Advice on NAS case

[JDS]

As a result of preparing to DIY a regular PC, which did not happen, I ended up with several unused components. At a certain point, I realized I could use a NAS for storing my photo and music archive. So, DIY a NAS looked like a nice activity.

But I do have a challenge for which I would appreciate some advice.
What I do have in terms of components:

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Board – PRIME Z790M-PLUS D4
CPU – Intel® Core™ i5-12600K
Cooler - Noctua NH-U12S redux
RAM – VENGEANCE® LPX 16 Go (2 x 8 Go) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16
SSD – SSD 970 EVO Plus 500 Go
HDD – Seagate 8TB (4x) 7200 Ironwolf Pro
Power – Seasonic FOCUS PX-550 Fully modular PC power supply 80PLUS Platinum 550 Watt

Since the cooler and the power are a bit large, I cannot go for a small case.

What would be the best option for a case? Hot-swap is a significant plus.

Thank you guys
JDS

 

[Tech9]

Look for NAS case options around you and choose whatever you like and fits the budget and requirements. The hardware you have purchased is good for a workstation or gaming PC. Not needed for NAS, way too power hungry, big size and unnecessary expensive. What is this up to 150W 10-core CPU will be doing there? This hardware also limits your case choices. Most are designed for Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX boards, but your CPU cooler is huge.

NAS case example:

 

[JDS]

Your reasoning sounds logical, but these are components I do have already, except the Ironwolf HDD. I am trying to reuse it.

 

[Tech Junky]

Good thing is you can get a cooler that fits the case for cheaper than swapping everything to make a NAS at lower power. With the added performance of the CPU you can add functionality like turning it into a router as well. Media transcoding will make use of the CPU. Using the box as a router would let you use a VPN at line speed without a bottleneck on traffic. Plenty of options since you already have a matx board.

 

[Tech9]

I am trying to reuse it

I would be looking for a vertical PC case with enough HDD slots for expansion and some more adequate cooling like this one:

It's big enough to fit your hardware, but not sure about hot swappable on a consumer board. I'm using storage servers in my business with hot swappable drives and more hardware is involved. You'll be using regular SATA drives. You perhaps also need 2.5GbE NIC card. Your MB has Gigabit only.

I would not make 10-in-1 device out of this hardware. One hardware failure and all your services go down. Dedicated hardware is better.

 

[L&LD]

Can't give a recommendation for a case, but the hardware you have and the project you want are not ideally matched in the least. I would sell off what you have and just buy a NAS (I prefer QNAP for most hardware for the price). Particularly if the data you'll be storing on it is important/irreplaceable to you.

 

[Tech Junky]

vertical PC case

The FD Meshify 2 has room for 13 drives on its internal rack system. Need more info though on how much space is needed for drives. Most NAS like PC cases though hold 8.

 

[Tech9]

Plenty of options with different price tags, but we don't know what's available around @JDS. Last time I needed a PC case just drove to the popular local computer store and picked one of the available models with all the extra fans and whatever else needed. Can't really recommend specific model. They all basically do the same thing and often the external design is more important than what's inside. A matter of personal preference.

 

[coxhaus]

I had an old SuperMicro case with 8 hot swap drives. It worked fine but was noisy with all the fans. It was fun back then. My hardware is too old and slow now. The hot swap was an add on to the case that you could buy separate. There is no real need for hot swap at home. Make sure you buy a good RAID card as that makes a world of difference. Some of my favorites are Intel, Dell and IBM. Not sure about IBM as that was a really long time ago. There is no need for hot swap without a good RAID card building your own. And a UPS is a must for RAID.