Self contained, multi-bay external RAID enclosure

[Railgun1369]

For the past few years, I've been using a Sans Digital TR4UT in a RAID5 setup and has been working pretty well. Only now have I realized that it's cooling ability rivals that of the sun.

There is a fan in the back, but its location behind the backplane renders it useless and the power supply sits directly below the bottom drive. The exterior case holes I think are there for effect but not really doing much. The cooling solution really is horrible.

After recovering from a dead drive, presumably due to heat (these things were REALLY hot), I need to find a similar solution/case with much better cooling abilities.

I've only been able to find these guys as an all-in-one solution in that no card is required. Part of my issue lies in the fact that I don't have room in the case for an additional card.

Their larger (eight bay) cases look to have much better cooling abilities, but they don't have the internal RAID capability. They do have a five bay, but its cooling solution looks to be just as horrible.

So,

-Minimum 4 bay external enclosure
-Self contained RAID5 cabability
-eSATA
-USB x.0 is irrelevant
-Better cooling than a star

I'd prefer not to go the NAS route as I do want to maintain some speed to my local box (I've only played with a NAS box once and it's performance was horrible at best).

Is anyone familiar with a better product that can meet these requirements?

Thanks in advance!

 

[johnnyq1233]

I only had a few minutes to go through some pages and you might want to look at this as a solution....
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX27117(ME).aspx
it's expensive but has the features you are looking for ...
Will look at other pages when I get off work and reply again..
Hope this helps....JQ

 

[Railgun1369]

Thanks. But as it's a stripe (or even a mirror) that won't do it. I see they have that WD ShareSpace, but it's only a NAS. Why they don't have an eSata connection as well...would seem simple to do.

 

[johnnyq1233]

OK!...How about this case it's kinda pricey but has wicked specks.....
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX30898(ME).aspx
Hope this helps...JQ

 

[WyomingKnott]

If you have a few kilobucks to burn, these are nice:
http://www.enhance-tech.com/products/ultrastor/RS8_fs.html
I picked up a much earlier model, Ultrscsi320, a few years ago at a bargain-basement price of only $1,000. Three redundant, hot-swappable high-speed fans, and still quieter than a helicopter.

OK, so I'm being silly at your expense.

For a little less
http://www.enhance-tech.com/products/desktop/e400fr-firewire-esata-raid.html

 

[Railgun1369]

Thanks, guys!

I've posted up on teh Mediasonic forums for some interior pics. I think that enhance-tech stuff, while nice, may be much. It seems they some with drives as well, of which I already have...and that's $1k as well.

 

[Railgun1369]

Thanks folks for the help, but I think I'm going to revert to an internal solution and completely revamp my drive setup.

I'm going to go with the new Adaptec 6805 when it comes out and move the drives into the case.

 

[FireWire2]

DATOptic Inc implements bottom fan technique to cool off the HDD
- each of a HDD has TWO fans at the bottom

Tower:eBOX-R5, T5-R5-eSUF, eBOX-N
Racmount: RM5-R5

I have T5_R5-eSUF. No matter what I do, the HDD NEVER go higher the 110F (43 C)

Add: These are stand alone raid, not driver need, it can rebuilt the raid by itself. Pretty cool stuff

 

[aritai]

If temp is more of a concern than pretty (and you want to salvage the SANS box) take the sides and front door off, prop it on something like children's blocks (high enough to clear the cables and provide an airway) so the disks are vertical with the backplane is horizontal. If just providing free airflow so the heat can naturally rise doesn't keep it cool enough, add one of the $5.99 personal cooling fans from Target to keep the air moving.