Chenbro RM42300 cooling drives

[986box]

Migrated Freenas to a new 4U chassis. The old setup has the drives in a backplane with a 80mm fan pulling heat out.

but I was unable to use a similar drive cage from Rosewill 3x5.25 to 4x3.5 cage because it blocks the power connector on the motherboard.

Now I have the drives installed in 3.5” cage behind the power/reset switch. During scrubbing in, hdd temps are being alerted.

what’s the best way to install a fan to pull the heat out? Or should the drives be relocated to the 5.25” cage on the right and mount the drives using 5.25 to 3.5 adaptors? Btw, those adaptors are not cheap. 4 adaptors cost as much as backplane cage with fan.

 

[Scarlet]

I'm using these Supermicro mobile racks in Chenbro RM42300 cases: CSE-M35T-1B | Mobile Rack | Accessories | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.

The fan can be replaced for a quieter one, the HDDs stay cool enough (~ 40C) even during zfs scrubbing.

 

[986box]

unfortunately, the supermicro rack is much longer at 9.7" vs 8.27".


Picture

 

[Scarlet]

I have enough clearance for two of the Supermicro mobile racks using an ATX Mainboard (X10SRL-F), see attached picture of my crowded server. I only use 2.5" devices in the middle between the two mobile racks.



But the RM42300 is a short-depth ( 18.32” ) chassis, so there is always a tradeoff compared to longer chassis.

 

[986box]

I decide to use the 5.25 to 3.5 adaptors instead and hook up a 80mm fan to pull heat out. Found someone selling the adaptors for $4 a piece. $12 for 4.