Good Nas Case, Battery Backup in case of Power failure

[LeechFilcher]

Hey guys,

I'm currently building a new server witch will be used as a rendering machine aswell as a NAS Server. I'm currently using:

1x ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP

1x Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.4 GGHZ

1x ATI 5870 (not Overclocked and I think it was from evga? don't count me on it tho, gunna look if it makes a difference)

2x WD Red 1 TB Drives

1x BeQuiet Pure Power 500 Watt

 

So now I'm having the trouble that a lot of people in my house are complaining that the Server is pretty loud and I should move it into my room instead of it being in the working room (Thats where our Router is located)

I thought that would be the perfect opertunity to upgrade the case to a rackmounted one as well as buying something to put it in.

This would be the first thing I would be in need for a "Server Case" with Hot Swap function. It would need to be need to be compatible with ATX Motherboards and it would need to be a good hight to fit the Graphics card that is needed for the Server to render properly. I'm not planning on using this Server for anything else than the things mentioned above altho it would be good to be able to use it as a Game Server (If me or my friends are in need of one).

 

The Second This I would be in need is a Backup Battery Bank for the Server if the Power fails, because there is some Important Stuff saved on that Server (Like finances and Videos that shouldn't be lost) I hope you can help me on this one aswell. It should atleast last for about 10 Minutes for me (or the battery if that's possible) to be able to shut down the system without any Data Missing.

 

The Network is all solid if you have questions tho how I connected the two you can ask.

 

I'm sorry if what I'm saying sounds a bit "nooby" but this Server stuff differs a LOT from the normal Computer Hardware I'm used to

 

Greetings, Leech

[brwainer]

Just going to skip to the UPS part: the cheapest reliable company, in the opinion of both myself and my employer, is Cyberpower. Try to estimate how many watts your server uses normally and triple that. Or take your PSU wattage and double that. Look for UPSs around that capacity rating. That should give your server enough time to shut down. The UPS needs to be one with USB connectivity. Most operating systems will recognize it as a battery since the major UPS manufacturers make their units compatible with the same standard drivers. If your server is on Windows or another supported OS, there are aditional programs available from each manufacturer to get a lot more info and control over the UPS. Either way, using the OS' builtin attery driver or the manfacturer's software, you will be able to set your server to shut down automatically when there is an outage.

[Sevilla]

Tips:

 

1. Make sure the wattage usage on your UPS will match how much power draw will be from the UPS. Meaning don't lowball it to some 250W rated UPS because it just doesn't use up that much power.

 

2. Note what kind of PSU you have and if it's an Active PFC PSU or not (though most modern PSUs are, it's still worth double checking). Specially important when picking a UPS as there are Active PFC power supplies and Active PFC compatible UPS battery backups.

 

I personally use this one, though it cost me like 200 dollars, but it's backing up my server and my gaming rig:

 

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups/pfc-sinewave/cp1500pfclcd

 

[LeechFilcher]

First of all thanks for the answers, wasn't on for a while thats why I responded a bit late. Anyone of you got a tip for a good Server Case or are there some brands I should/shouldn't use?

 

[brwainer]

15 hours ago, LeechFilcher said:

First of all thanks for the answers, wasn't on for a while thats why I responded a bit late. Anyone of you got a tip for a good Server Case or are there some brands I should/shouldn't use?

 

On the cheap side you have Rosewill cases. Above that there are Norco cases (I think their website is Norco Tek or something like that, but you can buy them on Newegg and Amazon.) Somewhere around this price point is Chenbro cases, I see people buying them mostly on ebay, I'm not sure if they're used or not. At the high end of server cases is SuperMicro, but their front panel connectors come as a block not individual pins, so you have to either use a Supermicro motherboard, or compare the pinouts of your desired motherboard to make sure it is the same as one of their boards.

