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HELP! Savvios in RAID in a 3.5 enclosure area

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:20 pm
by leor
Ok, so I have 6 Savvios i want to fit into an area meant to hold 5x 3.5 inch drives (savvios are 2.5" laptop sized SCSI drives). I have a backplane for the 6 drives that fits perfectly into that spot I just need a heat resistant and non damaging way of securing them, and making sure there are no loose connections.

Also doing this in a way in which they can be removed and replaced (in case of drive failure) would be a good thing. Any ideas?

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:22 pm
by Usacomp2k3
That material is the enclosure made out of? (or pics would be even better)

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:45 pm
by leor
Usacomp2k3 wrote:
That material is the enclosure made out of? (or pics would be even better)

it's the lower part of a full tower case, I'll be able to post pics tonight.

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:44 am
by Evil Engine Number Nine
If you've got a backplane that fits, you could check out some of the aftermarket manufactuers for some slide loks, then you just have to measure, drill, screw and slide ^.^

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:40 pm
by leor
ok, ok i got pics!

<img src="http://www.leor.com/stuff/savvio1.jpg">

<img src="http://www.leor.com/stuff/savvio2.jpg">

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:54 pm
by Evil Engine Number Nine
Woah, you desperatly need some cable management my friend.

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:55 pm
by leor
Evil Engine Number Nine wrote:
Woah, you desperatly need some cable management my friend.

i could care less about cable management, i just want to secure those tiny drives!

cable management is for pansies and metrosexual geeks :lol:

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:15 am
by Evil Engine Number Nine
Hahahaha!

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:23 am
by mattsteg
leor wrote:
Evil Engine Number Nine wrote:
Woah, you desperatly need some cable management my friend.

i could care less about cable management, i just want to secure those tiny drives!

cable management is for pansies and metrosexual geeks :lol:
I tend to agree

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:58 am
by Evil Engine Number Nine
Sweet Zombie JESUS! Look at that mess! I guess I'll have to clean that up :D

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:05 am
by mattsteg
Evil Engine Number Nine wrote:
Sweet Zombie JESUS! Look at that mess! I guess I'll have to clean that up :D
Could you spellcheck your sig first?

(we all have our own litle neatness fetishes I guess)

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:46 pm
by SpotTheCat
If I had a few more hard drives and another CD drive my case would look very full, but I could still route the cables nicely.

Leor, any chance you can fabricate something yourself? do you have access to a press?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:33 pm
by Usacomp2k3
Could you just get some cheap pegboard from Lowes and cut holes in it? I would say styrofoam, but the heat probably wouldn't be good.

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:37 pm
by leor
Usacomp2k3 wrote:
Could you just get some cheap pegboard from Lowes and cut holes in it? I would say styrofoam, but the heat probably wouldn't be good.

I don't have a lowes around here bu this the first actual idea from anyone.

where are the clever geeks and case modders???

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 6:11 pm
by cheesyking
Wood

It's the easiest thing to work with but it wouldn't look very professional.

I'd use two small sheets of ply to screw the drives between. Then you'd need to think of a way to fix what would now resemble a box onto that base plate you've got.

Making it out of sheet aluminium would probably be better but it would be much harder to work with if you don't have a workshop with the right tools.

I suppose another approach would be to use blocks of wood to pad out the drives so you could screw them directly to the cage that's built into the case. Doing that you'd have to get them all the right height so all the connectors match up when you fix the base plate on. I think that would be harder than it sounds though.

EDIT:
Just being nosey, what's the machine for, why the unusual storage?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:47 pm
by leor
cheesyking wrote:
EDIT:
Just being nosey, what's the machine for, why the unusual storage?

it's for a workstation, and I have access to lots of Savvios. I wanted to create some fast, fault tolerant storage so it could both be used as a scratch disk, and hold important information.

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:45 am
by SpotTheCat
alright, I'm against putting stuff that looks extremely jimmy-rigged in a workstation. I would see if you can find someone (or do it yourself) to fabricate a drive rack for you. A simple U housing with the correct hole placement would be pretty easy to make, provided you have a 90 degree press and a sheet of metal.

