Internal 5x3.5 drive cage for toolless case ? Or best 4x3.5 / 3x3.5 cage

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madbrain

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Jan 5, 2019
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My current case (Cooler Master HAF XM) fits 6 internal 3.5 drives, another 2 through the hotswap drive bays.

In one of the 3 front drive bays, I have one more SATA dock that allows for one extra 3.5 drive. So that's 9 drives total.

The case has tons of airflows through a number of very large diameter fans. I have installed most of the optional fans.

So it has :

front bottom : 1x200mm fan

top : 2 x 200mm fans

rear : 1 x 140mm fan

side : 1x 200 mm fan

bottom hdd cage : not installed, still room for 2 x 120mm fans. These can be mounted directly behind the 6 x 3.5 bays. But they haven't been needed so far.


I'm looking to see if I can increase the total drive count. In theory, the highest I could go is 13 drives if I put a 5x3 drive cage in the top 3 front 5.25 bays.

These would be 6 (internal) + 2 (X-dock) + 5 (new cage).


Is there any cage for 5 x 3.5 drives that fits in 3 5.25 spaces, but will work in a case that has built-in guiding rails, such as this one ? This would preferably be a hotswap cage.


So far, I'm only seeing for 5 x 3.5 cages :




None of these look like they would work due to rails in the 5.25 drive bays in my HAF-XM case. And I'm not gifted with dremel tools, I would probably make irreversible damage if I tried to mod my HAF-XM case.

Is it just physically impossible to build a 5x3.5 cage that would slide into a case with 5.25 sliding rails ? It seems like it should be possible from the looks of some of them. Even some trayless models (now discontinued) still have flat sides that wouldn't work with guiding rails.

If such 5x3.5 cages don't exist, don't exist, my alternatives would be to go with either a 4x3.5 cage, or a 3x2.5 cage that fits in just two 5.25 spaces, since I already have one enclosure that holds a single 3.5 drive (+ 2.5) in a single 5.25 space. Can anyone recommend good 4x3.5 or 3x3.5 cages ? I would prefer the larger cages in order to allow for smaller number of larger diameter fans to reduce noise. I spent hours on Amazon reading reviews, and couldn't really decide.


For 4x3.5 cages :





For 3x3.5 cages :
Amazon.com: EZDIY-FAB 3 Bay Hot Swap Mobile Rack for 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch SSD/HDD, Internal SATA Hard Drive Backplane Enclosure, Support SATA I/II/III & SAS I/II 6Gbps and [Optimized for SSD]: Computers & Accessories . This seems to not have swappable/replaceable fan.


Amazon.com: ICY DOCK FatCage 3x3.5 SATA Hard Drive Hot-Swap Backplane Cage Mobile Rack in 2X 5.25 Drive Bay(MB153SP-B): Computers & Accessories (pricier)


Thanks in advance!
 

Spartacus

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May 27, 2019
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Austin, TX
Is it just physically impossible to build a 5x3.5 cage that would slide into a case with 5.25 sliding rails ? It seems like it should be possible from the looks of some of them. Even some trayless models (now discontinued) still have flat sides that wouldn't work with guiding rails.
Correct you either have to either be willing to mod/flatten the 5.25" guides or accept 3 drives per hot swap units.
When it comes to 5x 3.5 in a 3x 5.25" enclsosure my personal preference is these:
They're a bit pricey, but last forever since they're enterprise grade I have several that are used and one new one.
I'm currently using a Antec twelve hundred to fit 3 of these by using a c-clamp to flatten all of the 5.25" guides.


Here's a look at it:
 
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madbrain

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Jan 5, 2019
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Correct you either have to either be willing to mod/flatten the 5.25" guides or accept 3 drives per hot swap units.
When it comes to 5x 3.5 in a 3x 5.25" enclsosure my personal preference is these:
They're a bit pricey, but last forever since they're enterprise grade I have several that are used and one new one.
I'm currently using a Antec twelve hundred to fit 3 of these by using a c-clamp to flatten all of the 5.25" guides.


