Habey ESC-4242C - anyone seen/used this?

[matt_garman]

I was just window shopping on Newegg, and ran across this Habey ESC-4242C. A 4U, 24-bay (5 mini-SAS connections) rackmount chassis for $470.

As a side note, I've always wondered if Norco and Habey are in any way related, as the font they use for their logos looks the same to me.

But looking at the Newegg pictures, the Habey chassis has a lot of differences compared to the popular Norco RPC-4224. The drive trays actually look like the ones used in the Chenbro RM41824M2.

As noted, I had a pretty bad experience with the Norco, and eventually replaced it with a costly Supermicro. But when you consider the total cost of a big storage server, I don't think Supermicro is as expensive as it seems.

Anyway, maybe this Habey is the middle ground I've been looking for. If they do without Norco's uber-chintz components and under-engineered design, they might have a winner.

 

[cactus]

I second the Chenbro look of the trays. First thing I thought before I finished reading your post. I have a RM31616 and if the Habey is similar build quality, it would be nice.

 

[Patrick]

They are the same company as a FYI

[video=youtube_share;cKxGmAykicE]http://youtu.be/cKxGmAykicE[/video]

 

[odditory]

They are the same company as a FYI

Ditto. Norco = IPCDIRECT = Habey

 

[jcl333]

So, I was looking at this on Newegg as well. Any opinions for or against?

From what I can see, it already comes with the 120MM fans in the midplane, so you don't have to bother to order a bracket and install it as with the Norco. And maybe there is a chance it has slightly better build quality.

My only concern is that since it is not talked about or mentioned much, if you had a problem with it would it be hard to get service or parts?

-JCL