...Big Mother Server...

Thats a nice case, the sheer weight swayed me from purchasing it.

Second of all, why are you making brackets for your PSU's, they come with 4 already :confused:


Also, that cost is cheap, the cost comes with the drives, what drives your getting?
 
Yes, your right that the case does include 4 PSU brackets but there is two sets of different brackets meant for 2 server redundant and 2 ATX PSU so being that I'm putting in 4 ATX (ATX being smaller then the server redundant) I need to make adjustment brackets.

As far as how/where I got the case so cheap, I picked it up wholesale so I doubt you'll be able to find it that cheap elsewhere but I'm sure you could find it cheaper then was servercase.com has it for. If you live in Canada I could order them up and ship em out.

I won't be filling up this machine with drives right away, I'm not that rich so for now I'll pretty much just be moving over existing drives (8-10drives various sizes around 3tb total), though I may add another array of 6 drives just for the heck of it. The case will support 36 or more drives.

I went out to Home Depot last night and picked up the gear I needed for sanding down and painting the case, I also picked up a new toy -- some sorta nice jigsaw -- someone else had picked up the same unit and posted all sorts of pics on it // I'll post pics of the painting gear and my new jig later on.

My stuff from ADPMods showed up today, it was somewhat of a let down... I was expecting a bigger box in the end, but I guess it was all really small stuff that I had ordered so *shrug* , will post pics of these later also.

My water cooling kit and one of the supermicro bays will be arriving tomorrow, the coolermaster bays could be a while I've just heard back from NCIX and they have no ETA on arrival which really pisses me off being that their website stated (and still states) that they ARE AVAILABLE and have a 2-5 day wait for stock to arrive (which has already long past).

As far as what I"m using all this space for, various different things like storing my dvd collection on local network instead of having to drag out and scratch my dvds (eg. ST Next Gen series will take close to 500gb alone to store) so it adds up quickly.

I suppose I need to start looking at a mainboard / cpu / raid controllers (IDE & SATA) if you guys have any suggestions that will help me keep costs down in this area please make suggestions.
 
How can you cheat us like this.
Your new case can hold 36 drives and you are only going to add about 16 tops (for now).

I want to see 36 X 500gb = 17.5tb

But as long as you pack it full of something I guess I can forgive you. :p
 
With that configuration I can add 42 drives without even having to chamber or mod any in :)

As for the brackets, I don' t know if you have an odd revision or something but mine came with 4 ATX plate modules :confused: for 4 normal psu's.

Was that price CAD or USD? I do have a residence in Canada you can forward it too, I'd like to get another one of those. How much you think that would run me?


Thanks!


Tcalp said:
Yes, your right that the case does include 4 PSU brackets but there is two sets of different brackets meant for 2 server redundant and 2 ATX PSU so being that I'm putting in 4 ATX (ATX being smaller then the server redundant) I need to make adjustment brackets.

As far as how/where I got the case so cheap, I picked it up wholesale so I doubt you'll be able to find it that cheap elsewhere but I'm sure you could find it cheaper then was servercase.com has it for. If you live in Canada I could order them up and ship em out.

I won't be filling up this machine with drives right away, I'm not that rich so for now I'll pretty much just be moving over existing drives (8-10drives various sizes around 3tb total), though I may add another array of 6 drives just for the heck of it. The case will support 36 or more drives.

I went out to Home Depot last night and picked up the gear I needed for sanding down and painting the case, I also picked up a new toy -- some sorta nice jigsaw -- someone else had picked up the same unit and posted all sorts of pics on it // I'll post pics of the painting gear and my new jig later on.

My stuff from ADPMods showed up today, it was somewhat of a let down... I was expecting a bigger box in the end, but I guess it was all really small stuff that I had ordered so *shrug* , will post pics of these later also.

My water cooling kit and one of the supermicro bays will be arriving tomorrow, the coolermaster bays could be a while I've just heard back from NCIX and they have no ETA on arrival which really pisses me off being that their website stated (and still states) that they ARE AVAILABLE and have a 2-5 day wait for stock to arrive (which has already long past).

As far as what I"m using all this space for, various different things like storing my dvd collection on local network instead of having to drag out and scratch my dvds (eg. ST Next Gen series will take close to 500gb alone to store) so it adds up quickly.

I suppose I need to start looking at a mainboard / cpu / raid controllers (IDE & SATA) if you guys have any suggestions that will help me keep costs down in this area please make suggestions.
Click to expand...
 
Tcalp said:
I went out to Home Depot last night and picked up the gear I needed for sanding down and painting the case, I also picked up a new toy -- some sorta nice jigsaw -- someone else had picked up the same unit and posted all sorts of pics on it // I'll post pics of the painting gear and my new jig later on.
Click to expand...

So you gave up on the powder coating idea, then? Too bad - I was hoping you could find a good deal on that so I could get my two spares done up in black before I turn them into a TV stand :p
 
Well I from what I could tell the powder coating wouldn't have come cheap, while I was willing to go upto $150 or so in the end (although a lot more work) it just seemed like a better idea for me to paint it... I hope it turns out okay, either way it will be a learning experience.

