Has anyone tried a mobile rack solution that is reasonable quiet? I’m using a server that for functionality needs two swappable drives for backups. The problem is to find a storage solution that is reasonable quiet. At the moment it’s using two of these.
http://www.raidsonic.de/en/pages/produc ... ectID=2587
The problem is that they have small (40mm) fans on the back for HS temp control. The system produces around 50dB, all of is coming from the drive bays. Does anyone has an idea of a better solution?
One possibility would be to use a 2 x 5 ¼ with a single larger fan?
Thanks
Mobile rack solution
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
You might give this a try:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=20870
or this:
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std ... papst.html
I'm using Kingwing mobile racks in which I've replaced the stock 4cm fan with the 4cm Papst fan. That modification involved some wire splicing for the fan connectors. The Papst fans make significantly less noise.
The Kingwin racks have have rubber grommets in the trays and shoulder bolts to mount the drives. That helps alot but it's not as good as a SmartDrive enclosure.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=20870
or this:
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std ... papst.html
I'm using Kingwing mobile racks in which I've replaced the stock 4cm fan with the 4cm Papst fan. That modification involved some wire splicing for the fan connectors. The Papst fans make significantly less noise.
The Kingwin racks have have rubber grommets in the trays and shoulder bolts to mount the drives. That helps alot but it's not as good as a SmartDrive enclosure.
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Ralf Hutter
- SPCR Reviewer
- Posts: 8636
- Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2002 6:33 am
- Location: Sunny SoCal
Re: Mobile rack solution
Yes. As a big fan of mobile racks I've tried many things over they years. This was the best solution I came up with.Strand wrote:Has anyone tried a mobile rack solution that is reasonable quiet?
ICY DOCK makes 'em with or without fans:
http://www.raidsonic.de/en/pages/produc ... ?pid=2_4_1
but I don't see any US suppliers.
Copies (I assume) are available here:
http://www.servercase.com/miva/miva?/Me ... _Code=SATA
(4th and 5th from the bottom)
I ordered one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817998001
No fan, but the drive (80 GB WD SATA) should be fine in this open design.
I've been using a mobile rack to make drive images (fast!), and an external (2.5) usb drive for my data backups. I'm going to use this new setup to replace both. I only run the drive to do backups, so noise is not TOO important. Backups however are VERY important
These are nice because there's no tray, the drive just pops in and out.
http://www.raidsonic.de/en/pages/produc ... ?pid=2_4_1
but I don't see any US suppliers.
Copies (I assume) are available here:
http://www.servercase.com/miva/miva?/Me ... _Code=SATA
(4th and 5th from the bottom)
I ordered one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817998001
No fan, but the drive (80 GB WD SATA) should be fine in this open design.
I've been using a mobile rack to make drive images (fast!), and an external (2.5) usb drive for my data backups. I'm going to use this new setup to replace both. I only run the drive to do backups, so noise is not TOO important. Backups however are VERY important
These are nice because there's no tray, the drive just pops in and out.
i had a 3 drive into 2 bay enclosure which took a slim 80mm fan...
however the airflow struggled to keep 3 400GB seagate drives cool...
also the enclosure was aluminium and not built well and so there was a lot of vibration (i had to stick bits of card between the drives to minimize contact!)
i ended up scrapping the lot and getting a new case - Chenbro SR107
which has 8*hotswap drives cooled by 2*120mm fans (which i swapped from the screamers to papst)
does a really good job keeping the drives cool and silent as its a big heavy steel chassis
however the airflow struggled to keep 3 400GB seagate drives cool...
also the enclosure was aluminium and not built well and so there was a lot of vibration (i had to stick bits of card between the drives to minimize contact!)
i ended up scrapping the lot and getting a new case - Chenbro SR107
which has 8*hotswap drives cooled by 2*120mm fans (which i swapped from the screamers to papst)
does a really good job keeping the drives cool and silent as its a big heavy steel chassis
I have been looking at the Chenbro SR107 as well. Does it support ATX motherboards or only EATX? Would it be a problem to reach the hard drive cages with IDE cables? Do you have any other commments about the case?gb115b wrote: i ended up scrapping the lot and getting a new case - Chenbro SR107
which has 8*hotswap drives cooled by 2*120mm fans (which i swapped from the screamers to papst)
does a really good job keeping the drives cool and silent as its a big heavy steel chassis
cycleback...for some reason i never saw your comment...
