Building a FreeNAS rackmounted server. Need an appropriate chassis for home guest viewing.

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

Hey there,

I'm building a FreeNAS server. One that will outpace my current home server by leaps and bounds.

 

I am also going to be rack mounting this puppy, in a rack with a glass front. I want the front face of the server to be aesthetically pleasing enough to not offend house guests. Even better if there's tempered glass so I can play with RGB too.

 

But I've yet to find a single server chassis that would qualify as "non-offensive". There's one from iStarUSA, the DN-400 that would work, but for some insane reason it has the 3.5" HDD cage oriented sideways, basically blocking the path of airflow to the motherboard. That's a no-go.

 

So I figured I'd come to the folks who deal with server chassis more often than I do. Have you guys seen anything that made you go "damn, that's pretty"? If so, please tell me.

 

I don't have many requirements:

1. At least 1 USB 3.0 or greater front I/O.
2. Supports mATX to ATX motherboard.
3. Supports regular desktop ATX power supply.
4. Uses 120mm fans at minimum, or is otherwise relatively quiet if smaller (i.e., not that Gigabyte watercooled server Linus showed)
5. Supports around 6-8 3.5" HDDs
6. Supports 1-2 2.5" SSDs
7. NO HOTSWAP BS (FreeNAS doesn't really need it, and I don't really want to pay for hardware that I won't use)

[UrbanFreestyle]

http://www.norcotek.com/product/rpc-431/  ??

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

6 hours ago, UrbanFreestyle said:

http://www.norcotek.com/product/rpc-431/  ??

Shit man, this is why I come here. You win.

Literally within the hour too!

[UrbanFreestyle]

I mean it might be what you are after

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

13 hours ago, UrbanFreestyle said:

I mean it might be what you are after

Uh, so dumb question,

Do you have any recommendations for a PSU?

Most ATX PSUs I find have an angled airflow, where air enters the bottom of a PSU. Obviously, this won't work too well in a rack chassis.

Preferably something with modular cables. I like to keep my systems clean.

[Falconevo]

21 hours ago, UrbanFreestyle said:

http://www.norcotek.com/product/rpc-431/  ??

I was gonna link that  its probably the least offensive looking 4U chassis

 

1 hour ago, DaAznKnight said:

Uh, so dumb question,

Do you have any recommendations for a PSU?

Most ATX PSUs I find have an angled airflow, where air enters the bottom of a PSU. Obviously, this won't work too well in a rack chassis.

Preferably something with modular cables. I like to keep my systems clean.

Generally speaking the PSU can be flipped so the intake is facing upwards inside the case.  The PSU mounts should have both orientations available.

For a server that will be on 24/7, I would go with something Platinum rated PSU.  If you aren't using GPU's then a 700+ watt unit would be more than capable.

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

3 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

Generally speaking the PSU can be flipped so the intake is facing upwards inside the case.  The PSU mounts should have both orientations available.

For a server that will be on 24/7, I would go with something Platinum rated PSU.  If you aren't using GPU's then a 700+ watt unit would be more than capable.

This is a solution for my main server, but not my pfsense server. That is a 2U unit, so a regular ATX PSU will be choked for air.

[Falconevo]

1 minute ago, DaAznKnight said:

This is a solution for my main server, but not my pfsense server. That is a 2U unit, so a regular ATX PSU will be choked for air.

I see, if you want a PSU for a 2U unit, you can a 2U EPS

 

Something like this would be suitable;
http://www2.seasonic.com/product/ss-600-h2u-active-pfc-f0/

 

I would check your mounting on the chassis you have and verify what PSU support it has.

[Pixel5]

honestly if any guest would be offended by the aesthetics of my very own stuff in my home they wouldn't be my guests anymore.

[GlorifiedPaperShuffler]

1 hour ago, Pixel5 said:

honestly if any guest would be offended by the aesthetics of my very own stuff in my home they wouldn't be my guests anymore.

My guests often include co-workers and higher ups of my employer.

Can't really boot them out without losing the means of building sweet ass home networks.