Case with loads of hard drive space, cool & quiet

Craig321 · 27 Jun 2010 at 11:30

I have some spare hardware and am wanting to build a new download box/storage box.

Currently I could put 2x 1.5TB and 2x 500GB in this box and will probably purchase a few more 1.5TBs or some 2TB+ when they come down in price. Not really sure what OS to go for, I'm thinking maybe FreeNAS or Openfiler if they support the other applications I'll want to run.

Any recommendations on a decently prices case with A LOT of hard drive slots? I'm thinking maybe a full tower with a single 5.25" bay at the top, and the rest drive slots?

All I've found so far is either too expensive, or has too many 5.25" slots and not enough 3.5".

Max of £100 please.

Thanks

stulid · 27 Jun 2010 at 11:40

a second hand coolermaster stacker?

Orcvader · 27 Jun 2010 at 11:44

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-FD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=
Another alternative is to buy 5.25 to 3.25 adapaters: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-011-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1770

EsaT · 27 Jun 2010 at 12:30

That Fractal Design fits bill quite well with mass damped panels and lot of HDD bays with little 5.25" bays.

stulid said:
a second hand coolermaster stacker?

Stacker is seriously noise leaking.

Craig321 · 27 Jun 2010 at 13:48

The Fractal Design looks pretty good, quite like the fact it's midi tower as well.

I may also get the 5.25 to 3.5 bay linked by Orcvader to get an additional 3 drives in when I need them. The only time it may need a CD drive is when installing the OS, and even that can be done through a pen drive quite easily.

Just need to figure out a decent storage/backup solution now.

It all gets very expensive if I have the same amount of backup space as I have storage, so I might just have to rely on a RAID 5 set up and then make sure system restore is turned on so I can recover files if they're deleted or corrupt.

EsaT · 27 Jun 2010 at 15:32

Craig321 said:
I may also get the 5.25 to 3.5 bay linked by Orcvader to get an additional 3 drives in when I need them.

Fractal Design has only two 5.25" bays so obviously it can't take those cages needing three 5.25" bays.

And RAID isn't backup, one hardware malfunction might corrupt all data or lightning strike fry everything. (or also badly failing PSU)

TheBiznes · 27 Jun 2010 at 15:43

If you could spend more or find second hand a Silverstone Tj09 I have 11 HD's in one.

Orcvader · 27 Jun 2010 at 15:49

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-223-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1770 is a two 5.25 one.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-205-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1770 is another option if you want more HDD space and an optical drive.

Craig321 · 27 Jun 2010 at 16:53

EsaT said:
And RAID isn't backup, one hardware malfunction might corrupt all data or lightning strike fry everything. (or also badly failing PSU)

I'm well aware of what RAID is.

Orcvader said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-223-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1770 is a two 5.25 one.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-205-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1770 is another option if you want more HDD space and an optical drive.

Cool, thank you.

Craig321 · 28 Jun 2010 at 18:36

Ooo, maybe this one: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=16843578