Rackmount case for PC

[beelzerob]

I've decided to resurrect one of my older PC's to serve as my CQC Server. 1GB RAM, 1.1 Ghz AMD Athlon, should be plenty of horsepower for what I need. However, the case is butt-ugly. I have a bunch of older Desktop/tower PC cases, but they all are in various states of disrepair.

I have my nice 19" 2-post rack that I think would work great for putting it in. So what I'd need is a rack-mountable PC case for standard ATX motherboards. I found this one on ebay, and it LOOKS great, but in a rare moment of caution, I thought I'd post just to see if there's any potential pitfalls I should be careful of here before I jump at this. Is a rackmount case just the same as a regular PC case, if it says it's ATX compatible?

thanks

 

[edgedestination]

beelzerob,

I am wanting to do something every similar, let me know how this works out for you... :blink:

Thanks,

David

 

[GraysonPeddie]

I'd say "yes."

With that server case that you're going to buy, I don't see any potential pitfalls with this case. 6 3.5" internal drive bays is plenty enough for a lot of storage.

If you're looking to add a lot of storage space, you can get this 1.5 TB hard drive from Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148337
That is, if your motherboard supports SATA.

Anyway, I'm thinking about getting something like this and mod the two fan holes to size it up to 120mm. That way, I can get two Xigmatek XSF-F1251 120mm fans (additional one for intake) and put in 2 fan filters in the top of the case. :blink:

 

[beelzerob]

No, it's an older motherboard, so no SATA.

I'd actually like it if it had a simple raid1 for redundancy, as I'm also resurrecting an old 40 GB drive for the OS. I'll just have to make sure I backup the important parts.... I can probably get a cheap RAID PCI card... Hmm.

he's got a lot of those cases for sale, so there's no hurry. Assuming I don't hear any other concerns, I'll probably do it sometime this weekend.

 

[CollinR]

Sharp edges. :blink:

Almost my stuff is 4U now, I love em!


Haven't installed my cabinet yet but when I do I'll be really set.

 

[lamanmi]

I did the same thing. I purchased 4 of these. More expensive then what you were intially looking at, but with all of those bays right at the front, it is real easy to exchange drives. I ran all of the sata cables and power cables to the front and now have a CD rom a 6 sata drives all accessable and excahgeable from the front without having to open up the case.

This vendor was pretty good as well, quick shipping.

 

[felixrosbergen]

I'm pretty happy with this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811182566

I has a full front air filter behind the door and a 120mm fan on front and 80mm in the rear. The front fan is a bit noisy, but if this is going to be in a wiring room it shouldnt be a problem.

Noted that the cases say 4U-500, the 500 appears to refer to the depth of the case. I have this one and a different brand that is slightly deeper (probably 600 or 650). The slighly deeper one is a bit easier to manage cables in since it leave more space between the hardrives/optical drives and the mobo. It;s certainly doable in the 4U-500 i got though.

I found a very strong magnet inside the case...i thought this was odd, but think it maybe to catch any loose hardware from flopping around. If you get this better check for it though, i wouldnt want a strong magnet anywhere near my components.

 

[sic0048]

Most of these cases are designed to be mounted on the front. So if your 2 post rack has its mounting posts in the middle of the rack, the case will be halfway back in the rack and stick way out the back. It shouldn't be a problem, but just want to warn you so you aren't surprised it you get it.

 

[beelzerob]

Most of these cases are designed to be mounted on the front. So if your 2 post rack has its mounting posts in the middle of the rack, the case will be halfway back in the rack and stick way out the back. It shouldn't be a problem, but just want to warn you so you aren't surprised it you get it.

Thanks Brian...those are the kind of heads-ups things I want to know. I did know that beforehand, so it's not a surprise, but thanks for mentioning it.

I've got a Autopatch 4YDM that has front mounting, so I'm going to have lots of things hanging way off on one side. As long as the rack can take it, I won't care how it looks.

The alternative would be to buy a shelf and put this old tower PC on it's side on the shelf...but I'm just thinking that'd look like butt.

 

[felixrosbergen]

Are 2 poster racks that much cheaper? I need to start looking for a rack soon...

I like the 4 poster racks so everything lines up on the front, looks a bit cleaner IMHO. Then again it is a wiring closet.......then again it seems the vast majority of us here is at least moderately OCD. :blink:

 

[sic0048]

Are 2 poster racks that much cheaper? I need to start looking for a rack soon...

I like the 4 poster racks so everything lines up on the front, looks a bit cleaner IMHO. Then again it is a wiring closet.......then again it seems the vast majority of us here is at least moderately OCD. :blink:

If you are buying new, then I'd suspect that the 2 post racks are cheaper than a 4 post of comparable size. However, you can get some great deals on used 4 post racks, especially if you live near a large city. I've picked up a couple of racks for Atlanta (which is a 1.5 hour ride from me). It was well worth the drive and gas both times.

If you do live near a large city, be sure to watch that cities Craiglist and E-Bay listings (make sure you sort the E-Bay search by distance). I got a smaller 33u rack for about $75 and a full size rack for about $150.

 

[beelzerob]

I didn't want a 4 post rack, mainly for the bulk of it. Granted, I have PLENTY of room down there...but the most things like that you add, the less room you end up with. But more than that, I wanted a rack where I still had completely unhindered access to every single angle of whatever was in the rack. With a 2 post rack, it's all just hangin' out there, ready to be utilized.

From my looking, 2 post racks were way cheaper...but I completely agree, if you're near a big city, you've got a really good chance of getting 2 or 4 posters pretty durn cheap. I watched ebay for quite a while, and the cheapest I saw was a 2 post that went for around $60 shipped. What I finally did, though, was watched Denver's craigslist, and saw one on there for $45, including 2 cable management trays, and fortunately had inlaws living in Denver who were to come visit soon. So that's how I got mine.

As long as this thing doesn't buckle under the weight, I like the look of a 2-post rack much more.

 

[wuench]

The issues with rackmount cases is depth. Too deep and it rally hangs out the back more than other devices, too shallow and you may not be able to fit things like long graphics cards in.

I have a 19" deep rackmount, and I am not sure I could fit a high in graphics card in it. Also, although mine is face mounted, I also have it resting on my UPS which is on rails.

 

[beelzerob]

Well, I resisted longer than I thought I would...the whole weekend! I went for it, so I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Waynedb]

The issues with rackmount cases is depth. Too deep and it rally hangs out the back more than other devices, too shallow and you may not be able to fit things like long graphics cards in.

This is why I like my air nibbler, I have ordered cases that were too long for my needs and cut them to the size I wanted. Sometimes it is cheaper to do this and other times I ordered the the case without checking the length.

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/...r&Submit=Go