I bought seven 5TB HDD, finally going to replace all my 2TB internal and all my 4TB external drives. And hopefully plan to RAID6 them.
Going to buy one more 5tb drive. Then two drives will be for redundancy leaving me with a full 6x5tb drives, or 30TB, to use. Presently I have almost 20TB used up, so 30TB should take all my existing data and last me until 10TB drives become reasonably priced (and once they exist lol) and I will double my space at that point.
Anyhow, down to the data. Er, the point. Don't mind my puns.
I was going to buy a bigger case for more HDD but I love my case and there is no reason to get a bigger one. I can fit at least 5 more HDD in. Presently I have 6 built in slots in my case, 1 of which is used for my SSD for my OS. So 5 bays. I need more bays so I can tear out the external drives and stick them inside.
So then I looked and finally found what I need. Which is convert the 5.25 bays to HDD bays. Perfect! So I will do this.
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CASE INFO
I have the Rosewill Challenger case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
Here is a stock photo of the inside (pulled from google but I can take a picture later if you want):
It's a lovely case, and I have had for 2 years no problem. I do not feel like getting a new case with adequate drive bays when I already have a case I like at a size I like that I can add more drives by just converting the 5.25 bay to accommodate more drives.
As you see, there is a large space in the 5.25 bays that I can cannabalize and put in some drives. I just need the right adapter(s).
Presently I have a dvd burner in there but I have no problem removing it to make way for the HDDs and getting an external dvd drive. I rarely use it, maybe 1 or 2 times a year.
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WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR
It will be inside my case, so ideally, no motherboard etc. Only thing it really needs is a fan, and if needed I already have a spare fan I can retrofit onto there.
I have the power connectors to run them free on my 750 corsair PSU, so I don't want added components increasing the number of things that can go wrong. So really there is no need to get an external NAS, and moreover, if and when I decide to RAID some of them, being just internal drives and no additional components, is better.
Does not have to be hot swap.
The HDD will not be removed often. Should not be too difficult to install the HDDs though.
Prefer 5 drive bays. 4 drive bays is acceptable though. Really prefer 5 if possible though.
I am even open to just short adaptors that let me stick the hard drive in. For example, these things help make it easy to slide in the HDD in and out of standard HDD bays, so if there is something similar for the 5.25 bays I am open to that too. I just need a way to secure the HDDs into the bays.
-----------------------------------
IDEAS
Here are some hot swap 5.25 to 3.25 I found, but I would prefer one that just allows me to insert the 4 to 5 HDDs into the 5.25 bay.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198058
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NPEBEM/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009HIOW1O/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DGZ42SM/
As you see, these are enclosed, which is not good because it is another level of things that can go wrong. Not only that but being closed, less air flow, and hence will cause more heat and greater chance of killing the hdds. They have their own little mobo, but I don't need that, I already have a PC mobo. Moreover, someone in the reviews said they had issues with RAID for the first one which is exactly what I want to avoid.
Please note I am open to an external enclosure, BUT I don't see the need, and especially because I would like to RAID6 eight drives which can present a challenge if some of them are in an external enclosure.
Also I would prefer to spend no more than $50, obviously the less expensive the better, but I am flexible. I do not want a $500 full NAS. I just dont. At some point I plan on building a full NAS, but I want to build it myself, not buy a ready made overpriced one. I'm not ready for that at this point.
-----------------------------------
PLS HELP THX!!
Please help, anyone who can help thank you in advance!!
-----------------------------------
UPDATE:
Looks like for 4 drives they are stacked horizontally; for 5 drives, they are stacked vertically and require a full cage.
Going to buy one more 5tb drive. Then two drives will be for redundancy leaving me with a full 6x5tb drives, or 30TB, to use. Presently I have almost 20TB used up, so 30TB should take all my existing data and last me until 10TB drives become reasonably priced (and once they exist lol) and I will double my space at that point.
Anyhow, down to the data. Er, the point. Don't mind my puns.
I was going to buy a bigger case for more HDD but I love my case and there is no reason to get a bigger one. I can fit at least 5 more HDD in. Presently I have 6 built in slots in my case, 1 of which is used for my SSD for my OS. So 5 bays. I need more bays so I can tear out the external drives and stick them inside.
So then I looked and finally found what I need. Which is convert the 5.25 bays to HDD bays. Perfect! So I will do this.
-----------------------------------
CASE INFO
I have the Rosewill Challenger case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
Here is a stock photo of the inside (pulled from google but I can take a picture later if you want):
It's a lovely case, and I have had for 2 years no problem. I do not feel like getting a new case with adequate drive bays when I already have a case I like at a size I like that I can add more drives by just converting the 5.25 bay to accommodate more drives.
As you see, there is a large space in the 5.25 bays that I can cannabalize and put in some drives. I just need the right adapter(s).
Presently I have a dvd burner in there but I have no problem removing it to make way for the HDDs and getting an external dvd drive. I rarely use it, maybe 1 or 2 times a year.
-----------------------------------
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR
It will be inside my case, so ideally, no motherboard etc. Only thing it really needs is a fan, and if needed I already have a spare fan I can retrofit onto there.
I have the power connectors to run them free on my 750 corsair PSU, so I don't want added components increasing the number of things that can go wrong. So really there is no need to get an external NAS, and moreover, if and when I decide to RAID some of them, being just internal drives and no additional components, is better.
Does not have to be hot swap.
The HDD will not be removed often. Should not be too difficult to install the HDDs though.
Prefer 5 drive bays. 4 drive bays is acceptable though. Really prefer 5 if possible though.
I am even open to just short adaptors that let me stick the hard drive in. For example, these things help make it easy to slide in the HDD in and out of standard HDD bays, so if there is something similar for the 5.25 bays I am open to that too. I just need a way to secure the HDDs into the bays.
-----------------------------------
IDEAS
Here are some hot swap 5.25 to 3.25 I found, but I would prefer one that just allows me to insert the 4 to 5 HDDs into the 5.25 bay.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198058
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NPEBEM/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009HIOW1O/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DGZ42SM/
As you see, these are enclosed, which is not good because it is another level of things that can go wrong. Not only that but being closed, less air flow, and hence will cause more heat and greater chance of killing the hdds. They have their own little mobo, but I don't need that, I already have a PC mobo. Moreover, someone in the reviews said they had issues with RAID for the first one which is exactly what I want to avoid.
Please note I am open to an external enclosure, BUT I don't see the need, and especially because I would like to RAID6 eight drives which can present a challenge if some of them are in an external enclosure.
Also I would prefer to spend no more than $50, obviously the less expensive the better, but I am flexible. I do not want a $500 full NAS. I just dont. At some point I plan on building a full NAS, but I want to build it myself, not buy a ready made overpriced one. I'm not ready for that at this point.
-----------------------------------
PLS HELP THX!!
Please help, anyone who can help thank you in advance!!
-----------------------------------
UPDATE:
Looks like for 4 drives they are stacked horizontally; for 5 drives, they are stacked vertically and require a full cage.
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