Looking for recommendations on Dual mini-ITX cases

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plsnotracking1

New Member
Jan 2, 2025
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Hello,

I'm new to this, so I'll be learning along the way.

I have the following devices, which I'm looking to house:
  1. 1x TuringPi 2 - with 3x Raspberry Pi CM4s + 1x Turing RK1
  2. 1x CWWK N305 - Purple Board - mini-ITX - with Jonsbo Radiator
  3. 4x MG09 SATA HDDs

I have a few questions:
  • With my Turing PI since so many CM4s are attached, how do I ensure that 2U is indeed an adequate height to house the TuringPi?
  • With the Jonsbo Radiator can by CWWK N305 board still fit into a 2U?
  • I'm able to get one Intel X520-10G-2S-X8 dual SFP+ 10G NIC (standard or lower profile) to attach to the available PCIe slot of CWWK.
    • Will I still be able to fit into a 2U case if attached to the PCIe slot of the CWWK?
    • From what I understand the bandwidth for the PCIe on CWWK cannot hit 10G, what is theoretically achievable?
    • Do I need a riser card?
  • TuringPi needs 160W, CWWK needs about 23W, HDDs need 4.5W * 4 = 18 W, is a bronze power supply of 200W for each of the boards enough? Shall I aim for golden/platinum? Power is expensive where I live.

Here's the list of racks that MIGHT fit my use case:
  1. CircoTech - RM 2270 - RM-2270 2U Dual Mini-ITX MB 14" Deep Rackmount Case - 4 * 3.5 inch SATA trays available. - about $540 with PSU
  2. PLinkUsa.com/Rackmount.com - TWIN-ITX-S2082 - 2U Rackmount Chassis Twin ITX ; 17.64" deep Case 8 x SATA/SAS Tray / Multilane Backplane ; 2 x 2.5" HDD Bays TWIN-ITX-S2082 (PLinkUSA.com / RackBuy.com) - 8 * 3.5 inch SATA Trays available - About $430 with PSU
  3. Travla/KiwaTech.com - T2240 - TAWA-T2240 | 開偉科技股份有限公司 - 4 * 3.5inch SATA trays available - no pricing available yet
  4. Travla/KiwaTech.com - T2241 - TAWA-T2241 | 開偉科技股份有限公司 - 4 * 3.5inch SATA trays available - no pricing available yet
  5. Travla/KiwaTech.com - T2280 - TAWA-T2280 | 開偉科技股份有限公司 - 8 * 3.5inch SATA trays available - no pricing available yet
  6. Travla/KiwaTech.com - T2281 - TAWA-T2281 | 開偉科技股份有限公司 - 8 * 3.5inch SATA trays available - no pricing available yet
  7. Myelectronics.nl - 6875 - 19 inch 2U mini-ITX case for Dual Mini-ITX short depth rack mountable - no 3.5 inch SATA trays - About $235
  8. cablematic.com - CK018 - Server case rackmount chassis 19 inch IPC mini-ITX 2U 4x3.5 inch depth - No 3.5 inch SATA trays - About $125
  9. AliExpress.us - EKI-M236 - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807897262637.html - 4 * 3.5inch SATA trays available - $220 (with shipping and tax)

Finally:
  1. Does anyone have any recommendations?
  2. How do I eventually figure out which ones will work well?
Thank you for reading through.

Source: https://rasmurym.wordpress.com/2022/12/19/homelab-expansion-turing-pi-2/
 

Phence

New Member
May 16, 2024
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Phanteks have the P600/s and some older models that do dual boards, but the thing is one board is always ATX or larger and the second is ITX. You need to buy the ITX kit separately though.

So it's a large case, you could get two cases? Lian Li have some nice older used ITX cases with many HDD bays that look nice and are cheap.
 
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mmo

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2016
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i searched a bit and this Athena Power RM-1U100DD Dual Mini-ITX 1U Rackmount seems pretty good too.

 
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amalurk

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Dec 16, 2016
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Do the drives have individual connections on the PLinkUsa.com/Rackmount.com - TWIN-ITX-S2082 case? Is the description saying the 3.5 drive trays also fit 2.5 drives or there is some special tray to order not listed. Those two things don't see clear in the descriptions otherwise that seems like the best case for me since the Travla ones aren't available anywhere for purchase I can find in U.S.
 

plsnotracking1

New Member
Jan 2, 2025
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I think the bays are same In size, doesn’t matter if it’s2.3/3.5. The way 2.5 inch bays accommodate is that they have screw ins to hold 2.5 inch HDDs.

I’m only speaking from experience, waiting for them to respond yet.
 

UhClem

just another Bozo on the bus
Jun 26, 2012
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NH, USA
I'm new to this, so I'll be learning along the way.

I have the following devices, which I'm looking to house:
...
4x MG09 SATA HDDs

... HDDs need 4.5W * 4 = 18 W ...
is a bronze power supply of 200W for each of the boards enough?
Careful ... that 4.5w is the power draw, at idle (IDLE_A) ; but, when active, probably 8-9w. And, at start-up or ramp-up, 17-20w.
=====
"The origin of many problems is bad assumptions."
 
Last edited:

plsnotracking1

New Member
Jan 2, 2025
20
1
3
Careful ... that 4.5w is the power draw, at idle (IDLE_A) ; but, when active, probably 8-9w. And, at start-up or ramp-up, 17-20w.
=====
"The origin of many problems is bad assumptions."
Good note, I got a beefier power supply just in case.
 

plsnotracking1

New Member
Jan 2, 2025
20
1
3
Unfortunately only one of these companies responded, and that was a bit more expensive than me just buying 2 x 2U Mini ITX rack mounts.

RackMount IPC quote attached as they sent it to me
Chassis/Server rack: $325
Power Supply: $80
Sub total + tax: $440

However, I took a different route:
Chassis/Server Rack: 2x $109 + tax = $237 Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH3JXKZF
PSU: $85 + tax = $98 Link: https://www.newegg.com/thermaltake-...pd-0850fnfagu-4-850-w-80-plus-gold-certified/
Total: $335

AdditionalIy, ended up swapping out the stock fans since they were loud, bought ThermalRight TL-P9 * 6 + NF-A9 * 2 ($80 + tax = $88). The NF-A9 fans ended up being cheap because of Marketplace.

I was thinking of getting a server rack rail - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FJG4QCQ ($36) since it's easier to make amends inside the box once rack mounted.

Hope this helps. Good luck :)
 

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