I’m replacing an SFF PC (HP ProDesk 600 G5 SFF) I’m using as a server with a larger one that’ll function as a server and a NAS, and all I want is a case that would have been commonplace 10-15 years ago:

  • Fits an ATX motherboard.
  • Fits at least 4-5 hard drives.
  • Is okay sitting on its side instead of upright (or even better, is built to be horizontal) since it’ll be sitting on a wire shelving unit (replacing the SFF PC here: https://upvote.au/post/11946)
  • No glass side panel, since it’ll be sitting horizontally.
  • Ideally space for a fan on the left panel

It seems like cases like this are hard to find these days. The two I see recommended are the Fractal Design Define R5 and the Cooler Master N400, both of which are quite old. The Streacom F12C was really nice but it’s long gone now, having been discontinued many years ago.

Unfortunately I don’t have enough depth for a full-depth rackmount server; I’ve got a very shallow rack just for networking equipment.

Does anyone have recommendations for any cases that fit these requirements?

My desktop PC has a Fractal Design Define R4 that I bought close to 10 years ago… I’m tempted to just buy a new case for it and repurpose the Define R4 for the server.

  • @dan@upvote.auOPEnglish
    4•10 months ago

    PCIe is just “PCI express”

    I side with the bot here. You can’t expand an acronym to something that still contains an acronym 😛

    On the other hand, the bot does that when it expands “SATA” to “Serial AT Attachment” lol. Should be “Serial Advanced Technology Attachment”, or “Serial ATA” if we go with your approach :)

    • @talkingpumpkin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2•10 months ago

      Well… if one must believe their own logo, (see https://sata-io.org/) “SATA” shoud actually be expanded to “Serial ATA” :)

      Acronyms of acronyms may not be super-common, but they do exist: eg. Cisco has a network protocol they call “PVST”, which means “Per-VLAN Spanning Tree”, where “VLAN” is “Virtual Local Area Network” (or “Virtual LAN”; LAN is another of those acronyms that is mostly regarded as being its own word).

      In open source, there’s a long tradition of recursive acronyms: eg. “Linux” means “Linux is not Unix”, which you can’t be expanded (in finite time) according to your rule :)