Project: IDE Salvation

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Dumass_Freakboy

Gawd
Joined
Dec 20, 2000
Messages
590
Ok. So I've built many computers before, and I've bought many hard drives for school and other computers, and I now find myself having around a dozen small IDE drives that I have nothing much to do with. However, when added up, they do make a sizable amount: 1.005TB before format. I will be using my full tower case with extra 3.5" racks out the yinyang (from other computers).

The plan with this box is to:
Build a system with a case I have already which isn't being used, and put as many IDE drives in it as possible using the HDD racks from other cases without hacking it to hell so I can use it later should I want.

The case in question is the Antec TX1050B.
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Bear in mind, that will not be the power supply i'm using, it's just there for sizing.

I have the following drives which I intend on putting into it which need to have the data transferred off them first which will be done in a couple of days.
4X 120GB Seagate 7,200 RPM
4X 80GB Seagate 7,200 RPM
2x 100GB Western Digital 7,200 RPM
1x 30GB Maxtor 7,200 RPM (put in there to break the 1gb unformatted barrior)

This is my old fileserver - it has 3 of the 120GB seagate drives in it. Running SuSE & Samba. Will try and migrate it to the new case, or save the data onto a single 500GB drive which I have plans to buy for my bigrig. (desktop - see sig, as well as a nice 150GB Raptor :D)
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I have a HDD cage from my old Antec SLK3700 AMB which I slaughtered when watercooling it which I will be mounting inside the case, as well as another cage with support for 3 drives.

I am unsure about how I can attach the 3x 3.5" to my case. Anybody have any suggestions? I thought about filling wood beneath the cage which would make it flush to the bottom of the case, and then screw it in from below the case, or possibly working some sort of metal so it looks consistant. I am not worried about looks despite the fact that this is a worklog or the subforum it is located. When closed it will look sweet and weigh a ton :D
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I'm doing the exact same thing - lots of old IDE drives, most with data on them that needs to be recovered. I call it my "Hard Drive Sink". :) I'm using a dual P3-1ghz machine with 1gb PC-133 (Cas2 - Yeah! ) and an old 12-bay server case with dual redundant 300watt power supplies. I've got 6 drives in it at the moment, with a couple more on the way. Runs Kubuntu Linux 5.10.

http://www3.telus.net/~ranko/ADS1.jpg
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http://www3.telus.net/~ranko/StickerShock.jpg
 
Nice idea. ^^

I do recommend leaving some space between each hard drive so air can flow through. I think the middle disk will get very hot the way it is now. ;)
 
Down8 said:
I had that same case!

It housed my very first self-built computer - P3-500@700MHz with 128MB of RAM and a 24x CD-ROM.

-bZj
Click to expand...
Yea - Its a decent case. It now houses a P2 300MHz, 128MB ram, 3 120GB drives (going to be transferred to the new system), dvd rom (duh!).
 
nice :)

some of those drives look pretty damn close, maybe even touching, will they over heat or do you have some airflow?
 
Case Log Update:

Went in to work today (I work at Rona Lansing - Hardware store) and bought me some provisions :D
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Well I lied about the DeWalt - I bought that last summer - great drill :)

I decided to go with wood under the hard drive mount - some 5/8 Fir ply - cut it down at work :)
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Fast forward a couple of hours. I get home. Do some drilling. Mount the one cage to see how it fits.
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I would like to do some slight modification to the top of the case there where the tape is as well. See if I cant mount an 80MM fan blowing out there below the power supply. Also - I need to find out a way to mount a fan below the 5 hdd cage which is going vertical - unless I rely on convection? What do you guys think?


Unfortunately I forgot to think about the locking nuts - they require a device which tightens around the nut - like vice grips or something better - maybe a wrench? blah(I work in shipping - but my fingers aint that strong).

Anyhow - here is the square that came out of my cutting at work. It sits flush with all sides. I just want to throw a little bit of paint on it before I stick it in there - but that's for another day! (Plus I forgot the sandpaper so I could rough up the steel on the bottom and the plywood so the epoxy i'm using will stick to both well)
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Closing the case up - I discovered this!
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IT WON'T CLOSE!

So now I gotta do some cutting of some sort on the side panel of the case so it closes. If you look closely you can see my pencil on the case ;)


Incase you are wondering - I have been using a vacuum cleaner when I was doing the drilling so as to not get any shavings on my parts - A lazy man. (Held up to the hole where the drill would come out on the inside of the case)

If/when I get around to puttin an 80MM above the 5hdd cage - i will DEFINATELY remove my components.. there will simply be too much shavings to worry about something going awry.
 
ChingChang said:
nice :)

some of those drives look pretty damn close, maybe even touching, will they over heat or do you have some airflow?
Click to expand...

So you all know - the hdd's aern't screwed in yet. There is a gap of around 1/4" between each drive in the Antec case design - plus an 80MM fan at the front of the case for each of those 3 drives in those 2 cages. At the front on the very bottom of the case - I have mounted an 80MM fan there as well.

Will take some more pics tomorrow or next day when I have had a chance to buy the rest of the stuff I need.
 
Case Log Update #2

Ok, well I forgot to pick up some sandpaper, but I did put in an order for a nice new Enermax Power supply. It should provide enough power for more than 12 drives (not many more), even though I only have 11 ATM. Liberty 620W. Picked up the package today :)
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Along with a couple of small goodies. Some IDE splitters & DDR ram for my mobo.
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I know some people might want to see this - I was certainly interested... P[H]eer my 1337 paint skills (edited so u can see the weight).

As well as a pretty shot of all stuff included with the PS.
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And mounted.
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I now have to pick up the sandpaper & a wrench... Hope I don't have to pick up a 6 port IDE controller (trying to save $$)... will find out once I pick up the last of my stuff and put it all together in the case.
 
Hey thats looking pretty neat. Where can I get some cool power splitters like that?
 
If I were you, I would try... any computer shop :eek:
Any computer shop i've gone looking for them, has had them.
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=ide+y+power+splitter&btnG=Search+Froogle

It's just an IDE power splitter ... 1 Male end, 2 female ends.

It's not a licence to go crazy though... but power-supplies are notoriously under-used... (amongst regular people - this does not include people like me, or some other [H]ardForum members here)
 
Will 11 hdds fit in that case? It looks like a tight fit. Also, what type of poster is that on your wall? The Yoda one. I forget what those types of posters are called, with mini pictures inside a large picture.
 
I'll be able to fit 14 drives in it with the upcoming configuration. If I get a supermicro drive cage so I can fit more drives in the 5 1/4 slots i'll be able to put another 4 drives in there!
 
Update: There are no updates. Will be moving soon, getting a new job, getting a car. No time for computers right now. *sigh* There won't be any updates till I move into the new place. This thread is now going into a submission possibly of several months :eek: :eek:
 
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