Enhancebox EB8MS 8 bay SAS/SATA desktop storage array

InfyMcGirk · Post by **InfyMcGirk** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 3:32 am

Hello! I've been reading on here for while and just recently signed up, please be gentle.

I built myself a quiet PC around 2003/4 (Acousticase, Zalman Reserator, drive silencers, etc) and although it's been well-loved, it's beginning to show its age in terms of CPU 'oomph'.
I do quite a bit of DVD authoring and divx/xvid encoding and it takes an age with my Athlon64 3000+ (2MHz single core). I daren't even try h264 or any HD work... so I'm looking to build a new PC this year some time. It'll probably be powerful as I'd like it to last me another 5 years or thereabouts if possible. I'm happy that I can successfully quieten down a powerful CPU/GPU with good planning and case/cooling choices. I should state that I'm happy for my system to make some noise... just not a lot of it - quiet not silent.

My main worry is storage. I'm currently using RAID1 for both system disks and storage disks because I've had many HDDs die on me in the past and it's a pain even with reasonable backups. But it's a bit depressing to know that I'm only using 50% of the available of the total storage and I'm still relatively vulnerable to losing more than one disk at any time. I use Samsung SpinPoint disks (2 x older 250GB PATA model and 2 x 1TB F1 SATA) and I find them 'quiet enough', though they're by far the noisiest element in my current setup. I had to abandon the 5.25" drive silencer enclosures I was using because of overheating issues, so my 4 x 3.5" HDDs are now mounted in the standard location, using rubber grommets (apparently intended for quiet but the rubber is actually quite hard!). I can hear them during seeks but they're not too annoying otherwise; I love the Samsungs for their quiet idling combined with decent speed...

So anyway, for my new setup I'd like to use RAID6 with many disks. Probably 8 x 1TB (or 1.5TB maybe). The trouble is, I'd like good speed to allow for HD video editing, which rules out remote NAS in the loft or whatever (even with gigabit ethernet and a high-end NAS, transfer speeds are far less than a single local SATA drive). This means the disks must be either inside my new case or in a separate (desktop) enclosure.

I would prefer to keep them separate from the PC, in something like the Proavio EB8MS or similar (see subject line). The reviews seem to suggest it's quiet, but maybe not SPCR quiet.

The enclosure is made from sturdy aluminium (not too thin like cheaper boxes) and includes a 'hot swap 80mm fan module' which according to a review I read at AMUG, allows me to swap the fan for another standard 80x80x25 fan of my choice. My hope is that by using a combination of taping up the side vent, swapping out the fan for, say, a Noctua NF-R8 with L.N.A. and applying Acousipack-type material inside the box, I can make this thing similarly quiet to my current desktop with it's 'naked' 4 x HDDs, whilst keeping 8x1TB F1s (or another similarly quiet/fast drive) cool enough.

Given that I need to buy a decent hardware RAID card, I'm not limited by existing connection type and would choose the Mini-SAS connection type (the 'MS' model). I'm thinking of the Highpoint RocketRaid 4322 card or similar.

Some links for background...

The RAID enclosure's product page:

http://www.enhance-tech.com/products/desktop/E8_MS.html

The AMUG review (goes into details re: case design and fan unit etc):

http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/ ... nhance/e8/

Some other reviews of the enclosure from mainly performance perspective:

http://www.macworld.co.uk/procreative/r ... iewid=2947
http://www.videomaker.com/article/14300/

It would be great if anyone has first-hand experience of these boxes, but if not, any comments or suggestions would be very welcome!

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:13 am

From one of the articles they mention it's similarity to Sonnet Fusion enclosures, might want to check on reports of those as well. Also noticed one picture had it with rear fan power supply with older grill, then a newer looking open rear grill w/120mm fan inside.

So you might need to fiddle with the psu fan regardless...edit...I read further on and they got a new, "quiet" and silent psu from the company w/120mm fan. So there you go.

What socket is the PC? Could you drop a dual core into it? Just a cheap suggestion...though it sounds like you've got the itch for new goodies after 5 years

InfyMcGirk · Post by **InfyMcGirk** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:28 am

Thanks for the comments, psiu.

You're 100% right about 'the itch'. I'm thinking a Core i7 920 is pretty good value given it's alleged OC potential (in a couple of years when I'm a bit braver maybe!). Of course the trouble with i7/X58 platform is that the motherboards and ram required push the overall cost up through the stratosphere. But I don't buy these things often, so...

Benjiro · Post by **Benjiro** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:17 am

Well, here i have 8 HD's in a P182 case.

HD: 4 * 750 & 4 * 1TB WD Green power. 4 of the 7200rpm 750GB are in the P182 HD cage, and 4 are on a 5" to 3.5" convertor ( with rubber ).

For the fans i have used the 120mm s-flex 800rpm ( one blowing out back, one blowing out on top and one on the cpu ). The Video card is a passive Nvidia 9400GT.

The result is a system thats below < 22dB.

Using Linux on this system, and Raid 5 on both HD sets. At the moment it works as a Workstation / Server. Stable as hell.

So, my advice is getting a P182 or P183, and with a bit off mix & match off quite components, you will get it to near silent.

Those external nas's has the disadvantage off:
- More sound ( higher speed fans, smaller fans ).
- Most off the time the HD's are not isolated from the case
- Performance can be "bad" to none existent.
- More expensive
- Slower because you need a external interface to it.
- Using more power, as you need to run 2 MB's, 2 PSU's, etc
- The PSU is less power efficient then any good PSU you can buy for your PC.

Also, take it from somebody how knows. Add a few secondary controllers. Got a Gigabyte MB with 8 SATA connectors, but only 6 are from the Intel controller. The other 2 are from a secondary chip. And i'm rather sure those are slowing down things down.

