HDD Case

[mrjack]

Here's my latest creation... a case for 6 HDDs. I recently got 2 new HDDs, which meant that I didn't have enough space in the case to keep them properly cooled. So I decided to build an external case for them. So far the temperatures have been well below what they used to be (all of them below 30°C, some of the used to go up to 40°C in the computer case).

The case is mostly aluminum, but the top and bottom are sheet metal. There is a removable rack inside, which is made out of flat iron bars or whatever you could call it. The Xilence fans are very silent and moving the HDDs out of the computer case have made it possible to turn down the speed of the fans in computer case thus reducing noise. The HDDs are now sitting on foam pads, which has also reduced noise quite a bit compared to the old mounting system (screws).

Perhaps I'll make my custom computer case in the summer so I have a case to use for my next computer.

 

[memory]

That's pretty cool. Maybe you can get a patent for that and start selling them The only thing I would change is put a cover over the fans so nothing can hit them.

6 hard drives What do you do to require 6 hard drives?

 

[mrjack]

That's pretty cool. Maybe you can get a patent for that and start selling them The only thing I would change is put a cover over the fans so nothing can hit them.

Thanks. My original plan was to make a case where the fans would be on the inside but I didn't have enough aluminum for that. I've been thinking about getting some dust filters, which would also act as covers.

6 hard drives What do you do to require 6 hard drives?

My recordings take quite a bit of space as well as my media collection which is basically just backups of my DVDs and CDs (my Dream Theater DVDs in particular require a lot of space). Plus the two 1Tb HDDs are set up as a RAID 1 array for redundancy, so they "only" add 1Tb of storage space.

 

[bomberboysk]

Is there enough room internally to mount the fans? Would make it look a bit more sleek, just add some fan grilles or something to the outside

How hard is it to make something like this from aluminum, and what sorta tools did you use?

 

[Stoic Sentinel]

Nice job, man :good:

 

[Shane]

Wow thats good!

Like mentioned,Fanguards would finish it off nicely,maybe a black cable tidy or cable wrap to hide those Sata cables.

But very nice.

Does it have its own power supply?

 

[mrjack]

Is there enough room internally to mount the fans? Would make it look a bit more sleek, just add some fan grilles or something to the outside

No, the HDDs would come out a bit from the case if I did mount the fans inside. Besides, the aluminum part of the case isn't wide enough on the inside, it's about a half a centimeter too narrow for the fan.

How hard is it to make something like this from aluminum, and what sorta tools did you use?

The aluminum case was something we had around the house, it was in the right shape and about the right size. The aluminum was easy to cut as well. It's not that hard to do, just be prepared to put some time in to the work.

Tools used:
- a hand riveter (for attaching the top and bottom pieces of sheet metal)
- a drill press (for cutting out the holes for the fans as well as for the mounting screws(
- a MIG welder (for welding the inner skeleton which holds the HDDs)
- a sander

Nice job, man :good:

Wow thats good!

Thanks!

Like mentioned,Fanguards would finish it off nicely,maybe a black cable tidy or cable wrap to hide those Sata cables.

But very nice.

I'm probably going to tidy up the cables. I'm not sure if I'm going to put finger guards on, I like the way it looks now. And I don't have to worry about a sibling/pet putting their fingers/paws in there.

Does it have its own power supply?

No, it uses the computer's power supply. You should see the mess of cables behind the case. I routed the power cable and SATA cables via a free expansion card slot in the computer case.

 

[Stoic Sentinel]

Oh, and I love the plans for your case. I don't have the resources to do something like that, nor the time, good luck

 

[Rit]

Nice! I would have no use for this as I'm having a hard time filling up a 500gb HD but if I had more that's definitely a classy chassis!

It's hard to tell, but how much space is between each HD?

 

[mrjack]

Oh, and I love the plans for your case. I don't have the resources to do something like that, nor the time, good luck

Thanks!

Nice! I would have no use for this as I'm having a hard time filling up a 500gb HD but if I had more that's definitely a classy chassis!

It's hard to tell, but how much space is between each HD?

Thanks! There's a space of about 2-2.5 cm (0.79-0.98 inches) between the HDDs.

 

[zombine210]

sweet, man!
looks very pro, matches your case an the fans are menacing enough to keep anybody from sticking anything in them

 

[mrjack]

Update:

I went out and got myself these:

I think they are StarTech 120mm dust filters. The place that I bought them from didn't mention the brand, but they look identical to the StarTech dust filters I ran across on the internet. They are made of three parts, the mounting portion, the filter and the cover.

I'll install them during the weekend.

I have 6 HDDs, but I may also install an old one that isn't currently in use when I get a Blu-ray drive and a RAID card in the near future.

Update:

Had some extra time and decided to install the filters.