iStarUSA D-406-B6SA-RED-ND Red Steel 4U Rackmount Server Case 2 External 5.25" Drive Bays

Pros: A nice and sturdy case, it fits everything nicely.

Cons: The bag of screws just seemed like they were grabbed from a pile of random screws and placed in a bag.

Pros: Well made. Very solid. Good amount of room inside. Like the hot-swap capability - that's the primary reason I bought it. Great brand.

Cons: I finally started putting stuff into this weekend I noticed that it had been dropped somewhere in it's travels. The back screw to hold the removable panel on is bent badly so it goes in strangely. The case seems slightly tweaked too as the panel doesn't seat easily and the screw holes don't line up without preassure.

Other Thoughts: I only knocked off one egg do to the damage that occured to it. I'm fairly sure it was dropped in the box because the outer box was slightly coming apart. But I think everything will be ok.

Pros: Quality product / build, versatile
Effective, well ventilated, easy to work with, stylish
Hot swap cages will accept either Molex power or SATA power connections. Which ever is most convenient.

Cons: Does not come with front bezel doors
Fans in hot swap cages louder than my liking, but they do have a switch for high and low fan speed settings. Low is better, unless your drives run hot or you do drive intensive work.

Other Thoughts: Ordered the bezel doors from iStarUSA. They come with filters and all necessary mounting hardware.
Also replaced the chassis fan, included, with 2 quiet fans.
Moved the hot swap cages to the upper part of the drive mounts to achieve more clearance to the SATA connectors on the system board.

Pros: Overall impressed with case, I ordered two new fans for the rear panel of the case. The one was too under powered for my liking. Love the hot swap features.

Cons: My hot swap boards were fried. It only read one of the six drives. Also the hardware supplied is kind of poorly manufactured. I used my other screws and mounts to secure the motherboard. Everything else was fine.

Other Thoughts: Without the failure I would have been impressed. That being said, I went ahead and ordered another just to replace the failed one. Hot swap was a must.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Newegg Customer:

We sincerely apologize in advance for any inconvenience caused by this experience, but rest assured that we will do all that we can to win your trust in iStarUSA brand.
In regards to the faulty hotswap board, it can be easily replaced by contacting our customer service. You can also try our technical support line for any quick fixes.
Warm regards,
iStarUSAcare Service
2011
For a small fix like this, you can actually call us at our customer service line, or contact us from our website at www.istarusa.com.

Pros: Great case all around. The case was missing 2 screws. I emailed Istar's customer service. They got back to me the same day. I am sending them a picture of the part where the screws are missing so they can replace them. You don't get that kind of prompt customer service many places.

Cons: Many of the same problems as other reviews. It is hard to use the power connections in the middle of the string due to how close the connections are to each other. Although I knew this when I bought it, it is disappointing that the doors and the filter do not come with the case. You have to order them separate.

Pros: Hot Swap Drive Bays
Anodized Aluminum Drive Bay Handles.
Well Ventilated for a 4U Rackmount.
Removable Mobo Tray.
Easy install.
Looks a lot more expensive than it actually is.

Cons: Too short for Nvidia GTX 2xx cards without removing left drive bay fan.
80MM drive bay fans are Jet Engine Loud, primarily due to the fact that the circuit board is blocking airflow to the drives.

Other Thoughts: People use these case for other than servers and how hard would it be to make it 3" longer. I'll pay for the extra sheet metal. Why does it have to be just 20" long? I don't get it.

Pros: Great case, large size so there's plenty of space to work with inside, includes a bar going across the top to give additional support for big cards. Everything is easily removable and maneuverable, and there are vibration cushions on the bottom of the drive cradles.

Cons: Minor annoyance, SATA power connections on the hot-swap bays are very close together, you can't use two connectors that are in the middle of a string, the wires passing through push on each other and put a lot of side-stress on the power connectors.

Also power connectors are on the opposite side from other SATA devices, so if you have a SATA drive in the normal rack on the same power string as the hotswap the connection between the two will be stretched.

Also, 3 1/4 inch drives are hidden below the HotSwap bays, took a bit to find it first time.

Other Thoughts: Not mentioned anywhere, but the Hot Swap bays take 2 SATA power and 2 Molex power connections each, so be sure you grab a power supply with enough connections.

Pros: Great price OPEN BOX

Cons: I have one question, there are wires at the front of the case at the top for all the lights and the connection is there but where does it go?

Pros: Spacious, configurable, lots of availiable accessories (hotswap bays, slide rails...), All caged drive arrays, removable mainboard tray. Easy to work with, even with upgraded CPU cooler there was plenty of room. Redundant PS fit easily with standard atx board. I would reccommend a smaller PS unit if you are using an extended board.

bays were very nice, and drives went in so easily.

Cons: Would like it to have come with the locking front panels, but you can get them from here or OEM.

Fans aren't the best, but good fans are fairly cheap anyway. I recommend using the silicone anti-vibration gaskets on the case fans and fan filters if you need it quiet.

If you are using a larger board you may want to move the hotswap bays to the top 3 bays so there is better mainboard clearance(yes, you can do that!).

Backplane fans are a little noisy, but does that really matter as long as they are reliable. You may want to swap them out (minor mod for a standard 80) if you are using it in an exposed environment.

Other Thoughts: Was shipped an openbox unit when I ordered a new one, which had no sata cables (who cares?), guides (dont need them), and very few screws. Newegg was quick to respond and is correcting the invoice because I did not have time to wait for a new one to arrive.

Pros: height 7", you can install standard PSU.
very sturdy product

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: you are okay with ATX 10x10 MB but if you have EATX then you have to move one of the RAID cages for making some room for the MB but that is if you need that room, otherwise the MB will go underneath the cage.
Fans are noisy but that is normal because you shouldn't expect high quality and quiet fans that comes with the product