~~kinda a build

[Cramig88]

Budget (including currency):  irrelevant

Country: US/A

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: general file server, cloud backup, whatever

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

Basically I have a graveyard of old pc stuff. Just finished 2 builds (new) and I bought a pcie 1x to 16x sata3 raid card. With no room to put the card in (without a riser/extension), I think I’ll “revive” an old pc and use it as a server. Esp since these old guys aren’t watercooled. Just PCs I found and scavenged for parts, name a manufacturer I prob have 2 of them lol

 

anyway so, yes the raid card with 16 sata3 ports. Storage server right?

yes yes I do have ms admin experience, AD DS, hyper-v, all of that good stuff. Hence the implementation/purpose

basically, where the bleep am I gonna put 16 drives lol???  What’s the most efficient way of doing so?  Sure I could take

a Dremel (name a tool) to the front of whatever case I choose…. But is there such thing as a “hot spare” bracket kit I can purchase and use?

currently in my build I got 8 drives mounted in my lian li O11. Basically 2 2.5” drives are electrical taped together and screwed into the spot. Then I found another (prob not for drives though lol) And taped 3 drives and mounted the bottom to it.

I just figure, man, where/how am I gonna put 16 drives? I would “prefer” a uh, mount? That supports 8 3.5” as 3.5 HDDs are super high capacity plus CHEAP.  Or, I could put 2x 2.5’s in one bay. It’s flexible!

 

TLDR;

I own a pci 1x to 16x sata3 raid card. Where/how am I gonna put them?  Is there anything online bc I have zero idea where to start!  Also whatever rig I put these in, everything will be torn out anyways. Old CD drives, name it

thanks peoples!

[Fasauceome]

6 hours ago, Cramig88 said:

I own a pci 1x to 16x sata3 raid card. Where/how am I gonna put them?

if you're gutting an old case to make as much room as possible, I can only really imagine something custom. 3D printed would be cool but barring that, a handmade bracket to hold the drives wouldn't be too hard to make

[Cramig88]

3 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

if you're gutting an old case to make as much room as possible, I can only really imagine something custom. 3D printed would be cool but barring that, a handmade bracket to hold the drives wouldn't be too hard to make

Isnt a bad idea…. Home Depot (whatever hardware store), few measurements n a drill/saw done deal

and here I was contemplating going to a CNC shop w blueprints lol

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Specs of the rigs? Youll want something newer so its more power efficient

 

6 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

if you're gutting an old case to make as much room as possible, I can only really imagine something custom. 3D printed would be cool but barring that, a handmade bracket to hold the drives wouldn't be too hard to make

Considering in my crappy generic office case the drive bays are literally just metal pillars that have placebo metal "enclosures" or more like covers all you need is just some relatively thicc metal, a drill, and a tap to make it a screw hole, though if you cant use thicc metal you can add supports just so the drive bays dont buckle and collapse