QNap style case

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jcl333

Active Member
May 28, 2011
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Hey all,

Did this all fizzle? I like these cases, and I was thinking I could take a couple of the 8-bay or 12-bay units and turn them into SATA JBOD boxes using port multipliers and external cables. This would get around the issue of fitting everything in that little box, and then I would put my server motherboard into the small microATX Supermicro case or something.

-JCL
 

nitrobass24

Moderator
Dec 26, 2010
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I would love something like that. I might buy the sample. Comparable options like a Synology DS1812+ are about 1k. Figure this cost 300, plus psu/board/cpu/ram...be about the same, but have complete control over final product.
 

jcl333

Active Member
May 28, 2011
253
74
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Yea he always comes up with interesting ideas.

Also when i was looking around I saw this neat little box, holds 10 HDDs, but none are hotswap and its eSATA DAS. http://www.shop.perfecthometheater....SATA-aluminum-Data-Storage-HTPC-eHDD-v2-B.htm
Would be cool if you wanted it in your Home Theater stack. maybe mod for NAS?
That is certainly a sexy case, I wonder how it does on vibration and how good those tiny fans could be since they are spinning slowly to be quiet.

-JCL
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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What the cheapest way to get 10 drives connected to a miniITX board (for a "small as possible" DIY home storage server)?

Or would it just be cheaper to use a microATX board?
You can do it with a few mITX solutions. 6 drives is super easy. Usually 10 drives means using a HBA or RAID controller in a PCIe slot. The only bummer is that it looks like the Supermicro Centerton boards have a PCI slot so they are unlikely to be great 10 drive candidates. With mATX the sky is the limit almost.
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
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Singapore
RB - I would love info on the 4 bay version.

BTW for all feel free to post feedback: Small Business Servers – 10 Features We Need
Sorry Patrick,

Completely missed your reply.

I have some pics so here goes...



Side view (motherboard mounting side).


Other side.


Top.


Rear view.


Brushed aluninium cover (with removable protective plastic film).


The unit takes a flex PSU and there is potential for mounting another 2x 2.5" drives (SSD / OS drives in raid 1 maybe) if someone finds or creates a bracket as there are 4 pegs already in the case that seem to be for this. No bracket is available from the manufacturer though (yes have commented to them on this).

Any questions then just ask.

RB
 
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Nnyan

Active Member
Mar 5, 2012
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I've actually given up on that, I had an opportunity to buy a diskless QNAP TS-EC1679U-RP really cheap and I already had the 16 HDD's (another great deal I took advantage of) so I just bought it. Ground shipping is going to take awhile but I can't wait for it to get here.
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
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Singapore
What can you say regarding the quality of the drive trays?
What about vibration?
The trays are functional but the insertion and removal is not quite as smooth as the big name brands.

I don't have a mITX board with 4 SATA ports around (only have D2500CC Atom boards in stock) so have not been able to try it.

RB
 

nitrobass24

Moderator
Dec 26, 2010
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Yea I was thinking about this case a cool ZFS project.
Problem I am having is an ITX board with 8xSATA - I would want to use the expansion port on the larger model for 10G card, not drive connectivity.
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
837
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Singapore
The lack of the PCI rear slot is a bit of an issue and there is also little room between the cpu and the side of the drive cage with the motherboard mounted meaning you would need a low profile heasink / fan.

The Asus H77 mITX board is good with 6 SATA and a little dremel modification may allow a PCI card but these cases were designed for Atom based NAS boxes really.

RB
 

bradleygibson

New Member
Feb 20, 2013
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Yea I was thinking about this case a cool ZFS project.
Problem I am having is an ITX board with 8xSATA - I would want to use the expansion port on the larger model for 10G card, not drive connectivity.
I'm doing exactly the same thing as we speak.

Best I've found board-wise is 7xSATA-III ports on a Mini-ITX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157357).

Just need the damned 8-bay hot-swappable box! I'd have no problem paying $200 for the NSC-800--it's just what I need. It's just not available. :(

Anyone seen any other Mini-ITX 8-bay 3.5" hot-swappable cases?
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
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1st post by a new user linking a product is usually spam. But spam or not, this box is on topic, looks pretty cool and well priced. This backup moderator is pretty sure Patrick would approve.

Welcome mjyu51...
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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1st post by a new user linking a product is usually spam. But spam or not, this box is on topic, looks pretty cool and well priced. This backup moderator is pretty sure Patrick would approve.

Welcome mjyu51...
:) I saw. Letting this one slide. I do need to get one for a main site review.
 

mjyu51

New Member
May 7, 2013
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0
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Thanks for keeping me alive:eek: I used to be just watching. But found this could be of some one's interest. I got mine but the power supply I bought is seasonic ss-400L1U which is a little bit long to fit in the case. my bad.:mad: