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Comment by azdle | Hacker News Reader

I _desperately_ want something like this, but in a 1U 4-drive form factor. If someone is working on something like this, _please_ let me know. It doesn't even have to be an RK3399 based system, just something that works with a mainline (or near-mainline) linux distro and will host an SMB server & DLNA server.

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Why not a 1U Supermicro server? They have options that are short depth or with Atom processors. If you just want a 4 disk 1U server, those would be a good option.

Or is it a question of budget? If that’s the case, what about a used server (like those from UNIXSurplus)?

Or is it a question of power? If that’s the case, then... I don’t quite know in that case.

I mean power and price are a factor, but I haven't seen a hot-swap drive 1U system that that's not big and noisy. I guess part of the problem is that my rack is right next to my desk (noise) and can only support 24" of depth (I'm real drunk and somehow forgot deeper 1U hot-swap servers exist).

For other popular, affordable used short-depth 1U servers that you can get with 4 external 3.5" drive bays, there's the Dell R210 II, R220, and maybe R230.

Without getting into questions of possible security implications/perceptions of where servers are designed and manufactured... I do like the simplicity of some of the Supermicro options. I currently have a short-depth 1U Atom-based one, which runs passively-cooled except for the PSU fan, which I've replaced with a soldered-in practically silent Noctua. I intentionally got a mobo without a crazy BMC with IPMI, but I still don't assume the hardware is very trustworthy. It might still be more trustworthy than a popular consumer board.

(BTW, if you're looking at any quiet/cool-running server that uses an Intel Atom C2xxx or some other Atom models, make sure that either it isn't a lemon one, or it has a mitigation. [1][2]

[1] https://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2000-avr54-bug-stri... [2] https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/intel-atom-c2...

ASRock also has some SFF server boards with IPMI and ECC, if I remember correctly, also with onboard CPU and fanless in some cases.

Thanks, that's good to keep in mind. ECC is great, though I personally don't want IPMI. (The only IPMI implementation I looked at so far appeared likely chock full of vulnerabilities, and it was sharing a NIC. There was a jumper that ostensibly disabled the BMC, but didn't appear to disable it fully.)

Like this? http://www.casetronic.com/corporates/40-t1160.html

Not ARM-based though, but they do have a variant that can host 4 pico-itx boards: http://www.casetronic.com/corporates/42-t1040.html . I gather you may be able to convert that one easier to fit an ARM board, or RISC-V for that matter.

Well, damn, that is absolutely what I'm looking for. I just never happened to be able to find that in my (literally) _days_ of searching.

Thank you for linking that.

iStarUSA make some cases that might suit you. I can't directly link to its search results, but they have a requirements selector here: http://www.istarusa.com/en/istarusa/index.php

http://www.istarusa.com/en/istarusa/products.php?model=EA-1M... (love the "XServe" aesthetic)

http://www.istarusa.com/en/istarusa/products.php?model=U-140...

http://www.istarusa.com/en/istarusa/products.php?model=M-140... (extra short!)

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