Making Server/NAS physically smaller

[neil_g]

At the moment I have in all honesty a bit of an over-engineered server/storage system. I want to change my desk around and this will mean that I won't really have any space for a cupboard like this:

Which is:

HP N40L - 4x 2TB in Raid0 giving ~7.3TB
Startech DAS eSATA - 4x 2TB in Raid5 giving ~5.5TB
One of 2 Seagate 3TB USB drives

Primary data is stored on the HP which is sync'd nightly to the Startech DAS. Critical data (photos, documents) are periodically backed up to the Seagate and rotated off site.

As much as I'd love to just swap the lot out for a Synology DS1815+ as I had a DS1010+ previously and it was excellent I don't think I'd get one for the price of selling the N40L (plus Quad HP NIC, Startech eSATA card), Startech DAS and TP Link Switch.

Half thinking just get another Startech DAS and hang them off the back of the PC in USB3 mode.

Or are there any 4-8 bay devices out there that won't break the bank?

 

[Rroff]

I've got a similar setup in a 7U 19" rack cabinet but probably not that significantly smaller (only about half the height but has about 75% of the same footprint) though does give a few more options in terms of placement - I moved a few devices to 1-2U rack equipment that meant I could consolidate space.

 

[neil_g]

yeah its that whole cupboard/rack that i want to move away from really. needs some thought on how to achieve it.

 

[Rroff]

Got the space to go vertical with it? looks like it could stack upwards with a small footprint and mount the switch and extensions/pdu on its side.