i am loving my SR107...i'm using an ATX m/b at the moment...but as i'm using SATA the cable elnght and routing is no issue... i think it could get messy with IDE because of where the 120mm fans are (behind the HDs - not at the front of the case)
the onyl other issue i have is with PSU placement as i have to moutn my psu upside down and there is onyl a 1cm gap or so between the psu 120mm fan and the top of the case...
otherwise it's good...
i am loving my SR107...i'm using an ATX m/b at the moment...but as i'm using SATA the cable elnght and routing is no issue... i think it could get messy with IDE because of where the 120mm fans are (behind the HDs - not at the front of the case)
the onyl other issue i have is with PSU placement as i have to moutn my psu upside down and there is onyl a 1cm gap or so between the psu 120mm fan and the top of the case...
otherwise it's good...
I've been looking at the SR107 as well, I just have 2 reservations...
1. The cost with 8 hotswap cages is a little high, about $290. Did you purchase the case with these included, or did you get them separately? I can only find them separately, for $70 or more each, plus shipping.
2. With 8 drives installed, do the 2 intake fans (which I intuitively like the placement of) cool the drives sufficiently, if you use quiet fans? Can you remember what model of papst fan you have?
1. The cost with 8 hotswap cages is a little high, about $290. Did you purchase the case with these included, or did you get them separately? I can only find them separately, for $70 or more each, plus shipping.
2. With 8 drives installed, do the 2 intake fans (which I intuitively like the placement of) cool the drives sufficiently, if you use quiet fans? Can you remember what model of papst fan you have?
You might give this a try, it's similar to Ralf's setup:
This "tray-less" mobile rack:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=21738
With this mounted underneath:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=21738
The Evercool fan is very noisy, but when replaced with a Yate Loon hooked up to a fan controller it works pretty well.
The Kingwin rack has rubber isolators, but they're kind of stiff. You need to use a quiet drive.
This "tray-less" mobile rack:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=21738
With this mounted underneath:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=21738
The Evercool fan is very noisy, but when replaced with a Yate Loon hooked up to a fan controller it works pretty well.
The Kingwin rack has rubber isolators, but they're kind of stiff. You need to use a quiet drive.
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Ralf Hutter
- SPCR Reviewer
- Posts: 8636
- Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2002 6:33 am
- Location: Sunny SoCal
? Is that the link you meant to post? It's a duplicate of the link right above it.
EDIT: Is this the link you meant to post?
Ralf -
Yes, that is the correct link for the Evercool hard drive cooler.
A couple of notes on this setup:
I really like the Kingwin Tray-less rack, it's nice not to have to buy a tray for every hard drive. There are a couple of drawbacks though:
- Drives not in use are not protected by a tray.
- There is the potential to wear down the drive's data and power contacts if is removed and inserted too much.
The Evercool drive cooler is not compatable with Antec P180 (&182?) mounting rails. The mounting holes don't match up. I really hate that Antec forces you to use rails and doesn't have the industry standard "lower" mounting holes in their rails. Right now I have the HDD cooler sitting on top of four small pieces of styrofoam on top of the divider in the 5.25" bays. It works, but not a great solution.
Anyhow, I've stopped using the old style mobile racks with the stock 4cm fan replaced by a Papst or Scythe. A 12cm fan keeps the drive cooler with less noise. I hope Kingwin (or someone) comes out with a version of this rack that handles 2.5" drives.
BTW - this looks interesting:
http://en.vipower.com/products01_01.php?ID=168&PageID=0
It's supposed to be available in the US around September.
Yes, that is the correct link for the Evercool hard drive cooler.
A couple of notes on this setup:
I really like the Kingwin Tray-less rack, it's nice not to have to buy a tray for every hard drive. There are a couple of drawbacks though:
- Drives not in use are not protected by a tray.
- There is the potential to wear down the drive's data and power contacts if is removed and inserted too much.
The Evercool drive cooler is not compatable with Antec P180 (&182?) mounting rails. The mounting holes don't match up. I really hate that Antec forces you to use rails and doesn't have the industry standard "lower" mounting holes in their rails. Right now I have the HDD cooler sitting on top of four small pieces of styrofoam on top of the divider in the 5.25" bays. It works, but not a great solution.
Anyhow, I've stopped using the old style mobile racks with the stock 4cm fan replaced by a Papst or Scythe. A 12cm fan keeps the drive cooler with less noise. I hope Kingwin (or someone) comes out with a version of this rack that handles 2.5" drives.
BTW - this looks interesting:
http://en.vipower.com/products01_01.php?ID=168&PageID=0
It's supposed to be available in the US around September.