[protocol77]

I am planning to build myself a new server over the next week i already have everything to go in it i just need a nice case to put it in

I don't want to use the same case i got now as it is just old and crappy

I am planning to split my server into two servers as my current has 12 drives currently and it is a nightmare to keep them all connected so want to split off into two servers

Can someone recommend a good case to use

I was looking at some of Fractal design and Bitfenix and Nanoxia

they don't really have to be fancy but don't want them to look like crap either as they will be on a desk in the corner

I don't care the brand just something with the following

(1) – Hold at least 8 HDD

(2) – Take a standard ATX PSU

(3) – Take Micro-ATX Boards

(4) – Good cooling for Hard Drives

(5) – Under $200 AUD (cheaper the better but i might be able to stretch to this if good)

(6) – Simple Design (no crazy Gaming Case with 40 lights on it)

any recommendations would be appreciated

Also would love some suggestions preferrably based of experience do you think it is a better idea to do any of the following

Option 1 - Build Two Seperate Servers each with around 8 hard drives

Option 2 - Build One Large One again and find a PSU with enough Sata Connectors

Option 3 - Build a server only big enough for the amount of Ports of the Mobo but when need more room upgrade the drive size (currently using 2TB but maybe upgrade to 4TB doubling the capacity)

[tential]

Option 1: Building 2 servers is redundant. It means you'll buy 2 processors, 2 mobos, etc. for no good reason. Lets just throw that idea out.

Option 2: It's not hard to find a PSU with enough sata connectors. This isn't really a real worry and I wouldn't want you to waste your time thinking about it. Any DECENT powersupply comes with more than enough connectors for powering hard drives. I swear my coolermaster PSU has so many cords I don't know what to do with them.

Option 3:
It makes zero sense to use a 2TB drive (Unless you purchased 2TB drives back when they were the largest drive size possible) .I ALWAYS purchase the largest drive because it's most cost efficient. This was only not true once when I purchased a 4TB drive when the 3TB drive was slightly better cost efficiency due to sales. But, I always spend around the $150 range on new drives.

Also, you're not limited to only 6 sata ports on a Z87 Mobo. You are perfectly capable of purchasing a Sata card that is VERY cheap and adds more ports for plugging in hard drives.
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That said, you are WELL on your in terms of brand choices. I don't think Nanoxia is available here in the US the same way it's available overseas so I can't comment on them that much.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811352020

Fractal Design Define R4 is a crowd favorite. 8 Bays, $100 USD (So under 200), GREAT cooling, Simple Design, Takes Micro ATX Boards, etc. I'm positive you can convert the External Drive bays into HardDrive bays as well. Because lets be real, who uses CD Drives anymore?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811352029

15 dollars more here (not including MIR) and has 4 5.25 bays. You can convert all 4 to 3.5 bays for a total of 12 HD bays. So enough to hold all of your drives.

Really though splitting into 2 servers, the only use I can see of doing so is if you want to consume more power, spend more money on PC Parts, etc. I can't really see a good reason to do it.

[protocol77]

thanks for the reply

yes i did purchase 2TB drives at the time when they were the largest available and glad that the case choices are good the nanoxia case looks almost identical to the Fractal ones and similar prices so it just comes down to features which i will have to research a bit more but i like the design on these with the blank front of the case not mesh grills (intake from side of front panel) also just looks neater and more sleek in my opinion

and as you said i could convert those 5.25" bays as i have no reason to put a Optical drive in a server i install OS via USB and access everything else over network

also interested you mention about the 3TB drive being more cost efficient it does seem that way with here in australia

the 3TB being $130 AUD for the WD Green or $165 AUD for the WD Red

Vs

the 4TB $189 AUD for WD Green or $238 AUD for the WD Red

Now i am not sure if i should stick with WD Greens which i have been using the 2TB for quite some time or i should get the WD Red as this is for a 24/7 (Non-RAID Though) Server

for example there is a price difference of

3TB WD Green Vs 3TB WD Red = $35

4TB WD Green Vs 4TB WD Red = $49

Then if i got a

3TB Green Vs 4TB Green = $59
3TB Red Vs 4TB Red = $73



Clearly the cheapest of the bunch and the biggest saving is to buy a 3TB WD Green over a 4TB Red and save $108 or save $73 by sticking with Red and choosing 3TB vs 4TB

really not sure whether any of the features in the WD Red are worth that kind of money yeah you get an extended warranty but.... if you are not using in a RAID where some new features help drives from dropping i am just not sure

if my new server holds a capacity of 7 Drives (8 total including OS Drive) by upgrading my 2TB drives which bring the max capacity to 14TB by adding 3TB it jumps up to 21TB max capacity an increase of 7TB or 28TB if i used 4TB drives

[Dougie Fresh]

Cost-wise, I'd look for at it like this: since you have a 2TB, buying a 3TB is really buying 1TB more and 4TB, 2TB more. It might not be worth it to only add 50% more capacity vs. 100% more capacity. So, consider the marginal cost per TB.

[.:B:.]

As for the HDs, how about the prices for Hitachi's 5K4000 disks?

I have four of them, they're rated for 24/7 usage (whereas other brands charge a premium for that). I am very pleased with them.

