Creating The Perfect DIY NAS Case | Fractal Design Node 304 Mods

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Bambu Lab P1P: bambulab.com/en/p1 Fractal Design Node 304: geni.us/v7SWO (Amazon) Noctua NF-A20: geni.us/Jss7 (Amazon) Power button: geni.us/wbYoCBu (Amazon) 200mm Fan mod by pixelwave: www.printables.com/model/137181-200mm-fan-front-for-fractal-node-304/files 4x SSD Mount by Wookbert: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3845992 6x SSD Mount by diofantino: www.thingiverse.com/thing:5243073

[@pWAVE86]

Thanks for featuring my case mod! :) I added your video as a reference in the model post on printables.

[@ShaferHart]

I got the Fractal 304 case a few weeks ago and noticed that my build (i5 10500T, no GPU) was excessively loud after installing just two drives in separate caddies (both 12TB 7200 RPM, one Seagate and the other a WD). At first I thought it was the stock fans (both CPU's and case) but I disconnected all of them for a while and the case was just as noisy. Then I thought it was the drives themselves, as people often say enterprise server drives are noisier than consumer drives so I swapped them out for two WD Red drives (5400 RPM) that had been quiet as a feather in my Synology NAS for years. There was a little bit less noise but was still inexplicably loud. After that I realized that the problem had to be the case itself. It seemed that the drives' spin vibrations were being transmitted to the case' metal frame and causing a loud "nuclear reactor" sound throughout my apartment. In order to test/fix this I applied a spongy, double-sided Scotch tape wherever the caddies had contact with the frame of the case. This simple solution reduced the noise by almost 90%, if not completely. Now it's barely noticeable and doesn't bother me at all. I'm not sure why this issue hasn't been brought up before as it was quite noticeable. Maybe it's not a problem if you keep your home server in an out-of-the-way place like an empty room or closet but where I have mine it was driving me crazy. I thought I'd share this tip in case others face a similar issue.

[@ApxuBbI]

Wish Fractal made some new cases for NAS builds, their new tiny ones are very nice ones, but not for storage for sure. And MAN, that front panel, gives such a fresh look for this old case.

[@christopherjames9843]

The Jonsbo N2 is what I would be looking at. A smaller company like Jonsbo isn't afraid to take chances.

[@ChatGTA345]

I wish they made compact cases like 304 for mATX (804 doesn't count as it's still huge). Way easier to find suitable mobos

[@mattbergen5293]

This is my go to case for small and home office NAS builds. The little holes beside the 3.5" grommets are for 2.5" drives. We build 100s of these with 2.5" drives. Excellent case.

[@mockier]

An easy way to drill holes for the front panel is to print a template. Either edit the model so it is only a couple mm thick with the screw holes. Or the lazy option, orientate it upside down on the bed (without supports!) and then cancel the print job after it has printed the first few mm. Now you have a drilling template that matches the holes perfectly so you can use the holes that are in the design. The amount of plastic wasted in this way is minimal. This sort of thing is very handy when pro-typing new 3D models to check the fit is correct before committing to a full print, and cuts down on wastage overall.

[@AndriusOrdojan]

FYI you can fit SSDs between outside of the HDD cage and the case. So 2 extra SSDs.

[@TWO515TY]

This is exactly how I have my two SSDs mounted.

[@my5t1k]

Same here, and as 2 x 2.5" SSD was exactly what I needed anyways... This case couldn't have been more perfect for my NAS needs.

[@HyenaEmpyema]

It's a double-compromise, but a cheapskate option to add a single SSD is to get a plastic PCI-e mount and pop it in your PCI-e slot. Its non-conductive but uses the PCI-e slot just like it was an add-on card and screws in the bracket and holds one SATA ssd. This wont help much for cooling, but it can be useful to some of us. Also, I think you should have stressed the importance of cleaning the case very well after using an angle grinder. One tiny iron shard will be plenty to smoke your drives/motherboard. To me it's not worth the risk, but your build does look cool, I give you that! 👍

[@miaogyver]

304 had lots of nice ideas lost in the current obsession with reducing volume. Love your improvements to the 2012 design! That front panel is beautiful.

[@ShaferHart]

yep, they could do so much more with the space it has if they updated it. You can still easily buy trays and adapters but no reason why they couldn't include a few for 2.5 ssds.

[@jozsefizsak]

This is a very informative, enjoyable and satisfying video, as yours generally are. Bambu Lab comes off looking very good, not just for an outstanding printer but also for demonstrating excellent judgement by sending one to you. 😉

[@austinwilson930]

You can mount SSDs inside of this case even when you have all 6 hard drives installed. You just install them onto the same brackets as the HDDs just on the outside of the cages. I have 6 HDD and 4 SSD installed in my node 304 even with a GTX 1650 inside.

