I’m looking for a suggestion for compact-ish NAS cases. I only have a few drives, 4 at the moment, so I don’t need a ton of space. But I’d like to downsize without getting a brand new motherboard and PSU it possible (both are ATX at the moment).

My main requirement is being able to install and uninstall drives without worrying about cable management.

Thanks!

Dandroid
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12Y

My Synology is barely bigger than the 4 3.5 inch drives it houses.

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creator
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22Y

It was my understanding that Synology products came with the rest of the computer parts as well. Is that true?

@[email protected]
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22Y

They are very locked down it should be said, so you have to fully buy into the Synology ecosystem (can’t replace the host OS).

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12Y

Yeah, they’re a complete solution. OS and everything

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12Y

All compact atx cases were too expensive for my liking, so I decided to make one. I should probably not suggest a case made of plastic, but if you have access to a 3D printer check this out. 288x207x343 mm in size and it can house full size ATX mobo and PSU and 3x 3.5" or 7x 2.5". Colling is silent and good, but I didnt test with more powerfull CPU or 3.5 HDDs

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12Y

You can also evaluate to buy something like this for 3.5 or 2.5inch disks.

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-22Y

Odroid HC4 supports two drives in a toaster configuration.

Fermiverse
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32Y

As ITX was already mentioned I just built mine using Fractal Node 304 case, in black though. You could keep the ATX power supply.

Corgana
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12Y

Check out ASrock’s Deskmini A300 or X300. They are barebones setups with Mini-STX motherboards. Space for two 2.5" hdd and two m.2 slots as well.

Oh man I just said in another thread we need a HomeLab here, give it a Google - they have a pretty good discord if you want to avoid the Reddit

dnzm
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62Y

…but I want to avoid Discord, too…

HousePanther
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52Y

Check out the Jonsbo N1 on NewEgg. It’s pretty popular among NAS DIYers.

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32Y

I have one of these and it’s worked pretty well after some mods for cooling better.

HousePanther
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22Y

My NAS case is a retro mid-tower ATX that I got at a swap meet. It’s all black and no scratches. Come to think of it, my whole home lab consists of 3 Frankenstein computers and one OptiPlex 7050 that’s handling my routing needs. 😆

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creator
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12Y

What cooling mods did you do?

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12Y

Removed the front metal panel so it’s all mesh. Replaced front fan with a 3000 rpm notcua. Zip tied a 14cm notcua over the mobo.

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2
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2Y

This and the N3 look fantastic. I was kind of hoping I could keep my mATX mobo and ATX PSU though, and both are ITX

HousePanther
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12Y

You might be able to? I’m not familar with the N3.

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12Y

N3 supports only ITX boards.

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