Not sure if this is the most relevant category for this or not, it's a bit of a tricky one to categorise.
Okay, so what I want to do is to build a high capacity DAS machine, probably something in the region of eight or more 3.5" bays.
The main difficulty I'm having is that although I've built PCs in the past, I've never built a more specialised DAS box. While I can't imagine the actual construction is much different, I'm having a nightmare of a time finding parts.
In particular I can find plenty of 8-bay or better pre-made devices, but no case-only products; but I can't really use a pre-made device as most are SATA expanders requiring compatible eSATA or Mini-SAS, both of which usually require an add-on card, but I'd really prefer to just use Thunderbolt to connect it as this is what I see myself using in future, and should ensure Mac compatibility.
Secondly, I don't know much of anything about storage controllers. Other than a Thunderbolt port (or some way to add one) I don't have much in the way of requirements; although on-board RAID would be nice, I'm fine just having all the drives available via JBOD as turning them into a ZFS pool will probably suit me fine. I'm assuming JBOD over Thunderbolt shouldn't have any particular compatibility issues, but I'd like to ensure Mac compatibility in case that's what I use it for in future.
Anyway, I'm looking for advice and recommendations on how I would do this, to summarise here is what I have in mind:
- 8 or more 3.5" hard drive bays.
- Preferably a tower case that's as slim as possible, but with adequate, quiet cooling.
- Thunderbolt connection.
- RAID only at a reasonable price otherwise JBOD is fine.
Okay, so what I want to do is to build a high capacity DAS machine, probably something in the region of eight or more 3.5" bays.
The main difficulty I'm having is that although I've built PCs in the past, I've never built a more specialised DAS box. While I can't imagine the actual construction is much different, I'm having a nightmare of a time finding parts.
In particular I can find plenty of 8-bay or better pre-made devices, but no case-only products; but I can't really use a pre-made device as most are SATA expanders requiring compatible eSATA or Mini-SAS, both of which usually require an add-on card, but I'd really prefer to just use Thunderbolt to connect it as this is what I see myself using in future, and should ensure Mac compatibility.
Secondly, I don't know much of anything about storage controllers. Other than a Thunderbolt port (or some way to add one) I don't have much in the way of requirements; although on-board RAID would be nice, I'm fine just having all the drives available via JBOD as turning them into a ZFS pool will probably suit me fine. I'm assuming JBOD over Thunderbolt shouldn't have any particular compatibility issues, but I'd like to ensure Mac compatibility in case that's what I use it for in future.
Anyway, I'm looking for advice and recommendations on how I would do this, to summarise here is what I have in mind:
- 8 or more 3.5" hard drive bays.
- Preferably a tower case that's as slim as possible, but with adequate, quiet cooling.
- Thunderbolt connection.
- RAID only at a reasonable price otherwise JBOD is fine.