Lian-Li PC-Q26 Build

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exawatt

n00b
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Apr 11, 2006
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For those of you that are curious I thought I would share some photos on this case.
I probably should have resized the pictures but, I didn't.
This is my Server Essentials 2012 R2 build. I am using storage spaces for all of my movies and music and what not. Cables are still a work in progress I need to order some more parts to make custom lengths to help clean it up some. If you have any questions let me know I will try to help if I can.

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resize the damn pics wtf

nice little server though
 
Thats not really a SFF build :)

Can you write your specs? I'm interested in the motherboard.
 
Its really small compared to the 4u supermicro rack chassis it was in..
The board has been great Ive wanted one since they were released.
 
Nice setup! When I'm going to upgrade my 6x 3TB to 10x 3TB I just want the exact same system as yours. Could you tell me your experience with the motherboard? And more important for me: could you tell me something more about the power consumption of the system? And how is the noise?
 
The case fan, above the motherboard, are you pulling fresh air into case (positive pressure) OR are you pushing air out (negative pressure design)??

I see you are using WDC RED drives for the array. I have been very happy with mine, after 9 months.
 
w9gb said:
The case fan, above the motherboard, are you pulling fresh air into case (positive pressure) OR are you pushing air out (negative pressure design)??
Click to expand...

As far as I can see from the pictures that fan is pushing air out. Theoretically, that case has positive pressure, because 3 fans (front) are pulling air into the case and 1 fan (top) is pushing air out of the case.
 
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A very nice build indeed. Definitely not what people normally would call a SFF build, but pretty unique for a storage server. In fact, you should probably write it up in the storage showoff thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1847026. It is certainly unique enough even if it isn't one of the 50-100TB monsters often shown there.
 
Suppose I could. I forgot that was there. "http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1847026"
I need to get a couple more parts so I can make new power cables and clean it up.
 
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The board is good so far I had to use a Supermicro IT firmware to get the LSI controller converted but other than that all was smooth and with out issue. I have several ASRock boards and all have worked flawless. I think the oldest is 4 or 5 years old running 24x7.

I haven't measured the power but, if I remember Ill grab a killawatt meter from work and see what it is pulling.

As for sound its very quiet. You could probably sleep with it in the corner of your room.

GioStyle said:
Nice setup! When I'm going to upgrade my 6x 3TB to 10x 3TB I just want the exact same system as yours. Could you tell me your experience with the motherboard? And more important for me: could you tell me something more about the power consumption of the system? And how is the noise?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for response.

I'm very curious about the power consumption. :)
 
Awesome build! I've been looking for a case for a NAS build for months, and this one looks perfect. I did a quick search, but I couldn't find that case available anywhere. Where did you purchase it from? Where did you buy the hot swap backplanes?
 
Also, are you using parity or mirror for your storage spaces setup? If using parity, how is your performance? I had read that parity suffered from poor read/write speeds.
 
no234604 said:
Also, are you using parity or mirror for your storage spaces setup? If using parity, how is your performance? I had read that parity suffered from poor read/write speeds.
Click to expand...

It's the write speeds that really suck for the parity spaces, the read speeds aren't too different from the mirrored spaces.
 
You're right about the write speeds only, I miswrote. Isn't it also true that only the mirrored spaces can protect again bitrot?
 
damn how did i miss this thread. been looking for an ITX NAS case forever and this fits the bill perfectly. Unfortunately can't find one to buy anywhere. Where did you get this one?

edit: for anyone else interested, just contacted Lian Li, should be back in stock at 'egg in March
 
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I can't find this case anywhere in the US :( does anyone know where I might score one?
 
theres a shipment headed to the egg but they are delayed because of the shipping strike on the west coast :-(
 
Spent my entire night looking at cases for my new build server and I'd spotted this one months ago I talked myself out of buying this case tonight though when I looked at the dimensions on Lian Li's website and worked it out to be a massive 63 liters.
Three hours later after looking at the DS380 and U-Nas NSC-800 and smashing my head in my keyboard trying to figure out a CPU/Motherboard combo, I thought 63 liters? Can't be right.
I was looking at the package dimensions. :eek:
This Lian Li is still twice the size of the NSC-800 (14 liters compared to 32), but it ticks all the other boxes. Especially supporting that motherboard which is what I were looking at. Otherwise I'd probably be looking at a Avoton which I'd rather avoid.

Anyway, how're you finding the drive temperatures in this case? Looks good enough.

Just need to figure out an OS for it now. I hate Flexraid on top of Windows. I don't fancy the long parity checks of Unraid (especially as I'd be going for 6TB drives), and as I'll be using 6TB drives, I wouldn't have enough RAM recommended for FreeNAS.

Anyone know of any UK sellers? I know I've seen them before here, but I can't find any now. :(
 
I just got a silver one yesterday

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I also spent way too much time trying to find a solution for a home itx NAS case with >5 drives... looked at the u-nas and I returned the silverstone DS380 - an otherwise ideal case ruined by a design flaw - the fans blow from a distance onto essentially a solid piece of steel drive cage, where the drives roast alive. The U-Nas looks nice but i don't need hotswap and due to space constraints in my server room (cough) closet (cough) the vertical orientation of the q26 actually takes up less space. Plus its 200$, only holds 8 drives (vs 10) and requires a flex psu which i would have had to buy vs. using an old ATX psu.

the q26 is absolutely excellent, my only complaint is like with all the lian-li solid-front-face designs with the tiny air inlets on the side - dont seem like they let in enough air. But so far my drive temps are good, 35-38C on a warm day with no AC. Otherwise the design is great, and easy to work in.
 
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May I ask how is the heat issue on the blue heatsink on E3C224D4I-14S motherboard? I heard that some people find it ridiculously hot. Is there a need to change that heatsink to something else?
 
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