Looking for 8+ bay hot swap chassis.

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level42

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Feb 22, 2017
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Hi there,

I'm in the market for a chassis with 8+ hot swap bays.

Currently have my eye on RSV-L4412, but this chassis is just massive! Hoping for something a touch smaller, if possible, maybe 3U, around the same price point ($229.99 CAD).

Any suggestions?
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Specify what size motherboard you need to fit, there's many ITX choices but that's irrelevant if you need an ATX or E-ATX board :D
 

level42

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Feb 22, 2017
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Specify what size motherboard you need to fit, there's many ITX choices but that's irrelevant if you need an ATX or E-ATX board :D
The board I currently have is a Micro ATX, but it would be nice to at least fit a full size ATX for future expansion.
 
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level42

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Feb 22, 2017
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I use a Supermicro 4U 24 bay, they make a similar 3U 16 bay. Just to show the case, here's one.

UXS Server 3U Supermicro 16 Bay 6Gbps FREENAS Storage X9DRI-LN4F+ Xeon 12 Cores | eBay

Or 2U 12...

SUPERMICRO 2U BAREBONE SERVER X9DRI-LN4F+ REV 1.20 12x Trays Add CPU/Ram/HDD | eBay



Just examples so you can see what they look like, I'm not really recommending those particular systems, though they look fine.
I'd be curious to know the noise level of these, specifically the 2U chassis.

I have a much older 3U 7th gen Super Micro server (full server) and its LOUD AF!!!

Seeing as how the chassis has stock fans, and PSU, I'd imagine it'd be fairly loud.

Any ideas if there are silent fans I can swap into the 2U Chassis?
 

ttabbal

Active Member
Mar 10, 2016
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They are pretty loud, no doubt. You can replace the fans and lower the noise to some degree, no idea how much as I don't bother. I have them live in a utility room where they can be loud and not bother anyone.
 

EffrafaxOfWug

Radioactive Member
Feb 12, 2015
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As previously noted, I've been very happy with my InWin MS08 mini tower; 8x3.5" hot-swap bays, 2x2.5" hot-swap bays, accepts up to mATX boards and uses 1U/FlexATX PSUs. The inbuilt fans aren't the quietest but are far from loud.

I also use the NSC-800 cases and I'm very fond of them, but they don't offer you anything in the way of expandability past mITX.

If you are definitely considering going past 8x3.5" drives and mATX motherboards, I'd look into the rackmount route. InWin also make some perfectly serviceable 2U and 3U rackmount chassis of which I use the IW-RS212-02SC for a backup server with 12x3.5" hotswap bays. They're not quite as solid as the Supermicro chassis, but they're entirely serviceable especially considering the Supermicro chassis cost a fortune in the UK at least (and almost never appear s/h).
 

level42

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Feb 22, 2017
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As previously noted, I've been very happy with my InWin MS08 mini tower; 8x3.5" hot-swap bays, 2x2.5" hot-swap bays, accepts up to mATX boards and uses 1U/FlexATX PSUs. The inbuilt fans aren't the quietest but are far from loud.

I also use the NSC-800 cases and I'm very fond of them, but they don't offer you anything in the way of expandability past mITX.

If you are definitely considering going past 8x3.5" drives and mATX motherboards, I'd look into the rackmount route. InWin also make some perfectly serviceable 2U and 3U rackmount chassis of which I use the IW-RS212-02SC for a backup server with 12x3.5" hotswap bays. They're not quite as solid as the Supermicro chassis, but they're entirely serviceable especially considering the Supermicro chassis cost a fortune in the UK at least (and almost never appear s/h).
I really like the InWin chassis, but their price point puts them out of budget, heck, it puts them out of the realm of possibility!

The IW-RS212-S2-R860, for example is almost $3,000 CAD
 

level42

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Feb 22, 2017
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While it's not a true hotswap, NZXT H440 was recommended in anther thread.
If this was the case, I'd go with the Fractal Define R6 (Much nicer looking, IMO, and matches my current desktop setup)


This is what I have, super quiet. Around CA$500 new but see if you want find a used one.

SuperChassis 743TQ-865B-SQ

SC743TQ-865B-SQ | 4U | Chassis | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.
I thought OP was looking for smaller footprint. I have and really like 743. 745 is almost similar with hot-swap power supplies.
Unfortunately, the footprint of the 743, and 745 is near identical to the Rosewill 4U chassis ... I was hoping for smaller. Hmm, still on the lookout. I like the idea of a 2U 12bay, but the notion is that they're inherently LOUD!
 

ReturnedSword

Active Member
Jun 15, 2018
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@nthu9280 The Define R5/R6 and H440 are all mid towers. Personally unless one likes the NZXT aesthetics, I'd stick with the Define R6, or if you can get one for cheap, a Define R5. The drive sleds for the H440 are a bit fiddly, since you have to mount two drives to a sled. The H440 drive sled mounts one drive using the side mount points, and the second drive using the bottom mount points. Certain modern 3.5" drive bottom mount points don't match the H440 sleds (e.g. WD Red/WD White Label) IIRC. The Define R6 can mount the same amount of drives as the H440 (11 x 3.5"), but each drive gets its own sled. It only comes with 6 sleds though so one needs to purchase the other 5 (they're cheap).

@EffrafaxOfWug I like the MS08 too, but sadly In Win doesn't have high availability in the US nowadays.
 

level42

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Feb 22, 2017
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Ok, so, I'm starting to just lean towards running another Fractal R6 ... I have this chassis already for my gaining tower, so I'm quite familiar with it. Granted, it doesn't have any hot swap bays, but it can support up to 12 drives, and it costs about $50 CAD less than the Rosewill chassis.

In addition, I can be confident that this chassis will be relatively silent. (Probably could have accomplished the same silence with the Rosewill case, but at 2x the footprint)

Still a bit on the fence, waiting for the next batch of sales.

$229.99 - Rosewill - L4412
Pros: Affordable, Hot Swap, Ascetics
Cons: Size, Noise?​

$199.99 - Fractal R6 TG
or
$179.99 - Fractal R6
Pros: Affordable, Size, Noise, Ascetics
Cons: No Hot Swap​

$149.99 - CHENBRO RM42300
$54.99 - Rosewill RSV-SATA-Cage-34 (x2)
Pros: Size, Hot Swap
Cons: Ascetics, Cost, Noise?
~$300 - Supermicro 826
Pros: Ascetics, Size, Hot Swap
Cons: Noise, Used, Cost (Importing from USA can get expensive fast)
*Prices in CAD