Some pictures of a build from last year. I replaced a file server that was in reliable operation since 2007, seeing no hardware failures. Its purpose is to store file backups from the network. With only 4,5TB available, it was constantly getting full. It was also loud and power hungry, so I decided that the best option was a complete replacement. I hope the new one is as trouble free as the old!
Old specs: (built may 2007, upgraded some drives late 2009)
- motherboard: TYAN S2925 "Tomcat n3400B"
- CPU: AMD Sempron 3000+ "Manila" (single core)
- RAM: DDR-2 ECC 800mHz 1GB
- operating system drives: HDD, Hardware RAID-1, SCSI-320, 2x 36GB, ext3 and XFS file systems
- served data drives: HDD, LVM, SATA-II, 3x 500GB and 3x 1TB, XFS file systems
- removable media: IDE CD drive
- operating system: Debian GNU/Linux, starting with version 4 "Etch"
New specs: (built september 2025)
- motherboard: ASRock B850M-X R2.0
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X "Granite Ridge" (6 cores, 12 threads)
- RAM: DDR-5 ECC 2600mHz 32GB
- operating system drives: SSD, ZFS mirror, SATA-III, 2x 128GB, ZFS file systems
- served data drives: HDD, ZFS RAID-Z1, SATA-III, 3x 24TB, ZFS file systems
- removable media: USB 3.0 micro SD cards
- operating system: FreeBSD, starting with version 14
my own home system died recently and it's surprisingly hard to find a tower second hand that can handle 6 drives; yours looks like it can and it's not an eye sore so i envy you. lol
I selected my cases very carefully. Once I have them, I never change them. I have 4 computers. My oldest case is from 1997 and my newest is this one from 2007. One of them has had 4 different systems in it. I can't think of any reason to buy a new case if it still fits the needs.
Lol, same, I'm glad I invested in (thought out, researched) my cases & PSUs.
it looks really familiar to me and i like the aesthetic.
i don't blame people for not sharing their cases second hand on craigslist if they're this good looking.
You can convert 3 of the 5.25" external drive bays to 5 3.5" drive bays. That's what I did with my NAS.
I foolishly bought mini itx because it could fit 10 5.25" drives in toaster oven sized space.
Five years later and I have to pay 2x for older replacement 2nd hand hardware just because of it's small size. Lol