Looking for server case

[Acemavie]

Hello!

 

I'm looking for a server enclosure that is quiet and has at least 10-24 disks.

[Windows7ge]

Prepare to spend a lot unless you want to buy something used off eBay but I've been using the NORCO RPC-4224. You can still find it today but the price has gone up. I imagine they have a 2U variant that holds 12 disks and I want to say I think they have a 4U variant that holds 16.

 

Good heavy steel construction though. Heavy duty rails sold separately but you don't have to worry about it falling apart.

[Acemavie]

21 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Prepare to spend a lot unless you want to buy something used off eBay but I've been using the NORCO RPC-4224. You can still find it today but the price has gone up. I imagine they have a 2U variant that holds 12 disks and I want to say I think they have a 4U variant that holds 16.

 

Good heavy steel construction though. Heavy duty rails sold separately but you don't have to worry about it falling apart.

How much is a lot? 

 

In the meantime, I was thinking of using Gigabyte S260, but it's with very loud fans. But is it possible to replace its fans with quieter ones?

[Windows7ge]

5 minutes ago, Acemavie said:

How much is a lot? 

 

In the meantime, I was thinking of using Gigabyte S260, but it's with very loud fans. But is it possible to replace its fans with quieter ones?

The S260? Are you looking for 2.5" storage or 3.5"? Do you need NVMe in 2.5" form factor?

 

I'd have to see the actual server but a for a lot of servers the fans can either be rampped down via IPMI or modded with a resistor.

[Acemavie]

4 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

The S260? Are you looking for 2.5" storage or 3.5"? Do you need NVMe in 2.5" form factor?

 

I'd have to see the actual server but a for a lot of servers the fans can either be rampped down via IPMI or modded with a resistor.

I'm not sure what type drives i'm going to use yet.

[Windows7ge]

51 minutes ago, Acemavie said:

I'm not sure what type drives i'm going to use yet.

Well you're going to want to figure that out first because not everything is inter-compatible. Drive bays like what I'm seeing on the Gigabyte S260 are only going to do 2.5" drives. If you suddenly need 3.5" storage you're screwed.

 

On the other hand if you go with something like the NORCO RPC-4224 that will give you the option of 2.5" or 3.5" at the same time at the downside that it doesn't support 2.5" NVMe.

 

There are work arounds for both scenarios but then it comes down to how is the server going to be used and how much are you willing to spend.

[Acemavie]

12 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

Well you're going to want to figure that out first because not everything is inter-compatible. Drive bays like what I'm seeing on the Gigabyte S260 are only going to do 2.5" drives. If you suddenly need 3.5" storage you're screwed.

 

On the other hand if you go with something like the NORCO RPC-4224 that will give you the option of 2.5" or 3.5" at the same time at the downside that it doesn't support 2.5" NVMe.

 

There are work arounds for both scenarios but then it comes down to how is the server going to be used and how much are you willing to spend.

I don't want do spend much for server case, NORCO RPC-4224 is a bit big server case, but I want something smaller.

 

Sorry, if my English is little bit bad.

[Acemavie]

5 hours ago, Acemavie said:

I don't want do spend much for server case, NORCO RPC-4224 is a bit big server case, but I want something smaller.

 

Sorry, if my English is little bit bad.

I wound case what I want but, I don't know it's model, I found it on Linus video: 

 

 

[markr54632]

I like my phanteks enthoo pro. Fits a weird chinese eatx dual socket board and 6 3.5 drives. The 3 5.25 can be used for 3.5 as well. Tons of 2.5 drive bays on top of that.

[Jarsky]

Theres a huge difference between a case that can handle 10 drives, and one that can handle 24 drives. 

There are a lot of consumer cases that could work for you at the lower end like the Define 7 XL which can hold  ~16 drives with the optional extra drive sleds. 

 

There are some basic rackmount cases like the Rosewill RSV-L4500U which holds 15 drives internally. 

 

Then you get into hotswap cases like the old Norco RPC-4224 (though not sure if Norco are really in public operation anymore). 

There are more easily available options with newer backplanes such as those by Innovision

 

If youre after something that can handle 24 bays with large hard drives, you arent going to find a "small case"

That Gigabyte S260 is only 2.5" drives, which means unless youre going all flash (high capacity nvme is very expensive) then youre size limited to 4TB hard drives. 

 

On 6/30/2022 at 3:19 AM, Acemavie said:

I wound case what I want but, I don't know it's model, I found it on Linus video: 

That case is only an 8 bay case. Silverstone have a chassis like this, SilverStone RM22-308

Keep in mind with these smaller cases, you have smaller fans (potentially more noise) and youre limited to SFF PCI-E (half height cards) if you need to add extra functionality.