chassis similar to Fractal Design Node 804, with hotswap front?

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
J

jang430

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
264
22
28
51
Hi, I've been searching high and low for something either like Fractal Design Node 804, with hotswap front, to achieve this look-



Or, any case that can achieve this look:



I have the answer for the 2nd look though, u-nas nsc-800. Though almost all who used that case swear they wouldn't repeat the same mistake all over again :D

I intend to use either mini-itx or micro-atx board, hence, the 2 form factors. Also, for the hotwap bays, I intend to use Supermicro 3 x 5.25 bays to convert to 5 hotswap bays.

Any suggestions?
 
realtomatoes

realtomatoes

Active Member
Oct 3, 2016
252
32
28
44
funny. after reading Patrick's article about the DIY DAS enclosure, which were excellent articles btw, i was looking at Fractal's Node 804 too. but rather install a mobo in it, i was thinking of modding it to fill the mobo side with more of those icydock hot-add cages facing the side of the case. figured that thing could do about 15-20 drives and connect it to my freenas.

now if we can find something like that 16 bay enclosure, that would be sweet!
 
J

jang430

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
264
22
28
51
realtomatoes said:
funny. after reading Patrick's article about the DIY DAS enclosure, which were excellent articles btw, i was looking at Fractal's Node 804 too. but rather install a mobo in it, i was thinking of modding it to fill the mobo side with more of those icydock hot-add cages facing the side of the case. figured that thing could do about 15-20 drives and connect it to my freenas.

now if we can find something like that 16 bay enclosure, that would be sweet!
Click to expand...
I have Fractal 804 though. I use a Supermicro X9scm-F motherboard, matx. Though it gives me enough drives, at least 10, I've been yearning for hotswap. I love the case, but no hotswap. To be honest, with new 8 TB and 10 TB drives, I may not need more than 8.

Any suggestions?
 
J

jang430

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
264
22
28
51
I also saw that case. As said, I searched high and low :), but to be honest, the pedestal form factor, if not wide enough, just doesn't do it for me. BTW, it already has built - in backplane. I prefer wide. Cube works as well. For me, it looks more aesthetically pleasing.



Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
J

jang430

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
264
22
28
51
Yes, u-nas is the real answer. Any other alternative? Itvs the right size and form factor. I am surprised up to now, not a lot of case came out with similar form factor. Instead, only 1. As for why not u-nas, I read a funny comment that after successfully setting up a u-nas case, the guy won't wish it even for his enemy. I guess It's that bad hahaha

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
J

jang430

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
264
22
28
51
Looks good indeed. I was wondering whether how to put motherboard, psu. If the chassis is deep enough to put hot swap drive like supermicro? Supermicro's deeper.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
cesmith9999

cesmith9999

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2013
1,421
470
83
I looked at doing something similar a few years ago. the issues i came across was the lack of easy space for a mb. and the 5.25 mb were too expensive and not easily able to use standard pcie cards. plus the psu was not compatible with a normal mb.

Chris
 
J

jang430

Active Member
Mar 16, 2017
264
22
28
51
cesmith9999 said:
I looked at doing something similar a few years ago. the issues i came across was the lack of easy space for a mb. and the 5.25 mb were too expensive and not easily able to use standard pcie cards. plus the psu was not compatible with a normal mb.

Chris
Click to expand...
Thanks Chris. Otherwise, the resulting look seems about right. Were you able to build a NAS with the same look eventually?

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
cesmith9999

cesmith9999

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2013
1,421
470
83
My plan is to go the U-NAS 810A chassis and downsize my server needs. make that server a hyper-V server and have a VM based CloudNas/Backblaze B2 solution for my file server.

Now if they could make a slightly taller version of the 810A with either a row of 2.5" disks in addition to the 3.5" disks or a 2nd row of 3.5". it would be perfect...

Chris
 
K D

K D

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2016
1,439
320
83
30041
If you are planning for a mitx motherboard I would definitely recommend a silverstone ds380 over the UNAS. It is way easier to work with and keeps the drives cooler than the unas with slower fans.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom