It's a maplin project box, PC26, with a P3 1.2GHz mini itx board, 512meg ram and two 320gig WD IDE harddisks called (Tweedle)dum and (Tweedle)dee. The box is being named, Alice in respect The heatsink isnt staying, it's just there as an interim atm. Everything is just screwed in the bottom. I made damn sure not to mount anything in the top and to keep it clean. The harddisks are simply mounted on some plastic hex screws, but might be remounted with some rubber between the screws and case bottom to minimise vibration. Basically it's not something uber original, just another mini-itx mobo in maplin project box, but without CD drive. It's booting freenas off a 128meg USB stick, and using the whole of the ~600gig (post format) to store music and video for the family. Im looking for some nice, low feet, and a way to mount an ethernet connector on the back as it's the only input/output. The only other hole will be a mounted power socket (small, round) and power switch. Im gonna go for no ventilation and see how far it goes.
PSU screwed in now, and on the right between the harddisks is the power plug, and to the left in black wrap is the USB boot "disk".
As too the network port, buy a socket (wall mount) and a patch lead. chop one end of the patch lead and connect to socket. Mount socket on case and plug connector into MB. simple solution realy.
Yea, that's what I was thinking. I *did* have a small patch adapter which meant you could connect 2 cables together but Ive lost it or it's been "tidyed" since I was last at home
@ bender thats the socket i was thinking off (i had some leftover from a network install) hardwired is sooo much better then wireless.
Yea i was gonna mod the patch adapter into the back of the case. You got a pic of what you mean, exactly? It's gotta be 2" high at most.
something like this. http://www.jaycar.com.au/productVie...d2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID= here is a stronger one http://www.jaycar.com.au/productVie...d2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID= then just get the end of a patch cable and cut it at the length needed and use a punchdown tool to attach the wires. the colours are all wrong it was just a quick paintjob. but thats what im trying to say if it helps
I found something even better whilst in mappers Hope my soldering skills work though That RJ45 connector looks just what the doctor ordered, however, I was looking for something more industrious to keep with the alu theme. Project updated EDIT: Anyone know how to cut 16mm holes in sheet metal? I cant find a drill bit big enough and im not doing it with a dremel.
Vandalproof powerswitch and an 8 socket audio lead which I soldered the ethernet cable to. Hopefully It'll work. I spose I should test it before drilling holes. I want to continue the metal theme throughout. Ive still not found "feet" that match, so have some 79p crappy rubber sticky feet atm just to stop it scratching the desk with the screws underneath.
This is starting to look really nice A step drill would make some nice 16mm holes, although a spade bit would do it in a pinch. Wouldn't be as clean looking though.
That's what I was thinking about earlier but wasnt sure and I asked my dad but he didnt know either. I'll pop down BnQ tomorrow and see if they have one.
Looks very similar to the server I made last year, I think you actually used exactly the same case. Mine only had one HDD though. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=95213 I'm actually running out of storage on this box, I'm planning on moving it into a larger case with a lot more drives and some sort of automated backup system over the summer. I also came across a nice NAS operating system based on FreeBSD.. might be good for your project: http://www.freenas.org/index.php?lang=us EDIT: Sorry, you're already using this, ignore me.
Without a proper bench drill i slipped a bit, and also drilled a hole in the centre for something I later didnt need, :doh: but it's clean and that was the main thing. However... It overheats like no tomorrow. An hour on doing very little and it almost goes nuclear so im searching for a couple of 15mm thick fans, preferably 120mm. Luckly I have a hole saw already for that fansize, so it shouldnt look too bad, but im gonna need to invest in some nice bolts and it'll spoil the clean look. There's not enough space inside for an axial fan along the size unfortunately. And the power adapter grounds to the case, so it electrocuted me every time I touched it. Not cool. So I had to use some leccy tape to insulate the inside of the hole I havent got time to dig out my old tinted acrylic to make some feet, so im using 80p rubber sticky ones as a temp solution for now.
Hi Bindibadgi, Just a quick comment on the overheating - you'll deffo need some fresh air in there somewhere but meanwhile have you tried underclocking / undervolting the CPU? You'll have to wire wrap the pins or socket to do it but it's very easy to do on a socket 370 CPU. If you can think of a way to mount it cleanly have you thought about inverting the board and putting a blow hole / some mesh along the bottom of the case? (ala SilverStone LC11)... http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-lc11.htm (nice to see you're making use of the board BTW )
Hey bindi, How did you install freenas on the thumbdrive? i cant for the life of me work it out(redarded moment) anyways its looking real good, how about buying a Coolermaster stacker Crossflow fan and use that whilst cut a section of the case and mesh it over so that some air comes thru?
I dont really want to suck it from the bottom because then it just becomes a vacuum cleaner, although it would anyway I spose. The mobo has no underclocking options and i really cant afford to **** up a wiretrick, despite the fact it's ludicrously overpowered. I'll see about inverting it, but im gonna need a fan for the harddisks anyway, so doing 2 in some sort of design might be the thing on the cards. Need to find a dremel attachment that allows fingertip control of an etcher/drillbit. malf: the board is GREAT! I was tempted to buy your other one off you as well, because it's just so damn useful, but it really really needs TV out as well. Ata: burn it to CDRW, then boot it from that. There's an option from there that says "install to USB/Harddisk" and just press the number for that. Afterwards you just nav into it from another PC through http://192.168.... or whatever IP you assigned. Work will take a backseat for a couple of weeks now until I come home again. Need to brew on some ideas. Thanks for the comments, peeps.
