Organization needed!

[Nanometer]

For obvious reasons I can't leave my computer with so many hard drives sitting on top. Right now I have 6 HDD and I am adding 2 more to make it 8. I need some help figuring out where I can put the last 2. I also have a radiator that takes up most of the bays.

Here is a picture so you can see what I'm talking about.

[Nazu]

So you don't have any room for a hd rack like Thermaltake iCage (http://www.thermaltake.com/xaserCase/icage/icage.htm)? If not your option are pretty limited. You could buy external usb hd boxes but those are slower than ide or sata and would take all your usb ports.

[Nanometer]

I wish I had room for one, maybe I should downgrade to a single 120mm radiator :(. I think I could have them mounted next to the radiator and just have the drives sticking out a little, don't have many other options.

[[XC]melymel]

Could you mount the BIP2 in place of the grill at the bottom of the stacker to free up the bays? :shrug:

:toast:

[Nanometer]

Hm, yes it can be done, but that means I can't have a fan there anymore. And since I have 4 raptors in that spot and it won't have a fan there, it seems like suicide lol. It's a really good idea, but I need my raptor cooling.

[dig412]

Get another mini case to put them in, or an iCage like was suggested above.

[Nanometer]

I considered an external housing, but there is no possible way I would ever consider using USB connections for my HDDs after of simple experience. The negative side gives you horrible transfer rates. And bandwidth is pretty much what I am interested in. ;)

So My solution is going to be one of a few ideas:

1. I mount the drives and have them sticking out, however they will be secured on one side.

2. I take some HDD brackets and drill holes and then I can properly mount them. Similar to idea to 1.

3. Put my other HDD(not raptors) into an external enclosure and have to take it every where I go. hah



I think idea number 2 is going to be the way that I go. It will cool my HDDs wich is a plus. And I will be able to mount my radiator much essier because the HDDs will prevent it from falling backwards. I will take pictures and show you what I mean after I finish this. :)

[Nanometer]

Does anyone know what strip size I should be using for the 4 Raptors in RAID-0?

If I don't get an answer from here I'll make a new thread or search around first.

[Nanometer]

no1 ? :)

[Nanometer]

I'm not patient! lol I'll just go research it....

[Serra]

Why not mount the BIP2 on the bottom of the case and just get another one or two of the hard drive cages for the stacker that have the 120mm fan mounts on the front? That seems like the best solution... you'll get internal housing for your hard drives and you'll get the fans up front that you want.

For strip sizes:
There used to be a long thread here about how for an average XP install the "best" performance seemed to come from using a strip size that is 4x the cluster size. For an unmodified install, the cluster size is 4kb, so 16kb was the better one... but the performance difference depended on exactly what you're doing in terms of file size.

[Nanometer]

No room on the bottom of my case with a Enermax Galaxy. I can't mount it outside because I live in a home with dogs. They shed and the hair gets everywhere.I did find a solution though and it's working out. I'll try to get some pictures out and show you guys wht I did hehe.

[Nanometer]

Also, I know in order to keep the data split evenly, I heard somewhere that it is better to use larger strip sizes(I think).

I think 32 stripe size might be the one.

Sory bout no pictures yet, I'll post thme as soon as I get some free time. This is a really bussy week.