Here is a pic of the gear from ADPMods...

ADPMods.jpg
 
Well I've started the sanding down the case for re-finishing it in black... I was able to get both side panels and most of one of the front doors sanded down today. Here's some pics of the progress so far...

I'm using a mouse sander and 180gt paper.

SAND_PANEL1.jpg

the first panel all sanded down aside from some minor touch-ups

SAND_PANEL2.jpg

all done, wiped down and then used tac cloth to get rid of additional paint dust.

SAND_PANEL3.jpg

close up of the panel sanded, these light scratches should disapear once 3 coats of primer / 2-3 coats of finish are on there.

SAND_DOOR1.jpg

this is where I finished off, some work to still be done but man did the mouse sander ever get in there. I must say I'm impress with this mouse guy -- I never really understood why people raved about this unit until now.

SAND_DOOR2.jpg

close up of the top bay area showing off how great the mouse sander was at working with all the different edges and curves.

SAND_DOOR3.jpg



More to come soon....
 
Ockie said:
Was that price CAD or USD? I do have a residence in Canada you can forward it too, I'd like to get another one of those. How much you think that would run me?
Click to expand...

180USD estimated my cost, my boss would kill me if I was to let that out to others, especially with the cost of shipping this mamoth unit. I'd estimate 260CAD shipped to a Canadian address (price includes shipping), which still isn't too bad considering other prices I've seen other there. (edit: $272.20 including GST)

On a side note ..

Ockie I must say I'm impressed with your servers, what did you use in galaxy 2.0 I think it was .. they look like 3 to 5 bay units with a black dust grill with a 120mm fan ... I'm pretty sure you stated units from PC&P but I have been unable to find such a monster, I would much rather have that look for the static drives (assuming you could put IDE in them) then go with the coolermaster units... it would save me from having to paint the drive bay covers on this case.
 
<peter griffon>This case is freakin' sweet!</peter griffon>

i like huge cases... i just wish i had the drives to fill one.

the black knight always triumphs!
 
I would have left that case begie instead and went with begie drive units and drives. It would give the older skool look with cutting edge class and performance.
 
Tcalp said:
180USD estimated my cost, my boss would kill me if I was to let that out to others, especially with the cost of shipping this mamoth unit. I'd estimate 260CAD shipped to a Canadian address (price includes shipping), which still isn't too bad considering other prices I've seen other there. (edit: $272.20 including GST)

On a side note ..

Ockie I must say I'm impressed with your servers, what did you use in galaxy 2.0 I think it was .. they look like 3 to 5 bay units with a black dust grill with a 120mm fan ... I'm pretty sure you stated units from PC&P but I have been unable to find such a monster, I would much rather have that look for the static drives (assuming you could put IDE in them) then go with the coolermaster units... it would save me from having to paint the drive bay covers on this case.
Click to expand...



The 3 to 5's are hard to find, I'd suggest using 2 to 3's instead, that way it gives you not only more cooling but you dont need to take out the drive unit 5 times each time you add a drive :D
 
unhappy_mage said:
Hard to find? They're $120, so not cheap, but not really hard to find.
Click to expand...


we were talking about the PC&P units not the supermicro ones...


Ockie ... as my SuperMicro units are still in UPS's hands maybe you could answer me this .. how hard would it be to remove the sata backplane on the SuperMicro units and plug IDE drives in ? : ) ... Also almost all my gear is in black, having such a huge thing in beige would be so out of place, also the supermicro units just don't look as snazzy in beige...
 
looking at the pics on newegg if you scrap the electronics package (which you would loose any hot swap ability ) you would have to widen the top where the power plugs are a little and you could string the power where the current electronics package is, fairly easy the hard part is going to be inserting and removeing the drives as you wont have the backplane it would be something like insert the bottom drive pull the cable throught and taught next drive up, wash rinse repeat...so you would end up with at least 3 cables comeing out the top (assuming you are going to set them up as master/ slave and not one drive /channel ) and you would end up with some bulk of cable inside the enclosure unless you make totally custom cables... (possible but good luck)

perhaps this would be a good excuse to go all sata... :D

(and why havent they learned to make this crap in black.... i mean.. black parts in a beige pc dont look nearly as bad as beige parts in a black pc... (besides... black pcs are faster... :p)

thore
 
Tcalp said:
we were talking about the PC&P units not the supermicro ones...


Ockie ... as my SuperMicro units are still in UPS's hands maybe you could answer me this .. how hard would it be to remove the sata backplane on the SuperMicro units and plug IDE drives in ? : ) ... Also almost all my gear is in black, having such a huge thing in beige would be so out of place, also the supermicro units just don't look as snazzy in beige...
Click to expand...


You will need to drill out rivets and remove the entire back end... I couldn't picture anyone doing this to a poor supermicro hotswap cage :(

As for your gear being black, you can get supermicro cages in the same color as that case ;) they are sometimes even cheaper. Also, I think they look snazzier in begie but thats just me.


