Looking for a rackmount case

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atrueresistance

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Jan 27, 2014
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So I'm looking to move my freenas box to a rackmount case, but don't know what to get.

Here is a list of what will be moving into the rackmount case:
  • ASUS E35M1-I Fusion AMD E-350 APU (1.6GHz, Dual-Core) AMD Hudson M1 Mini ITX Motherboard
  • RAIDMAX RX-600AF 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
  • 6 x 3.5" SATA 6.0GB/s Hard Drives

I'd like to be able to use the existing hardware I currently have with the case. Hotswap bays, while nice are a little too expensive for me. Trying to keep the price below $100 if possible.
 

MiniKnight

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Mar 30, 2012
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What size rackmount case do you want? I think you need a 3U or 4U to fit a full size ATX power supply like that.

Is size/ noise a concern? There are many options out there.
 

33_viper_33

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Aug 3, 2013
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Agreed, but I find 2u cases to generally be obnoxious in terms of noise. I've had to play games in the past to be able to live with them in the house. I ended up selling them off and picking up a 3u norco which i again had to replace fans and slow them down. The case I love is my norco 4224. I have the 120mm backplane with nice quiet fans. Temps of the drives are a bit high when moving lots of data due to less airflow since the fans aren't spun up very often, but still within reason.
 

herby

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Aug 18, 2013
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There are a number of 2U cases that take ATX power supplies; but ventilation for the PSU becomes a problem if it has a 120mm fan.
2U cases with an ATX PSU can only fit m-ATX or smaller motherboards.

3U chassis can use 120mm case fans and full sized motherboards but tend to be less common/more expensive then 4U.

How much room for expansion do you need? Is there a restriction on case depth?
 

MiniKnight

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Mar 30, 2012
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There are a number of 2U cases that take ATX power supplies; but ventilation for the PSU becomes a problem if it has a 120mm fan.
Good clarification. If you look at the OP's RAIDMAX power supply it is setup for a desktop airflow design not server. That is what I was responding to. That big fan needs room to be able to draw air through.
 

MiniKnight

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Mar 30, 2012
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Great advice. I thought I would be fine with a 4 drive NAS when I first setup a lab. Took 5 months to move to a 20-bay Norco. Would have saved much if I got a Norco first.
 

atrueresistance

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Jan 27, 2014
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wow, that norco looks amazing! Too bad I couldn't afford it. The nas system I have uses all 6 SATA 6gb/s slots on the motherboard so there isn't too much room for expansion. If I were to expand I'd replace the 3 year old drives in the array. Currently I have around 7tb or so. 5 Drives in Raid5z, 1-1tb standalone. 2.2tb is free on the Raid5z. I use the standalone drive to record gaming screencasts before editing.

Noise isn't an issue as this thing makes plenty.

U size isn't a big deal as I ordered rails from ebay to construct a 15u rack. My firewall is 1U and so is the 16 port switch. I was looking for a 3 or 4 case. I'd like to move the thing to the rack eventually (guessing welding one would end up somewhere around 8u).
 

atrueresistance

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Jan 27, 2014
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I ended up purchasing a 3U from plink. It fit everything fairly nice with room for 2 more hard drives. The only downside to this case is the placement of hard drive cages. They are a ***** to get out unless you have a very long thing screwdriver handy.

Here is a photo of it in the rack
 
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