Home NAS Tower Case - advice?

[Jazmodo]

So I'm after some advice in the way of tower cases, for a home NAS set up,

I've pretty much decided on a spec for the underlying system, but cannot make a decision on a case.

 

The plan is to build an unRAID system, starting with the following:

12400,
z690 ATX platform (for the 8x on-board sata, saves on a SAS HBA for a long while)
32gb RAM (minimum)
1TB SSD for cache drive, 
1x 18TB 3.5" drive to begin with,
650W PSU
ATX Tower Case, with space for minimum 8x 3.5" drives, and ideally 1x 5.25 external bay
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Jazmodo/saved/#view=8jFkf7

 

I'd initially planned on using the Antec P101 Case, for it's 8x 3.5" internal HDD bays, but have since found some other options.

 

So the choice so far is between:

 

Antec P101
Mid-tower, 8x internal 3.5" bays
Cheapest option, but seems ok? Cooling seems adequate
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec-p101-silent-black-mid-tower-atx-e-atx-microatx-mini-itx-3x120mm-fans-140mm-fan-2x-usb30-2x-usb

 

Silverstone CS380
Mid-tower, 8x Hot-swap 3.5" bays
Seems cheaply made,
Is hot-swap worth it? I've read this case may have cooling issues?
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/silverstone-cs380-v2-mid-towe-chassis-atx-microatx-mini-itx-8x-25-35-hot-swap-bays-3x120mm-fans-2x-u

 

Fractal Define R6
Mid-tower, 11x internal 3.5" bays
Best quality so far, highest drive capacity, good cooling, But no hot-swap? worth it anyway?
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-r6-black-mid-tower-computer-chassis-e-atx-atx-microatx-mini-itx-3x-140mm-fans

 

Fractal Define 7
Mid-tower, 14x internal 3.5" bays
Very similar to R6 - is it just bigger? Or a newer, better version of the R6?
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-7-black-solid-mid-tower-chassis-3x-140mm-fans-usb-31-type-c

 

Thoughts?

 

Are the Hot-swap bays worth it? 
Going to use Exos X18 drives, so unlikely will need swapping out often, but the backplane is nice...

Is Fractal worth getting for the build-quality and cooling?

If yes to both, which comes first? What would you choose?

 

Something else even?

 

Cheers!

[thrasher_565]

there a few more case if you can find the hdd cadys but they cost a bit. if you can 3d print then you could make your own. but imo hdd size so big unless you need a tone of storage 4x 18tb hdds is nuts... and can get a cheaper case. the Fractal Define is the only case that has the back bone thing but costed alot if you can even still buy it? but from everyone they make good case.

 

you can also diy 3.5 mount for cheaper in a big case. imo this is what i would do. probly case would be Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 and mount like this

 

all depends if you need that hot swap... it cost alot to add but if you need it then i  guess.

 

other case with option hdd cadts is bequiet, Phanteks, antec, thermaltake dose have some case but i cant seerm to find the cadys...

 

Antec Performance Series P120 Crystal

Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2

be quiet! Silent Base 802

Thermaltake Tower 900

https://www.mountainmods.com/  dont no if there still around i cant tell... says copy rights 2022 so...

https://www.mountainmods.com/product_info.php?products_id=415&osCsid=1urmnhsp883f1n4omh49a83780

 

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by thrasher_565

[Blue4130]

7 hours ago, Jazmodo said:

So I'm after some advice in the way of tower cases, for a home NAS set up,

I've pretty much decided on a spec for the underlying system, but cannot make a decision on a case.

 

The plan is to build an unRAID system, starting with the following:

12400,
z690 ATX platform (for the 8x on-board sata, saves on a SAS HBA for a long while)
32gb RAM (minimum)
1TB SSD for cache drive, 
1x 18TB 3.5" drive to begin with,
650W PSU
ATX Tower Case, with space for minimum 8x 3.5" drives, and ideally 1x 5.25 external bay
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Jazmodo/saved/#view=8jFkf7

 

I'd initially planned on using the Antec P101 Case, for it's 8x 3.5" internal HDD bays, but have since found some other options.

