Review on 📁 SilverStone Technology CS381B 8-Bay SAS-12G/SAS-6G NAS Storage Case for Micro-ATX/Mini-DTX/Mini-Itx, Hot Swap 2.5"/3.5" with Dual 120mm Ball Bearing Fans, Black by Alan Sawyer

The thing is, this case is basically all about the SAS/SATA backplane. That's what it's for, and that's the main reason you can buy this case. and it works as expected. I've been using it for several days and checked the possibility of hot-swapping. A number of SAS drivers are running. Happy with the body. It does have a few downsides, so it's good to be aware of that. Ventilation in the case is pretty poor, and the case itself has no impact on noise, either from the fans or the drives themselves, so be aware that this won't be a super-quiet design no matter what you do. This is the case with mATX, so you might think you could put a few cards in there, but I'd be uncomfortable with my SAS controller in the 'bottom' slot for example, without adding a fan to the controller itself, because when I move it to the specified slot, it doesn't get any airflow. I've attached an image of what it would look like for reference. The discs themselves rely on air flowing through them, which you're not good at providing. I had to set my AIO coolers to a negligible minimum wattage to ensure they always had some air in them. The assembly is not bad in this case, but can sometimes be cumbersome, e.g. B. Screwing the cages back in after you've placed the fans on the side. Nothing serious though. Speaking of those fans, they are not PWM in the <current year argument>, but the fan headers on the backplanes are 100% all the time. Luckily I had a couple of Noctua voltage reduction cables with me, because while they aren't exactly loud, they are far from being the most silent. to which they answered "yes" but that's not entirely true as there are no SAS cables included in the kit. The ones I bought were at a 90 degree angle, but they were on the 'wrong side', which was a bit unfortunate as they rested directly on the power connectors for the backplanes. In the end I would have had fewer problems if I was given direct cables but could still use them. Considering those details, this is still a great case and I'm happy with my purchase. The fact is that in this case it serves a fairly specific niche of a NAS / small server device; and it suits this case well. Between 8 hot-swap drives and 2 more 2.5" drives, that's enough space even if you plan on separate log volumes for your ZFS pool and whatnot. The case COULD accommodate 2 more (I guess) 2.5" fans on the side instead, but I wouldn't recommend it due to the lack of air in the case. At least if you plan on using expansion cards (I mean I wouldn't trust my controller at least without those fans on the side). Good thing, just know what you're getting into so you can plan accordingly.