Moving a Computer to a Rackmount Case for $75 - Chris Titus Tech
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Date: 2022-03-21
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Comments and reviews: 10
Grayson
I've had a hard time building a computer with a low-end rack-mounted case. The cage that is secured to the case with 4 screws makes it so very hard to line up the cage's screw holes with the rack mount case. I won't buy that case ever again unless I could DIY something that would help hold the cage in place before putting back together. And yes, I can see the screw holes lining up okay despite my visual impairment, but man, if I ever want to load a 120mm Noctua fan in the front, I would spend 20+ minutes taking the cage out, install a fan, and try to get the cage lined up with the case by very steady hands. Rockwell's case is not to be messed with for long periods of time once setup.
If I have to do the build over again, I would buy a rack shelf and a Fractal Design computer case with a plain side panel or a Corsair 275Q computer case. Problem with the cases with plain side panel is the USB ports and power button only at the top. No big deal unless I need to access my server's power button and/or the USB ports. But the upside is I have the flexibility to install a tall heatsink with a 140mm fan. I don't care for hot-swappable hard drives until in the future when I have the money for it. I do plan on using 2.5- hard drives instead of 3.5- just to cut down on the size of the hard drive. I could go with 4TB 2.5- hard drives, though.
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I've had a hard time building a computer with a low-end rack-mounted case. The cage that is secured to the case with 4 screws makes it so very hard to line up the cage's screw holes with the rack mount case. I won't buy that case ever again unless I could DIY something that would help hold the cage in place before putting back together. And yes, I can see the screw holes lining up okay despite my visual impairment, but man, if I ever want to load a 120mm Noctua fan in the front, I would spend 20+ minutes taking the cage out, install a fan, and try to get the cage lined up with the case by very steady hands. Rockwell's case is not to be messed with for long periods of time once setup.
If I have to do the build over again, I would buy a rack shelf and a Fractal Design computer case with a plain side panel or a Corsair 275Q computer case. Problem with the cases with plain side panel is the USB ports and power button only at the top. No big deal unless I need to access my server's power button and/or the USB ports. But the upside is I have the flexibility to install a tall heatsink with a 140mm fan. I don't care for hot-swappable hard drives until in the future when I have the money for it. I do plan on using 2.5- hard drives instead of 3.5- just to cut down on the size of the hard drive. I could go with 4TB 2.5- hard drives, though.
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itech
A brand you may find useful in the future for your rack mounted stuff, iStarUSA. I have several of their hot swap bays and rack mount cases, very nice from my experience. They are more expensive than Rosewill but not the $200 starting price of other brands, they straddle that middle ground between Rosewill and say Norco. Newegg tends to put their stuff on sale a lot too as long as you're not picky about specific colors (the sales tend to be only for a specific color for whatever reason).
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A brand you may find useful in the future for your rack mounted stuff, iStarUSA. I have several of their hot swap bays and rack mount cases, very nice from my experience. They are more expensive than Rosewill but not the $200 starting price of other brands, they straddle that middle ground between Rosewill and say Norco. Newegg tends to put their stuff on sale a lot too as long as you're not picky about specific colors (the sales tend to be only for a specific color for whatever reason).
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-Michael
Rosewill makes a 2U case for $95, that is pretty nice. I replace the front three 80mm fans with Noctua. It holds 3 standard stacking bays and all of the bays are removable. Each bay is cooled by one of the front fans. The case fits a micro atx board and is high enough for either of the two Noctua low profile cpu coolers. It utilizes a standard powersupply and has a vented top cover. I use these cases for my daily, my NAS and my router. RSV-2600
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Rosewill makes a 2U case for $95, that is pretty nice. I replace the front three 80mm fans with Noctua. It holds 3 standard stacking bays and all of the bays are removable. Each bay is cooled by one of the front fans. The case fits a micro atx board and is high enough for either of the two Noctua low profile cpu coolers. It utilizes a standard powersupply and has a vented top cover. I use these cases for my daily, my NAS and my router. RSV-2600
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victor
I dont know, thier are some decent rack mount cases for $75-$90 mark. iStarUSA make some good cases on amazon.