 

So the choice so far is between:

 

Antec P101
Mid-tower, 8x internal 3.5" bays
Cheapest option, but seems ok? Cooling seems adequate
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec-p101-silent-black-mid-tower-atx-e-atx-microatx-mini-itx-3x120mm-fans-140mm-fan-2x-usb30-2x-usb

 

Silverstone CS380
Mid-tower, 8x Hot-swap 3.5" bays
Seems cheaply made,
Is hot-swap worth it? I've read this case may have cooling issues?
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/silverstone-cs380-v2-mid-towe-chassis-atx-microatx-mini-itx-8x-25-35-hot-swap-bays-3x120mm-fans-2x-u

 

Fractal Define R6
Mid-tower, 11x internal 3.5" bays
Best quality so far, highest drive capacity, good cooling, But no hot-swap? worth it anyway?
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-r6-black-mid-tower-computer-chassis-e-atx-atx-microatx-mini-itx-3x-140mm-fans

 

Fractal Define 7
Mid-tower, 14x internal 3.5" bays
Very similar to R6 - is it just bigger? Or a newer, better version of the R6?
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-7-black-solid-mid-tower-chassis-3x-140mm-fans-usb-31-type-c

 

Thoughts?

 

Are the Hot-swap bays worth it? 
Going to use Exos X18 drives, so unlikely will need swapping out often, but the backplane is nice...

Is Fractal worth getting for the build-quality and cooling?

If yes to both, which comes first? What would you choose?

 

Something else even?

 

Cheers!

I could be mistaken, but I don't think you can start with a single disk for unraid. You need one parity disk and one data disk.

[Jazmodo]

2 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

I could be mistaken, but I don't think you can start with a single disk for unraid. You need one parity disk and one data disk.

Nope, 1 drive is fine to start an unRAID install. Technically there will be 2 drives anyway, 1 data, 1 cache. 

 

I will add to this within a month or two, I just don't need the additional drive(s) to get the server set-up. It's going to be multi-purpose, thus the slightly increased specs.

If it was just going to be a NAS server, I'd be speccing it with a Celeron/Pentium dual-core,

 

But the aim is to run unRAID with dockers, for Plex (& associated Sonarr, Radarr etc.), IP security camera system, remote device back-up (Google Drive replacement), and a general Linux sandbox to play around with,

9 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

there a few more case if you can find the hdd cadys but they cost a bit. if you can 3d print then you could make your own. but imo hdd size so big unless you need a tone of storage 4x 18tb hdds is nuts... and can get a cheaper case.

I'd like something off-the-shelf, no 3-d printing or 3rd party. This is why the Fractal cases are of interest - they sell additional drive sleds to increase to the max 11-14x 3.5" drives.

4x drives won't be enough long-term, I have 15-20TB of 4K HDR content already, individual movies are 30-50gb,

Cost - not fussed by anything under £250-300,

9 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

Antec Performance Series P120 Crystal

--> I'd prefer the P101 over the P120 - not enough drive capacity in it's design - yes, could modify/customise, but I'd rather not mess around

Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
--> Very nice case, but bit big, and limited 3.5" bays as standard. The Phanteks Enthoo 719 is a better option for me
be quiet! Silent Base 802
--> Not much drive capacity by design

Thermaltake Tower 900
--> Too big, too much glass (I don't need windows at all), only 6 drives

 

I've been advised that the Fractal Meshify 2 is a newer version of the Define 7 - and it does seem to be a better case than the Define R6/7, so the choice is now down to:

 

The main question still is, hot-swap & less drives, or not hot-swap & more drives?

 

I don't think I need hot-swap drives, so I know I've pretty much answered my own question - but some people swear by hot-swap drives,

I'm just trying to understand why?

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, Jazmodo said:

 

The main question still is, hot-swap & less drives, or not hot-swap & more drives?

 

I don't think I need hot-swap drives, so I know I've pretty much answered my own question - but some people swear by hot-swap drives,

I'm just trying to understand why?

Yea, for a home server I really don't see the point in hotswap. You realistically shouldn't need to swap a drive more than once in a blue moon, and home servers tend not to be mission critical and can be taken offline for the time it takes to swap a drive.