NAS Server: v0.4

120mm fan swapped with a 200mm fan, an obvious solution to the issue (thanks jisa!). I'm currently eyeing the Antec Big Boy 200 (the fan in that image is not the Antec, but since i couldn't find a ready-made model I just resized the 120mm to the same dimensions). Hopefully it does translate to better airflow distribution. Removing the duct also makes the enclosure shorter, a welcome change.

Ventilation grilles have been added to the front of the base plate; I'll be adding more in future. The motherboard mounting plate is currently secured to the base by screws. I'm still figuring out a way to make it easily removable without requiring tools.

I'll try to find time during the upcoming semester to model the backplane PCB & SATA connectors. I also need to find a way to secure the hard drives (most likely idea would be a stiff plate secured by press-down clips). I'm also thinking of adding a graphic LCD to the front, so designing the side walls is going to take awhile.

NAS Server: v0.3

Actually this is v4, but since I didn't make any 2D images or backups of v3 I'll pretend it never existed :P (sloppy, sloppy...)

Anyway, you can see that quite a few things are changed by now. I figured it would be easier to make a wall for the base plate and punch holes in it for the backports, so I did that.

It might be interesting to note that the PSU isn't secured by any screws at all (although the metal bracket supporting it at the back is secured by screws). I don't think it has any screw-threads on the bottom surface and I don't feel safe tapping new screw threads on my own, so that will have to do for now.

The 2X80mm system fans have now been replaced by a 1X120mm fan, which should be quieter. Since the HDD cooling section profile is larger than 120X120mm, I ducted the fan to allow airflow to spread. This is a dumb idea of course, I just put it in because I didn't have any better ideas, until a friend pointed out an obvious fix (I still can't believe I didn't think of it earlier; see next update). The fan plate is supported by protrusions on the base plate (a little hard to see in the image, look near the top edge of the base plate).

Along other changes, the HDD cage was redesigned yet again; It now has bottom support in addition to side support. Both old and new designs are simple folding designs that can be made from a single sheet of metal, with no assembly required. I'm still thinking of ways to reduce drive noise and vibration, this will probably be handled with the use of anti-vibration damping strips but I'm open to other suggestions.

The side walls and top mesh cover have not been modeled yet, I'll get to it eventually.

NAS Server: v0.2

Some tweaks, as you can see; the backplane feature has been added, HDDs are flipped with the connector on top. you'd notice that one column of drives has been rotated in order to cluster the connectors in the middle. I hope the rotational symmetry helps simplify the CFD later on (or maybe not, since the heat source isn't centred).

The white bracket you see at the back was a temporary measure for drive-mounting, since I haven't figured out a way to keep the HDD cage suspended above the motherboard and PSU. you might also notice that the HDD cage design has changed; the design I got from 3D Warehouse just wasn't good enough. Currently system cooling is managed by 2X80mm fans, an arrangement I'm not really pleased with since the outer HDDs get less air.

In any case, I did a major redesign (not noticeable, but I basically deleted most of it and started over) shortly after this point.

NAS Server: v0.1

This is a simplistic initial design, made using standard (slightly modified) parts from Google 3D Warehouse (apart from the outer case, which is self-modeled).

Motherboard: VIA NAS 7800
Power Supply (PSU): Seasonic SS-200SU
Hard Disk Drives (HDDs): Western Digital Caviar Green

You can tell this is definitely an early model; no holes for the motherboard backports and PSU power socket, and lots of features not included yet. But the important design features are in place; small footprint (the initial design has a horizontal cross-section dimension of 250X250mm) and low power consumption. The HDD arrangement was selected for optimal cooling and more even heat spread*.

Drive SATA connectors were initially positioned at the bottom for close proximity to the motherboard, but I later decided to design it for easier access with minimal disassembly by the user. This will be achieved with top-loading drives, via backplane PCB-mounted integrated SATA connectors (see the later posts for more details).

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*Some case history: I am currently using a Synology CS-407 4-bay NAS (see photo from earlier post), which has the drives horizontally oriented, vertically stacked. While that is a convenient and compact arrangement, it causes the top drive to be cooled less efficiently. During typical operation the CS-407 reports HDD temperatures (in degrees Celsius, from top to bottom) of 42, 42, 40, 38. For this design I decided to go with only 1 layer of hard drives, with sufficient spacing between them; Despite the small footprint, I believe it's still possible to design an optimal HDD layout that isn't confusing or inconvenient.

NAS Server: Introduction

This project is a downscaled version of the previously-mentioned Uberserf (which I still haven't gotten round to giving a proper name to), meant as a specialised file server, perhaps with a web management UI.

The main design focus and requirements are small footprint (takes up minimal space), low power consumption (so an ATX/microATX mid-tower, though cheaper, wouldn't do) and high storage density (at least 8 drive bays). Other secondary factors include low cost, low operating temperature and ease of manufacture.

The designs are done in Google Sketchup, due to its simplicity (I don't want a design so complicated it can't even be done in Google Sketchup) and also ease of viewing (via Google's 3D Warehouse). There are also some ready-made parts (fans, hard drive cages, etc) available in Google 3D Warehouse, which simplifies the design process.

Anyway, this post and the next few posts are actually backlogged; I should have started project logging earlier, I know >_>

This post, and the posts that follow, will be tagged "nas", and serve as a project log of sorts. Feel free to add your own comments, or recommend any sources/manufacturing workshops if you know any. I fully intend to create a CAD model of it, carry out some CFD simulations for airflow, and eventually make a prototype of it, and use it for personal storage. Plans for commercialisation and mass production are not in the pipeline yet, though I wouldn't rule it out.