Case as dumb file "host"?

[joex444]

Got an old case and an AT PSU. Never done anything before, dont even know how to start.

Crazy idea: make the front just a bunch of 5.25" bays, the whole way up and down. move the power switch somewhere else, back probably. put a USB 2.0 switch in it (rather, two), and a bunch of (I can fit 9, I think) mobile drive trays that use 5.25" bays. Use IDE -> USB2.0 cables to connect the drives to the switch in the case. Then I can connect this box to my real PC via USB2.0 and access the drives as local drives. Can use XP Pro to make equally sized drives into RAID, or leave them alone, who knows...

Anyways, what I really need to know is the basics:

How do I cut the front of the case? I also have to cut the front plastic part. I would need someway of attaching the racks to the case, kind of like how optical drives go in normal cases, so, hows that work. Heck, where can I get metal, never had the need....

What tools should I use? I have a jigsaw, those work well?

How do I attach metal that I make into other things to the bottom of the case?

I think I would know how to fit a USB plug into the back of it.

The AT power supply with its AT switch-ness makes power a non-issue. 230W for 9 drives seems good...

Inspiration: http://www.high-rely.com/index.cfm?action=products&group=2 ...without the rackmount capability....

[mashie]

I used a 5-bay hot-swap mobile S-ATA HDD rack in my fileserver (http://www.mashie.org/casemods/udat1.html). They give you a lot higher drive density so you don't have to hack up the whole front.

[limion]

what kind of motherboard and stuff do you use for such a server?

(i'm thinking of just making a case with nothing but HDD's)

[joex444]

it is NOT a server :)

its more like an external hard drive, except they're all removable from a seperate case. Its just a box with drives. The drives all are IDE, and will have a powerless IDE to USB2 adapter. Then the USB cables for each drive will go into 1 of 2 hubs mounted inside the case. These hubs, ideally, are powered by USB and do not need an external power source (though, if need be, I have enough room to do some bizarre power source things (perhaps mounting a small strip in there, mounting the PSU transversly, and instead of using a normal PC power cable, I would use a 3 prong extension cord, leading to the strip, which would connect the PSU with a normal cable, and the two hubs). Then the hub's root data source (USB A plug...think thats the square one) would get mounted on the back of the case, where I can connect a USB A to B cable from my PC to it. Thus, it would be similar to having a bunch of external HDs connected to a USB hub. If you wonder why do this and not get a bunch of external cases, well, I have the removable trays for free, as well as this case.

So, basically, no motherboard, its not a computer at all :) These drives will actually be local drives, not network ones.

I got the "idea" from a review Toms Hardware did in Mass Storage, think it was Alternatives to Tape Backup, and it was the 7 bay High Rely product. It costs more than $2k with seven 80GB drives (560GB)...

[mashie]

what kind of motherboard and stuff do you use for such a server?

(i'm thinking of just making a case with nothing but HDD's)
I used an Epia M10000 and a Broadcom RAID 5 controller.

[mashie]

it is NOT a server :)

its more like an external hard drive, except they're all removable from a seperate case. Its just a box with drives. The drives all are IDE, and will have a powerless IDE to USB2 adapter. Then the USB cables for each drive will go into 1 of 2 hubs mounted inside the case. These hubs, ideally, are powered by USB and do not need an external power source (though, if need be, I have enough room to do some bizarre power source things (perhaps mounting a small strip in there, mounting the PSU transversly, and instead of using a normal PC power cable, I would use a 3 prong extension cord, leading to the strip, which would connect the PSU with a normal cable, and the two hubs). Then the hub's root data source (USB A plug...think thats the square one) would get mounted on the back of the case, where I can connect a USB A to B cable from my PC to it. Thus, it would be similar to having a bunch of external HDs connected to a USB hub. If you wonder why do this and not get a bunch of external cases, well, I have the removable trays for free, as well as this case.

So, basically, no motherboard, its not a computer at all :) These drives will actually be local drives, not network ones.

