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"Two Towers" - Building my own custom server case from scratch - 15 Aug 2013

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I'm amazed at how dense the industry has been able to pack drives into data centers.

 

Yes, it's amazing ... HOWEVER -- have you ever been in one?  I have ... and the noise level is unreal.  They have VERY high-rpm fans running at VERY high settings to ensure a VERY high airflow to keep the drives running relatively cool.    You would NOT want this setup in a home environment ... or even most small business environments ... unless you have a very isolated room that's fairly well soundproof  :)

  • 2 years later...

Very nice upgrade => and I'd forgotten about your nifty custom case, which clearly came out VERY well.    I may have to do this same thing for my next server  :)

  • 3 weeks later...

That is one fantastic custom built case. I've been looking into building a NAS lately and came across this thread.

I do have a question. Do you still have the digital schematics for the case, and would you be willing to share them?

I'd love to try my hand at building this case for myself, and the schematics would make it drastically easier.

Agree the schematics for the MDF panels would be nice to have.

 

Unfortunately, the drive drawers you used are no longer available ... but I suspect there are equivalents ones that can be found with a bit of "Googling"  :)

I found one tray in particular that I'm absolutely dying to use with this design. It's like it was made for it.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817998184

 

It can take one 3.5 and one 2.5 in drive, and has an integrated 2 port USB panel which connects to the 19 pin MOBO header.

It's totally going  into the top tray.

ETA: It's perfect for that one SSD cache that I like to have in my NAS systems

 

I've also found the following two trays for the rest of the stack.

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-5-25in-Trayless-Mobile-3-5in/dp/B000KS8S9W

http://www.amazon.com/Kingwin-SATA-Internal-Swap-KF-1003-BK/dp/B00P2PNOOM

 

I'm leaning towards the Kingwin based on the aesthetics and the design just looks like it's better to me at least.

That SYBA dual-drive rack w/USBv3 ports is a slick find  :)

 

Yes, it's amazing ... HOWEVER -- have you ever been in one?  I have ... and the noise level is unreal.  They have VERY high-rpm fans running at VERY high settings to ensure a VERY high airflow to keep the drives running relatively cool.    You would NOT want this setup in a home environment ... or even most small business environments ... unless you have a very isolated room that's fairly well soundproof  :)

 

Small, high speed fans are decades old. My data centers use 5HP fans. As we say, making noise is wasting energy.

Added link to the drawings in OP

 

Thanks !!  :)

Thanks a ton!

I don't know sketchup too well, I'm more of an autocad and it's derivatives kind of guy.

I'm guessing there is a simpler way to do it, but I'm taking the components and creating diagrams with the dimensions labeled for ease of use.

Anything you learned in the actual building of the project that I should watch out for when I start working with the actual MDF?

 

 

  • Author

Use screws (very carefully) and glue to put the case together.

Generally, glue is a stronger fastening method than screws or nails. A brad nailer would also be a good choice.

 

Anything that holds the joint together while the glue dries will be fine. Use a quality wood glue like Gorilla or Titebond.

  • 3 months later...
  • Author

Thanks a ton!

I don't know sketchup too well, I'm more of an autocad and it's derivatives kind of guy.

I'm guessing there is a simpler way to do it, but I'm taking the components and creating diagrams with the dimensions labeled for ease of use.

Anything you learned in the actual building of the project that I should watch out for when I start working with the actual MDF?

 

Did you get around to building your case?

 

  • theone changed the title to "Two Towers" - Building my own custom server case from scratch - 15 Aug 2013

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