How do I mount 4 Hard Drives in my case ?

[SalemCat]

I have a full tower case.

At first I screwed all 4 HDs right on top of each other. But I became concerned that they were overheating. So I spaced them out, with an empty bay between each HD. But that takes up a lot of room !

Is spacing them out really necessary ? How have you suceeded with RAID ?

I am using (4) 7200 RPM, ATA100, 8MB Cache, 80GB HDs, set up as RAID 0+1

[lptech]

SalemCat-

There are several ways to effectively keep your HDDs cool. Using HDD drive coolers made from aluminum helps dissipate excess heat from the HDDs. Rounded cables makes for less restrictive airflow inside the case. And additional rear case fans help in removing heat from inside the case.

LPTECH

[SalemCat]

Originally posted by lptech
SalemCat-

There are several ways to effectively keep your HDDs cool. Using HDD drive coolers made from aluminum helps dissipate excess heat from the HDDs. Rounded cables makes for less restrictive airflow inside the case. And additional rear case fans help in removing heat from inside the case.

LPTECH

I've never seen HD Coolers - do you have a link ? Do professional Servers use these ?

I bought new Round Cables from NewEgg for this RAID. It would not run with them. I'm using the same cables now on other computers. I still haven't figured out why the Round Cables would work with one computer and not with another.

The inside of the case is not warm at all. The PS I'm using has a large fan that exhausts the whole thing pretty well.

[omega31]

Something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118215
http://www.zalman.co.kr/upload/product/zm_2hc2_c_p.jpg

There are various other hard drive coolers.
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=43

[SalemCat]

Very nice coolers - but they all seem to require the use of a 5-1/4 Drive Bay. My case has only (4) 5-1/4 Bays. If I used one of these for each HD I'd have no room for a CDR or DVD at all.

Nice to keep in mind for the next Computer, though,

[Steve R Jones]

I like these little suckers. Can mount em to the drive or the the front of the case to suck air in.

Hard Drive Dual Fan Cooler
Manufacturer: Mad Dog Multimedia
$9.99

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=306878&pfp=SEARCH

http://image.compusa.com/prodimages/31/353ead6b-48de-4fe3-a628-75f243dd6ff0.gif

[SalemCat]

These look pretty nice. Priced right, too. At TigerDirect they're $8.99, with a lot of positive reviews.

I could fit in (3), as I have (7) 3-1/2 in Bays, with (4) occupied by HDs. I suppose (3) Coolers is better than none.