Joined in 2023 
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Having young kids and tech adventurism don’t really go together. I’ll add building a NAS to the list of things that I’ll get round to when the kids start to find me embarrassing and don’t want to hang around with me anymore. VMware server in the garage, mame cabinet, cat 6 the house etc etc. Reply Taking a look from the rear chamber and while it may not be as fun as the front there is still a bit going on here. On the top we have the 2x hard drive cages which can each hold up to 4x 3.5″ drives. There is also a pre-installed fan in the rear chamber with room for more, plus a bottom-mounted PSU which has a dust filter on the bottom of the case and also a couple of velcro straps that one would assume are to help hold cables down and out of the way, again to allow for better airflow and a bit of tidiness.
The biggest downside of this case is the ITX motherboard that’s required (as they’re generally limited compared to ATX/mATX options), but if you want a small form factor case that actually looks like a traditional prebuilt NAS, this is the one. JONSBO N2 Review While all of these features are helpful to some people, you really need to assess exactly what you’ll be using, as well as what features will be beneficial to you.Three Fractal Design Silent Series R2 fans included with the case and space for an additional seven fans, fan controller included What I did personally was take off both side panels, the front and top as well as removed the hard drive cages. Getting the Node 804 down to the bare frame was the easiest way I could imagine to do things and it worked out great. Even things like installing the Corsair H80i, which can be a pain in some bigger cases were easy enough to do like this, overall a very enjoyable experience. I have a love/hate relationship with Mini-ITX cases. On one hand, they provide the smallest form factor you can realistically build. On the other, they’re extremely expensive in comparison to just about anything else, as the motherboard and power supply will provide fewer total connections (SATA, USB, etc), but cost more.
Stripping the case down to it’s skeleton form and we can see most of the options the case has to offer. Plenty of space for fans, radiators and hard drives galore if that is your thing! If not, Fractal Design have made it easy to use the Node 804 for more of a simplistic build if you desire. Compared to other PC cases, there’s little difference in the performance of this processor. The available fan mounts ensure ample airflow is achieved, even if the front panel is a little restricting. Fractal Design Node 804: Competition NZXT H7 Elite. (Source: NAS Master) Graphics card compatibility: Graphics cards up to 320mm in length. Graphics cards up to 290 mm in length may be installed if a fan is installed in the lower position in the front. The JONSBO D500 is an ITX/mATX/ATX/E-ATX monster of a case. It supports ten total hard drives and even supports huge GPUs (in case you’d like to use a GPU for hardware transcoding, etc). It’s not the best case from a budget perspective, but it offers a ton in a relatively small form factor (for what it’s offering). JONSBO D500 Review Highly effective dual chamber case layout for best possible cooling with excellent water cooling compatibility, supporting up to four radiators simultaneouslyAside from the great cooling options, we can also see the cutout for the rear IO panel on the motherboard, space for a bottom-mounted PSU in the 2nd chamber as well as 5x expansion bays and a bit of a vented area for some more airflow in the main chamber. If you look above the fan on the right-hand side of the image just above it there is a switch for a fan controller which can control up to 3 fans as standard. Also, looking across the left, right and top we can notice 6x thumb screws so we can easily take the case apart if and when needed.
There is not a lot of room to work within the area behind the front cover, and fully populating it with drives will be somewhat difficult due to all the cable routing. I'm trying to find experiences of people filling a Node804 with 8 3.5" drives. Has anyone done this?
Building a NAS inside the Fractal Design Node 804 is just like putting together a PC in any other chassis. It’s not some special server form factor. You can install a motherboard up to a Micro ATX size, and Fractal Design includes pretty much everything you’ll need to install everything. Getting to the fun part and it’s time to start taking things apart. This is a look at the top without the vented panel attached. As you can see there is room for a 240mm radiator in either chamber, though if you want to put it in the second chamber you will need to remove the hard drive cages which is easily enough done. If water cooling isn’t your thing you could also just add some fans for a bit better airflow throughout the case.
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