Fractal Design Node 804 - Black - Compact Computer Case - mATX - High Airflow - Modular interior - 3x Fractal Design Silent R2 120mm Fans Included - Water-cooling ready - USB 3.0 -Window Side Panel

Product Information

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. The most common types of Motherboards are ATX, though Micro-ATX (mATX) and Mini-ITX (mITX) motherboards are extremely common as well. In rare cases, E-ATX Motherboards are used as well, but they’re generally less common than ATX, mATX, or mITX. The next thing to take into consideration is the networking you’d like to use. For most NAS devices, you’ll either use 1GbE (standard on most Motherboards), 2.5GbE, or 10GbE. Depending on the NIC the Motherboard comes with, you might need to ensure the case can handle a networking card in the event that you’d like to increase the networking speeds of the device.

Please keep in mind that while the cases below may support many hard drives, your motherboard must have enough SATA ports to actually use that many hard drives. Please consider purchasing a PCIe SATA/SAS Controller Card if you need additional SATA ports.

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. With nothing against the 3 speed switch included by Fractal, my personal preference is that the motherboard would be in charge of the fan speed instead of a manually set fan controller. Both chambers are configurable to run with up to two 120mm front intake fans (four total). The motherboard side will accommodate a 120mm exhaust, while the drive cage side can have up to a 140mm exhaust. You’ll want to note that the easiest intake path is from the lower 1/3 along the front, while the fans ship in the “high” position where the hottest components will likely reside in the case. We might find that as an issue when we heat it up during testing. 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.

While the total hard drive storage locations are ultimately the most important factor of any good case, there are other key things that must be taken into consideration. First, you need to determine the type of motherboard you’ll be using before actually buying a case. Overall, the three most important things to ensure are that the case will handle the total number of hard drives you’d like to use in your RAID array ( RAID 1 or RAID 5, RAID 6 or RAID 10, etc), the case supports the Motherboard you’re using, and the case is large enough in terms of potential PCIe expansion cards. Best NAS Cases Unique hard drive mounting system, fitting up to 8 x 3.5?, 4 x 2.5" or up to 10 x 3.5", 2 x 2.5? drives HDD/SSD

Packaging and Bundle

The main difference between them is that NAS cases are designed to hold multiple hard drives. Since NASs run different types of operating systems (TrueNAS, Unraid, OpenMediaVault), they’re designed to hold large numbers of hard drives for RAID arrays. It might also be what pre-built NAS devices have done to people’s perception, but when you use the Node 804 to build a NAS, it feels like you’re building a NAS. Nothing against more traditional cases, but the Node 804 is large enough to provide the hard drives needed for a NAS, and small enough to throw in the corner and not think about. I love this case.