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Markdown
59 lines
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6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Moving all my stuff into a server rack – Part 2, Server Chassis Shopping
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author: Dan
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type: post
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date: 2023-08-02T12:38:53+00:00
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url: /post/moving-my-stuff-into-a-server-rack-part-2-server-chassis-shopping/
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categories:
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- Homelab
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tags:
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- rack
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- tech
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---
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Server Chassis Shopping, say that three times fast.
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If you haven’t alreay [seen Part 1 of this series][1] you might be interested in catching up on that first. In that post I go over picking the rack I did, and now it’s time to look at decanting my existing machines into chassis that will fit that server rack.
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### Moving my gaming PC into a server chassis {.wp-block-heading}
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The main issue with this was always going to be height, there was a chance I could fit the machine into a 3U chassis, but after a fair bit of poking it looked like my best bet was going to be a 4U chassis of some variety.
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My gaming PC is currently water cooled, and while the chassis I found did technically support a water cooler, my cooler didn’t actually fit it. Which was quite annoying.
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The chassis in question is the [Logic Case 4U Short][2]. Everything fit in pretty well with a lot of breathing room, but having to replace the CPU cooler was a bit of a pain. I needed to replace it with something not to tall, not too expensive, and available with next day delivery.
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I found the <a href="https://amzn.to/41Tgdf5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">be quiet! PURE ROCK SLIM 2 9.2cm</a> fit all my requirements and it did indeed arrive the next day so I was able to fit it and crack on.<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
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<img data-dominant-color="6e6b65" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #6e6b65;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="1024" src="https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6163-768x1024.webp?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1" alt="" class="not-transparent wp-image-119" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6163-jpg.webp?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6163-jpg.webp?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6163-jpg.webp?resize=1152%2C1536&ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6163-jpg.webp?w=1295&ssl=1 1295w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" data-recalc-dims="1" /> </figure>
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The height was actually a bit tighter than I would have liked, but it does fit kind of perfectly given the height.
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I’ve not noticed any performance difference between using the water cooler and this fan based cooler, so happy days.
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I replaced the fans on the front with the LED ones that used to live in my NAS case, because everyone knows LEDs make things go faster.
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Wait for the end of the post to see a photo of everything in place in the rack…
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### Moving my NAS into a server chassis {.wp-block-heading}
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The NAS relocation was always going to be easier for me, my build has a small motherboard and low profile fans already.
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I did, however, have another concern and that was future expandability. At the moment I only have 3 drives in it, but in the future I wanted to be able to expand this without having to think too hard. Unraid is JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) so my only real limit was SATA connections, and those are expandable.
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I found another <a href="https://www.servercase.co.uk/shop/server-cases/rackmount/4u-chassis/4u-standard-chassis-15-x-35-hdd---480mm-short-depth-sc-h4-480/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pretty generic 4U Chassis that supports up to 15 3.5″ disks</a> – sorted!
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Moving the NAS into this chassis was completely uneventful. I did like the feature of the case that allows the disk drive section to flip upwards for easier access, it’s certainly going to make life easier when I get to adding more drives.<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
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<img data-dominant-color="5b535f" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #5b535f;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="1024" src="https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6176-768x1024.webp?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1" alt="Server rack with the cases in place" class="not-transparent wp-image-120" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6176-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6176-scaled.webp?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6176-scaled.webp?resize=1152%2C1536&ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6176-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C2048&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/danbaker.dev/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6176-scaled.webp?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" data-recalc-dims="1" /> </figure>
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One thing that I did want to do when moving all my stuff into a server rack was getting a UPS. While our power supply is good and pretty consistent, we do get the odd blip and I wanted to protect the system from being taken offline when they occurred.
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I looked at various refurbished options and there were a lot of good deals to be had with batteries replaced. While I was looking there was a discount campaign going on on eBay so I had a look on there and found the Powercool 2U. I hadn’t heard of the brand but it had a 2 year warranty and a few reviews online said they were decent. It worked out quite cheap so I decided to risk it.
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I’ve been using that Powercool UPS for a few months now and can confirm it’s been solid, even keeping the system online when we were away on holiday and the power blipped offline – which was a lifesaver as Plex being offline would have been a right pain!
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In Part 3 I am planning on covering the PS5 being in the rack, and decoration… See you then.
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[1]: https://danbaker.dev/post/moving-all-my-stuff-into-a-server-rack-part-1-the-rack/
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[2]: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/logic-case-4u-short-depth-server-chassis-4x-35-hdd-450mm-depth-high-airflow-with-water-cooling-mount |