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I am looking for a case to build DIY NAS server from my old Dell D19m. Ideally, I would want to fit 3 to 6 HDDs and 1 to 2 SSDs.

I seem to have three ways:

  1. Can I somehow fit 4 HDDs and 1 SSD in Dell D19m case?
  2. Alternatively, I also have another PC case, Corsaair 4000d - could I somehow attach up to 6 HDDs to it? I sure do see the case can support 2 SSDs easily.

Is there any SATA Hard Drive Mounting Brackets or something like that I could use?

dell d19m case open

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  • If you're open to buying a new case I could post an answer with a couple case recommendations. Neither of the cases you're trying to work with will even fit 3 HDDs.
    – Romen
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 15:14
  • Sure, thing, I can consider an economical.
    – ablaze
    Commented Aug 23, 2022 at 16:06

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from my old Dell D19m

That Dell Tower, judging from internet pictures, doesn't look like it has the space available inside to install a handful of 3.5" disks. Any more than that and you will not be able to close it. A corsair 4000d, I suspect has the same problem.

Supermicro has several mid-tower cases that support many disks, including clean removable front mount 3.5" disks.

Otherwise for what you are asking:

  • You will need some tower or case with enough physical space to at least just fit N 3.5 disks. For 2.5" ssd's they are rarely a problem, they don't vibrate and have basically zero heat so you can almost always lay them inside whatever case without problem.
  • Maybe the biggest hurdle is a power supply that supports enough SATA power connectors for what you want, or getting a 1 to 2 SATA connector to power up N disks. And then have enough SATA [data] ports on the motherboard to connect however many N disks. Or get a PCIe card that gives more SATA ports.

Unfortunately, what you are asking sounds and seems simple enough at first thought. But to have 5 x 3.5" HDD's and 2 x 2.5" ssd's for a total of 7, consumer grade stuff sold on Newegg or Amazon can't do (certainly not elegantly). Instead of playing with 5 x 3.5" HHD's of whatever size it may be better and more economical to buy just one 12TB or larger 3.5" HDD now that they are available. You can do a NAS sever with just 1 x 12TB HHD and 1 x 2.5" ssd having the operating system nothing wrong with that, and have a second 12TB disk as data backup.

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    For a specific tower that supports a lot of hard disks, my brother uses the Cooler Master N300, but mostly because it was cheap and had m-ATX support
    – Irsu85
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 14:28
  • since u mentioned that, yeah some of the consumer grade towers actually do support a handful of 3.5" disks in the front, internally, pretty cleanly.
    – ron
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 14:47
  • Thanks but I noticed quite a few points in your answer which, aren't just right. Google search showed Silverstone RV03B-W, Fractal Design Define R4 and at least 30 other computer cases which have anywhere between 8-15 internal 3.5" bays + 2 SSD. Even in Dell D19m, there might be enough space to fit 2 HDDs but more than 2-3 HDDs would sure be difficult. Corsaair 4000D official tech specs mention 2 3.5" + 2 SSDs. I was curious if there were ways to add more HDDs in my Corsaair 4000D case & repurpose it. Anyways.
    – ablaze
    Commented Aug 23, 2022 at 16:39
  • Plus, if I was to build NAS I should have multiple smaller drives than just one 12 TB. I am posting this comment just in case if anyone reads this, they do not create a single point of failure. Which in my opinion is, one of the most important benefits of (building) NAS.
    – ablaze
    Commented Aug 23, 2022 at 16:39
  • more disks statistically results in a higher disk failure rate to be expected.. for example 10+ disks, it's a double edge sword. The best way to go being practical are 2 disks in raid-1 configuration which is the most economical way to have 100% uptime but that does not account for backup of data so that means 4 disks total and 2 nas units one as data and one as backup... to give you an idea.... synology DS218 for example
    – ron
    Commented Aug 23, 2022 at 17:24

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