Howdy, This is a work in progress and may take some time, financially if nothing else. With hindsight, I wish I had done this before the price of everything went up but some things are getting more reasonable. My first task, a case. At this point, I may build a new system in the new case, or, I might build the new system in my current case. It depends on which case I buy. A cube shape wouldn't work for my main system. It would take up to much space, it would however make a great NAS box. My current case is a Cooler Master HAF-932 with those huge 200mm fans. It has a top fan and that thing removes a lot of warm air. A top fan really improves heat removal. After all, heat naturally rises. So any case that has a top fan gets extra points with me.
I've found a few cases that peak my interest depending on which way I go with this. One I found that has a lot of hard drive space and would make a descent NAS box, the Fractal Design Node 804. It's a cube shaped thing but can hold a LOT of spinning rust. 10 drives plus I think space for a SSD for the OS as well. 10, 16 or 18TB drives, is a lot of space, even if in a RAID setup. I might add, the price ain't bad either, cheaper than some full tower type cases. It also has space for 10 fans. That includes several top ones. The downside, only micro ATX and mini ITX mobo. This is a serious down vote here. I was hoping to turn my current rig into a NAS. The mobo and such parts. This won't be a option with this case. Otherwise, it gives ideas on what I'm looking for. And not. ;-) Another find. The Fractal Design Define 7 XL. This is more of a tower type shape like my current rig. I think I read with extra trays, it can hold up to 18 drives. One could have a fancy RAID setup and still have huge storage space with that. I think it also has SSD spots for drives that could hold the OS itself. This one is quite pricey tho. Still, that is a LOT of drives. This one has space for 9 140mm fans including a top one. As far as drive capacity, this would make the best NAS box. It also takes a range of mobo types. Another find. The Gamemax Master M905. This one also holds about 10 hard drives, plus space for a SSD for the OS. It is also a tower type. If my count is right, it has space for 4 120mm fans. None at the top tho. One could cut a hole and add a fan tho. I guess. This one also takes several mobo types. Keep in mind, my current case has those huge 200mm fans. Quiet as a mouse but moves a lot of air. I sit right next to this thing and I can't really hear anything from it. Despite having 9 hard drives in it, still quiet. Also, everything runs really cool. Even the CPU runs fairly cool. When compiling and the CPU is at max for extended periods of time, the most I've ever seen is like 125F and I forgot and left the A/C off for a bit so the room was warm. It usually runs at most about 122F or so. The speed control for the fans is really good. At idle as I type, 113F. It doesn't vary a whole lot from idle to maxed out. The fan speeds is what mostly changes. Some of you get to see a lot of different systems. Some of you also are familiar with many different distros as well, which is why I ask about other distros sometimes. Someone may even have one of the ones I listed above and can share info first hand. I figure someone out there may know of a case that is something close to the ones listed above that I've missed but could be a nice fit. Those should give you a idea what I'm looking for. To be honest, I kinda like the Fractal Design Define 7 XL right now despite the higher cost. I could make a NAS/backup box with it and I doubt I'd run out of drive space even if I started using RAID and mirrored everything, at a minimum. 9 pairs of say 18TB drives would give around 145TBs of storage with a file system on it. That's a LOT of space. Videos and such are getting quite large nowadays but I doubt I'll ever go above a 40" TV so even 1080p videos don't have to have a huge bit rate. Someone with a huge 60" TV or larger might need more. I don't. That amount of storage space would hold a LOT of videos, youtube and anything else I could find. I could build my new system in my current case. After all, I like it just fine. It's still fully functional plus I like how the USB ports are in front instead of on top collecting dust, dirt and such. However, if I pick the Define 7XL, that would likely become a NAS/backup box. The guts of current rig would go in it and new rig would go in my old Cooler Master case. So, anyone think they know of a case that might beat those, especially the Define 7, and still have a price that is reasonable? I also look at cooling fans. I really like how cool my current case stays. Also, I'm in the USA so needs to be available here. I mostly use Ebay but sometimes use Amazon. I've also used Newegg, Tigerdirect and a couple other sites as well. If you live outside the USA, brand and model will do and I can look it up to see if it is available here or not. Oh, I don't care much for all the fancy lighting stuff. I tend to disable that pretty fast. If you can find one that is rather plain, bonus points. I also air cool, no water cooling. Ideas? Links? Dale :-) :-) P. S. I found out how to make long runs to outbuildings too. They make a thing that converts ethernet to fiber and vice versa. Run the long part over fiber, up to miles in some cases, then put a fiber to ethernet converter thingy on the other end. From what I've read and seen on youtube, the ethernet tends to be the limiting factor. Neato. :-D
