Reddit mentions of I/O Crest Rear Panel Dual 2.5" or Single 3.5" HDD SSD Mounting Bracket Kit for Internal PCI Slot

Looking more into it, bookshelf wise, I'd say yeah either a 2nd DS380 or the Fractal Design Node 804. The Node 804 can fit 10 3.5" drives and, if I read correctly, also 2 x 2.5" drives (maybe SSDs for cache). You also have better cooling, more PCIe slots for expansion and easier layout to upgrade/work it.

>https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-804/black/

If you want, you could also fit a few more drives with PCI slot adapters like this:

>https://www.amazon.com/Crest-Single-Mounting-Bracket-Internal/dp/B01LZQGZ95

You could get to 12 3.5" drives easily with it.



Could even get the Node 304 to match the design if you want to have a second rig (like a backup):

>https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-304/black/


Hope that helps.

If you need something to mount your SSDs, you could get a bracket that mounts on one of the expansion slot covers like this, which holds 2x 2.5" drives and 1x 3.5" drive.

My most recent DAS build:

Add in a 9201-16e for a DAS. Here's a simple DAS build i recently completed for a total of 12x3.5 HDD slots and 4x2.5 SSD slots:

• mATX case [InWin Mana 137]

• 3x5.25 to 5X3.5 HDD adapter [or this one]

• PCIe HDD adapter

• power supply

• fans

• fan controller

• cables [SAS, SAS to SATA forward breakout, SATA power, etc.]

• Optional - PCIe adapter for easier cable connect/disconnects

• Optional - SAS expander

I've been trying to figure out how to squeeze a second 3.5 HDD into my Silverstone SG13. Same, it's my HTPC, so I don't have a GPU.

I saw a thread where someone mentioned a PCIE bracket for mounting HDDs. Most of them are for 2.5 HDDs but I did find this one: https://www.amazon.com/Crest-Panel-Mounting-Bracket-Internal/dp/B01LZQGZ95/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1542993345&sr=1-4&keywords=pcie+hdd+bracket

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I haven't actually pulled the trigger (I still might go for the Seagate 4TB 2.5s, there's some shuckable externals on sale for a really good price in my area), so I can't comment on how well it works. One of the comments complains that it's not very sturdy with a heavy 3.5 HDD in there, but it looked like that was with a horizontal PCIE bracket / vertical motherboard. With a vertical PCIE bracket / horizontal motherboard like in the SG13 I think it should be a lot sturdier, since it has the whole length of the PCIE bracket to support the weight of the HDD against gravity instead of just the narrow width of the bracket. So I think it would be okay in a case with vertical PCIE slots.

Doesn't have to be the SG13, but it's an option you might consider if you can find a case with one 3.5 slot and for sure don't need a GPU or the PCIE slots.

Do both! It takes some modding, but it's not too difficult.

You don't need to flash the H200, just put it in the storage slot and pass this through to whatever VM is running ZFS. I happen to use freeNAS for this in a VM and it works great. Connect the backplane to the H200, giving ZFS exclusive control of these drives.

The H700 can be put in another PCIe slot, and you can connect your SSDs to that. I have my H700 running my two 500GB SSDs in RAID1 for VM storage. The three issues to solve are mounting, SATA connection, and power.

1. For mounting you can find PCI slot brackets for 2.5" SSDs like this one.
   
2. For the SATA connection, you'll need a MiniSAS to SATA breakout cable like this one.
   
3. The most difficult part is figuring out the SATA power. If you're handy with a soldering iron, you can grab the power from the optical drive connection. This is what I did, and it wasn't too difficult. Another option is to get a MiniSATASlimline to SATA like this one and just use a splitter on the power side.
   
   
   Here's a pic of my setup Hey, it's ugly but it works! H700 on top on the right, H200 (not flashed) below that in the storage slot. And actually 3 SSDs stacked up, velcro'd together with one of those PCIe slot brackets.

https://www.amazon.com/Crest-Single-Mounting-Bracket-Internal/dp/B01LZQGZ95/

(BTW: Buy this kit if you need more than the 6 trays that come standard in the R6.)

I also bought this bracket to mount the SSD in, since I wanted to use my precious 3.5" bays for larger hard drives; https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZQGZ95/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It mounts into one of the expansion slots in the case, you can install up to two 2.5" drives and a 3.5" drive off the same bracket.

Something like this, maybe

Ah, yes, that radiator is a bit thick for a front installation in standard layout. Max would be about 65mm including the fans, so about 40mm for the radiator. The tall RAM complicates things a bit for the top position as well (and I totally agree that we should make it a goal to eliminate motherboard component height restrictions in future designs). This is a challenging one; I'll have to think on this a bit and see if I can come up with any new solutions.

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One slightly unorthodox approach would be to mount drives in the rear expansion slots. It's not something you see done every day, but adapters do exist to do it and since your GPU's watercooled that might actually be a decent spot airflow-wise if you were to add a fan or two in the bottom of the case. Here's an example of the adapter in question: https://www.amazon.com/Crest-Single-Mounting-Bracket-Internal/dp/B01LZQGZ95

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I unfortunately don't have a detailed knowledge of the replacement process for regions outside North America, but I know that if a panel were to break for seemingly no reason on a new case like this we would consider it an in-warranty replacement over here, so it might still be worth a shot to contact our support team to see what your options are. The phone number above is for North America only but the link is global. I can't say for sure whether you can get a replacement free-of-charge in your region but I figure it never hurts to ask on something like this.