So, the ideal case or DIY solution for what I am trying to do:
1) All SFF (2.5in) bays
1.1) All Bays are at minimum SATA3
1.2) Some/All bays being SAS/SATA is a bonus
1.3) Having some bays that also do U.2 Would be super nice, depending on price delta
1.4) Unified backplane is not required, I have an unused SAS expander
2) Case size 2U-4U, rails should be available for a reasonable price or generic mounting options
3) Room for an mATX board, or if there is U.2 support a full ATX
4) Any replacement/spare parts should be either industry standard or readily available on ebay (PSUs, drive sleds, etc)
5) Total cost should make sense compared to getting a Dell 730xd, so around 24 SFF bays for around 500 or less? (I see decent ones going for 800 to 1000 so I'm figuring another 400-500 for an equivalent-ish board, cpu(s) and ram)
Most of what I've found looking here seems to either be LFF or just disk shelves, but if I've missed threads feel free to just point me at them.
Edit: I don't need *exactly* 24SFF bays, 16+ would do it, more is nice but if a (for example) 20 bay solution is half the cost of a 24 bay one, I'd be inclined to go with the 20 bay one.
1) All SFF (2.5in) bays
1.1) All Bays are at minimum SATA3
1.2) Some/All bays being SAS/SATA is a bonus
1.3) Having some bays that also do U.2 Would be super nice, depending on price delta
1.4) Unified backplane is not required, I have an unused SAS expander
2) Case size 2U-4U, rails should be available for a reasonable price or generic mounting options
3) Room for an mATX board, or if there is U.2 support a full ATX
4) Any replacement/spare parts should be either industry standard or readily available on ebay (PSUs, drive sleds, etc)
5) Total cost should make sense compared to getting a Dell 730xd, so around 24 SFF bays for around 500 or less? (I see decent ones going for 800 to 1000 so I'm figuring another 400-500 for an equivalent-ish board, cpu(s) and ram)
Most of what I've found looking here seems to either be LFF or just disk shelves, but if I've missed threads feel free to just point me at them.
Edit: I don't need *exactly* 24SFF bays, 16+ would do it, more is nice but if a (for example) 20 bay solution is half the cost of a 24 bay one, I'd be inclined to go with the 20 bay one.
Last edited: