Reddit mentions of Fractal Design Node 804 case, Window

If you plan to use an ITX board, the Fractal Design Node 304 is quite small and gives you more options for expansion. If you want something that's insanely future proof, you can go with a Silverstone DS380B. Again, I'm assuming you are using an ITX board.

>My main gripe with the shield TV is it has a fan.

LOL. I literally had no idea. I just looked up and realized you're right. I've certainly never heard it, but I do despise the moving parts.

>Care to share more details of your setup?

• This is motherboard combo I used. It's cheap (>$90), small (microATX), passively cooled (no fan!), very low powered (10 watt max, idle is something stupidly low), but still has more power than I'll possibly need on a file server. It still has a couple of PCIe slots (one mini) if I need it (like for more SATA ports beyond 4).
  
• I put it in this case so I have room for expansion (it holds up to 6 full size drives). Another advantage is this case houses a full size power supply. Yes, the case and power supply have fans: they are all large diameter, low RPM, and virtually silent. They also extend the life of the precious hard drives which is the main purpose of the server. The computer could work perfectly fine without any of these fans, and the case even has a built in switch for them.
  
• Currently it houses one small hard drive for the OS and two 4TB drives set up in RAID 1 array (everything is mirrored) because I'm not losing files ever again (my kids baby pictures are on here). I'm using Fedora with Amahi for easy setup.
  
  MB Combo + RAM + case + power supply was less than $200, so it was cheaper and more powerful than any of those NAS boxes sold commercially. As a test I recently had the OS HD fail (it was an old HD I had laying around). I had the server up and running after reinstalling the OS, remounting the array (Linux command line scary!), and setting up the network shares in less than a few hours.
  
  Here's a picture of it sitting under a table in my guest bedroom under the router and modem. It serves files over Samba shares to my Windows computers (laptop and gaming), ShieldTV, etc. Using Kodi (Plex was originally a fork of this) on the Shield with my movie and tv library is fucking amazing.

The Fractal Node 304 is available at a cheaper price of $49.99 at Newegg and Amazon. Its a great alternative to the Prodigy if you're looking at something more compact since the Prodigy is rather large (~mATX sized).


The only downside is that the Node 304 doesn't have a 5.25" slot.

• i5-3570
  
• 4GB x 2 Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600
  
• MSI GTX 670 OC
  
• Gigabyte H77 mini-itx
  
• Samsung 840 series 120GB ssd
  
• Win 8
  
  I got it just before haswell and the gtx 7 series dropped :( But it plays everything I throw it on ultra at 1080p... So I can't complain. And I love the case too looks so nice on the desk. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LHF4FO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd say if you are going with an A-series processor, stick with the A8 or A10. They are quite weak to start with, so you might as well go with a quad core. You're probably talking about a difference of $30 or something. To me, it's not worth skimping that much on the main workhorse of your computer.

Do you have a microcenter near you? You can get an i3+motherboard for about the same price as this A10 combo. If you're not gaming you'll probably be better off with an i3 than an A10. (Though I'm not sure if microcenter has any mini-ITX)

$105 looks too expensive for that 128gb SSD. You can probably find something cheaper on sale. The 840 evo is coming out soon, I'd look at that.

As for cases, I think that's the hardest part of building these. So far the Wesena line looks the most interesting to me.

Maybe one of these?

Wesena ITX-1

Wesena ITX-2

There are a bunch of variants. Be sure to check for USB3 headers though, since a lot of these have only USB 2 I think.

This Silverstone SG05 seems quite popular and cheap

Fractal Node 304 - fractal has a good reputation, but I think this is a bit bigger than others

ECC RAM 16GB: http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR3L-1600MT-PC3-12800-CT2KIT102472BD160B-CT2CP102472BD160B/dp/B008EMA5VU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1452264155&sr=8-2&keywords=ecc+ram

SSD 128GB for the FreeNAS will be valuable if you are going to have lots of traffic in your home server. Then the SSD will act as cache, increasing the speed of the transfer.

Mobo: http://www.amazon.com/Asrockrack-Motherboard-Mini-DDR3-E3C224D2I/dp/B00G9U6FIQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1452264276&sr=8-3&keywords=asrock+rack
I have this mobo. It works well. But I'm facing some issues with the IPMI (simply is dead), so I cannot remote power on the server. Now it is 100% powered on all the time. not an (big) issue.

Case (came with all fans needed): http://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Mini-ITX-Computer-FD-CA-NODE-304-BL/dp/B009LHF4FO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452264378&sr=8-1&keywords=fractal+design+node+304

This is my server setup. Bought the itens in USA when I was on vacation there.

For the HDDs a little tip: Buy all same sizes (does not matter the brand).
Security tip for paranoic: buy same hdds sizes, different brands, and different batchs.

If you use the HDD same size, you can setup the storage in RAIDZ. Get full features that ZFS can bring.