I got the "idea" from a review Toms Hardware did in Mass Storage, think it was Alternatives to Tape Backup, and it was the 7 bay High Rely product. It costs more than $2k with seven 80GB drives (560GB)...
You will need a PSU to power the HDDs regardless. To put it all on USB2 will work but at some quite aweful performance.

[joex444]

Thats why I chose the old AT case, it has the switch that can turn it on and off without a board or home-made switch.

Since its not going to be RAID'd, and its local and not network, I will be the only one using it, and it will be one drive at a time (could do JBOD through XP Pro, though, all different size drives), that is 480MBps of bandwidth. That is a theoretical max of 60MB/sec, so it could be similar to ATA/66. For what its worth, the thing that gave me the idea was benchmarked at 18MB/sec Backup, only 3MB/sec shy of a RAID1 2.5" drive device, which was connected with true IDE. Remeber thats a backup benchmark, not a raw transfer or a synthetic benchmark. Surely wont be as fast as a Raptor, or if they were connected normally (my case is too small to hold more drives than what I have [2HD,FD,3 Optical], so installing more IDE controllers is not possible).

OK, then, so can someone tell me how I can hack apart the front metal part, the plastic bezel, where I can buy metal to make a place where the bays can screw in? A webpage that you learned these things from or something?

BTW, can jigsaws do this? Do they need a metal cutting bit for this thickness (like a regular average size thickness)?

[joex444]

This is kinda what Im thinking:
http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20050225/tape_backup-06.html

[fishies]

Got an old case and an AT PSU. Never done anything before, dont even know how to start.

Here's as good a place as any. :)


Crazy idea: make the front just a bunch of 5.25" bays, the whole way up and down. move the power switch somewhere else, back probably. put a USB 2.0 switch in it (rather, two), and a bunch of (I can fit 9, I think) mobile drive trays that use 5.25" bays. Use IDE -> USB2.0 cables to connect the drives to the switch in the case. Then I can connect this box to my real PC via USB2.0 and access the drives as local drives. Can use XP Pro to make equally sized drives into RAID, or leave them alone, who knows...
If you have the room, go for it. I've always been about large cases. Towers of power.



Anyways, what I really need to know is the basics:

How do I cut the front of the case? I also have to cut the front plastic part. I would need someway of attaching the racks to the case, kind of like how optical drives go in normal cases, so, hows that work. Heck, where can I get metal, never had the need....

I wouldn't think you'd have to cut the case just yet. The plastic front panels are usually held on by screws, or plastic tabs. If it's tabs, and you don't care about keeping the front bezel, just break them off.

If you're breaking this case right down, search it and remove every screw. Once the skeleton is in its glory, you can decide what metal to keep and what to get rid of. just remember that each piece of metal removed makes the whole case a bit weaker.

As for buying metal, start with the no buying metal approach first. If you've got other dead cases lying around, why not use metal from those first, rather than spend money unnecessarily.


What tools should I use? I have a jigsaw, those work well?

Here's a list in no order of importance. Not everything in this list is relevant to what you want to do specifically, so take from it what you will.
[list]
Jigsaw
drill
dremel
random orbital sander
vise(s)
clamps
grinder
drillpress
circular saw
rivet gun
soldering gun
multimeter



How do I attach metal that I make into other things to the bottom of the case?

Rivet guns work well.


I think I would know how to fit a USB plug into the back of it.

The AT power supply with its AT switch-ness makes power a non-issue. 230W for 9 drives seems good...

Inspiration: http://www.high-rely.com/index.cfm?action=products&group=2 ...without the rackmount capability....

I hope this helps. Anything else, just ask.

[ZeD]

since its an old AT PSU Im going to assume its not of very high quality, might not be enough to run 9 HDs the average HD peaks at about 25w 9*25=225w, your 230w PSU might go into overload. Id get a 300w minimum. Other than that good luck with your project.