I want to build a storage machine to hold videos. I saw Areca makes a 24 port SATAII RAID controller that has gotten good reviews and has good performance. The next problem would be finding a case that has hot swappable 24 drive bays. I prefer rack chassis, but if it's significantly cheaper I wouldn't be too opposed to a tower/cube.

I'm finding though it's isn't that easy to find. My favorite so far is a YMIUSA rack case (http://www.ymiusa.com/product.aspx?prodid=191&catid=209). It's a bit pricey though at $2889. I also saw another case that looks decent (http://www.servercase.com/miva/miva?/Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SC&Product_Code=GHI-593-SS%28RHos%29&Category_Code=5U) and is a bit cheaper at $1659.

Are there any alternatives that are more cost effective yet not crappy? I'm not opposed to spending on the case but really, if I could find an ugly yet functional case for $500 or so the difference between that case and the YMIUSA would equate to 20 drives! While I'd like a "cool" looking case, obviously that's least of importance.

Thanks!

My "large" array..:) is split into multiple enclosures. One 4U for the actual server, with 20 eSATA ports on the back. One PC Tower case lying horizontally with 3 hotswappable cages holds 15 drives. I use SATA port multipliers, but you don't have to.

The server case was about $80.
The enclosure(s) are $60 for case + $100 for each hotswap cage X 3 = Total $360 for an enclosure that can hold 15 drives and are hot swappable. (The port multipliers are my personal choice, and cost about $70, so that's another $210 per enclosure).

With 500GB drives, each enclosure provides 7.5TB. With 1TB drives..:) it can provide 15TB. I have two of these enclosures right now, but my server can support an additonal 5 of these..:D


These enclosures sit in my DIY 19" rack which was assembled with plywood, 2x2s, lots of measuring..and even more swearing (when they didn't fit).

Supermicro has some nice ones, though not 24 drives:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811152034

Kapone:

Can you tell me a little bit more about your setup (brand and where you bought them from)? It sounds like an interesting upgrade for my ever-growing server.

Thanks.

Kapone:

Can you tell me a little bit more about your setup (brand and where you bought them from)? It sounds like an interesting upgrade for my ever-growing server.

Thanks.
Well, that would take quite a few pages to describe.. :)

In a nutshell:

Server:
Tyan s5360 socket 604 motherboard with dual 3.2GHz Xeons (Board and CPUs about $400)
4GB RAM - about $130 I think
5 Sil3124 HBAs (each has 4 eSATA ports) (Picked them up on fleabay for about $100 for all 5, though they retail for about $70 each)
Running Windows Home Server - RTM version, so it's free for now.
In a 4U 19" rack mount case (The norco 800 I believe, from newegg) - about $80

Enclosures:
This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811164079) case. - $60 shipped.
Icy Dock 5 in 3 hotswap cages (from newegg. They had a discount on them when I bought them) - $100 each
Addonics 1x5 Sil 3726 based port multipliers (About $75 each).

Drives (all SATA):
15 250GB drives (I had an inside line at Buy.com and got em for a song..:D)
3 500GB drives
2 750GB drives.

DIY 19" rack case - about $40 in parts from home depot, and about 3 hours of my time, which going by my consulting rate :) is about $450.)

The simplest route I think, and it's the one I've gone with is a Stacker case with currently 3 - 5x3 enclosures and soon to be 4. This gives me a ton of space, everything in one case so it's less to manage and I can run dual power supplies. I also bought 2 Super Micro MV8 sata controllers that run around $80 or so per card and have 8 ports on each. Can't get much cheaper or more efficient than that.

AIC do a 5U server box that takes 48 drives. You would need a sturdy rack because you have to pull it out on telescopic rails to access the drives. Alternatively you could do away with a rack and just not put anything on top!

http://www.aicipc.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ref=RSC-5D-2Q1

Not sure about pricing, in the UK you can custom build a server based on this at http://www.rackservers.com

Have you considered using 2.5" drives?

AIC are also the only manufacturer I know that do 2U server chassis that take 2.5" drives - they do one that takes 24 drives. Although it would double your cost per GB and peak bandwidth will be lower than 3.5" drives (unless you get 15rpm drives, but these are low capacity and very expensive), power consumption is much lower with 2.5" drives.

I'm actually considering both of these as enterprise storage building blocks for an iSCSI SAN project...

Thanks for the replies. I'm interested in that external enclosure solution, I'll have to look into that more closely. The servers at work break the hard drives out into their own enclosure, I always thought that was a good idea but wasn't sure how it was implemented. 2.5" drives also sounds intriguing. Thanks for the ideas!