My $78.80 case is a D-300 blue bezel.
Im glad i grabbed a 3U server case from iStarUSA, thier D-300 model when it was on heavy sale. very modular, adaptable, and least of all cosmetically pleasing. Just cant use a standered power supply.
i started rack mounting on a whim (got sick of RGB) and enjoying rack mounting.
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I dont know, thier are some decent rack mount cases for $75-$90 mark. iStarUSA make some good cases on amazon.
My $78.80 case is a D-300 blue bezel.
Im glad i grabbed a 3U server case from iStarUSA, thier D-300 model when it was on heavy sale. very modular, adaptable, and least of all cosmetically pleasing. Just cant use a standered power supply.
i started rack mounting on a whim (got sick of RGB) and enjoying rack mounting.
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pepeshopping
What?
Why would you THINK that FreeBSD, Linux and yes, since Windows 8, cannot work/boot on Intel or AMD.
This does tell me your level of understanding of computers and operating systems.
FYI, there is something called the Hardware Abstraction Layer, check it out so you can understand better how this -magic- works under the hood.
It-s just a driver/supported-hardware issue!!
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What?
Why would you THINK that FreeBSD, Linux and yes, since Windows 8, cannot work/boot on Intel or AMD.
This does tell me your level of understanding of computers and operating systems.
FYI, there is something called the Hardware Abstraction Layer, check it out so you can understand better how this -magic- works under the hood.
It-s just a driver/supported-hardware issue!!
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Bert
Still good cable management compared to my old Tower Case Server. The two 3.5- IDE drives are mounted in the HDD area, the two SATA-1 2.5- drives are mounted using zip-tires. The whole thing is built from left-overs, I only bought the case for $10. A case with a Windows 98SE Activation Sticker :)
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Still good cable management compared to my old Tower Case Server. The two 3.5- IDE drives are mounted in the HDD area, the two SATA-1 2.5- drives are mounted using zip-tires. The whole thing is built from left-overs, I only bought the case for $10. A case with a Windows 98SE Activation Sticker :)
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rdsii64
I am about to order a Roswill RSV L4000 and a 4 drive hotswap bay. I will fit my dual xeon rig. I will figure a rack solution for it another day. I grab something off Ebay or build something out of wood. The goal is to get it off my desk, and I don't want t put it on the floor.
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I am about to order a Roswill RSV L4000 and a 4 drive hotswap bay. I will fit my dual xeon rig. I will figure a rack solution for it another day. I grab something off Ebay or build something out of wood. The goal is to get it off my desk, and I don't want t put it on the floor.
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Van
LOL get yourself a Dell poweredge r710 I got from serverworlds.com cheap with 2x 4c Xeon e5640-2.67 total 16 true threads that config as (1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+ 1x+2x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x) and 64GB of ram no HDDs $269 it is an amazing machine
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LOL get yourself a Dell poweredge r710 I got from serverworlds.com cheap with 2x 4c Xeon e5640-2.67 total 16 true threads that config as (1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+ 1x+2x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x+1x) and 64GB of ram no HDDs $269 it is an amazing machine
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John
In terms of cheap & -gets the job done- I would have just bought a rack shelf and place a regular PC case on that and called it done... just a quick search on Amazon I see them as cheap as $20 for 1/2 depth or $35 for full depth
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In terms of cheap & -gets the job done- I would have just bought a rack shelf and place a regular PC case on that and called it done... just a quick search on Amazon I see them as cheap as $20 for 1/2 depth or $35 for full depth
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Dennis
Good idea for a home server though I prefer using a NAS Case (like the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO) and the just putting a shelf in the rack to set it on. Oh, and a nitpick; drive widths are in inches, not mils!
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Good idea for a home server though I prefer using a NAS Case (like the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO) and the just putting a shelf in the rack to set it on. Oh, and a nitpick; drive widths are in inches, not mils!
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