I would want mine to be an upside-down U with tabs on the ends facing out. I would drill holes in the tabs and the bottom of the case and bolt the bracket to the bottom of the case. I'm not a great metal worker, so mine would probably cut you just by looking at you, but maybe you know someone who can roll edges so it's a little more study and less cut-inducing.

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:16 pm
by leor
errr, I live in NYC, wtf is a 90 degree press? I have a tiny apartment, and i own a normal drill. I've got access to hardware stores, and home depot.

The case is the gigabyte aurora.

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:25 pm
by zgirl
leor wrote:
errr, I live in NYC, wtf is a 90 degree press?


That would be this

Acrylic plastic would work too and is none conductive.

And some cable routing is nice. I like to be able to reach system componets without having a rat's nest of cables in the way. [/url]

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:25 pm
by digitalnrg
Just get two sheets of metal and cut them to the size of 6 2.5" drives stacked (with air space) and make a bracket for each side of the drives.

Then use that cage (all 6 drives with both sides mounted) and mount that to one side of the 5.25" drive bay. You can find a space (metal tube) and a long screw to extend a bar across to the other side of the 5.25" drive bay if you want more support.

like this:

[|====|---]
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|---]

Mine is just like the U braket but its 2 individual sides which means you dont have to bend the metal at exact measurments nor would u have to use a drill press and you can drill both sides at one time to get the hole placement correct.

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:59 pm
by Flying Fox
[|====|---]
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|---]

:)

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:29 pm
by leor
digitalnrg wrote:
Just get two sheets of metal and cut them to the size of 6 2.5" drives stacked (with air space) and make a bracket for each side of the drives.

Then use that cage (all 6 drives with both sides mounted) and mount that to one side of the 5.25" drive bay. You can find a space (metal tube) and a long screw to extend a bar across to the other side of the 5.25" drive bay if you want more support.

like this:

[|====|---]
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|
[|____|
[|====|---]

Mine is just like the U braket but its 2 individual sides which means you dont have to bend the metal at exact measurments nor would u have to use a drill press and you can drill both sides at one time to get the hole placement correct.

this is a good idea, but i lack the implements for cutting metal, and assembeling it.

i'm kind of looking for a solution i can just use without building it, like a cheesy mac guyver thing. :-?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:33 pm
by Flying Fox
leor wrote:
like a cheesy mac guyver thing. :-?

But MacGuyver builds his own stuff, and you can't buy the stuff off him because usually his stuff is one-time use only. :)

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:10 am
by Evil Engine Number Nine
Mac Guyver? I'd like to see a computer built out of rubberbands, chewing gum, and paperclips ^.^

If you have acces to junk cases you should be able to salvage enough 3.5 drive cages to mount in place. RE-Drilling screw holes should'nt be a problem. Check your local electronics disposal yard.

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:15 am
by Evil Engine Number Nine
I dun have a spellchecker and can't spell well. What's misspelled on my sig?
Thanks for the tip.

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:23 am
by SpotTheCat
you could try mounting them SPCR style with rubber bungies. it would be quiet, run cool, and hopefully safe.

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:25 am
by leor
Evil Engine Number Nine wrote:
If you have acces to junk cases you should be able to salvage enough 3.5 drive cages to mount in place.

my drives are 2.5 inches, trying to fit those in the 3.5 space.

and u misspelled athlon :wink:

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:05 am
by digitalnrg
okay, i am sure that you can go to home depot or whatever and find two metal sheets and have them cut to size.

You can probably get the metal in narrow widths (like a 2x4, but thin) and have them cut into two strips. You could also just get a cheep hand saw for this.

okay

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:38 pm
by digitalnrg
ghetto style...

just drill holes on one side of the larger drive bay and screw each drive in on one side only. if you are worried, you can use my spacer idea to space each out to the other side or, get a strip (with holes in it already) and use it to line up the drive mounts on the other side.

Re: okay

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:09 pm
by leor
digitalnrg wrote:
ghetto style...

just drill holes on one side of the larger drive bay and screw each drive in on one side only. if you are worried, you can use my spacer idea to space each out to the other side or, get a strip (with holes in it already) and use it to line up the drive mounts on the other side.

well i have to connect them to that backplane, which fits perfectly in that space, so it would be ideal to have them centered. there's also the pain in the butt of having them perfectly vertically spaced to the SCA connectors are lined up.

maybe i should just use duct tape? :-P