shorter-depth 2U 12x3.5" cases

[maes]

Since my rack is slightly shallower than normal (23" front-to-back, 16U high) the usual Supermicro SC826 would stick out the back quite a bit.

Would anyone have recommendations for a shorter 2U case that can handle 12x 3.5" drives? The only one I could find for that would be the Chenbro RM245 series and they are pretty hard to find.

Also, dumb question, but are the given dimensions for the SC826 depth (25.5") full front-to-back including handgrips, or 'rack ears'-to-back?

 

[nexox]

I measured my SC826, it's 25.5" from the rear surface of the rack ears to the end of the chassis, but then PSU parts extend a little bit past that, and of course power cables would add even more length there.

 

[maes]

I measured my SC826, it's 25.5" from the rear surface of the rack ears to the end of the chassis, but then PSU parts extend a little bit past that, and of course power cables would add even more length there.

Thanks! In that case it definitely wouldn't fit. I was kinda hoping it included the front and pull-tabs to save an inch or two.

 

[zack$]

The Silverstone rm21-308 is the closest you will find for short-depth x 3.5" drives. However, it's 8x and not 12x.

You can definitely get 3U short-depth, 12x 3.5", but your asking is for 2U.

 

[maes]

Looks like the Truenas mini R might also be a decent fit if I wanted to go for a full server instead, since it's only 21" deep.

They seem to use a rebadged supermicro case (or at least the internals are stamped with supermicro part numbers) but I have had zero luck in identifying it.

 

[NPS]

They seem to use a rebadged supermicro case (or at least the internals are stamped with supermicro part numbers) but I have had zero luck in identifying it.

Supermicro does not have such a case in it's standard catalog. Supermicro might still be involved in the project. I don't know.

 

[GaPony54]

I thought the OP said he had an upper limit of 500mm depth, though I might be mistaken. The Mini R 12-Bay is 533mm and should easily fit into a 23" rack.

I must admit though, its an impressive little server. Still, I was somehow under the impression they were just looking for a bare chassis. These 23" racks were really never intended for fully functional servers. He might be way ahead of the game using a standard PC chassis with connected NAS, or even a couple of 8-Bay JBOD boxes like the Mediasonic H82-SU31C. I used 5 of the 4-Bay USB 3.0 versions for years until I decided to go all in with a rack and multiple chassis. Sometimes I regret that decision, to be honest.

 

[maes]

I thought the OP said he had an upper limit of 500mm depth, though I might be mistaken. The Mini R 12-Bay is 533mm and should easily fit into a 23" rack.

I must admit though, its an impressive little server. Still, I was somehow under the impression they were just looking for a bare chassis. These 23" racks were really never intended for fully functional servers. He might be way ahead of the game using a standard PC chassis with connected NAS, or even a couple of 8-Bay JBOD boxes like the Mediasonic H82-SU31C. I used 5 of the 4-Bay USB 3.0 versions for years until I decided to go all in with a rack and multiple chassis. Sometimes I regret that decision, to be honest.

Being the OP, yes the rack is just under 23" from front rails to back rails. The mini R is just something I stumbled on while looking for a chassis that would fit, and it looked interesting enough to share. I'm just looking at slowly migrating my NAS (currently in a small u-nas 8-drive case), desktop and UPS to a small rack to free up some space and have less of a mess of cabling running all over.

I will probably end up going for a Chenbro RM245, or maybe one of the Rackchoice cases. I never heard of that brand and can't find a website, but they also make (or made) a 12x 3.5" case for mini-itx/micro-atx motherboards that would be shallow enough to fit in my rack.