Hey all,
I want to add 4 HDDs externally to my server, which i use for jellyfin, some cloud etc. I was thinking about getting a SAS port like the LSI 9300 8e. The problem i have is that i dont know where to store my HDDs. I need a power supply and ideally a case or something. I have the feeling you find a lot of DAS solutions with usb which are to avoid or eSATA which throttles everything down. Have you any recommendations for cases and power supplies for me? and if you know a good all in one DAS where every hdd as a seperate sata port, please let me know.
You may wish to consider just building a proper home NAS into a chassis like DS380 with a cheap ITX board and a decent controller if you need the throughput.
Well, I want to use the hardware i have at home first bevore i buy a new nas. But having an external hdd rack would also allow me to seperate storage from computation and make everything a bit more modular
Oh no, I’m just suggesting upcycling someones old itx hardware and new chassis and making something that isn’t literally fragile.
Also, USB SATA controllers in those external hard drives tend to suck.
Here is the issue with modularity like you are planning. If a cable is loose because something bumped into it you now have a problem to chase. Even worse you now have the potential for a power cable to become completely unplugged while the host is still up and running. Having two power supplies also creates a potential for a ground loop through the data cables if things are not made correctly.
Some people have been able to use USB drives connected to a computer to create a NAS but they are also the ones hitting forums because they have issues. What you are trying to do isn’t much different. If you want to keep your hardware you would be much better off getting a case that can hold all your drives. A used server chassis would be ideal if you use a SAS card. But if you are going to upgrade anyway maybe it’s a time to make plans to make the switch sooner than later.
Do some commercial solutions for this exist that are safe, yes they also live in racks and are effectively ground connected with the cabling protected/much less likely to be bumped into.
so you basicly also recommend getting a proper case and psu to fit everything into one machine?
Yes.
It eliminates risks.
For example I have a proper NAS, a server with one large drive, and 2 external drives.
Guess what I never have a problem with? The NAS or the internal drives. Occasionally one of the external drives will just disappear from the server, because they’re not really intended to be up 24/7. So I’ll have to power cycle it.
Also those external drives don’t have any active cooling - they weren’t designed for that use case. So I’ve found they tend to get warm if I’m copying anything to them, and now have an old case fan on them. Talk about janky.