Mini-ITX NAS case

[derchris]

Hi all,

I'm about to replace my Icybox NAS enclosure with a self-made solution.
So I got a really nice Atom board, with 2x Gigabit LAN + 6 SATA which I'm going to use.
What I'm currently looking for is a case which can hold the board + 6 disks.
Don't need a CD/DVD slot, as I will be using a USB DVD.

I don't want to buy one of these tower cases.
Are there any NAS like cases out there?

Thanks in advance,
Christian

[MSIC]

I am potentially in a similar boat, but ruled out self build because a) it looked more expensive than a NAS and b) i couldnt find an atom motherboard with more than 3 SATA slots on.
Which board do you have?

Is using a regular desktop case an option for you?

[s_kinton]

As above, with six drives you're going to need to look towards regular midi desktop cases...

[weegie.geek]

Esata is probably the way forward here.

[derchris]

Here is the board:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/m...m?typ=H&IPMI=Y

It will not only function as a NAS, also as a router replacement.
Thats why I needed 2x LAN ports.

Would be nice if I could get a small case which fits all of that, and not use a regular Mini-ITX desktop/tower case.

[Hawker1986]

Lian-Li have a case that fits your bill perfectly, has a lot of 3.5" drives and is mITX form factor, im sure google will be your friend cos im at work and cant find it atm.

Hawker

[watercooled]

It's generally not good practice to run a NAS on the same machine as your firewall/router, down to security and stability issues. You want as few processes as possible on a firewall really, adding more just increases the chance of an exploit appearing, even though consumer router MFRs seem to think it's a good idea. Just give it some thought/do a bit of research on it first.

[derchris]

I'm dealing with this stuff everyday at work, so I would expect I know what I'm doing

[watercooled]

I'm not saying it can't be done, it's fairly simple to set up but like I said it's just generally a terrible idea to run servers on a firewall if you care about security at all, I guess it doesn't matter all that much from most home systems though...
Chenbro do some good cases but I can't find any 6 bay models, only 4 3.5" bays for mini-ITX cases: http://www.chenbro.com/corporatesite...ail.php?sku=79

[derchris]

Hooray, thanks to Hawker I found this:

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product...ndex=68&g=spec

Lets see were I can get one of these.

[simonw]

You may also be interested in the Fractal Design Array Mini ITX NAS Case. Fits your requirements - holds 6 HDD, no optical drive slot and in a NAS style case.

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=...gory=3&prod=39





Edit: Available at Ebuyer for £149.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/206093

[kmac]

This one looks nice but only has 4 drive bays

http://www.xcase.co.uk/Chenbro-ES340...ro-es34069.htm


Opps just seen watercooled has already posted this

[derchris]

The Fractal Design looks even better for my usage.
I think I will order that one, order a bunch of 1.5 or 2 TB disks, and then get going installing my own NAS

[peterb]

have a look at www.linitx.co.uk or www.itxwarehouse.co.uk - both have several mini itx cases that are suitable for NAS or HTPC applications.

[GaryRW]

The Fractal Design looks even better for my usage.
I think I will order that one, order a bunch of 1.5 or 2 TB disks, and then get going installing my own NAS

Review of that fractal design case here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/fractal-array

Not an overly glowing review, but I think the review itself acknowledges there's not a huge range of choice

[derchris]

Sorry to dig out my old thread
I got the board now here, with the R2 of the Fractal case on order.
Looking at my initial setup, I would like to make some changes.
For that I would need a PCI-x 1-2 Port Sata card.
Something like this:

http://www.xcase.co.uk/2-Port-ESATA-...-%20hx-431.htm

Just it needs to be PCI-x
Anyone know where I could get one of these with PCI-x.
eSata is not required, but will take it if available.