Frame for HPE Proliant server disk cage

This frame makes building a HPE Proliant server 8x2.5" SAS disk cage (I think mine was originally in a Gen9 or Gen10 server) into any computer case, provided it has a double 5.25" drive space in it. Using such a disk cage (together with a SAS Host Bus Adapter or RAID controller card, and some used enterprise grade SSD drives) is a great way to upgrade your computer with storage that is reasonably fast, reliable and affordable, not to mention that is hot-swap too.

The drive cage needs a custom power cable, that is not a standard PC cable. Connectors and pinout can vary on drive cage model, as well as what connector (Molex, VGA, etc.) you want to use as a power source, but this is outside of the scope here.

This model is derived from my other model, the 5x2.5" mounting frame, which model was based on the 5.25" drive blank of a HPE Z6 G4 workstation, so external size, shape and mounting hole positions are similar. Keep in mind that this workstation has a screwless mount for 5.25" drives, so if you want to use screws in order to secure this frame, you might want to resize the side holes, and/or use heat set inserts. Also, if your computer case has a horizontal shelf for holding the upper 5.25" drive, you either need to remove it or bend it down, so that it does not interfere with this frame.

The shroud is for keeping all the airflow of the fans inside the frame, thus making the cooling of the drives more efficient. It has holes for heat inserts on the same spots where the top fan screws are, and the idea is that the shroud is fixed using some of the top fan screws. I used 2x screws for fixing the shroud. Assembling the frame, shroud and the disk cage together is a little finicky (take care of not damaging the PCB of the disk cage, the shroud is very close to it), but can be done. 

Hardware you will need (apart from securing the frame into your computer case, details above):

• 2x 60mm fans (I bought these)

• 8x M3 heat set inserts (6x in order to mount the rear fans and 2x go into the shroud. Make sure NOT to add inserts into the frame where the inserts in the shroud are, as these screws fix the fan AND the shroud, and need to go through the hole in the frame!)

• 6x M3 screw for mounting the rear fans (Length depends on how thick your fans are, for 6015 fans, M3x20mm or longer is required.)

• 2x M3 screw for securing the shroud (Again, length depends on the fans, but these screws need to be longer, so that they can reach the shroud too. For 6015 fans, at least M3x25mm is required!)

• 2x M3 screw for securing the drive cage to the frame bottom. These thread into plastic, and can not be longer than 3-4mm, so using some coarse threaded computer screws are advised.

Hardware that is handy, or might be required under certain circumstances:

• Fan splitter cable (like this, for driving the 2 fans from one fan header)

• Fan controller (like this)

Using a fan controller can be handy if you do not have any the option to control your fan speed. You can either set a fixed fan RPM, or use the bundled thermistor to control fan speed based on drive temperature. For this there is a not fully through hole prepared on the back of the frame. Leave it as is if there are no plans for using a thermistor, or use an M3 or M4 drill tip (whichever size the diameter of your thermistor justifies) to make the hole fully through, and insert the thermistor, so that it can measure the temperature of the air inside the frame.

I mounted my fans so that they suck air through inbetween the drives, and blow it inside the computer case, for multiple reasons:

• This is the natural direction of air flow in my computer, all other fans use the same air flow direction.

• Outside cold air is sucked in to cool the drives, instead of blowing the hotter air inside the computer.

• The thermistor on the back of the frame measures the temperature of the air that already went by the drivers, absorbing the heat. Usually it reports ~10-12C degrees less than the internal temperature of the drives, whis is understandable, and was to be expected.

Fans are a little bit offset laterally, in order to better align with the ventillations holes on the back of the disk cage, as those are a bit offset too.

All in all, for me this whole setup works pretty well. I set the fans to a constant ~2000RPM, because on this speed they are maybe not silent, but not loud either, and with using 8x power hungry enterprise drives (each capable of consuming 15Watts maximum, respectively), internal drive temperatures are kept well under 50C degrees, even during heavy storage operations.

As usually, any feedback is welcome!