 

Rosewill cases get decent reciews. Norco cases are typically good, I've used one and if you look around this forum you'll see they are popular. I've never used a Chenbro case, but I see them get mentioned at places like the ServeTheHome forums. Supermicro cases are very popular in the enterprise world for companies that don't want to use name brands like HP and whatnot (at this point Supermicro is a name brand for servers anyway). The company I work for has about 150-200 Supermicro servers, some of which are prebuilt systems bought directly from Supermicro are some are custom ordered combinations of a particular supermicro case and motherboard.

[LeechFilcher]

1 minute ago, brwainer said:

On the cheap side you have Rosewill cases. Above that there are Norco cases (I think their website is Norco Tek or something like that, but you can buy them on Newegg and Amazon.) Somewhere around this price point is Chenbro cases, I see people buying them mostly on ebay, I'm not sure if they're used or not. At the high end of server cases is SuperMicro, but their front panel connectors come as a block not individual pins, so you have to either use a Supermicro motherboard, or compare the pinouts of your desired motherboard to make sure it is the same as one of their boards.

 

Rosewill cases get decent reciews. Norco cases are typically good, I've used one and if you look around this forum you'll see their popular. I've never used a Chenbro case, but I see them get mentioned at places like the ServeTheHome forums. Supermicro cases are very popular in the enterprise world for companies that don't want to use name brands like HP and whatnot (at this point Supermicro is a name brand for servers anyway). The company I work for has about 150-200 Supermicro servers, some of which are prebuilt systems bought directly from Supermicro are some are custom ordered combinations of a particular supermicro case and motherboard.

I would prob. go for a supermicro or a Norco, does super mirco offer some more on the cheaper side (under 200€ at ATX) or is Norco the better way to go then?

Also you got an Idea for a reck to put that thing into? would be nice it it had a glass panel in the front, because I'm planning on getting a fan controller and want to get a fast look at the temps of the machine

[brwainer]

5 minutes ago, LeechFilcher said:

I would prob. go for a supermicro or a Norco, does super mirco offer some more on the cheaper side (under 200€ at ATX) or is Norco the better way to go then?

Also you got an Idea for a reck to put that thing into? would be nice it it had a glass panel in the front, because I'm planning on getting a fan controller and want to get a fast look at the temps of the machine

I have no idea about prices but generally Norco is cheaper than Supermicro, however Supermicro has way more case variaties so you're more likly to find one that works perfectly for you. But generally Norco has something close enough and the price premium may not be worth it.

 

For racks I recommend looking at Navepoint, they make good no frills racks including glass front doors and side panels. Cheapest manufacturer of decent racks I've found in the US. I have no idea if they would be the cheapest in other countries as well, but I think you should look them up. After that I don't have any particular recommendations for brands. What you can do is look at Amazon to see what brands there are and what racks would suit your need, and then take that information and look form local manufacturers and distributors.

[LeechFilcher]

Just now, brwainer said:

I have no idea about prices but generally Norco is cheaper than Supermicro, however Supermicro has way more case variaties so you're more likly to find one that works perfectly for you. But generally Norco has something close enough and the price premium may not be worth it.

 

For racks I recommend looking at Navepoint, they make good no frills racks including glass front doors and side panels. Cheapest manufacturer of decent racks I've found in the US. I have no idea if they would be the cheapest in other countries as well, but I think you should look them up. After that I don't have any particular recommendations for brands. What you can do is look at Amazon to see what brands there are and what racks would suit your need, and then take that information and look form local manufacturers and distributors.

are norco Canadian Products looking on their web page right now and it looks a bit like it :P? My problem is with the rack I always ted to find a rack with 19" but that isn't deep enouth besicly a rack with a hight of 6u would be enouth for the server and the switch (currently using a rack mounted switch to fit inside)

[brwainer]

1 minute ago, LeechFilcher said:

are norco Canadian Products looking on their web page right now and it looks a bit like it :P? My problem is with the rack I always ted to find a rack with 19" but that isn't deep enouth besicly a rack with a hight of 6u would be enouth for the server and the switch (currently using a rack mounted switch to fit inside)

I have no idea where Norco products are made. Navepoint racks are made in the US.

