What the heck did I just build for under $150 on Amazon?. A Silent, Cool, 28 Bay Chassis?

[RchGrav]

Hey guys! I wanted to share this insane chassis I made.. and let me preface that it has been met with everything from "Ugliest thing I have ever seen" to "most amazing thing I have ever seen" or "I need one now.." or the all to common, "My wife wouldn't let that monstrosity through the front door... Poor guy, I feel for you I, really do, just because its really super super quiet doesn't mean its going in the living room, step up man, have a pair, its clear who's wearing the pants in your world.. (Now not one person is gonna use that one.. they are gonna just say how its ugly and cheap and link me to the 36 bay Supermicro chassis and say I can get that for the same price. or at least someone did when I posted it on social media in a plex group...) ... and there will be those with full 4 pole racks at home in their technical playgrounds.. I'm just saying this is a Love it or hate it creation.. but damn it holds a lot of spinners and even has a place for the SSD's if you can benefit from them.. moving on..

Like many others out there I use FreeNAS for my media.. (And TON's of other things too).. Its like my Universal place I stash my bits, bytes, megs, gigs, teras and maybe even mebis, gibis and tebis.. (which ultimately depends on who's keeping the count) Anyway.. I have this upgrade cycle I use for my PC for years now.. I build a new HEDT computer system and then when the time is right.. I upgrade it.. Xeon Proc.. ECC, when that fateful day comes where you are buying what seems like yesterday cost $1500 but now is only $50.. and ECC is available for a song because at least now.. it isn't as "in demand" as Non-ECC.. and then eventually I start a new build and my old desktop becomes a home server for some purpose.. maybe for virtualization, or possibly a home data storage server for pictures and videos, or a media server for movies, or maybe something dedicated to running network apps and services for all kinds of things.. and in the case of FreeNAS.. ALL OF THE ABOVE..

There comes a time that you just cant fit more into the old re purposed tower, and the most difficult thing is the CHASSIS.. you know the hardware specs.,.. you can validate your FreeNAS components with the best of them you just cant break past that level of how many 3.5 drives you pack into a tower chassis.. I have 12 in mine.. so you decide to go test your Google-FU to find that ultimate storage chassis, that ticks all of your own personal check boxes.. and it would be nice if you could do it in some affordably fashion.. and you know there is always those Supermicro rack mounts and you know the gear and their backplanes and stuff.. but they are so deep and LOUD and you know what they sound like.. and your real requirements is that it works (Sorta Important) and deals with things like drive harmonics and vibrations that can damage drives when their is as many as you are considering in the same chassis, and it also needs to have a way to mount your mainboard and hold the critical other parts.. oh yeah, and it really really just would be great if you could have it be quiet.. Quiet and Expandable.. doubling that would be a nice next step... or more.. and you know about t-slot aluminum but its kinda pricey.. and sure there is drive cages... you could custom craft something and then you see this... > monstrosity < something that that market is flooded with ..and less expensive than the sum or its whole and you say PERFECT.. this is for you.. the person who sees this and says I know EXACTLY what I can do with that, and they know they are handy enough to make it work.

Love it or hate it.. Ugly or Beautiful.. A Dream or a Nightmare?
You Decide.. Share your build if you are crazy enough to do this.. or just discuss it. I like it.. it's really quiet, and I have 22 more bays to populate.

Show : The Idea

Show : The Build

Show : It's Working Now

Show : Where will you put that thing!?

Show : Hot Sweaty FreeNAS New GUI Porn

So is there any other options? Like a different Frame to use.. DAMMIT YEAH.. I JUST SAW THESE..

Another Frame on Amazon..
So wait that one ^^^ will work too??
How should I know!?!??.. What am I psychic?
Have you ever made or modded anything.. used a dremel?
Do you have any crimpers for molex power..
Have fun and make it work.. be creative.

There is a HUGE assortment of these GPU Mining frames on amazon for less cost than the materials they are made from..

What are those things holding the hard drives?!
It's a "DRIVE CAGE" it holds drives.. These Rosewill RASA-11001 are the cheapest I could find that would meet my needs of holding drives.
They are cheap $15.. and have real cheesy plastic trays that aren't impressive and rubber vibration mounts.

Why didn't you use "HOT SWAP" trays.. I really think hot swap trays are better!
You can buy cages that move the connections into the rear tray... but that isn't "hotswap".. it's where the connections happen..

If you make improvements to this share it with people.. if you make one please post some pics and details.
I'm just sharing an idea that worked out for my scenario. I'm throwing in 10TB Shucked Easystore Drives as I need space..

I've used 6 of 28 bays and i'm in heaven with 28 bays now (+SSD Mounts also it came with) and its cool and quiet.)


*(Some people tell me this is ugly and the 36 bay supermicro can be had cheaper or close to the
$145 this build cost me and other people thinking it was a great idea who totally got it..
I don't mind hearing opinions.. bad or good.. but as this sits its a nice build for me, and has legs to move forward
for I'm hoping will be another 5 years until I need to find a larger solution,.. hard to imagine it not.)​

 

[melloa]

I've done crazy stuff, but after seen yours, I'd say that you are now only allowed as hors concours, in other words, you are so good that can't compete, just participate without been able to get any prize :)

I only would be interested in your drivers temps, on a hot summer day. I hope within specs.

 

[jgreco]

Back in the '80's I had a bunch of CDC/Seagate Wren V (600MB) HDD's. These were 5.25" full height drives and there weren't any practical "enclosures" to deal with a large number of them, at least not at a price I was willing to pay. Similar situation.

Hopefully you won't find any cats or mice or other critters that find it attractively warm.

 

[RchGrav]

I've done crazy stuff, but after seen yours, I'd say that you are now only allowed as hors concours, in other words, you are so good that can't compete, just participate without been able to get any prize :)

I only would be interested in your drivers temps, on a hot summer day. I hope within specs.

The fans on the drive have a very nice high flow of air going over them.. the main difference is the housing.. in a rack chassis they install static pressure fans.. They are meant to forcefully push air though passive heat sinks and backplanes and stuff and if you have ever heard them they sound like a really loud high decible jet engine and settle to sound like a hair dryer. These fans are high flow fans like those in a PC tower that move volumes of air silently but without tons of loud wind tunnel like sound.. they are carrying away hot air as efficiently as those in your PC tower if not a little better. but dang.. they are quiet.. There isnt anything on top of this.. I will put it under my work bench in my outside shop shed thing.. I have Schedule 40 buried taking all my connectivity from shed to house.. shed is temperature controlled anyway with AC and stuff.. but heck this could be inside of an old timey antique wooden stereo and that would be pretty neat.. I see possibilities here.. I don't put much weight to comments in facebook groups.. I mean seriously..

I'm reading what I wrote above and thinking eh.. I kinda sound like a dick. but I figured cover the bases up front.. Just because I'm happy with what it is doesn't mean its for everyone .. if that guy wants to make a NAS of 32 M.2 Devices that's his god given right as an idiot... I just hope he doesnt reproduce.

 

[RchGrav]

Back in the '80's I had a bunch of CDC/Seagate Wren V (600MB) HDD's. These were 5.25" full height drives and there weren't any practical "enclosures" to deal with a large number of them, at least not at a price I was willing to pay. Similar situation.

Hopefully you won't find any cats or mice or other critters that find it attractively warm.

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.. ;-)

Lol.. no.. no mice or critters in here.. its a 12x28 shed from amish country.. I insulated it and wired it and climate controlled it.. I call it my dungeon.. or the dog house.. or the place where I can do whatever I want to do and make whatever mess I want to make.. man land in a shed.. with computers and a couch to crash on when I work late. I can talk as loud as I like.. smoke if I feel like it with a fan in the window.. its like a little heaven with wood floors where no one gets up my posterior.. lol..

Its funny because not only is it as quiet as a tower.. and you'll hear the heads on the drives before hearing fans.. its 2020 tslot aluminum.. used in labs and industrial applications to build shields around hydraulic presses all kinds of things and it isn't a cheap material..

I actually find it amusing, but also quite scary.. the comments in a FB tech group.. they say social media is the future of support and forums are a thing of the past.. yeah.. its a veritable think tank over there in FB land..

Wait should I have blurred names.. eh.. nah good enough to look like an id10t on fb, good enough for anywhere..

 

[RchGrav]

Back in the '80's I had a bunch of CDC/Seagate Wren V (600MB) HDD's.

I know a few guys that had MFM/RLL that were 5MB in the 80's. 600MB is rediculously large.

 

[melloa]

The fans on the drive have a very nice high flow of air going over them..

Yeap, I know, I had two Rosewill 16 bays with four of those HDDs bays with fans each running on the side on my desk, before I got my new servers. They are quite for sure.

shed is temperature controlled anyway with AC and stuff.

That should be helpful ;)

Just because I'm happy with what it is doesn't mean its for everyone

True ... only for the guys like us.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Some people tell me this is ugly and the 36 bay supermicro can be had cheaper or close to the
$145 this build cost me and other people thinking it was a great idea who totally got it

Ha, this is lovely. Whether you should've purchased a 36-bay supermicro or built your own somewhat depends on the joy you get out of building your own chassis, huh? Thanks for sharing!

 

[jgreco]

The fans on the drive have a very nice high flow of air going over them.. the main difference is the housing.. in a rack chassis they install static pressure fans.. They are meant to forcefully push air though passive heat sinks and backplanes and stuff and if you have ever heard them they sound like a really loud high decible jet engine and settle to sound like a hair dryer.
[...]
I'm reading what I wrote above and thinking eh.. I kinda sound like a dick. but I figured cover the bases up front.. Just because I'm happy with what it is doesn't mean its for everyone .. if that guy wants to make a NAS of 32 M.2 Devices that's his god given right as an idiot... I just hope he doesnt reproduce.

Well, anyone who's been around here to read about Supermicro "re-fanning" has probably seen me warn off people, and even though I try hard to explain carefully what I'm talking about, people sometimes still accuse me of being a jerk, because, well, y'know, they've built "PC's" and they know where to source Noctua ("brand that flags you as an amateur/hobbyist") fans, therefore they know better than me, long time professional data center server hacker. We've seen a few of them come back and sheepishly reveal it didn't work so well. The 24-in-4U or 12-in-2U form factors are fine for the data center, but once you replace the fans, the integrity of the design is compromised and you're setting up for a drive bake. You actually don't need much airflow to keep drives cool, but it does need to be there.

Yours may end up being an excessive amount of air. A nice problem to have. Obviously you understand why your solution should work well, and it sure looks like it will.

I know a few guys that had MFM/RLL that were 5MB in the 80's. 600MB is rediculously large.

Well sure. I've still got some of that kicking around here somewhere I bet. Actually in the corner of my office I have a little decoration, "the evolution of hard drives",

https://extranet.www.sol.net/files/misc/evolution-of-hdd.png

Well the idiot forumware won't let me insert the picture for some reason, "something went wrong."

 

[Chris Moore]

most amazing thing I have ever seen

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMicro...s-NR40700-Emac-MTW-5820V-P-S-NEW/163444574100
It costs a bit more, but it is a nicer looking option.

They are meant to forcefully push air though passive heat sinks and backplanes and stuff and if you have ever heard them they sound like a really loud high decible jet engine and settle to sound like a hair dryer

Not in this chassis. I have one in my home office.

 

[RchGrav]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMicro...s-NR40700-Emac-MTW-5820V-P-S-NEW/163444574100
It costs a bit more, but it is a nicer looking option.

Chenbro has a PSU.. and $309 delivered.. lets call them equiv.. assuming this would work with FreeNAS since its suggested (Backplane)

This would have been a consideration, but I would want to know if the fans have any sound.. I will assume to cool these it will be a static pressure forced air unit.. I can imagine this is one of the louder units in terms of any 4u that exists since it is enclosing 48 drives.. is this a fair statement.. Aside from looks could someone co-habitate with this and still be on the phone etc. (Noise was my #1 factor since its in a place where I work and make phone calls) I like this case a lot..

Aside from the $330 dollars to get this.. how much is it for 48 drive trays since you need to buy those separately.. guessing $5 to $10.. benefit of the doubt to $5 cost.. you are at $240.. + $309.. $549.. so its 4x the price.. (Rounding 3.93x the price to 4x) for 48 vs 28 drives.,.

So assuming money is not the factor.. it comes down to DB levels.. mine is operating at about 54db.. while I can't find a direct quote on sound levels I was able to find one person on reddit who comments on its audible fan noise.. and I think its in line with my assumptions..

https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarde...nbro_48_bay_vs_supermicro_sc847cse847_36_bay/

Now I must revisit my previous estimate.. of $5 per tray.. If there is these units available and no trays left being manufactured.. a sad purchaser may discover trays at well above the $10 high range.. possibly double.. We cant know until someone finds trays.. Lets now move the trays to $15 each which adds an additional $720 to the $330 cost.. now the person buying this has spent not just a bit more.. but has made his house inhabitable by anything except this server... Assuming the solution is to stay at a hotel while this is operational you are at a daily cost of $141 per day.. which is a $4320 per month operating expense for this in your home..

https://www.google.com/search?q=Average+US+cost+for+a+hotel+stay

There is some unknowns with the Chenbro which need exploration.. but it is very pretty.. why didnt people buy these.. it just didnt go well.. chenbros are ok .. maybe not quite the quality of supermicro.. is 75% additional drives worth the additional expenses of trays and noise levels for a home environment?

I measured the sound at approximately 54-57dba.. the ambient sound level in my environment is also around that level.. so it is a non impact increase in volume..

Someone had an idea regarding an old non functioning Console Stereo to disguise it as a piece of furniture.. There is an opportunity to use the speaker mesh as a exhaust airflow with a fan providing adequate inflow from the rear or bottom for a positive pressure cooling solution.. or possibly trying to balance it with 50% exhaust flow of the intake, with remainder exiting via mesh and any spaces in the unit to not have dust accumulate... It could be polished and refinished into a retro modern masterpiece of FreeNAS engineering...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/652430855/stereo-console-record-player

 

[RchGrav]

Yours may end up being an excessive amount of air. A nice problem to have. Obviously you understand why your solution should work well, and it sure looks like it will.

LOL
​

 

[RchGrav]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMicro...s-NR40700-Emac-MTW-5820V-P-S-NEW/163444574100
It costs a bit more, but it is a nicer looking option.

Not in this chassis. I have one in my home office.

Chris..

Do you know where to get the trays from? I searched for them and couldn't find a source.. You have this running and you can vouch for the fact that its quiet? Can this be used without the official trays?

Did you make a thread already about yours?

 

[CraigD]

Hopefully you won't find any cats or mice or other critters that find it attractively warm.

My computer stopped working, can you fix it?

Been there...

Believe it or not it I got it working

Have Fun

 

[jgreco]

View attachment 28940

Oh, that's a classic! Thanks for sharing, makes my day.

 

[Chris Moore]

Now I must revisit my previous estimate.. of $5 per tray..

These guys say they have drive trays available for $3 each.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4U-48-Bay-...2x-Xeon-Low-Power-6-Core-2-26Ghz/132799185756
I was lucky enough to get my chassis with trays already included and it works great with FreeNAS. I can even use the locate command to illuminate the error LED on the drive slot. It works in every way I want, but there is a little more sound from it than you are getting from the rig you have. It is less loud than the oscillating fan I have running in my office to circulate air. The only exception to that is the wine from the small fans in the power supplies, but that is highly directional sound and I can only hear it if I am behind the server where the exhaust air comes out. I put a sound absorbing panel back there and it makes the whole rig quiet enough that I am happy working in my office with the server running and it is quiet enough to have a conversation over.
As an example, I made this video in my office with the server running:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb9H236V-l0

 

[Turgin]

Is it ugly? Yes, but if you are happy with it and it works like you want it then who cares what anyone else thinks? For home gamer use I think its very creative.

Kudos to you for coming up with a non-standard, and cost effective, way to solve a problem.

 

[Chris Moore]

I will assume to cool these it will be a static pressure forced air unit.. I can imagine this is one of the louder units in terms of any 4u that exists since it is enclosing 48 drives..

It has six fans in a push / pull configuration and it is not nearly as loud as some other systems I work with, and that is with no modification to the factory configuration.

Did you make a thread already about yours?

https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/my-new-48-bay-build.61223/

 

[Yorick]

That is utterly, gloriously mental! Well done!