4 to 6 Bay ITX Nas cases

Nutty_Death · 17 Jul 2010 at 14:21

Hi,
You might have seen my post from a few weeks back saying that I was going to build a nas box with a Array R2 ITX case.

After reading some reviews of it, I have started to go more and more off the case.
- bad layout inside
- bad airflow
- price
- all aluminium case

So I was wondering what other cases are there?

I have googled a fair amount and i'm started to think a hot swop drive bay case would be handy but not essential.
A example of this would be CFI A7879 Mini-ITX but it looks a bit plasticy.

5.25" bays aren't necessary as I will probably use a flash type drive for the OS.

So what cases have people seen?

Destination · 17 Jul 2010 at 14:34

The Lian-li Q008 will accept 6HDDs plus either an SSD or a DVD in addition.
Good airlow, big front fan, quiet, top fan and PSU fan also.
Have a look at my buildthread for pictures. (next thread down)

Nutty_Death · 17 Jul 2010 at 16:30

Yeah I have looked at that case. It's nice. I was a bit put off by the 5.25 bay and the led ran on the front. Things that aren't big issues really. I would also want a low powered silent psu, as I will iust he running a atom mobo and then the hdds.

The thing is I am looking for a nice nas case more than a pc one.

nuthead53 said:
Hi,
You might have seen my post from a few weeks back saying that I was going to build a nas box with a Array R2 ITX case.

After reading some reviews of it, I have started to go more and more off the case.
- bad layout inside
- bad airflow
- price
- all aluminium case

So I was wondering what other cases are there?

I have googled a fair amount and i'm started to think a hot swop drive bay case would be handy but not essential.
A example of this would be CFI A7879 Mini-ITX but it looks a bit plasticy.

5.25" bays aren't necessary as I will probably use a flash type drive for the OS.

So what cases have people seen?

Nutty_Death · 17 Jul 2010 at 22:52

Like the look of the Chenbro ES34069

Brian8bit · 19 Jul 2010 at 16:21

The Chenbro gets my vote as well. Also, if you've been looking at mini itx stuff on that mini itx site and seen the CFI, you might be interested in CFIs storage options.

http://www.chyangfun.com/pro01.asp

Specifically their 5 and 8 bay DAS enclosures, CFI-B8253ER and CFI-B8283ER

Nutty_Death · 19 Jul 2010 at 22:51

I don't think they have motherboard space in those cases?

Brian8bit · 20 Jul 2010 at 00:05

They don't. But they're not supposed to. All that's in them is a PSU and back plate to connect the drives to. You then connect it to your machine via eSATA.

HighlandeR · 23 Jul 2010 at 23:08

Would have been pure awesomeness if they made a simple 6-8bay mini case for an itx mobo/ would make the perfect nas/storage/backup/htpc/xbmc box.

I starting too think since I may end up with so much storage like 4x2tbs that a CFI-B8283ER maybe the best bet and just run a long esata lead to it, why didnt they just make it an ethernet lead instead?

that way one could use ethernet electricity plugs or long cat cable around the house... would have made it 10x better ?

Brian8bit · 24 Jul 2010 at 00:02

Problem is not many boards have that many sata ports on them. So you need to use an expansion card and then the cases suck too. Even the Fractal, that supports 6 bays gets bad reviews due to layout and poor cooling. So you'd need something like the Japanese Abee mini itx cases. Only board I've seen with 6 SATA is the Zotac H55 mini itx.

HighlandeR · 25 Jul 2010 at 14:17

Yeah im starting to think for future proof and ease an Fractual midi tower that one with like 8 bays is just gonna be easier/ rather put a mini itx or mobo with 8 satas+ and decent cpu, have it act as a hub.

Methanoid · 27 Jul 2010 at 16:47

I've got the Chyang-Fun CFI case you refer to as plasticky!! Feel free to ask any questions. The metal is good and solid, looks to have good airflow and only the front is plastic. I think it looks tidy and understated. Ideal for a NAS/server box.

Mine has 2x2Tb with 2 more coming plus a 500gb 2.5" boot drive always on (so the data drives can spin down but the machine can still download or serve non-video files). All with an Atom D510UD mobo (4 SATA plus IDE onboard). TV card in PCI slot

tutu · 1 Aug 2010 at 18:11

Brian8bit said:
They don't. But they're not supposed to. All that's in them is a PSU and back plate to connect the drives to. You then connect it to your machine via eSATA.

Could you connect this one SATA to an intel atom esata port? Not sure if the chipset supports port multiplication.

Methanoid · 1 Aug 2010 at 18:47

No port multiplier support. Btw I may be selling my setup soon

tutu · 2 Aug 2010 at 16:12

Methanoid said:
I've got the Chyang-Fun CFI case you refer to as plasticky!! Feel free to ask any questions.

It looks nice - but i've noticed on the back a really really small fan - presumably to cool the PSU? Why put that there when their is a huge fan next to it.

Looking to build a quiet 4 bay NAS (ITX Atom)

Right now I am considering:

CFI A7879
Fractal Design Array Mini-ITX NAS Case, Black, with 300W SFX PSU
Lian Li PC-Q08B Black Mini ITX Case
Chenbro ES34069 (ruled out because of 2 x 80mm fans)

Anything else worth considering?

Methanoid · 3 Aug 2010 at 14:24

tutu said:
It looks nice - but i've noticed on the back a really really small fan - presumably to cool the PSU? Why put that there when their is a huge fan next to it.

Looking to build a quiet 4 bay NAS (ITX Atom)

Right now I am considering:

CFI A7879
Fractal Design Array Mini-ITX NAS Case, Black, with 300W SFX PSU
Lian Li PC-Q08B Black Mini ITX Case
Chenbro ES34069 (ruled out because of 2 x 80mm fans)

Anything else worth considering?

The PSU on the CFI isnt noisy (IMHO) but if you want total silence replace it with another. As well as external DC ones there is an equivalent one size wise which should slot in and is fanless.

Brian8bit · 3 Aug 2010 at 14:26

Or just remove it. It's not like you're going to be generating 90nm generation heat in there with an atom board.

Methanoid · 3 Aug 2010 at 14:28

PSU fan removal isnt clever. By all means remove the 120mm fan if you like to see HDDs overheat. The case can fit 4 HDDs plus a 2.5" boot HDD (or two?). Even if its an Atom you do need airflow

tutu · 3 Aug 2010 at 14:29

Methanoid said:
The PSU on the CFI isnt noisy (IMHO) but if you want total silence replace it with another. As well as external DC ones there is an equivalent one size wise which should slot in and is fanless.

Would a pico 150w be sufficient? Which one are you referring to? The product isn't listed on CFI's website so it's difficult to get specs (e.g. wattage, fan rating, noise db, efficiency).

Also the racks - is there any kind of dampening (e.g. rubber grommets) or it just attach/screw in?

tutu · 3 Aug 2010 at 18:29

Methanoid said:
All with an Atom D510UD mobo (4 SATA plus IDE onboard).

I've just seen your blog and finally found a D510 mobo that doesn't cost a fortune that has 4x SATA ports..

According to the specs of the PSU on the CFI it's 200W (75W DC output) but <45 db.

Any chance you post pictures of your build? Have you replaced the CPU fan? Does it have WOL?

Shame it's got a PCI slot, would have liked to add a DVB-T2 PCI-E card when it gets invented.

Methanoid · 4 Aug 2010 at 19:22

I have some pics already.. as you've read my blog you'll see I am a Linkstation nut. Well I've found a new way to get the Linkstation to do all that this planned server would so I may just cancel the full build and sell it all. I'll try to dig out pics shortly tho.. as I thought theyd be helpful