Ok guys, I got a Dell XPS 420, and it doesnt have any problems really, except being a piece of crap as far as the case goes (BTX POS), and its basically been demoted to being my server for the last year and half or so. Now I am out of Sata ports (only 5 on it), and was wondering if I should basically get something that is a bit more suited for server use and maybe a little more power savvy. I'm trying to find a reason to justify upgrading it or getting a new machine, and I cant. Ideas here?
Not really! you want better, or you don't! 5 sata ports is a bit limiting, but not the end of the word, plenty controller cards out there but I guess power may become an issue as well as space to put additional drives. But you can pick up dedicated servers for fairly small(ish) money if you have a need for such a thing. Or just get a decent NAS.
Got any suggestions for said controller cards? My main issue is I have 5 Sata ports and only room in the case for 4 drives, so if I add any more, I wont have any where to put them. I got half a mind to get a new case, but if I get a new case, the current mobo wont fit. So im stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Are you sure its BTX? I thought dell stopped using that ages ago, my inspiron that i transplanted the mobo out of before i upgrading was all atx
Yeah its BTX; the case opens on the right, not left and I/O ports are on the left, not right. I dont know why they decided to switch from ATX to BTX, because my Dimension 3000 is mATX. So ideas here?
Sorry for not coming back to this - what slot(s) do you have free, and what sort of space do you still have for drives? slimline 2.5" HDD units use the same SATA connectors, you could squeeze a couple of those in a 5.25" bay If internal space is an issue, how about an eSata controller card with an external box for more disks? <edit>aha, found this. Bit spendy, but it would negate any woes about slot compatibility of PCI/PCIe/whatever The same vendor also has an external storage tower that can utilise a hardware port multiplier, so the options are there, it's all just down to where you want to go.
This is a BTX motherboard: http://geekspeak.org/shows/2005/02/11/btx.jpg Despite what a lot of people think, BTX is a form factor, not the way the motherboard is placed. I have a feeling that what your computer actually is is not BTX but rather inverted-ATX. This is exactly what it sounds like, a normal ATX motherboard taken and flipped 180 degrees so that the case will open on the right. Please correct me if I am wrong but this is my understanding of this. In terms of rather you should upgrade or not, I think that that depends on how much money you would be willing to spend. This might limit you to a simple upgrade, a full new server, a NAS, or maybe nothing as there isn't anything that would be worth it for you for that amount of money. When you say you want something a little more power savvy, are you saying that you want something that uses less power but does the same things, or something that is more powerful (read: faster), but may draw more actual watts from the wall? I think what other people have been saying about the add in cards is about the only thing that you can do with your current computer. If you don't have the available slots in the motherboard, or you are running out of physical space to mount the drives in your case, there may be a few more options. There are cages that you can mount in a 5.25" bay that will convert that to hold 3.5" hard drives. These can also come in a form that will hold 4, maybe 5 (iirc), hard drives in only 3 5.25" bays. And again if that doesn't work, but you feel comfortable building something yourself, you can mount some hard drives in open slots above the motherboard. For more on this, look at this build log by OldNewby. Hopefully this helps, again let us know if there is anything else we can help you with! Good luck!
BTX is how dell are marketing that unit, the slots are at the opposite side of the board. I seem to be unable to access the link showing a btx image, but the board in that Dell is definitely not ATX, unless what's on the website is not current.
Hmm... I wonder what the advantages of this over a standard Raid Card would be? Http 403 Forbidden for the pic. this is what my mobo on the Dell looks like. Very much BTX. Trust me, if it was Inverted ATX, I would know. I'm not an idiot (im going to school for computer engineering, i know what atx and btx are). As far as drives go, I've got a 500Gb in 1 of the 3 3.5 drive bays, and a DVD drive in one of the two 5.25 drive bays. I'll have 2 1TB drives here in a little, as well as a 30Gb SSD. So now what to do as far as drives and space? I know I'm going to have at least 4 more 1TB drives in the next 6 months or so.
You mean apart from the single advantage of allowing storage space for up to 4 more SATA 3.5" drives?
I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding, I in no way meant to assume you didn't know what you were talking about. I'm sorry if it came across that way. I have just heard many people on this forum and others talk about Inverted ATX as if it were actually BTX. What kind of ports does the motherboard have on the back? You could use USB or eSATA external hard drives as an option. Just a thought, I hope I didn't say anything this time that is going to be taken badly...
5 Sata (spit 2 for OS and DVD drive, 3 for Intel Raid), 1 eSata and 6 USB. I'm not going USB (too slow) and I only have room for 3 more drives.. And its cool dude me too, just where to put them, and how to use the 4th one without leaving it outside the case, on USB? and I cant Raid/JBOD the 3 sata ports and the esata, I've tried.
Windows home server dude, it has its own software level redundancy, been mentioned in other threads here with more authoritative knowledge than I have. The integration to clients for media streaming & management also make it worth a look.
