Case Advice for 5 in 3 Backplanes.

[splbound]

I am looking for a case with 11-12 5 1/4in bays. Primarily so I can shoehorn some Icy Dock 5 in 3 drive backplanes. The problem is most of the cases have them tabs that divide each bay in which the modules are not compatible with.

I am not after something terribly expensive as it will just be used as my server.

I have come across the sharkoon rebel 12 which fits the purpose but has the tabs which I am thinking of just bending out of the way. A pain in the ass job which I had to endure with my current case.

I also saw the Asaka Infinty case which seems to not have the tabs but I lose a drive bay for the case switches and ports. I would prefer to have as much free usable 5 1/4" drive bays on hand.

Can anybody recommend me a case that may fit the purpose without too much modification?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[asposium]

Lian LiLian Li PC-A77B

OR

Norco RPC-4220

The Norco is very popular with people building servers with lots of hdds. Saves on the cost of the 5 into 3.

No internal tabs on the Lian Li, and dual PSU compatable for all those HDDs you're wanting.

((()))

My WHS uses the coolermaster RC-590. Doesn't have the 5.25 bays you desire, but alot cheaper than the Lian Li. I have 4 into 3 bay adapters. Somewhat cheaper than the 5 into 3 bay adapters.

[splbound]

Lian LiLian Li PC-A77B

OR

Norco RPC-4220

The Norco is very popular with people building servers with lots of hdds. Saves on the cost of the 5 into 3.

No internal tabs on the Lian Li, and dual PSU compatable for all those HDDs you're wanting.

((()))

My WHS uses the coolermaster RC-590. Doesn't have the 5.25 bays you desire, but alot cheaper than the Lian Li. I have 4 into 3 bay adapters. Somewhat cheaper than the 5 into 3 bay adapters.

Thanks for the recommendations. I had a look at the specs for the Lian Li and it sure does look tasty but is out of stock @ scan and 3 x the price of the sharkoon. Not really looking to spend that much but I'm sure its an investment. I will put it on the shortlist.

I actually had a look at the norco before I went and bought the 5 in 3 modules. I didn't want to go that route, it looks like a proper server rack case and hence would be crazy loud. I have an old 1U xserve g5 and an xserve raid which I had to stop using as its fans drove me crazy. The fans in the norco look loud and don't want anything near as noisy as that xserve.

I have a Coolermaster centurion for my gaming rig which looks similar to the RC-590 you have. Much much too small.. haha.

I remember reading about coolermaster stacker 101, in hindsight this would have been good to use too. I should have got one when they were around. I will have a look for a second hand one.

Otherwise my areca is coming soon and need an enclosure. If it arrives then I may have to get the sharkoon, cheap, and looks to do the job. I'd rather put the finds towards a new case for my gaming rig.

[asposium]

I have a Coolermaster centurion for my gaming rig which looks similar to the RC-590 you have. Much much too small.. haha.

bigger hard drives?
2TB hard drives are coming down in price

[splbound]

bigger hard drives?
2TB hard drives are coming down in price

The prices for 2TB drives are still too much for me to stomach.

I limited myself to 2 RAID 6 arrays using 4-5 1TB and 1.5TB drives max. I don't want to go any bigger due to the risk of more drives failing during a rebuild. Don't want to overkill on total storage space as backing the stuff up would be a pain. This way its still manageable with an effective 7.5TB amount of data have to potentially manage, only half of which I will probably classify as must not lose data.