ijustpostwhenimhi
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Designing and 3d printing a rackmount case for a SAS backplane with caddies
The server is a Raspberry Pi 5 with 10G networking and a SAS controller.
The backplane supports daisy chaining up to 8 units.
It most likely had its own case originally that attached to a rack, but as purchased it doesn't have rackmount ears or cooling.
To fix this, I decided to print a case.
For heat resistance and strength I'm using ABS, but I've also started testing polycarbonate.
Tags:
@StackMySwitchUp
Still working on finishing touches for the the rear but then I'll get to the top and bottom panels
Side panels and ears are 6mm thick with 100% infill in the ear and screw holes regions, 40% honeycomb elsewhere.
The side panels use 5 countersunk m3x15 screws each.
Sides and rear panels use interlocking cutouts for alignment and then the seams are welded with ethylene dichloride
5 80mm exhaust fans and slot for power & I/O
I'm looking into internal-to-external SAS port adapters as a possible clean looking I/O solution
Cat tax
LeftRightThere
What SAS controller did you go with?
ijustpostwhenimhi
Broadcom 9440-8i cross flashed to 9400 (IT mode). The LSI/Broadcom controllers only support ARM 94xx and on
UnitConversionBot
6mm ≈ 240 thousandths of an inch
Jamerperson
How are you getting 10 gigabit from a pi5? Are you using a pcie switcher like Jeff Geerling tried?
ijustpostwhenimhi
PEX 8724 gen3 switch, speed testing /gallery/ibycbb4 I've contributed to Jeff's database while putting this all together :)
Jamerperson
Awesome. I wish I was talented enough to contribute to foss
StackMySwitchUp
Nice! Are you going to fill all the fan slots or put in blinds? You'll have a lot of negative pressure in that back part if you put all fans in there,it'll be noisy. Likely only need one or 2
ijustpostwhenimhi
Wasn't sure tbh. The backplane has cutouts in the PCB for airflow but they're admittedly small, so I wasn't sure how much pressure I'd need to pull air through them. I'll know once it's all closed up and running and I can get temp readouts
StackMySwitchUp
I think a fan in position 2 and 4 should be plenty,provided you seal it enough so it pulls through, i suggest the slowest fans you can find. Unless you run it in a space that gets incredibly hot
ijustpostwhenimhi
I'll certainly try and see what the minimum airflow & pressure requirement is. No good pic of the back on hand atm, but this is from the product page
(red square unrelated). It's mostly the 2nd column (from left) of drives that I'm concerned with since the cut outs are so small in that area. The location it'll be mounted is not significantly hot.
StackMySwitchUp
Backplanes on real servers are similarly slotted, i wouldn't worry too much
ijustpostwhenimhi
fair
korndogg83
What are you gonna be storing on there?
ijustpostwhenimhi
Media mostly. A private Netflix/Spotify (Plex media server) shared among friends, but also general archiving.
korndogg83
Very nice! I have wanted to set up a new plex server as well with higher resolution too. Looks like a great build.
PythonIndentAwwwYiss
I strongly recommend Jellyfin instead of Plex. No online account, no paywall for hardware decoding, etc
ijustpostwhenimhi
Yeah I've been considering looking into alternatives. I'd heard of Kodi but not jellyfin. I'll check it out
RoaminGnome47
I use hjellyfin and am a fan (not a hardcore user, just direct streaming in house) and a friend has used kodi for years. Im not opposed to paying but plex does funny things with the money i wouldn't want lol
Octocatcreations
I'm going to throw Emby out there as another amazing option. Completely free for just about all features and allows casting from phone to devices.