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VIDEO: User Crams 16 TB into SFF Case

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US

Eight HDDs were stuffed into a SFF case.

Looking for server-class storage but just don't want to cough up the room for a towering rack mount? One modder has figured out a way to cram over 16 TB worth of storage into a small form factor (SFF) case. The entire step-by-step process, listed here, has actually landed sponsorship by the likes of NewEgg, Crucial, and others.

Designed by Will Urbina, the project is called Black Dwarf, and consists of a Quanmax KEEX-2030 ECX motherboard powered by an Intel Atom N270. The board also features a PCI-e x4 slot which was filled by a HighPoint Rocket RAID 2680 8-port SATA/SAS raid controller card purchased from Newegg.

As for the storage, Urbina used eight 3.5-inch HDDs, with an additional two 2.5-inch HDDs to be installed later. "In addition to being tasked with storing huge amounts of files on the system's 8 3.5-inch drives, this computer would also be running 24/7 running sharing files on Bit Torrent," he admitted.

To see how he created the Black Dwarf, check out the video--the first part of two--located below. The website also shows a pictorial step-by-step process as well as professional-looking shots of the finished product.

Black Dwarf Case Mod

There are 67 Comments. B
Top Comments
  • 27
    tpi2007 , May 1, 2010 1:22 AM
    16TB of entirely legitimate stuff to share, for sure ;) 
  • 24
    kalogagatya , May 1, 2010 1:16 AM
    ULTIMATE
    PORN
    COLLECTION

    also that looks pretty awesome :) 
  • 18
    dunderklumpton , May 1, 2010 1:18 AM
    Awesome Torrent box, but a bit large for my needs. But can it play Cr... n/m
Other Comments
  • 24
    kalogagatya , May 1, 2010 1:16 AM
    ULTIMATE
    PORN
    COLLECTION

    also that looks pretty awesome :) 
  • 18
    dunderklumpton , May 1, 2010 1:18 AM
    Awesome Torrent box, but a bit large for my needs. But can it play Cr... n/m
  • 8
    nukemaster , May 1, 2010 1:20 AM
    This guy loves his cameras and not leaving any breathing room for his drives.
  • 2
    fjjb , May 1, 2010 1:20 AM
    Now gaming companies wont have the excuse to have dedicated servers!
  • 27
    tpi2007 , May 1, 2010 1:22 AM
    16TB of entirely legitimate stuff to share, for sure ;) 
  • 1
    Spanky Deluxe , May 1, 2010 1:24 AM
    I hope he's using a decent raid setup because those disks may fail a little early what with all the metal dust and sparks he blew at them while cutting metal etc for the case! I'm also not convinced that the cooling of the hard drives is ideal.

    Edit: Just realised after getting towards the end of the second video that the original hard drives there were old scrap ones for sizing reasons so the sparks and dust doesn't matter. :)  Great build!
  • 14
    gwolfman , May 1, 2010 1:35 AM
    dunderklumptonAwesome Torrent box, but a bit large for my needs. But can it play Cr... n/m

    No, but I think it can store Crysis.
  • -4
    chess , May 1, 2010 1:36 AM
    Has an iron man feel to it lol but..I wonder how in the world is he gonna fit the power and sata cables
  • 3
    joebob2000 , May 1, 2010 1:40 AM
    Spanky DeluxeI hope he's using a decent raid setup because those disks may fail a little early what with all the metal dust and sparks he blew at them while cutting metal etc for the case! I'm also not convinced that the cooling of the hard drives is ideal.

    He probably doesn't have to worry about longevity; with 16TB worth of torrents running he will have all his gear confiscated by the BSA, RIAA, MPAA, or similar agency within the week. Problem solved!
  • 2
    warmon6 , May 1, 2010 1:41 AM
    hey toms, need to add the second video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPjcXkKxkIA
  • 1
    ksenter , May 1, 2010 1:42 AM
    Wow, he put so much time and effort into this, I don't understand why he didn't leave more space for airflow between the hard drives, and it seems like mounting them at the odd angle would be bad for the motors...
  • 3
    Sabiancym , May 1, 2010 1:42 AM
    So does this thing catch on fire every couple of hours?
  • 8
    schwiing , May 1, 2010 1:43 AM
    I wish I had enough money for all those cameras + tools...my workshop consists of 1 saw and a set of screwdrivers
  • 10
    PC_GI , May 1, 2010 1:48 AM
    Crystal meth strikes again!!!!
  • 5
    anonymous@guest , May 1, 2010 1:50 AM
    i think i know the who next victim for the MPAA and RIAA is......
  • -8
    hellwig , May 1, 2010 2:12 AM
    tpi200716TB of entirely legitimate stuff to share, for sureWho has 16TB of s

    Seriously, what does anyone need with 16TB? And for what he must have spent on those drives, wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy those movies and games?

    Still, it was a nice experiment in the "what if" category.
  • 1
    anonymous@guest , May 1, 2010 2:18 AM
    It also looks like the HD's he had during the build process were old ones, since he brought in the new shipment of individual 2TB drives at the end.
  • 5
    Hellbound , May 1, 2010 2:21 AM
    I like the build. But I was more impressed with the camera work.
  • -3
    nforce4max , May 1, 2010 2:46 AM
    I am going to get trolled for this but cutting sheet metal near drives and boards is a very bad idea. Why simple the shavings can get ware they should not be and create electrical shorts. Second the cooling on the drives isn't enough for both performance and life, hard drives need to be cooled.
  • 0
    WR , May 1, 2010 3:09 AM
    The 140mm fan should be enough to remove the
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