The Case, The Motherboard, The Decision

[ere109]

I've been running FreeNAS for over a year on an X9 board in a small CaseLabs BH7 case. I was also runnin 8 drives - and that case was maxed out. My drives were too close and kept overheating. After lots of experimenting, I decided to buy a new case. So I ordered a new Silverstone RM400 case, with dual bays for 5-in-3 hot swap drives. I had done the math, and thought everything was perfect. Then, today, I started the transfer. The Supermicro Hot Swap bay hangs less than 1/4" over the motherboard - just enough to block the last pin of my 24-pin power connector. This won't work. So now I've got two (or three, or fifty) options: buy a larger case to accommodate the bays and the ATX board, or buy a mini-ITX motherboard, which is 4" shorter, and would fit without issue. I'm flustered and scratching my head. Mostly just distracting myself while I think, but would be happy to field opinions. Next question, is there a better aftermarket for a used case, or a used motherboard, processor, RAM set?

 

[ere109]

This wouldn't fit anywhere in my current network storage space, but it eliminates the hot swap bays I just bought, the power supply I just bought, and it has all connectors that the factory intended...

https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743TQ-865B-SQ

 

[ere109]

That case is a lot smarter than buying a new ITX board, plus RAM.

 

[ere109]

Behemouth chassis ordered, though I debated a $1k FlexATX X10 motherboard. I was hoping to post a really detailed build thread, with lots of pictures, but now it has to wait for a while.