> On Friday 09 July 2004 07:19 am, Eric Crist wrote: > > > > I'm just asking opinions here, but: > > > > What do you prefer for a 2U rack mount server case? I want to keep the > > cost down, but I want something that looks nice and is functional. I've > > got 5 servers I'm looking at replacing existing cases on to make them > > match, as well as to free up some rack space, as some cases I currently > > own are 4U, and some are 2U. > > I would recommend you avoid the Antec 2U unit (& probably all Antec > rack-mounts if the 2U is any indication). > > Jay
Antec appeared to have no practical experience with mid-density servers when they made their 2U abomination. I had the product which appears to have morphed slightly into the 2U26ATX300XPR. Power supplies for a chassis should be mounted in the back. Antec apparently decided that there was a benefit to using a traditional ATX style PS, but then *still* modified it to have a cord extension to the power socket on the back. The power supply cable won't reach to certain motherboards - in my case, the ASUS P2B-DS. I despise having to use extenders in a 2U case. The brilliant internal drive arrays are enough to make me scream. They no longer make the nice case that they once made, the 3480B, which was a 4U short case with three front accessible bays. We still use the ones we have, generally retrofitting them with a 5-drive-to-3-bay SCA converter. They take a normal ATX MB and PS with no fuss, and the only major complaint I ever had was that I couldn't stick a large ATX MB like the P2B-DS in and also a hardware RAID controller in the bottom two bays, because they'd overlap by about a quarter of an inch. This is a function of the RAID controller being too long, not really an Antec issue. :-) We no longer buy Antec products because they have made themselves irrelevant. If you are looking for *cheap*, I doubt you can beat the price on a Skyhawk 2U like the IPC-2025L - usually around $100. They are not great units. They are made of cheaper, thinner steel, and the screws thread out if you're not careful (we're a power screwdriver shop). They do use a regular ATX power supply, but front-mounted (ecch). Once you discard the riser card that comes with them, make sure the speaker isn't shorted out against the case, and commit to buying a real riser, however, there are not too many other issues. They're basically usable after several lessons in frustration. If you are looking for *nice*, AIC/T-Win has some nice stuff in a multitude of configurations, some I like, some I don't, but all of which seem to have been targetted at various specific applications, so I can at least appreciate their thoroughness. http://www.aicipc.com ("mfr" website) We currently use a number of their RMC2Q-XP cases out at Equinix Ashburn. Very nice, 6 drives on trays, good airflow, keeps reasonably cool even though there is a pair of AMD MP 2400's on a S2469 and 6 x 15K RPM Fujitsu drives. We've had one major incident in the last year which *might* have been related to the chassis; we swapped a SCSI backplane. I am reasonably certain it was the drive though (but when you're flying, you're replacing all the possible bad components). The 2Q-XP comes with 300W, 460W, or various redundant supplies, can be configured for normal riser card/PCI or low profile PCI, etc., etc. Very thoughtful. That is, of course, more pricey than you'll want for most applications, but the design appears representative of the rest of their products (of which we have a number). If you're looking to buy any of these, drop me a line and I can point you right. You can get truly screwed buying them from some vendors. ... JG -- Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net "We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I won't contact you again." - Direct Marketing Ass'n position on e-mail spam(CNN) With 24 million small businesses in the US alone, that's way too many apples. _______________________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
