Server Chassis

[Mind Blank]

I have in my possession, a case that can hold:

4 x 5.25" Drives
8 x 3.5" Drives

I'd like to make the most of all of that space, but I have no clue what to do with it, especially since I don't want to run a web or gaming server. What use could I get from all of that? You tell me! (Plz)

[TheMatrix]

You could use it as a large PC...?

[Magus]

"5.25" drives space? You can buy four disc writer and start making pirated copies of films and games.

[Vaulter]

Sell it to someone who DOES want to run a server? Barring that, is the case fairly soundproof? Set it up with some cheap hardware inside, and then whenever you find hard drives on sale buy em and shove them in it. Buy 5.25 bay converters to fit even more HDDs in it. Turn it into a home theater PC with room to expand forever!

[TheMatrix]

Sell it to someone who DOES want to run a server? Barring that, is the case fairly soundproof?
Server chasis are not usually known for their quietness :P

Set it up with some cheap hardware inside, and then whenever you find hard drives on sale buy em and shove them in it. Buy 5.25 bay converters to fit even more HDDs in it. Turn it into a home theater PC with room to expand forever!
Be careful with that, as you'll run into power, hardware, memory and manageability issues. Such a setup is likely to overload the PSU upon startup, causing a fire(worst case scenario). Cheap hardware is cheap for a reason, and there won't be enough addresses available(assuming you use 32 bits) for all of the drives. You may get luckier with a RAID type of setup, but even that may not always work as intended.

[Vaulter]

Server chasis are not usually known for their quietness :P


Be careful with that, as you'll run into power, hardware, memory and manageability issues. Such a setup is likely to overload the PSU upon startup, causing a fire(worst case scenario). Cheap hardware is cheap for a reason, and there won't be enough addresses available(assuming you use 32 bits) for all of the drives. You may get luckier with a RAID type of setup, but even that may not always work as intended.

I know the post was titled "server chassis" but just because it has that many drive bays doesn't mean its true server chassis, most full sized cases can fit that many drives, and some mid-sized ones as well. He might just be thinking that a server is the most obvious use for it. If that's not the case my question would be, what brought a server case into your possession?

Also, cheap doesn't mean shoddy, it means cheap. An e-350 board would cost him 100 bucks, plus a decent used power supply for however much he wants to pay along with a sata expansion card would probably let him run as many drives as he wants, though its true I don't really know the logistics of it as I've never tried. I'm sure some JBOD setup would work out mediocrely (<thats not a word, but I couldn't think of the right grammar, sorry).

EDIT-Some more information on whatever: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104489

[Mind Blank]

Thanks guys. Of course, there aren't even enough connectors on the mobo to support that many, and a PSU to handle the lot would be damn expensive. I'm not sure I want a super-movie-pirating machine anyway. I think I'll sell it. ^.^