[geeks] Cheap Dell Servers

[nate at portents.com]

>>> The reason why I ask is that I've found a case which has 9 (!) 5.25"
>>> open drive bays in the front for less than $110 shipped.
>>
>> Has anyone asked you for your source yet? I might be interested in such
>> a box myself...
>
> ebay.  Look for the "Antec Nine Hundred".  Doesn't include power supply
> at that price, but I've received mine, and it's a *very* nice case.

It's not a perfect case, i.e. due to the power supply location you may run
into some issues with cable routing, and I've found that in some
situations, such as if you have a motherboard with extensive heat
pipes/passive cooling around the CPU area, certain CPU coolers such as the
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro only fit in one particular orientation with
the CPU cooling fan blowing in the opposite direction that the top 200mm
Antec "Big Boy" fan blows.  In order that the two fans didn't fight
(because the CPU fan in this instance is not reversible), you have to
reverse the direction of the "Big Boy" by flipping it around, which
involves a delicate process of releasing a series of partly hidden tabs
and screws that hold the top of the case on.  A more involved process than
I like on a case.

FYI, you can also get the case direct from Antec for $98 as a B-stock item:

http://www.antec.com/Detail.bok?no=523

Though you can also get it for not much more ($109) from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

If anyone does get it, you might consider picking up an extra "Big Boy" to
have as a backup, since you won't be able to get it in any store that I'm
aware of:

http://www.antec.com/Detail.bok?no=490

- Nate