 

You'll want to search by rack depth. Navepoint makes 450mm and 600mm deep racks. A full depth server rack is going to be 800-900mm deep. You should pick your rack and server case and other components with this in mind. I ended up with a Norco RPC2304 with a Navepoint 600mm deep rack (the RPC2304 is a short depth server)

[LeechFilcher]

1 minute ago, brwainer said:

I have no idea where Norco products are made. Navepoint racks are made in the US.

 

You'll want to search by rack depth. Navepoint makes 450mm and 600mm deep racks. A full depth server rack is going to be 800-900mm deep. You should pick your rack and server case and other components with this in mind. I ended up with a Norco RPC2304 with a Navepoint 600mm deep rack (the RPC2304 is a short depth server)

Nice thanks very much gunna save up some money (or wait till next paycheck) and but that stuff, got a bit more expensive that I would've liked it but I think it at least lasts a few server upgrades

[LeechFilcher]

ok this is what I'm going to get: Server Case: http://www.ipcdirect.net/rpc-450-black-4u-rackmount-chassis/

                                                 Server Rack: http://www.navepoint.com/navepoint-9u-wallmount-networking-cabinet-600mm-depth-with-fans-and-shelves.html

                                                  UPS(wasn't able to find an englisch link ):  Cyberpower CP900EPFCLCD

Anything else I should get with the case / rack are the included fans OK or should I get some noctua/Be Quiet ones?

Thanks to all of you guys I hopefully can build the server next month gunna put a picture of the finished piece in here if you like

 

[Scheer]

I have the RPC-450, the included fans are loud, you will want to replace them. Also my case was not a standard width for a 19" rack if you want to put the rails that they sell as an accessory for that case... I had already built in the case and been running it for a few months before I racked it so I ended up just cutting notches out of the rack, but if I was going to do it again I would just stay away from Norco. I purchased a Norco RPC-230 at the same time as the rail kit for the 450 and it did fit in the rack with rails, but was a really tight squeeze, apparently they have some major QC issues. As you can see below every other piece of gear fits the rack just fine, so its not like the rack was an abnormal size.

 

I did really like the Norco SS-500 hot swap unit (right side of the case), the included fan is louder than I wanted but it was easy to swap it with a 80mm from Coolink and now its near silent and no issues with hard drive temps. For the center I installed a CoolerMaster 4 in 3 cage mainly because I had it laying around... but it looks nice in there.

 

You can make a Hyper 212 CPU cooler fit in this case with a bit of modification. I used needle nose pliers to tear off some fins and then a .308 casing to bend the heat pipes. I honestly didn't think it was going to work and just quickly bent them over without heating and they didn't split as far as I can tell, did it over a year ago and CPU temps are still fine so its working.

 

 

 

 

As for a UPS, check out used APC SC1500 units from eBay. I picked up one for $90 with the wiring harness and without batteries so I just bought 4 generic 12v8a UPS batteries for it.

[brwainer]

The RPC-450 is rated at 550mm deep, and the rack is "600mm" - but I canmt remember if Navpoint measures from the fron tof the rails to the back, or from the front door to the back. You might get really close to not fitting depending on how that actually works. I recommend emailing NavePoint about it, there responded quickly when I had a pre-purchase question.

[LeechFilcher]

ok guys thanks 

5 hours ago, brwainer said:

The RPC-450 is rated at 550mm deep, and the rack is "600mm" - but I canmt remember if Navpoint measures from the fron tof the rails to the back, or from the front door to the back. You might get really close to not fitting depending on how that actually works. I recommend emailing NavePoint about it, there responded quickly when I had a pre-purchase question.

gunna ask them if it will fit in there  thanks for the answer, its funny how you have to look out for that stuff I always thought server cases were like 2 brands and thats it all rest is shit, but apparently the brands are called different EVERYWHERE