Project: 1U VIA 2xNIC UNIX Router using Compact Flash

Introduction

You ask; why have you built a 1U router case?
Well I couldnt find a slimline case that was in my budget (well Im really just too tight fisted!).

Im starting this thread when this project is nearing the end. Its taken a while and I keep making mistakes hence having to redo parts and thus taking plenty of time!

I shall soon be moving on to designing the electronics. I will be using an Atmel AVR to control an LCD that will be mounted in the front to accept text from the via boards serial port and monitor the temperatures and control the fan via PWM (very quiet! but essential as the brick psu is mounted inside the case and this will be on 24/7).

Once the electronics are in place I will then move onto customising UNIX to run from a compact flash card (read only) and a RAM disk. I have already configured a firewall/router using FreeBSD pretty much how it will be except for the compact-flash/RAM-disk.

Anyway tell me what you think of the project so far

Mechanical

The 1U PSU in this picture later gets ditched. Its just too heavyweight for the small power requirments. I sent it back and got a AC-DC brick and DC-DC converter.

80% of the metal has been milled. The connections bracks at the back were made from sheet aluminium and hand filed! Yes ! Hand filed. It took 4 attempts to make the perfect braket.

 

Ok I've got some questions, where did you get the 1u case, cause I am looking for one, and do you have a rack for them and can you tell me where you got it, and where did you get the PSU, both of them, and the cd-rom converter and the Compact flash ide reader? SOrry I have been looking for all those parts myself.

 

I take it as a complement that you think this is a bought product. Im surprised you cant see the scraps scrathes and other marks from the machining processes. To prove this next time Im machineing something I will take a pic of the miller. I made the case myself (apart from the front panel) on a milling machine I have access to at work Anyway heres a breakdown of parts:

Slim CD IDE Adapter:
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=110
£5.29

PCI 1 Slot Riser Card:
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=434
£7.05

VIA EPIA 5000 Eden Mainboard (this is what started it off, was a gift from the girlfriend...):
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=12_45&products_id=1
£61.39

Compact Flash Adaptor:
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?products_id=22
£12.00

SanDisk 256MB Compact Flash Card:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=86547
£14

Power Supply:
As above; I started out with this psu but my system doesnt pull enough current to keep the unit switched on so I sent it back in favour of a AC-DC brick psu (had to re-machine the back panel becuase of this )
Old PSU 1U:
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_57&products_id=286
New PSU:
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_54&products_id=142

CD-Rom: Ebay, 24X Toshiba, £4.
NIC: A 3Com 10/100 I had lying around.
Memory: 512MB Crucial PC133.

If you want to buy a rack mount case theres some here: http://linitx.com/index.php?cPath=40
But As I said above I just cant afford to buy something like that at the moment.

Heres a little more explanation

Hope this helps

 

You did a very good job machineing that, I would if had the tools availble and the time, but I just have the money so I might buy a case. Thanks so much for all the parts list. Very good job on this, hope it all works out(Freebsd on the CF)

 

Thanks. It should all work out Well I guess you will see. Ill post where Ive got to in the next couple of weeks. To be honest I dont really have the time either but have been doing 30 minutes at lunchtimes for the last 3-4 months.

 

Cool, well you are doing a good job, I want to do a mod soon I just am not sure what to do. Surprisingly me with a ~950post cout has never moded a case yet. Hopefully soon.

 

Well like you to say its not so bad when you have access to the tools (and the skills; using a milling machine wrong will do lots of damage!). The backplate was hand filed, took freeking ages but dam satisfying

A drill snapped in the internal bar as I was drilling/tapping the last hole which pi$$ed me off. Ive had to drill it out to M8 so I can put a plug in that I can drill M3 mounting hole back into it. I could bodge it, but I want this case to be spot on so I will fix that on monday. Then I just have a few bits-and-bobs to finish off then I will be sanding it and cleaning it with chemicals to give a nice surface for the paint.

Not sure which colour yet :S probably just matt black.

 

I think a good flat silver might look nice. I always like silver rack servers, dont know why.

 

The good thing about paint is that once clean and painted it hides any imperfections. im not sure that I could remove all the imperfections. I know what you mean though, I remmeber when apple released some nice looking aluminion rack cases... They look very nice

 

Very nice, and extremely functional. Oh, and techiecaseburn, you can buy them from your local electronics supplier, but am not sure about the quality, (I know in New Zealand you can get some alright ones). I origionaly thought he bought a 1u case, (unassembled), and am even more impressed now.

 

Exactly how tall is 1U?

 

Hey! Nice project!
Three things:

1 Do you have the dimensions for that case that you could send me?
2 In return I can offer you an AVR program I wrote that emulates a serial matrix orbial LCD -- it can handle 8 buttons, special characters and all the other schizzle you need to run it with lcdsmartie -- except the PWM fan control, which should be pretty easy to add if you know your stuff!
3 How noisy was the 180W PSU (if you managed to power it up at all)?

EDIT:

1.75 inches

ch424

 

Thanks all for the complements.

ch424:
1) Ill post them on monday becuase the case is sitting on my desk at work.
2) yeah Ill take a look, Im pretty confident with software development at all levels (being one) but its always nice to see how other people have structured things
3) Yeah I forced it to think enough current was being pulled thus keeping it on. It was very quiet. You really would have a job hearing it. Of course that was just 5 minutes of operation with the system on the desk, it may get noisey when the system heats up. You could email linitx for the make and model of the fan then lookup the min and max noise specifications.

and yeah its 40mm high Theres only a 2mm gap between the RAM and the top of the case

Hehe, I wish it were that simple. Its all done from metal out the scrap bin (hence the various colours...etc) so its even a green case! Im sure the lid was from a 1U case (it was lying in the scrap bin). All the rest has been machined, folded, drilled, filed and cleaned-up by me

 

'U' spec cases are 19" wide, no? (Just checking.. I'm thinking of making something similar..

 

indeed, the depth isnt specified but most server rack cases are from 550mm 700mm. This is probably around 300mm deep (ill measure it on monday).

 

Hi

I'll see if I can dig up that AVR code! Where did you get all the dimensions from? Is there an official 19" spec anywhere, or did you just measure up a server at work ?

ch424

 

Please tell me OpenBSD.


Looks sweet.


-jeffrey

 

He has already said FreeBSD.

 

There's room enough for a normal HDD, why the CF?

 

Cause it's just a router, no need for a hard drive just need a little space, like a 256 CF.