p

For higher end cases I wouldn't be surprised by something like this, but for a relatively budget case with great build quality, aesthetics I personally enjoy, and great customer service I'll be buying my next case from them probably. Just pointing this out since no one apparently has had experiences with them.
 
Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
3,147
96
91
tmsmith124 said:
I hope I'm not hijacking the thread but I'm a little curious regarding the Intel SASUC8I and IBM 44E8689.

Do both of these cards provide up to 8x SATA drives using the following cable - NORCO C-SFF8087-4S (or something cheaper)? On Ebay the IBM seems to be going for a lot less. I tried to do a little digging but can't find exactly the information I'm looking for. Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Hey TM, no thread hijacking here, just the sharing of info :)

Yeah, the reverse breakout cable is what you would use if you don't have a server with a backplane (if you did, then you would use 1 cable from the card to the backplane for every 4 HDD's, and the backplane would take care of routing the data to each drive).

Yeah, that BR10 card looks pretty stellar, I think I'm going to pick one up.
 
Chapbass

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
3,147
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krnmastersgt said:
I love this NZXT M59 case I bought for this system and NZXT is pretty awesome about their support. I couldn't find my 2.5" drive bracket so I asked if they could maybe send a new one; ended up finding the bracket 2 hours later but by then I checked my e-mail and they had already shipped it from their parts warehouse and I could expect it in about 3 days :p

For higher end cases I wouldn't be surprised by something like this, but for a relatively budget case with great build quality, aesthetics I personally enjoy, and great customer service I'll be buying my next case from them probably. Just pointing this out since no one apparently has had experiences with them.
Click to expand...

Actually really glad you chimed in. I think i've decided on the 210...I'd like to get a Norco 4224 or 4220 eventually and throw in a bunch of 2TB drives for a 40-50TB monster (maybe someday, who knows if I'll even ever need that kind of space)...so no reason to throw down a lot of cash on a case for now.

Just realized that theres a 210 elite and a non elite...extra top mounted fan and USB3.0 for 10 extra dollars...probably not something that I would need for this type of setup (and if I was going to use this case for something else, I would use a different case...so whatever).
 
krnmastersgt

krnmastersgt

Platinum Member
Jan 10, 2008
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Wow that is quite cheap considering the amount of drive bays it gives you :eek:

Might actually just pick the case up and hope to put together an NAS box in the future (if my urge to upgrade my system constantly doesn't kick in first and burn all my money anyways).
 
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tmsmith124

Junior Member
Jul 18, 2012
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Chapbass said:
Hey TM, no thread hijacking here, just the sharing of info :)

Yeah, the reverse breakout cable is what you would use if you don't have a server with a backplane (if you did, then you would use 1 cable from the card to the backplane for every 4 HDD's, and the backplane would take care of routing the data to each drive).

Yeah, that BR10 card looks pretty stellar, I think I'm going to pick one up.
Click to expand...

EDIT: After doing some digging, I came up with a post that detailed that what I want to do is purchase the following: LSI/3Ware CBL-SFF8087OCF. Please chime in if there is anything else I need to know!

Still a tad confused, especially after reading the following from NewEgg's review: "With this cable, the SFF-8087 connector can NOT be plugged into a SAS HBA or RAID adapter, and the 4xSata connectors can NOT be plugged into SATA hard drives. It's the other way around"

I'm planning to connect the card into an Asus motherboard and run 4x hard drives off the card. Assuming I can find a cheaper cable to accomplish what I want on Ebay, what would be a good choice?

Also, should I expect a significant boost in speed over my current setup - Rosewill RC-209-EX?

Thanks for the help :D
 
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T

truckerCLOCK

Senior member
Dec 13, 2011
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tmsmith124 said:
EDIT: After doing some digging, I came up with a post that detailed that what I want to do is purchase the following: LSI/3Ware CBL-SFF8087OCF. Please chime in if there is anything else I need to know!

Still a tad confused, especially after reading the following from NewEgg's review: "With this cable, the SFF-8087 connector can NOT be plugged into a SAS HBA or RAID adapter, and the 4xSata connectors can NOT be plugged into SATA hard drives. It's the other way around"

I'm planning to connect the card into an Asus motherboard and run 4x hard drives off the card. Assuming I can find a cheaper cable to accomplish what I want on Ebay, what would be a good choice?

Also, should I expect a significant boost in speed over my current setup - Rosewill RC-209-EX?

Thanks for the help :D
Click to expand...

Ok I have 2 IBM BR10i's , which is basically a re-branded LSI SAS3082E-R card. I had to flash it to the IT firmware to turn the card into a basic host bus adapter. I dont want any hardware RAID. I use FreeNAS 8 and software RAID. I used the following cables LSI/3Ware CBL-SFF8087OCF-10M to give me 4 SATA ports.
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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Most server RAID cards you find on Ebay from Dell or IBM are just rebranded LSI. The Intel SASUC8I is the same way.

As for SFF-8087 to SATA cables, the rule is:

Forward breakout is for connecting a SAS HBA to 4 SATA hard drives.
Reverse breakout is for connecting 4 SATA host ports (ie. from the motherboard) to a SAS backplane.
 
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