Suggest the video of a webinar shown yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJa94v_PKWA

Awesome Looking ITX cases that I know of offhand:

6 Drive: http://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Mini-ITX-Computer-FD-CA-NODE-304-BL/dp/B009LHF4FO

8 Drive: http://www.u-nas.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17617&cat=249&page=1

Just glancing at that link, it seems they are very similar cases in terms of function. The difference is in looks/industrial design, where my tastes lean more towards the Fractal Design side of things than Cooler Master.

FWIW, the first reviewer here says they compared the two cases and picked the Node because of more room and a better cooling system.

Currently, I have a massive tower PC. Its served me well for 3 years thus far and can easily go another 3 as it seems the rate of CPU/GPU improvement has slowed.

I don't know what my next computer will be, but I know it won't be a full-sized tower. I am considering a Mini-itx build, something like this

The case I'm looking at for a NAS I will soon be building advertises 6, but I think I can get 10 into it. It's the Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX Case. Probably not the smallest, it an interesting case that meets my requirements.

What are you intending to do with this build? You can probably sacrifice the room for a graphics card and other bits if you are going for as small as you can get. Or if all you really care about is putting your drives into something, you could go [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Backplane-Removable-3-5-Inches-RC3400101A/dp/B004G8QES4/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1376851991&sr=1-12&keywords=4+bay+hard+drive+enclosure) direction.

I was choosing the 'L' CPUs not really for power consumption but rather for cooling needed as I would expect to be able to run with less noisy fans with those. Does that make sense or heat generated wouldn't change for the use cases mentioned above (prob CPU not running very high load).
What other cases do you have mind that would fit a nice little NAS? I looked as well at this SilverStone Mini-ITXcase or this Fractal Node 304

Based on the comments on this thread, looking into a e5 whitebox, but definitely not the e5-2640 - expensive CPUs even 2nd hand!

You can get a "hybrid mini" case which is one of the smallest cases that can fit a full size graphics card in addition to many HDDs and CD Drives.

I'm actually saving up for a build like this.

In terms of cases that are wider than they are tall, look good in a home theatre, but can also equip components fit for gaming the pickings are a bit slim. A lot of HTPC cases are designed for pretty low intensity components because they usually are built just for streaming. If you want to game on it, you probably have to make some compromises, but I am not entirely in the loop with all HTPC cases. Options I can think of are:

1. Silverstone Sugo SG08 $200 inc 600W PSU.
   The Sugo SG08 comes pretty close to fitting the bill. It is the larger brother of the SG05 and just a tiny tad smaller than the Node 304. It has a very clean, minimalistic look. It has a disc drive slot and ships with a custom small form factor PSU of 600W. It will take an ITX board and otherwise most standard components. Lots of high end gaming builds around, just google your parts to see that everything fits. Quite expensive.
   
   
2. The Node 304 + An external Blue Ray player $90 for case, PSU not included . This means you have the looks, form factor and power that you want, plus the media capability. Other than requiring a mini ITX motherboard it can pretty much fit "standard" components. An external USB Blue Ray drive can be had for as low as $30. Plug it in whenever you need to, or just leave it resting on top.
   
   
3. Silverstone Sugo SG05 $125 inc 450W PSU - This mini ITX case comes in white or black and looks similar to the Node 304, is a good bit smaller and has a slot for a disc drive. Small cases means that things become a little more fiddley. Things like cable management and good quality fans are more important to improve air flow to silence any noise in the living room. The case ships with a small form factor PSU with either 300W or 450W. You would want the 450W one for gaming. Alternatively you can buy a "naked" case and buy your own small form factor PSU. The smaller the case, the more research you have to do to make sure all the parts fit (i.e. water coolers etc), but SG05 builds are quite common, so just google away.
   
   
   
4. Bitfenix Prodigy $90 - I feel like a mini ITX discussion these days isn't complete without mentioning the Prodigy. Out of all the cases, the Prodigy is the easiest to work with because it is quite a bit larger than the other cases we have listed so far. That means it can be treated more like a regular PC. It will fit a mini ITX board and all regular components ... and then some. That means airflow is excellent and noise a minimum. The finish of the case is just a bit cheaper than the others here, and it has less of an HTPC look, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many people swear by it. I have read that you can easily remove the 2 handles, to give it a smaller profile and a more "square" look.

Thanks for the quick reply! I think I'd be content for awhile with a 6 bay solution. Plex transcoding is definitely a requirement. I really like your CPU/Mobo choice, so I'm looking at the Fractal Design Node 304 and wondering if it'll fit. This is my first PC build and I'm excited and a bit overwhelmed.

Then this case might fit your needs. Fractal Design Node 304. Can support 6x 3.5" HDDs. Slim and sleek design, no space wasted.

http://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Mini-ITX-Computer-FD-CA-NODE-304-BL/dp/B009LHF4FO

K when I get home il send a pick of what I think it looks like. Then we can compare.

edit: Third image from the top. (It just doesn't look like it fits)
https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Mini-ITX-Computer-FD-CA-NODE-304-BL/dp/B009LHF4FO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485041142&sr=8-1&keywords=node+304