Small micro-atx case for firewall usage

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Jannis Jacobsen

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Mar 19, 2016
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What is the smallest case for Micro-atx that's available today?
I can only seem to find rather large cases meant for m-atx gaming use with big gfx cards etc
Have an Asus P10S-M m-atx server board I'd like to use for OpnSense.

-Jannis
 
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Jannis Jacobsen

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Ones that comes to mind is...
Cerberus | Sliger
But probably not the price range you want for a firewall.

Something cheap like the ML03 or similar..
SilverStone INTRODUCTION:ML03
Both of those are rather big imho :)
I'm thinking of something like the In-Win CJ series case.
InWin CJ Series
Only 8l, so almost half the size of the cerberus and silverstone case.
Only issue is I cannot find anyone that has it, or even sells it.
Seems the only place it's mentioned is on In-Win's homepage
 

jang430

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Mar 16, 2017
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For me, not only do I want my firewall to be small, I also want it to look like firewall.

I have another post here wherein I crammed a micro-atx M/B to a 1U Supermicro case. I used a Dynatron fan, super quiet. Though I've gutted out the atom board inside, and replaced it with M/B I had lying around. I can't do anything with the backplate, since this board is missing backplate. I would have just cut out a rectangle behind. Hope this helps.

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...cool-pentium-g4400-in-a-1u-form-factor.23757/
 
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Jannis Jacobsen

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For me, not only do I want my firewall to be small, I also want it to look like firewall.

I have another post here wherein I crammed a micro-atx M/B to a 1U Supermicro case. I used a Dynatron fan, super quiet. Though I've gutted out the atom board inside, and replaced it with M/B I had lying around. I can't do anything with the backplate, since this board is missing backplate. I would have just cut out a rectangle behind. Hope this helps.

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...cool-pentium-g4400-in-a-1u-form-factor.23757/

I’ve looked intothe 502l case, but was unsure if I could fit a m-atx board and 1u active cooler inside it.
how high cooler do you think would fit?

-jannis
 

jang430

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Sorry, since it is actively deployed, I can’t measure it. I would suggest you use the same dynatron fan I used. I believe I mentioned the model. It is very silent. When beside it, I can barely hear it. Using the Sophos XG firewall.
 
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Netwerkz101

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Dec 27, 2015
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OP didn't mention a specific make/model uATX motherboard to be used.
If Supermicro, the 504/505 1u chassis can work.
For fitment, you'd need to specify/verify the mobo+mounted processor + cooler is ~40mm or less.

I used a X10SDV-TP8F + SNK-C0057A4L in a 504-203B chassis as an access gateway for my home lab.
I think some folks here used the same for firewalls - mostly in the form off the SYS-E300-8D

Anyhow ... the blowers mentioned in @jang430 post above are interesting.
 

Jannis Jacobsen

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Mar 19, 2016
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OP didn't mention a specific make/model uATX motherboard to be used.
If Supermicro, the 504/505 1u chassis can work.
For fitment, you'd need to specify/verify the mobo+mounted processor + cooler is ~40mm or less.

I used a X10SDV-TP8F + SNK-C0057A4L in a 504-203B chassis as an access gateway for my home lab.
I think some folks here used the same for firewalls - mostly in the form off the SYS-E300-8D

Anyhow ... the blowers mentioned in @jang430 post above are interesting.
Added info about the motherboard in the first post.

-jannis
 

Jannis Jacobsen

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Mar 19, 2016
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For future builds I highly recommend considering Sliger's Cerberus and Cerberus-X chassis. I have a beautiful red Cerberus-X that can fit ATX (and maybe even E-ATX), it will look good at home, and my partner thinks it looks really cool :D
A tower case is really not what I'm after :)
Also, it's way too big imho

-jannis
 

serverpanda

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Mar 31, 2018
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I used an Antec Aria for a PBX and ISDN server, kind of comparable use case. The Antec Aria serves only as an example, I liked that it had very big slow turning fans, a clever airflow and it was very silent/unnoticeable. In my opinion it takes up less space than these ultra-slim cases. If put upright there is a risk of being knocked over and if they lay horizontally they still block the same space like a bigger server. In contrast many of these cubes stand perfectly stable and are stackable.

So for example, something like one of the smaller ones here: Cube ATX, Micro-ATX and ITX PC Cases at Overclockers UK with closed sides and a defined airflow.