I don' t think I'd remove the back ends of those units... thats insane. You wont be able to pull the drive without opening the case up and removing the cables then either.
 
Well the last of my SuperMicro bays arrived today so I figured I'd better post an update and some more pics :p My Bigwater SE kit also showed up a little while ago ...


First I'll start with the bigwater SE unit, I was a little disapointed to find out that the 'SE' is different from the standard BigWater unit. The SE uses a 5.25" drive bay unit for storing the coolant over a tank built into pump unit. As much as it's kind of cool looking it just means I have to make an extra run of tubing to goto the cooling tank which will create a 'less then clean' look IMO. Oh well I've got it now though...

I was VERY suprised at how much the SuperMicro bays weight (10-12lb per unit), so as a result my machine will be a bit heftier then orginally anticipated, which is cool :D
I think in the end this puppy will weight in the area of 200-250lb. The weight of the SuperMicro units definatly comes from the quality of the build, very nice...


Onto the pics...

WATER_BIGBOX.jpg

check out the size of this box, I was expecting something smaller -- used a hdd to illustrate.

WATER_CONTENTS.jpg


SUPERMICRO_BOXSTACK.jpg

77L Garbage pale for size comparison

SUPERMICRO_QUAD.jpg


SUPERMICRO_BACK.jpg
 
Still waiting on my stuff from NCIX which really pisses me off, their website STILL states that the coolermaster bays are 'Available and usually ship in 2-5 days' yet I ordered them the end of last month, I called on Friday and asked what was happening with my order as it had now been invoiced but I hadn't received any shipping confirmations etc... they said that they were still on back-order and they had no ETA on when the product would become available again. This is all good and fine, but if a product is back-ordered I would expect it to be listed as such on the website! :(
 
Dumass_Freakboy said:
Those are the SATA mobile racks, right?
Click to expand...



Nope. These holds 3.5" Standard SATA drives and allows you to hot swap them or pull them out. I think your referring to the 2.5" model that they make that holds 8 drives in 2 5.25" bays... which runs at $260ish.
 
Ockie said:
Nope. These holds 3.5" Standard SATA drives and allows you to hot swap them or pull them out. I think your referring to the 2.5" model that they make that holds 8 drives in 2 5.25" bays... which runs at $260ish.
Click to expand...

Thats what I was referring to :p I was hoping to find a similar product, but for IDE.
 
Dumass_Freakboy said:
Thats what I was referring to :p I was hoping to find a similar product, but for IDE.
Click to expand...

The best solution I could come up with was CoolerMaster 3to4 Bays (same ones that are used in the stacker case), they take 3 3.5" bays and give 4HDD and a 120MM cooling fan to cool things off. Now as much as this isn't a 'hot swap' solutions it's the next best thing, as long as you have a case that uses drive rails for mounting...

Speaking of the CoolerMaster bays I've just received confirmation that they've shipped :) so they should arrive Monday/Tuesday.
 
Tcalp said:
The best solution I could come up with was CoolerMaster 3to4 Bays (same ones that are used in the stacker case), they take 3 3.5" bays and give 4HDD and a 120MM cooling fan to cool things off. Now as much as this isn't a 'hot swap' solutions it's the next best thing, as long as you have a case that uses drive rails for mounting...
Click to expand...

Does the Antec P180 count? It has drive rails... From manufacturer to manufacturer the rail sizes may change...
Says here "Compatible with ATX case with 3 x 5.25 drive bays." - And the product code is STB-3T4-E1.

It's Monday now... Update :D ?
 
Ockie said:
Nope. These holds 3.5" Standard SATA drives and allows you to hot swap them or pull them out. I think your referring to the 2.5" model that they make that holds 8 drives in 2 5.25" bays... which runs at $260ish.
Click to expand...

did u pruchase these from ncix? if so what happens to be the part number im trying to ind em in canada wiht no luck :(

thanks!! looks good btw!
 
Dumass_Freakboy said:
Does the Antec P180 count? It has drive rails... From manufacturer to manufacturer the rail sizes may change...

It's Monday now... Update :D ?
Click to expand...

Sorry it's been a while since the last update, I've been busy with work and other things, I also picked up an X2-4400 the otherday and it's been keeping me entertained. I don't see why they wouldn't fit into a Antec P180 case, and I received my units from NCIX they came on monday. haven't had a chance to take pics and this whole project maybe put on hold for a few weeks while a regain the effects of buying the 4400 chip.

As fara s the supermicro units go and getting them in Canada, I dont know if NCIX has them or not .. but if you tell me where you live I could probably tell you a local shop to order them from. I know most bigger cities quite well
 
I've already found a local place that sells them :) - Just need them to put in an order. Don't know if I will need them though.
 
Don't leave us hanging, Tcalp... what happened to your killer system? :)
 
i agree that dremel is a pos. i already lost mine while i was modding my case:mad:
 
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