Hard drive cooling on a scale

[Rastalovich]

This could possi-probably be in the rig section too...

But I was wondering, if u put together a pc/system, kinda loosely designed like a test rig (semi-open aired, easy access), and wanted to jam a handfull of hard drives into the system...

Lets say fill 4 SATA, a boot IDE and a PCI setup of 2/4 drives, giving u anything from between 6 and 10 drives (maybe powered by a seperate power source than the mobo etc)

Now, I`ve got 4 SATA drives in an open case atm and I have to say the operating heat is enourmous! u`d be supprised. I don`t think I could keep my hand on the caddie very long. Nicely spaced out too, not all cramped together. (just no fans atm) ---- anywho..

What would be the most practicable way of lining.. I`d have to say 10 to cover all possiblilities.. drives, on their side, about a drives` space between each, in a sort of `slot/slide-in` effort, but on a material that would also act as a heat sink ? (doesn`t have to be a great heat sink, just do.. some) - then of course introduce a quiet fan to cool the sink.

What u think ? If u think of one of those CD shelf units that holds like 50-100 CDs, I`m looking at that sort of slide/slot in type thing. most definately diy.

[Ham]

TBH a small amount of air flowing over the drives will cool them sufficently. Someone posted that server with like 40HDDs in it a while ago, that had a few 120mms cooling the lot iirc.

[Rastalovich]

So would you think that any construction of.. a toast-rack (for want of a better description) effort, possibly with minimal contact to allow for as close to 360 deg airflow about the drives, and and addition of a nice sized quiet-effort fan would suffice ?

I`m aware that the drives will operate add around 70 degrees without acting up, but in all honesty I`d like to ceiling it at 50 - prehaps.

Or would a rack with more contact with the drives, of a more conductive material, with a nice surface allowing it to be cooled off alongside the drives ?

I`m leaning towards either I think.

I`ve seen the big-arse server stacked 74g x 50 million drive efforts here, but as u may be aware, u walk into these rooms and the fans are deafening. >.<

[llwyd]

Well for a start it might be worth trying to mount them on their sides, allowing the heat to escape easier, I know it takes up a lot of space but it will be worth it. Maybe a rack made from aluminium with fan holes cut in the top, wouldnt be hard to make really, just use one dead HDD to mark the holes and stuff

[Rastalovich]

Yeah I think on their sides would be the best space wize too.

Hmmm alu.. conductivity ??!?!

Now the thing about having them on their sides - if I want to minimise fan-usage, I`ll want to have the blow effect go over all of them at once. If I put a fan inline with 1 drive, it`ll cause a big initial turbulance.

Gonna have to think about that a bit.

[llwyd]

Originally Posted by name='Rastalovich'

Hmmm alu.. conductivity ??!?!

I something conductive would be good..... more surface area for dissipating heat.

If you're questioning the conductivity of aluminium, all heatsinks up to high end ones / heatpipe ones are aluminium

[markkleb]

I would set them on their sides (heat rises)

and attach them with 1" wide alum strips with o-rings for where the screws attach them.

And as many 120mm fans to blow through as hdds (I think i used 1 120mm fan for 4 Hdds)

I use this in one of my first builds (missing o-rings). If you turn it on its side cooling is better.

[Rastalovich]

Originally Posted by name='llwyd'

I something conductive would be good..... more surface area for dissipating heat.

If you're questioning the conductivity of aluminium, all heatsinks up to high end ones / heatpipe ones are aluminium

Ya I meant heat conduct, should say induction prehaps with heat, bah think we know what I mean now lol

Originally Posted by name='markkleb'

I would set them on their sides (heat rises)

and attach them with 1" wide alum strips with o-rings for where the screws attach them.

And as many 120mm fans to blow through as hdds (I think i used 1 120mm fan for 4 Hdds)

I use this in one of my first builds (missing o-rings). If you turn it on its side cooling is better.

Ah thanks for the photo, that shows simplicity itself (only on it`s side as u say).

Now - if I look at that example, on it`s side, 1/2 120mm fans - underneath (1 wouldn`t be enough even with some directional thingy going on), and some sort of diy angled hood to direct the pushed heat up and to the side. i.e. it`ll effectively be going out the side.

I`d guess that a 2" space under the fan would be suitable, so the drive holder would have to be raised, and prehaps a variation of the above hood so the end result is air coming in at the bottom and out at the top (when u look at it from the side).

I was looking to make a simpler holder for the drives in terms of taking them in and out - but, if I arrange the lower holder to just be a guider and the top to prehaps have those case screws that have thumb grips, it should work just as well.

Nice1 guyz.

[markkleb]

If you were to use AC12 fans you could use much less space for intakes for the fans (they draw from the sides as well)

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556026129.html