Hunting for 12 bay case, rack or tower, for freenas

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Djidz

New Member
Feb 28, 2019
4
0
1
Hi,
Im planning to build a freenas server (and probably run ESXI with some VMs nothing too heavy).
I have been looking for days for a chassi that can support my needs, but its really hard!

The thing is the chassi can not be deeper then about 580mm. So most odf the rack cases goes out the window.
Also I want about 10 HDD 3.5" SATA drives along with couple SSD's here and there.

Towerwise there are a few good 8bays but that is not enough unfortunetly.. So what are my options?
So far rack wise the best possible I have found is this from in-win:
InWin IW-RS212-02SN

I dont have a rackcabinet yet but I will probably get one in a few years when we move to a bigger place. Until then Im planning to just put this on top of a table.

The only probly I really see with this case is the PSU needs.. Im not sure what kind of PSU it can take but I would like it to be more quiet... Im also planning to exchange the case fans to something more quiet if they are noisy as well.. Since this is going in my home.
I dont need much wattage like 3-400w I belivie.. Please if you have any suggestions for a good PSU let me know..

Towers has been hard to find also.. I think some of the in-wins alternatives are OK like the ones on this page:
InWin Pedestal & Tower
However its gonna take some exchanging of 5.25 bays to 3.5" bays etc.. And those accessories cost a lot from in-win also.. But that would be ok I guess but there's really no reviews or anything on these cases. I dont know how well they work.
Open for suggestions!!

Thanks!
 

EffrafaxOfWug

Radioactive Member
Feb 12, 2015
1,394
511
113
I'm a user of the In-Win RS212-02SC myself (the predecessor to the RS212-02SN), but of course at 58cm deep it doesn't really leave you any room for cables coming out of the back... you'll need at least another 5cm spare at the back to accommodate power and network cables (and you might not be able to fit in a graphics plug at all).

If you stick to >2U cases, it's generally easy to keep the PSUs silent - I've got a Seasonic 2U in my backup server and the fan never runs. There are other 3U cases such as those made my Norco that can take standard ATX PSUs as well. 3U and 4U cases are easier still to make extremely quiet by swapping in some quiet 120mm fans (which is what I did on my Norco/LogicCase 3U).

Honestly though, fitting 10-12 3.5" drives into a short depth case isn't easy and other than the IW rackmount above (which is what I bought when I needed 12 drives in a small form factor). IIRC there was a build here somewhere that did a modded Rackable rackmount into a very short depth chassis but as you can see from their build log it wasn't simple. The pedestal servers with 12x hot-swap cages are all much deeper than 60cm.
 

zer0sum

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2013
849
473
63
I recently used a NZXT H440 mid tower case to build a compact and quiet ESXi server with lots of drives and I REALLY like it :D
H440 Mid Tower Gaming Case | NZXT

Expansion Slots - 7
Drive Bays Internal 3.5": 11
Internal 2.5": 8

Width - 220mm
Height - 513mm
Depth - 480mm
 

Djidz

New Member
Feb 28, 2019
4
0
1
I recently used a NZXT H440 mid tower case to build a compact and quiet ESXi server with lots of drives and I REALLY like it :D
H440 Mid Tower Gaming Case | NZXT

Expansion Slots - 7
Drive Bays Internal 3.5": 11
Internal 2.5": 8

Width - 220mm
Height - 513mm
Depth - 480mm
That looks nice but it seems like the ones you can buy today only have 6x (or 5?) 3.5" HDD support?
Actually looking at that case I dont see how it works.. How do you get 11x 3.5" drives in there?
 
Last edited:

TomUK

Member
Aug 30, 2017
67
12
8
38
What about a Silverstone CS 380? Takes standard PSU's, and you get 8 hotswap LFF bays.

2 free 5.25 bays as well so you could add upto 3 extra LFF, or 8 SFF drives.

Its also cheap.
 

canta

Well-Known Member
Nov 26, 2014
1,012
216
63
43
My favorite is discontinued lianli q26 that provides 10 slot and can be added easily extra 2 with simple mod.
If you can find used one....
Hardly to get these day. It was easy to get brand new two years ago.

I have other q25 little brother. Fitted with 6 drives and 1 os ssd. Very compact and placed. Next to my home theater speaker.

Those q25 or q26 is well made aluminum case and looks elegant than tempered glass case.
 

kapone

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2015
1,095
642
113
Hi,
Im planning to build a freenas server (and probably run ESXI with some VMs nothing too heavy).
I have been looking for days for a chassi that can support my needs, but its really hard!

The thing is the chassi can not be deeper then about 580mm. So most odf the rack cases goes out the window.
Also I want about 10 HDD 3.5" SATA drives along with couple SSD's here and there.

Towerwise there are a few good 8bays but that is not enough unfortunetly.. So what are my options?
So far rack wise the best possible I have found is this from in-win:
InWin IW-RS212-02SN

I dont have a rackcabinet yet but I will probably get one in a few years when we move to a bigger place. Until then Im planning to just put this on top of a table.

The only probly I really see with this case is the PSU needs.. Im not sure what kind of PSU it can take but I would like it to be more quiet... Im also planning to exchange the case fans to something more quiet if they are noisy as well.. Since this is going in my home.
I dont need much wattage like 3-400w I belivie.. Please if you have any suggestions for a good PSU let me know..

Towers has been hard to find also.. I think some of the in-wins alternatives are OK like the ones on this page:
InWin Pedestal & Tower
However its gonna take some exchanging of 5.25 bays to 3.5" bays etc.. And those accessories cost a lot from in-win also.. But that would be ok I guess but there's really no reviews or anything on these cases. I dont know how well they work.
Open for suggestions!!

Thanks!
I hope this is not a troll for Inwin (hey, it's a new account, and the first thing they posted was two Inwin links...), and my apologies if that's not the case, but I don't get it...

You say the chassis cannot be deeper than 580mm (which is ~23" for the metric challenged). That is a very odd restriction. What's the reason for the restriction?
 

canta

Well-Known Member
Nov 26, 2014
1,012
216
63
43
I had that sgi 3U, and already dumped to recycle center. (a failed project )
the planned to transplant mini-itx board and abandoned due to the length is a bit short that need to remove the back and modify to make it perfectly seat, just some ~1cm extension should be enough

I did modify with 2X 120mm, and fitted with flex psu due on limiting deep(space), added miniitx board holder.
sometime rattle sound came for caddies. I had to push again and rattle sound gone.


good luck modding it. the metal plate is very thick :D.

the price for the link is not good . I remember bought 5 years ago for $100.

my suggestion> get off the shelf PC case for quick build,
 

ReturnedSword

Active Member
Jun 15, 2018
526
235
43
Santa Monica, CA
Keep in mind that the NZXT is a bit hard to source sometimes now since it's an older case. It also won't allow you to use all four bottom screw points for certain drives. Fractal Design also had this issue a few years back on the Node 804, and they updated their drive mounts to correct it.