I would not recommend RAID (at least not unless you're using it integrated in ZFS or the likes). With disks getting bigger (huge, compared to how it started out), apparently the possible error rate increases at a faster rate (I dare not say exponentially because I am not an expert on RAID, but in combination with big modern disks it appears to be quite risky).

ZFS or BTRFS (you'll be limited to Linux on the latter) is a good choice if you like data integrity. I use ZFS myself, bi-weekly scan of the data overnight, happily reports if there's any issues. Had lots of failed checksums on my Samsung HD204UI disks (they have/had a SMART issue), on my Hitachis: none whatsoever. I own two of them since januari 2013, the other half since december 2013.

The 5K4000 disks sell at around 140 € in Europe.

[tential]

What are you using to manage your server?
Either way, Hard Drives spin down when not in use. When a hard drive is rated for 24/7 use, it means it's going to be used a LOT. Chances are you aren't watching 8 movies off 8 different hard drives that you own.

My school of thought on the efficiency (which I'm sorry to bring up since it makes this conversation a little more confusing for the penies of efficiency that it is) is this:

Ignore the Red drives because like I said, your drives will not be spinning the majority of the day.
3TB Green 4.3 cents per gigabyte
4TB Green 4.725 cents per gigabyte
(Note: This is based off 3000 gigabytes and 4000 gigabytes. I know clearly that a harddrive doesn't actuaully contain that. Calculations are just for discussion.)

Yes, I pay .4 cents per gigabyte more. I want to EMPHASIZE ITS POINT 4 CENTS more . Not even 1 cent difference per gigabyte. It's SLIGHTLY less cost efficient and that slight is so small.

If the 4TB drive was as cost efficient as the 3TB drive it would cost at MOST 173 AUD. That's a 16 AUD price difference. For 16 AUD, is the convenience of having 1 TB more than a 3TB drive (and cutting down on the number of drives you actually need).

Absotelutly in my cast. If I had purchased 3 TB drives because it was more cost efficient, I'd still be left without the amount of storage I actually want/need, and I'd be in your situation with too many hard drives and not enough bays.

If you're a media enthusiast who is already at the point where "Wow I need 8 bays for Hard Drive storage" that 16 AUD premium you're paying for a 4TB drive is a no brainer.

As for the OS you're running it depends as well. If you're running UNRAID on your server box, then you don't need an OS drive(you run UNRAID off of a USB stick) and you free up another drive for 8 hard drives. If it's a dedicated box for a server, that's a no brainer.

My personal Hard Drive purchasing practice is as follows though:
Am I running low on space?
Is there a new hard out that holds double the capacity of the current drive I'm using or want to replace?
Is it in the 150 USD price range (price that the highest capacity HDD has always seemed to fall at in the USA)?

If yes to all 3 then I purchase. So I'm currently waiting on consumer 6TB drives to come out since I have:
2 x 4TB (I needed a second one since I loaded up the first one while in it's external drive enclosure only to find out that the file system wasn't compatibile. So I needed a second one to off load the data so I could format it lol. I'm happy with the mistake since more hard drives is better for me and it was a reason to get one!)
1.5 TB drive
500 GB drive
OS drive (all hard drives are in my gaming PC so I don't have a dedicated server).
The 6TB will most likely replace the 500 GB since that's such a small drive it's basically useless.


Don't read below unless you just like having way too much information.
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Something I didn't want to mention but the geek in me just can't help it is that you could also just purchase an actual server PC instead. They have refurb units for $200-300 shipped that hold up to 24 (maybe more actually I just don't remember) hard drives. This requires you to put it in a closet/basement though, but gives you a case that is worth 200+ USD, Sata Cards (worth not as much but still a good chunk), and gives you actual PC hardware to start.

There is also something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6816111168
a JBOD enclosure (Just a bunch of disks).

Of course, you'll have to read up on how JBOD enclosures work but it can't be too hard.

Short story, lots of options. I'm a huge hardware enthusiast and XBMC has turned me into going "Wow storage is boring" to "I can't wait for a new hard drive to come out!" I add content to my XBMC just for the sake of doing it at this point. It's really a bad habit.

[CaptainPsycho]

Also would love some suggestions preferrably based of experience do you think it is a better idea to do any of the following

Option 1 - Build Two Seperate Servers each with around 8 hard drives

Option 2 - Build One Large One again and find a PSU with enough Sata Connectors

Option 3 - Build a server only big enough for the amount of Ports of the Mobo but when need more room upgrade the drive size (currently using 2TB but maybe upgrade to 4TB doubling the capacity)

1. NO
2. You can use split cables. I have 11 3,5"WD green, 2 2,5" WD blue, i3 65W, TV-Tuner and Raid Controller powered by one 400W PSU.
3. Server with as much hdd capacity as possible. Upgrade drives when no space is left for new ones.

[.:B:.]

What are you using to manage your server?

Linux - Debian Jessie. With the LLNS ZFS code.

Either way, Hard Drives spin down when not in use. When a hard drive is rated for 24/7 use, it means it's going to be used a LOT. Chances are you aren't watching 8 movies off 8 different hard drives that you own.

Fair enough, but for the price the Hitachis are going at (and their reported reliability), I'd rather get one that is rated 24/7.

Backblaze's reliability overview:



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