Question 1

it says sata/sas, which one do the backplanes have connectors for?
I'm trying to use (8) 3.5 inch regular sata hard drives

Accepted Answer

Short Answer: Your drives will work.

It says SATA/SAS because you could connect either drive type. The connectors are very similar and compatible in most cases.

SAS performance will require a SAS controller, though, but since you're using SATA, that doesn't matter.

Question 2

is there a power supply with this?

Accepted Answer

Nope, but it supports ATX, which is very popular.o

Question 3

Can the backplane connect to standard sata ports? I dont have room for an HBA. Which reverse breakout cable do I need if any?

Accepted Answer

There really isnt any backplane, it has 3 separate carriers that hold 4 sleds, each carrier has 4 sata ports to plug into your motherboard and the carriers are powered by 2 molex power connectors.

Question 4

What size rack can this fit in?

Accepted Answer

Any standard 19" rack with at least 4U available that is deep enough for it and any cabling you want to attach

Question 5

Is the front flip down cover removable?

Accepted Answer

Yes it is.  You'll have to take the handles off IIRC but it does remove.  Mine's sitting in a bucket in the garage :)

Question 6

What motherboards are supported? Server motherboards, as well as normal ATX, I would assume?

Accepted Answer

nearly all of them fit. I have 3 of these cases. One has a standard desktop gaming motherboard. Another has a supermicro server motherboard. and another has a tyan server motherboard.  These are relaly nice cases. The only thing i would say is to make sure you have the molex (4 pin ide) connectors on your psu.  or at least the adapters. they are great storage cases.

Question 7

How many 4-pin peripheral's are required for all 12 drives and fans?

Accepted Answer

It requires 2 per each bank of 4 drives.  There are 3 banks, so it takes 6 total to fully populate all 12 drive arrays and run the fans.

Question 8

Good Day,
Does this case come with rails? If no can I buy them separately (link product please)

Accepted Answer

It does not. I don't recommend rails that attach to the case (like a drawer) as my attempt at doing this just resulted in an ill fit and bent rails - the case is VERY front heavy when fully loaded. Get rails that the chassis will rest on.

Question 9

Is this case compatible with Mini-ITX and SSI EEB sized motherboards?

Accepted Answer

Mini-ITX, I know from experience, has the same mounting holes as ATX. Thus it is compatible.

I haven't worked with SSI EEB form factor, but it is supposed to be compatible with EATX as far as mounting holes. This chassis is compatible with EATX, so by extension it should be compatible with SSI EEB.

Question 10

Where are the rails to slide this 4U in a server rack?? (I have deep 30 inch rack from Sun Microsystems.)

Accepted Answer

Rosewill sells "universal" rails and they simply do not work.  This case is too wide and Rosewill evidently didn't even bother to test.  The box won't clear between the rail sections once they're installed in the rack (it's about 1/8" too wide).

That leads me to think that some "low profile" universal rails might work, but so does setting it on top of a leftover junk 1U server..........and I had one of those.

Questions & Answers