Also, install 8 or 16GB of ram if your using linux, and doing Video work. Let linux cache all the data that the frequently use.

I never shut this PC down anyway, so it stays nice cached

InfyMcGirk · Post by **InfyMcGirk** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:52 am

Thanks very much for the tips. I've never ventured into Linux but if Windows7 doesn't live up to my expectations then I'll be giving it a whirl (or perhaps even making a Hackintosh if I can figure it out).

I don't like Vista at all but my new system is going to have way more than 3GB ram and should really be 64bit... so my current preference of XP x86 OS is not going to cut it.

I'm impressed that you can keep all those drives cool with only that airflow. Have you blocked the front intakes to encourage air to pass the drives mounted in your 5.25 bays? Also, you don't mention a fan in the lower chamber... which PSU do you use down there?

I've been put off the WD GP series by the slow spindle speed, but I suppose if I used 8 of them in RAID6 it might mitigate their relative slowness?

I was already planning on getting a P182 by the way, so I'm reassured by your comments there. Unlike many, I like the idea of having the power button behind a closed door as I have an increasingly inquisitive toddler (she's not usually allowed near the computer, but I know that given the chance, pushing an obvious button on the front would be her first instinct!).

Benjiro · Post by **Benjiro** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:14 am

InfyMcGirk wrote:Thanks very much for the tips. I've never ventured into Linux but if Windows7 doesn't live up to my expectations then I'll be giving it a whirl (or perhaps even making a Hackintosh if I can figure it out).
I don't like Vista at all but my new system is going to have way more than 3GB ram and should really be 64bit... so my current preference of XP x86 OS is not going to cut it.

One off the main reasons for using Linux as the main os, is the ability to have a good performing, and stable software raid on it.

Take it from me, do NOT use Windows in combination with its software raid.

There are only 2 "real" choices if you are goin Raid 5 or Raid 6:

- Linux + Software raid
- Windows + Hardware raid

And with hardware raid, i'm talking about a 300â‚¬ raid controller, not those cheap **** that they try to pass off to people as hardware raid, while in reality it uses the cpu to do all the work, and ends up 5 * slower, then true software raid on linux

InfyMcGirk wrote: I'm impressed that you can keep all those drives cool with only that airflow. Have you blocked the front intakes to encourage air to pass the drives mounted in your 5.25 bays?

No, the intake vents are open, aka none blocked ( even removed the filters ). Using the double output on the back, it creates a excelled airflow. Its not a tornado airflow like some people like, but it keeps all the components nice and cool. For instance, the passive GPU is running 42Â°C. The HD's ( the one's in the 5.25" drive bays last time i checked are running between 31 & 36Â°C ( Note: even more fun as, some HD's actually are running hotter, while having more airflow. Not every HD = identical it seems ).

InfyMcGirk wrote: Also, you don't mention a fan in the lower chamber... which PSU do you use down there?

No fan in the lower chamber. We are using the PSU's fan to draw the air across the chamber, and cool the HD's. The 7200rpm's are in there, and while i don't remember there temp, it was able acceptable. Defiantly not hot ( cold to the touch ).

Remember, this system is on 24h/24h. If there was a flaw in the thermal design, the system will keep heating up there, and it does not.

The PSU, good question... To be honest, i don't know anymore. It's one off the PSU's featured / tested / reviewed on this site. One with a 80+ power efficiency rating & quiet PSU fan.

InfyMcGirk wrote: I've been put off the WD GP series by the slow spindle speed, but I suppose if I used 8 of them in RAID6 it might mitigate their relative slowness?

Well, i'm getting rid off them ( the WD Green power ). Planning on installing 8 * 1.5TB ( 7200rpm ) Seagate or Samsungs. The relative power saving is about 3watt / WD Green power HD, but i'm not all to happy about them.

Do not use them as your main OS HD's ( in my case, they are a secondary raid set, with archive material ). Those head parking feature is annoying as hell. Each time you need to access the hd's, there is a slight delay as each HD needs to unpark its head.

Then there is the relative high park count. The HD's are running for about 5500h ( if the statistics are correct ). I can only get the stats off 2 HD's, as the other 2 are on that secondary controller like i said above, and i can't get the smart stats from them grrrr.

One has almost no head parking, while the other has about 45.000! head parks. Ok, its not end off the world, but remember, we are talking about a archive raid set. Its not that it gets accessed every 5 min ( unlike a OS raid set )... So i assume that the other 2 are also in that range. Interesting fact, while all 4 are the "same" brand, type, size, 1 off the 4 has a distinct other design ( thats the one with the low head parks ).

But, back to the performance point. Its definably not advised to use as a OS HD. After 8 second the heads park. Very annoying.

InfyMcGirk wrote: I was already planning on getting a P182 by the way, so I'm reassured by your comments there. Unlike many, I like the idea of having the power button behind a closed door as I have an increasingly inquisitive toddler (she's not usually allowed near the computer, but I know that given the chance, pushing an obvious button on the front would be her first instinct!).

Well, one "solution" is getting a remote power button, one off those extension cable that has Power button + 2 USB + Audio jacket and a 2m long cable. And you plug the power button directly on your MB, instead off the case Power button cable. So you can only start / stop it from your desk.

The door will help, but any kid will be able to open the door ( and might find it even fun

). A solution is using the lock, and lock the door each time your using it / not using it.

PAP · Post by **PAP** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:32 pm

Old posting I know, but i'm shopping the proavio or enhance boxes as I'm also looking for a very quiet external array.

Wondering if you can post some f/u if you ended up with this system.

I'm not interested in admining a linux box, so I'm looking for a standalone SAS or eSATA system.

Thanks.