Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in updating the site, I have been in Dubai deploying VMware View 4 for a client there.

We are going to schedule a run of 10 of the Storage Pods in Matt Black as a proof of concept so they will be at the £400+P&P previously announced. If you want to get involved please get in touch. The timing is dependent on the lead time for the Port Multipliers from Chun Fan, I will keep you posted.

Port Multipliers
Chun Fan have bulk pricing on the Port Multipliers as follows:
200pcs US40
150pcs US41
100pcs US42
50pcs US43
40pcs US43.5
30pcs US44
20pcs US44.5
10pcs US45
5pcs US45.5
1pc US46
So if people want us to organise those as well, its 9*$43+P&P+Tax (total TBC) on top of the case price.

We have looked around for UK suppliers for the other parts to build the Pods and if people want us to handle the purchase of all the components, please let us know and we can bulk order.

Power Switch
Bulgin Orange Dot Lighted Vandal Proof Switch

PSU / PSU Molex Cable
Enermax Modu82+ 525W
Modular Molex x3
I am tempted to go for a 1250 Watt one to save space and have less to go wrong (obviously peak draw might be a problem), also I cant find a mobo stub to allow a second PSU to power on without a mobo.

2 Port PCIe SATA II Card
Unbranded from Span – £14.10

4 Port PCI SATA II Card
Unbranded from Span – £49.70

I think depending on the chipset, this 4-port PCI-e card could be a good alternative.

SATA II Cable
100cm Akasa AK-CB056 Right angle connector SATA II cable inc Latch connector – Red/Black, scan £1.87

Incidentals
I will be sourcing a bulk load of these from the US and can pass them along to people :
Nylon Screws
HD Anti-Vibration Sleeves
Nylon Backplane Standoffs

Vibration / Noise
120mm x 38mm Fan (x6)
Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000RPM 120 x 38mm Cooling Fan
(Backblaze use Mechatronics G1238M12B1-FSR 120 x 38 mm 2,800 RPM 12V Fan, but I could not find one, pretty sure this will shift as much air)

Power Supply Vibration Dampener
Vantec VDK-PSU Power Supply Vibration Dampener (2) – Tekheads, £1.76

Fan Mount (front)
Acousti Ultra Soft Anti-Vibration Fan Mount AFM02

Fan Mount (middle)
Acousti Ultra Soft Anti-Vibration Fan Mount AFM03

Foam Rubber Pad
16″ x 17″ x 1/8″ Foam Rubber Pad, ~£1.50 from twfoam

Mobo/CPU/RAM
To your own taste really, Id like to get one with 5xPCI-e to avoid the 4x PCI card.

Hard Disks
Sticking with the Backblaze recommendation and getting the low power Seagate drives is probably a good idea
Seagate ST32000542AS 2TB Hard Drive SATAII 5900rpm 32MB Cache – OEM (Ebuyer) £109.95 inc VAT **UPDATE 12 APRIL**

Hope this saves people some time searching the net.
Tom