Best way to add more drives when case is full?

[YamiFrankc]

Hello, I am looking to add more drives to my nas, but all of my drive spaces in my case are in use, im wondering what is the best way to add more?
I have a Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode with one of its ports already in use.
Im guessing that there is some external disk shelf that I can use? However when I look into them i get completely lost trying to guess if they are compatible.
I wont add more than 6 drives at this time.

 

[danb35]

One option is to simply transplant your hardware into a larger chassis, like a 24- or 36-bay 4U Supermicro unit. But failing that, yes, a SAS drive shelf would be what you're looking for. Something like this should do the trick: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Promise-SA...710294?hash=item2f179e4156:g:cHcAAOSwXMZaXmIO

 

[John Doe]

I can recommend throwing HDDs onto your case. If you throw them hard enough they may stuck in your case. Than just connect them to your MoBo.
As a boring and not so idividual alternative you could just buy a larger case or use your 5.25" slots

 

[Chris Moore]

@danb35 , that is a nice looking component. @YamiFrankc , you probably won't beat that price on eBay right now for a SAS enclosure.

I won't add more than 6 drives at this time.

The thing is, you didn't tell us how many drives you have now or even what kind of chassis you are using. If we knew more about your system, it would give us a better idea what to suggest. It might be better, from a cost perspective and from a simplicity perspective, for you to move your existing system into a rack chassis instead of having two separate chassis to deal with.
Something like this for example:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...SAS846TQ-R900B-w-Rackmount-Rails/273230621269
Might give you all the drive bays you would ever need and it isn't much more expensive. The TQ backplane makes for some wiring work, but it is guaranteed to be compatible with your SATA drives and you can always add a SAS expander in the chassis so it wouldn't even require an additional SAS controller or any crazy wiring to make it work.

 

[Chris Moore]

I have a Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode with one of its ports already in use.

This implies that you have four drives, but really doesn't give a level of detail...
Please review the forum rules, especially the part about telling what hardware you already have:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/updated-forum-rules-4-11-17.45124/