I need to power a 17 drive server on the cheap. Help.

[thebeephaha]

At first I thought how WHS does it's drive management was dumb but it really makes sense and enables one to have a crap ton of storage with basic hardware. The only limitation is the # of drives. I just happened to have a lot of them.

I don't see adding anymore drives, I don't have anymore free bays nor do I have any free IDE or SATA connections. 17 is the MAX. Anything else would have to be external.

What I do see is slowly replacing the little drives with bigger ones but I doubt I will lessen the # of drives. I mean if I get a stable rig running I don't see any reason aside from money that I wouldn't eventually replace them all with 1TB or higher.

Think of my server as a rackmount without the rackmount part. A typical 4U rack can hold at least 20 drives. My only issue is power, which is solved for the time being till I get a better PSU.

Someone has suggested a 650w Antec Earthwatts for about $80 but is there anything else? I looked at the Rosewill suggested here but I don't know if I trust that many drives on it.

 

[Tau]

At first I thought how WHS does it's drive management was dumb but it really makes sense and enables one to have a crap ton of storage with basic hardware. The only limitation is the # of drives. I just happened to have a lot of them.

I don't see adding anymore drives, I don't have anymore free bays nor do I have any free IDE or SATA connections. 17 is the MAX. Anything else would have to be external.

What I do see is slowly replacing the little drives with bigger ones but I doubt I will lessen the # of drives. I mean if I get a stable rig running I don't see any reason aside from money that I wouldn't eventually replace them all with 1TB or higher.

Think of my server as a rackmount without the rackmount part. A typical 4U rack can hold at least 20 drives. My only issue is power, which is solved for the time being till I get a better PSU.

Someone has suggested a 650w Antec Earthwatts for about $80 but is there anything else? I looked at the Rosewill suggested here but I don't know if I trust that many drives on it.

I would honestly look for a 'Delta' branded PSU, they are wickedly stable, and should be dirt cheap. failing that i would grab a FPS, Forton, Seasonic, Antec, Enermax, or PC&P for that server. all depending what your budget is, try to find something in the 5-600range, than it should be good