Okay, this is my first real modding-related post here, so I hope this goes to the right forum. I'm currently planning and later on going to implement some usefull mods to the case of my server. Currently the project is only in the planning stage, so comment as much you like. But first a little disclaimer. The server is located in a storage closet where no one can see it unless he/she especially wants, so the mods are going to concentrate on udefullness, not appearance. So I'm probably not going to paint the case, install any lighting or something like that. (Although some internal case lighting with external power source instead of the case PSU could be nice, because to closet is kinda dark, thus making hardware upgrades pain.) But on to the topic... The case itself is a Chieftec TX-103 tower case, which is pretty nice for a server, even though it's not a "real" server case and it's not the most beautiful case around. Here's a picture of the case: (I forgot to use flash so the picture is a bit blurry, but gives a general idea still...) For those wondering why there aren't any blanking plates in the 5.25" bays, here's a further explanation: As the usefull HDD bays in the case ran out, I had to install the two drives in my raid array to the 5.25" bays, together with adapters shown in the picture. As the drive rails used in Chieftec cases are made of plastic, it pretty much stops the transfer of heat from the drives to the case hull. That's why I had to install a 8x8cm fan for the drives, as seen in the picture. Isn't that lovely installation? So now we get to the first mod planned for the case. As there's not going to be any real 5.25" devices in the case, I'm going to replace the bay covers with a piece of plexiglass. The plexiglass is going to have a place for a 12x12 cm fan, so the airflow will cover pretty much the all four bays, thus making it possible to install two more drives in the case. I'm still a bit unsure about the design of the plexiglass. Two basic ideas I've had are: a) drill the area where the fan will be full of small holes, forming a nice grill. However, I feel that this would still block the airflow and maybe create extra noise. b) drill a 12cm diameter round hole for the fan and then cover it with a "regular" fan grill. I don't have a picture of the grill but I'm sure most of you will get the idea. Personally I'm going towards the b choice, and I already did a quick planning of it with sketchup: So now I'd like to hear some comments about the design. And those who have more experience with plexiglass, is 5 mm thickness enough for my project? I bought a scrap piece with that thickness and I wouldn't like to buy more now... After I've finished the current project I will probably start planning how I could make the airflow through the case even better... I'll post pictures of the current cooling setup soon.
Yes, kinda. I use it for storing both space-hogging data (on non-redundant lvm array) and important data (on mirrored raid array)... But currently I have to use the server also for firewall/router duties, before I can afford to buy a Epia for that.
Finally an update Fan bracket 18.7.2004: Okay, I finally got around doing something about the project. I completed the most urgent modding part, the fan bracket discussed in the first post in this thread. Last sunday, it was a sunny day, a perfect day for some modding. I don't have pictures from the process, because I forgot to charge the battery of my digital camera and I didn't want to waste the sunny day waiting. So I'll try to explain what I did. So I had the scrap piece of the plexiglass, and I had to cut a correct size piece from it. The only tool available was a saw used for metal. It worked for plexiglass too, but the cut wasn't the cleanest possible. Good thing that I had a couple mm extra in the measurements so that I could later sand the edges. After cutting the piece, I ran into a problem. How to make a big, round hole in the plexiglass. I don't own many useful tools... After a while of thinking I decided to drill the edge of the soon-to-be hole full of little holes, and then "connect" them later. I also drilled the mounting holes for the fan. After a while of drilling I took every sharp tool that I could find, and a bit later I had a round hole in the plexiglass, although it had quite a rough edges. That was to be dealt next. I started filing the edges of the hole to make them smoother... After some filing, I drove to nearest market and got some sandpaper. I started with 100 grit. And then 240... 400... 600... Didn't have anything finer, but with the water, the edges became smooth enough for me. I also sanded the outer edges of the piece, so that it would fit in the "frame" of the case front panel 5 1/4" bays. After sanding the plexiglass piece was pretty much completed. I could take off the protective sheets from the surface, and... I saw that the hole wasn't perfectly round and there were a little crack in the edge. But I decided that it doesn't matter, as no one will see it from distance... So it was left to glueing the plexiglass to the frame, but I didn't have any good glue. A quick trip to the nearest market and I got a Loctite All Plastic Super Glue kit. <insert sleeping here> 19.7.2004: For the first thing in the morning, I glued the plexiglass piece to the frame. The instructions said that the glue would need to dry for around 8 hours, so while waiting for it, I spent the day trying to get a broken hard drive working (without any luck, I need to get a warranty replacement) and went shopping, got a new Radeon 9200SE for my workstation (not the fastest card around, but enough for non-gaming box). At the evening, I resumed the work with the bracket. I wiped the plexiglass clean from fingerprints and installed the fan and fan guard... Here's some pictures from the finished product. Not very good-looking, but works. Cheap Nexus 12x12cm fan. Kinda weird colour, but then again, no one sees the server from the closet. The backside of the bracket, notice the too long screws and non-sleeved cable. Well, that's it for this time. I'll post pictures of the installed bracket tomorrow. After that, I'll start planning the next project, tidying the cabling mess in the server. 6 flat IDE cables and lot more... That's going to need some work.
I can't say I love that fan color either, but it's about the functionality, isn't it? In fact, I really should do something like that... my raptors have very little airflow over them.
I don't think it looks that bad and if you really wanted to make it look good you could get a clear fan with some leds in it and forst the arylic over so it kinda hides the fan, but the light from the leds can disperse better throught the acrylic.
Hmmn... Thanks for the idea, I might consider that in future. At least when I'm moving away from home, I probably need to place the server so that it can be seen. But anyway, I think it was worth the work to build the bracket, my HDD temperatures are now 3-5 degrees lower than before, and the front panel looks bit better than before.
