1U chassis with front I/O

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sko

Active Member
Jun 11, 2021
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Hi,

I need to put together 2 small(ish) routers on a budget. The systems will be put together from hardware that's still mostly lying around, which are Supermicro X10 microATX boards /w Xeon E3-1265Lv3 and Intel X520 NICs.

So now I'm looking for a suitable 19" 1U case for (micro)ATX boards with ~200-350W PSU, one PCI-slot for the additional NIC and I/O panel on the front.

Sadly the CSE-513 is long gone and only some overpriced BTQC variants (with 2xSFF hot-swap cage) are available. The newer CSE-512 or 505 chassis aren't for microATX form factor and/or only rear-IO.

I'm not limited to Supermicro chassis - anything that takes microATX and its standard-format IO-shield will do.
The systems won't have excessive cooling needs, so a relatively low-noise PSU and fans are prefered - but fans can be swapped, so that's not a major criteria.

Thanks for any suggestions!
 

sko

Active Member
Jun 11, 2021
240
128
43
Of course, a complete system or barebone would be the "best" solution - but as said those systems have to be built on a budget and the hardware is already here. So I don't think it would be feasible to buy a 900EUR+ system.
The SYS-5019D-4C-FN8TP system you linked costs 920EUR +VAT as a a new barebone system here in Germany. New and used hardware prices in EU have become an insult to common sense if you know what that stuff is actually worth and costs in US/UK/AU...

Meanwhile I've discovered the Chenbro RM14300, InWin IW-RF100 and Genesys C136B which can all be both converted between front and rear IO. Sadly none of them seems to be available in the EU (or anywhere outside asia). The distributor Chenbro names on its site seems to have shifted business to apparel and merchandising products - at least that's all they sell in their webshop...

As for the IO-Shield: I remember using one of those "clip-in" shields in an old supermicro case many years ago, but now you made me think and I'm not so sure anymore if those plates aren't a bit higher than 1U...
I may be able to get a 1U plate from Supermicro for the boards I have here - OTOH space isn't THAT scarce, so a 1.5U case is also an option and I saw a few of them especially for ATX plates (although none with front-facing IO)