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Time for new formats for holding SSD solutions for use and deployement

Leadius
By Leadius
in Storage Devices
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So hey all.  This topic talks to an issue I am seeing out there all over the place and that is how to do you handle more SSD then a case will allow or a true SSD housing that can do let say 18 24 and more SSD devices.  I say devices becuase there are four format currently: PCI-e card format, 2.5 inch SSD drive format for laptop design, Thick 2.5 inch enterprise disk format and the newer standards M.2 and mSATA.   I was so bothered by this I design a 11 bay design using Plexiglass and it works really well.  Here is the design link: 

Step of three video of how it is made if you want to make it at home.

image.png.408b92fc9e279aaa30a53711a7007162.png  .

 

Here is the base unit for case mounting.

 

     This is Part one of three parts to finishing the stand 11 drive bay format.  Great for test all 2.5 formats or it can mount easy in a case with some add parts.  As for M.2 sata and PCIe formats that is a little harder. The best version is a 12 M.2 slot card on PCIe x4.  That is the best number of M.2 for the i/O wait state limits.  But that would be nice right?  Or a bus controller that can go to a self standing 12 M.2 standard case that could mount outside or inside a case.  The only thing need connector wise would be the M.2 PCIe / M.2 SATA / mSATA edge connectors and cable sets.  Iam working on that.  Once case that cna swap out edge connectors.  And yes I did this without a CNC system. lolol  I know, I am old school 

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Just glue em to the inside of the case

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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That works, till it has to come out.  Good idea for one or two 2.5 drives, but I have 50 of them...  Lol.....I am was swapping out liek crazy. This design fixed that and it costs me 6 hours and $5 of plexiglass.  

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38 minutes ago, Leadius said:

That works, till it has to come out.  Good idea for one or two 2.5 drives, but I have 50 of them...  Lol.....I am was swapping out liek crazy. This design fixed that and it costs me 6 hours and $5 of plexiglass.  

If you have a case with a couple 5.25" bay then you could put in a 8x 2.5" hot-swap drive kit. It won't be $5 mind you. At least it would have drive monitoring though. Heck if you even had only one 5.25" bay you could put in a 4x 2.5". Just food for thought though!

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good idea...  That is the kind of stuff that I wouldn't mind buying if it was buyable.  But for now building it till some company starts making them...

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Icy Dock has been building them for a while. This one has 8 bays, cooling fans (if cooling is necessary), and will hold up to eight 7mm 2.5" drives. What's really sweet is it is far easier to R&R drives than when the drives are mounted internally.

 

Icy Dock has a large variety of backplanes in this line. I'm using two of the four drive version in the case I'm building. Each one can hold four 2.5" SATA drives up 15mm thick. Since the 7mm drives I'll be using will have more space between them, there will be more airflow between them. There is also a six drive version that can handle drives up to 9mm thick.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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Total agree, this is the smae vendor (Icy Dock) I am using now. (But I only give them a 2.5 stars out of five.  Their gear breaks to easy.)  Hot swap mode bays are nice and I have most of these already plus there is another vendor out that will do ten.  My goal was to get more vendors out the to build larger drive housings and also self standing versions that can work for us IT people that have work benches so that we can diag , test and so on..  I am making all types now for my needs.  It would be nice if a vendor would do this for 2.5 drives just like for 3.5 and 2.5 external towers... 

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47 minutes ago, Leadius said:

Total agree, this is the smae vendor (Icy Dock) I am using now. (But I only give them a 2.5 stars out of five.  Their gear breaks to easy.)  Hot swap mode bays are nice and I have most of these already plus there is another vendor out that will do ten.  My goal was to get more vendors out the to build larger drive housings and also self standing versions that can work for us IT people that have work benches so that we can diag , test and so on..  I am making all types now for my needs.  It would be nice if a vendor would do this for 2.5 drives just like for 3.5 and 2.5 external towers... 

Som of Icy Dock's gear is garbage but their ToughArmor line is built like brick outhouses. Also, most people using these won't be R&Ring drives very often so wear and tear will be minimal. The only weak part are the fans Icy Dock uses; I've seen complaints that they can become noisy. If it does happen, it is fairly easy to swap them out for better, quieter fans. The fans probably won't even be needed when using SSDs in the backplanes (they can be switched on and off).

 

The first thing I noticed when I received mine was how heavy they were. The main housing is a beefy aluminum extrusion. The trays are all sturdy steel except for the plastic light pipes (which serve no structural function). These aren't breaking anytime soon.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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It the circuits and wiring that fails on me.  It easy to fix the housing but not so much the wiring.

 

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34 minutes ago, Leadius said:

It the circuits and wiring that fails on me.  It easy to fix the housing but not so much the wiring.

 

Was it the Tough Armor line that gave you those problems?

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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It was one flexiDOCK dual drive with a SLIM DVD drive setup and two out of my four Black Vortex Series failed as well.  Now I say the 3.5 drive 4 bay internal EZ-Trays work well.   I would love it if they can out with 12 bay 2.5 drive housing that interconnect together to form 24 or 48 bay solutions.  But... Sniff sniff...  /:< 

 

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I have learn just not to move or handle Icy Docks much and it works...  Not good for my lab work...

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 I do like the housing of the Black Vortex series...  They do look good...  If the LEDs will stay working...    

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4 hours ago, Leadius said:

It was one flexiDOCK dual drive with a SLIM DVD drive setup and two out of my four Black Vortex Series failed as well.  Now I say the 3.5 drive 4 bay internal EZ-Trays work well.   I would love it if they can out with 12 bay 2.5 drive housing that interconnect together to form 24 or 48 bay solutions.  But... Sniff sniff...  /:< 

 

The flexiDOCK and Black Vortex are not in the same league as the ToughArmors. The ToughArmors get pretty good reviews.

 

Also, backplanes like these of any kind are not intended for frequent swapping, especially because they aren't trayless. There are trayless bays, such as this one from Startech, that are much better suited for frequent use.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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agreed and good point.  I use mine crazy and need a larger format to work with.  Nice talking to you on this topic...  More to come...

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