Here's a look at it:
Thanks. That looks good. How loud is the 9cm fan ? Did you swap it on any of yours ?

Wish I could fit it in my case, but I'm really not so handy and don't want to do the case surgery. And with COVID-19 don't want to have anyone else do it either.

Do you know of smaller (4 or 3 drives) cages of similar quality that are compatible with case guides ?

Unfortunately, it looks like Supermicro only makes 5 drive hotswap trays.
 

madbrain

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Jan 5, 2019
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Yes, but won't work with the 5.25 guides on my case unfortunately.

This is one is discontinued. Only a few resellers seem to have old stock, but are asking $300-$400+. At that price point, I would probably buy a whole new case.
 

Spartacus

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2019
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328
63
Austin, TX
Thanks. That looks good. How loud is the 9cm fan ? Did you swap it on any of yours ?

Wish I could fit it in my case, but I'm really not so handy and don't want to do the case surgery. And with COVID-19 don't want to have anyone else do it either.

Do you know of smaller (4 or 3 drives) cages of similar quality that are compatible with case guides ?

Unfortunately, it looks like Supermicro only makes 5 drive hotswap trays.
Correct, any 5 disk enclosures don't have enough space to add the guides (and is slightly larger height wise by a few mm too) but as I noted if you bend the guides they fit pretty much perfectly. I did this on both a Corsair 750D and my Antec Twelve Hundred v3 I did have to remove the front face plate on both of them. I was able to do flatten them with a large c-clamp, basically take a pair of pliers to get the bend started then use the c-clamp to tight down on either side of the cage. The c-clamp from home depot cost like $10 (and if you wanna be grey area about it you could technically return it). The guide ends up flush with very little work or scuffing and no dremeling. I might be able to make a video for ya of the process if you need a visual.

The fans are loud AF, I replaced them all with the noctua 92mm redux, they fit perfectly and are near silent, the only qualm is the cable is a little long, but I just wrap it around enough that its manageable ~ it does take some work to get the wrapped fan cable in the slot: Amazon.com: Noctua NF-B9 redux-1600 PWM, High Performance Cooling Fan, 4-Pin, 1600 RPM (92mm, Grey): Computers & Accessories
I have a mix of SAS and SATA drives in my enclosures, they all stay below 40c with the replacement fans.

I'm unaware of any enterprise enclosures that are 3 or 4 drive, the Icy Dock 4 bay one that has the guides is probably second best.
As I said since you're only doing one I'd go with the enterprise grade one and get the most drives out of the 3 slots personally.
 

madbrain

Active Member
Jan 5, 2019
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I might be able to make a video for ya of the process if you need a visual.
Appreciate the offer, but I'm still not going to attempt this myself.

The fans are loud AF, I replaced them all with the noctua 92mm redux, they fit perfectly and are near silent, the only qualm is the cable is a little long, but I just wrap it around enough that its manageable ~ it does take some work to get the wrapped fan cable in the slot: Amazon.com: Noctua NF-B9 redux-1600 PWM, High Performance Cooling Fan, 4-Pin, 1600 RPM (92mm, Grey): Computers & Accessories
I have a mix of SAS and SATA drives in my enclosures, they all stay below 40c with the replacement fans.
Yeah, that's what I was afraid of . Noctua fans are great, though. I use several in my NAS.

I'm unaware of any enterprise enclosures that are 3 or 4 drive, the Icy Dock 4 bay one that has the guides is probably second best.
As I said since you're only doing one I'd go with the enterprise grade one and get the most drives out of the 3 slots personally.
I think the 3 x 3.5 drives in 2 x 5.25 spaces makes more sense as I already have one Icydock that does 1 x 3.5 + 1. 2.5 in 1 x 5.25 space.
With the 2 separate docks, I would get a total of 4 x 3.5 + 1 x 2.5 drives. Vs just 4 x 3.5 with the single 4 x 3.5 dock.
Downside is the fan size is going to be smaller and thus louder on the 2 spaces dock. And it seems hard to decide on a quality one.
Looks like the Icy Dock MB153SP-B . But it's selling for a really high price for a 3 drive model.