Custom cabinet advice for HTPC + home server + 1U server

nicky9499 · June 6, 2022

G'day gents,

I'm not exactly sure which board this would go under (kind of related to casemods and servers too) but I guess my main concern here is cooling so...basically I'm doing some work to my living room and this would include a tall wooden cabinet that will contain the following, which are currently just haphazardly lying around in various locations with unsightly cables running to all of them.

- 1x file server (i7-3770K, no GPU)

- 1x HP DL320 G6 1U server

- 1x HP 1810G-24 network switch

- 1x TP Link AX5400 router

- 1x Huawei HG8240H optical terminal

- 1x PS4 Pro

- 1x Xbox 360s

Of these, probably the only thing that will be running 24/7 is the file server which doubles up as a HTPC. It used to run a GTX1060 but network expansion cards have since taken its place on the motherboard. This is followed by the consoles which are on for a couple hours a day or most of the weekend, and the 1U server which turns on automatically for an hour or so every Monday morning to run incremental backups before shutting itself down. The networking gear probably don't generate significant heat compared to these (but please tell me if I'm wrong!).

Now, I've come up with a rough idea of how the cabinet should be, with dust prevention being a priority. However since this will cost a fair bit and I really only have one shot to get it right, I wanted to check with you guys if the airflow would be enough to keep all the stuff cool. Ambient is 25-32c here and we don't usually run the a/c. There are two filtered intakes and two 140mm exhaust fans, basically. The biggest component by surface area would be the 1U which essentially splits the space into two, hence two intakes and exhausts. (Please pardon me for the amateurish doodles, I'm not a designer by trade.)

Alternatively, if we were to rotate the entire cabinet such that it is lengthwise along the wall, we could add extra space at the front, allowing for just a single intake/exhaust since air can flow past the server. This effectively removes the possibility of hotswapping the server's drives but since it's not run 24/7 I'm okay with that.

Now this is all in theory, and I'd like to get a variety of opinions from those with more experience on whether this would be sufficient cooling for this amount of equipment - or will they be choked. I'm aware it relies on active cooling, hence the plan to use cheap and easily replaceable large case fans at the top instead of a "proper" exhaust fan that's heavy, noisy and expensive.

On the other hand, if there is excess cooling capacity, I am considering relocating my main PC as well since my room is just on the other side of this wall. This would reduce alot of heat and noise especially when I have to run it overnight for work stuff (renders, transfers, etc). The casing in the doodles is a Supermicro SC830 which has more than enough space to accommodate both the HTPC and my own system. I'll then run a setup similar to Linus' to the displays and peripherals at my desk. Currently this is an i5-9400F and GTX1070Ti. There's also a gaming rig in the room (i7-7700K + 1070) that's periodically used but am not sure if running all of these at once will overwhelm the cabinet.

All thoughts welcome.