neilhart's Tower of Power (TOP for short) - a file server

[neilhart]

This last April I purchased 5 non-op G5 Power Macs and have these taking up space.

I learned a few things doing the Short Stack project and thought I would do another G5 "slice" project. This time, I am going to re-purpose parts from at least two of my older hacks and keep the out of pocket expense low.

The concept is to build a file server with provision for 5 3.5 inch hard disks and use the Zotac H67 Mini-ITX motherboard with a i7-2600k and 8GB memory. Also I plan to include the MB155SP-B 5 drive Icy Dock with access out the back.

I will include an optical drive as I have several laying around and may do a custom front panel with USB2 and USB3.
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Anyway, the idea is a Power Mac flavored slim tower by doing a set of vertical slices where the final front to back dimension is 11.75 inches.

This maybe a very industrial hack as I am considering not painting the project.

As always, I will respond to questions and you are free to comment... such as " are you out of your mind? ". I am thick skinned and will not take offense.

Good Modding,
neil

 

[Dschijn]

Well neil… good evening from Germany

This is gonna be another great project to follow. The idea to make the HDDs easy accessible is nice and doing it on the back will leave you a sexy front. It really does remind me of the small home server / NAS that are on the market, but in an G5 case… sweeet!

Does the small ITX board provide enough SATA ports for that many HDDs + ODD?

 

[neilhart]

Well neil… good evening from Germany

This is gonna be another great project to follow. The idea to make the HDDs easy accessible is nice and doing it on the back will leave you a sexy front. It really does remind me of the small home server / NAS that are on the market, but in an G5 case… sweeet!

Does the small ITX board provide enough SATA ports for that many HDDs + ODD?

Yes the Zotac H67ITX was my first Sandy Bridge project. This is a really good little performer and has 4 SATA II and 2 SATA III ports. I will use one of the SATA III ports for a SSD boot and system drive.
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And here is a photo of the core sliced and the two part reassembled for the moment. I need to re-size the original power supply chassis and get it into the core while it is easy.

More to follow.
neil

 

[minihack]

Another great mod for me to watch!

 

[neilhart]

I am working on the right side frame piece. I have it sectioned and back into one piece using JB Weld. And while I was not going to paint, here it the first exception (while not perfect do fill, file, sand, seal, paint loop).
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And the mod to the PSU is almost ready to seal up.
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This PSU started life as a Cooler Master RS-500-PCAR-A3 and appears to have survived my reconfiguring it into to the modded G5 PM sheet metal. I will cycle back later and adjust the cable lengths.

And of interest the original system was plenty dirty inside and the stripped down core was stained and not very attractive. So I washed the core using I my favorite car wash soap and a stiff brush to restore the normal luster.

That is it for now,
neil

 

[neilhart]

Working on the rear panel and mounting sub-systems. My way is slow as it is made up of a lot of test fits and then alter accordingly (in this case, file to fit).

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more to follow
neil

 

[sonicseamus]

Looking great!

[video=youtube;bnUFVyt1dHQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnUFVyt1dHQ[/video]

Was this the inspiration for the project?

 

[minihack]

Looking good.

A short while ago Neil you asked me on my G5 build how the side panels were going as you were thinking of an upcoming build (I presume this may well be it).

Still no news on that as I am caught up in many different builds right now, but I thought I'd mention my methodology in case it gives ideas that might be useful for you here.

My case is mounted (for weight bearing purposes) on these: http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_8955.html These I have screwed directly through the case and into the mounting holes/captive nuts of the G5 PSU case and that works a treat in terms of supporting everything. Being nicely rubberised they also are good for absorbing vibration noise.

The side panels then do not need to have any weight bearing function and will mount to rivet nuts (M3 ones work fine) that are attached to the frame holes around the case perimeter. The right hand side panel is going to be a simple flat panel, whereas the left is going to still retain the G5 door mechanism for the opening part and possibly my idea for an inner opening shutter.

I don't know if this helps in anything but thought it worth mentioning in case it does!

 

[neilhart]

sonicseamus - Well not actually. But I may patch this music into the system.

minihack - Hey thanks for the response and you are correct I am thinking of deleting the top and bottom loops, adding feet and retain the removable side panel re-using the G5 PM slide latch.

I expect a certain mount of criticism for using up a G5 Power Mac case this way. My thoughts are that this version is too tall and with the loops will be even more of an odd duck.

I am toying with the idea of removing the front panel switch and ports and putting the controls onto the right side panel as is found on the Bitfenix Prodigy cases.

But then there is the thought that for a file server why bother. I have enough work immediately in front of me that I can defer a decision for now.

Good modding,
neil

 

[minihack]

My thoughts are that this version is too tall and with the loops will be even more of an odd duck.

I imagine the contrast between TOP and Short Stack must be more acute than between Laurel and Hardy.

Seriously though I know what you mean. And I would agree that the "tower" look would gain something from removing the loops.