Case Mod - In Progress Server / 5-5 Quit, Exit, Next!

Hi guys,

First, i am new on Bit-Tech, second: im from The Netherlands, so my English is not so well.

My Mod is going to be a server mod. I (l) Much storage, got over 1.4tb over my LAN, but its on different pc's. Im going to change that with this mod. The things i want to have in this mod is:
- Removable motherboard (the case is kinda small and not so handy to work in)
- Space for 10 Hard drives (so its futureproof, think im gonna need place for about 5 drives)
- Much airflow, so i can cool some hardware passive (CPU)

The case which is going to hold my hardware:

Its an AT case, and it has much 5,25" bays, really nice, im going to put my HDD's there.

I bought an NEC oem case with it for the mobo tray.

I made a quick sketch about how im going to make it:
-Removed, its gonna be a lot different than the sketch-
Note: Its not precisely going to be like that. This was just a little mockup how it can be organized to get an idea how its going to be.

I want a mobo tray!
So i put the grinder? (in Dutch is it called a slijptol) in the case and got this:


I think next update is going to be how to make it removable. But dont pin me on that one

 

*Subb'd*

I'm doing something very similar (Kickarse coincidence) so I'm interested to see the outcome

 

Thanx, i have seen your mod too Different cases, but i think both are going to be much better

 

Update:

Took some time cause the planning was changed. I live on a farm, and there is so much to do. But today i had some time BTW, first time i used alu bars, really easy to mount and work with.

Today, i made the motherboard a little more removable, and put wheels on this.

The goodies which i've bought:

4 wheels - 1 Aluminium U profile - 1 Aluminium L profile

First, the weels, really easy to do:
Before:


After some riveting and drilling:


Then i made the motherboard tray:
Its basically this: i mounted a L profile onto both sides of the original AT tray:

This is from one side, other side is identical.

Then i mounted 2 U profiles on the ATX motherboard tray:

 

Looking good... Idea officially stolen

Are you goin to use the idea for noise reduction I mentioned earlier? (Don't want to give anything away incase it's a surprise)

 

No, those Alu bars are really tight on each other (hope u understand it?) so i think its not needed right now.

 

ok, don't worry I get what you mean

can't actually wait for the outcome

 

Well, lost my image host Any ideas for a new one?

But, well, i worked yesterday on this thing so its progressing

 

Photobucket.com has worked great for me. You might want to check them out. They do have free accounts.

 

Does your ISP give you free web space? Mine gives about 50mb and ftp access so its ideal for me.

 

Images are online

 

Update

Well, i did some work the last week Its getting there, a little more metal work and after that im going to paint it

It was time for some major changes, so i flipped the case upside down (yes, i like reversed ATX/BTX/whatever it is called to put an ATX motherboard upside down). The second reason was, the front was going to be changed too. And i wanted the hdd cooling intake fans on the bottom because i think mesh on top doesnt look nice.


First, i replaced the bar in the middle of the case with a L-profile, because else plates in the middle were under that bar. Now they are above the u profile. And, i made the cable managment hole a little bigger. Sorry that i cant describe it better, but my English is not that good.

Well, this says enough now huh


The cable management hole with an ATX cable. Its just huge And i like it


Now, a little more zoomed out, i also made a air vent from the bottom with some mesh my dad has lying around It just looks darn sexy in this mod
Notice, i also mounted a 3,5" bay for my fan controller.




Next, the motherboard tray As you can see, i added a triangle on the back for some extra stability and to be shure that the PCI cards arent going to drop out


Ow, i forgot something. Who knows whats this gets a Cookie

 

5.25" mounts? i'll have to watch this one as i have an older AT case as well. who knows when i'll get around to working on it though.

 

Nearly good, 3,5" mounts.

 

Well, guys i need your help with cooling this beast?!

I want to cool the CPU passive. Because i bought some damn silent 120mm fans (17db). But how will i do that, because i think i dont get enough air flow near the CPU.

Also, its a socket 370 CPU so i cant get aftermarket cooling (anymore).

 

If you need an old heatsink, maybe secondhand market or ebay could help.

To carry air to the CPU, you can use a duct or funnel... Or separators in the case to lead the airflow.

 

Cool looking mod, a lot of people doing servers now hope to be starting my own soon.
I went ahead and had a look on ebay and there are a few coolers on there
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=37...b=&_trksid=m270.l1313&_odkw=370+CPU&_osacat=0

You may even be able to mod a newer one to fit on it,

Also you can get them new
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CjCdwwp&trid=1231772022z816720z0a3c083023028z
probably not as wide of a selection.

 

Too bad i live in holland. Cant get that nice CPU cooler in holland

Ill think i make adapter from 40 or 50mm to 120mm.

 

Update
Last week i finally got some time for the modding thing'. So i went to the workshop and had some fun with my materials and tools
I made wheels and a hard drive rack.

Wheels


Well, it was kinda easy because my dad had some really thick alu bars. The only problem was they had been used, and they were rounded. So it took a lot of time and i made them straigt. Then i made a few holes into the bars and mounted them.

HDD rack
Yes, that was also a PITA. The first HDD rack (the update before this update) wasnt working allright because the holes werent in the right place. So i bought some alu and made a new rack.





In the next update i will probably make the front panel or improve something. So be prepared

That was all.

 

Well, i was bored so i screwed the PSU and Motherboard in it. Wanna show you this I just like the space which is in the mobo compartiment. So nice