[@homelabber551]

^ this I have 8 HDDs, 4 SATA SSDs, and 2 m.2 NVMEs. The 2 extra HDDs are above the CPU (low profile cooler) horizontally (2x HDD bracket/mount) in comparison to the 6 that are vertical

[@ShaferHart]

@@homelabber551 how did you mount the extra HDDs above the CPU?

[@cjtech2222]

The small hokes on the top and bottom of the drive sleds are for mounting 2.5” drives btw

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Good to know, thanks

[@donoteatmikezila]

"I hate english." As a native speaker, same.

[@iglobrothers645]

"I hate German" is also something I would say as a native German. (I prefer English)

[@seanlatelle6345]

Felt that

[@undertone2472]

As I Native English speaker I always say, "English is hard".

[@james2749]

As a native English speaker living in Berlin, I have to disagree. Deburring? How about Schlesisches tor? Or eichhörnchen?

[@naoltitude9516]

cringe

[@hrrsndck]

I run this case as my main and I've been hunting for a video of this 200mm fan mod. Thank you, looks great!

[@HGKaya]

Beginner friendly technical videos packed with memes, new to the channel, got a whole list of videos to watch. Nice.

[@_marcioeric]

Not gonna lie... Watched this video 5x times already and I don't know why I love this build so much

[@anizocani]

imho, the biggest disadvantage of the Node 304 is the limitations of ITX - having only one PCIe slot and nearly all ITX boards only having 4 SATA ports means you'll have difficulty actually using all 6 of those HDD slots, especially if you also want a discrete GPU or 10GbE networking

[@WolfgangsChannel]

You can definitely fit two PCIe cards if you get creative with the onboard M.2 slot 😉 I have a 10GbE card and a PCIe SATA controller in that machine

[@Onyxaxe]

Thank you for the Epilepsy Warning. That just makes my day everytime. I will choose different music and effects when playing with an angle grinder lol.

[@bcboncs]

that was literally the best part, the grinder-prefire-transition to moosic wuz hax

[@nolibert]

Neues Video von Wolfgang muss direkt geklickt werden. Liebe geht raus!

[@BellySyrup]

I wanted to get one for my upgraded homeserver/nas a few months ago, but after seeing it on amazon for $468 Canadian.. I decided to go a different route. I went matx that has 8 Sata ports in a CoolerMaster Q300L and added stackable HDD brackets from Phanteks. Currently have room for 6 3.5" and 2 2.5" drives. It's relatively compact, quiet, and considering the hardest task it runs is some jellyfin transcoding it still runs cool despite the terrible airflow reviews the Q300L gets. It does sit on a top shelf in a cool basement with nothing but an ethernet and a power cable attached. Love the channel!

[@bcboncs]

I'm going to be experiencing the same challenge frontpanel mod attachment challenge when I do my 304 build. An initial thought is to use the leftover metal from the case that was shaved off, bend into an L shape, epoxy, velcro. Again probably not best idea but trying to solve for that without the proper print design is going to require a bit of MacGyvering. I don't have enough experience with slicing/designing 3d printers & I don't really want to spend time in that rabbit hole at this time. Have so much more to learn with the Router-NAS combo.

[@bcboncs]

So just a heads up for those doing this custom fan, I grinded off the two 80mm fan brackets then needed to drill a hole toward bottom right of frontpanel for 200mm fan power cable passthru

[@dinkidink5912]

For a long time I used a Lian Li PC-Q08, looks to be a similar size to the 304, fits 6 x 3.5" drives plus room for 1 x 5.25" drive which is where I stashed my SSD. Recently I bought a Silverstone 2U RM22-308 and am very happy with it, the hot swap bays will definitely come in handy and with a server mobo in there and my hba it all works great, individual leds for each hdd as well as the two lan ports 👍 I had an issue with a sas breakout cable going bad a little while ago and it was very tedious opening the old case to access the drives.

[@ovarb12]

Thank you so very much for putting the links to the products. I do so enjoy your videos.

[@NocturnalScreamer]

Thanks for this great video, @woldgangschannel. I have a quick question: how are you powering those fans? It looks like the board only has one 3-pin connector., and 304 has only 3 pin connectors. Thanks in advance

[@WolfgangsChannel]

You can use an external PWM fan controller

[@bru2al1tyusa82]

I agree with your sentiment about the front panel. Thanks for this video.

[@TheOdrel]

Did you manage to get data or a rough idea of how much the custom front panel and 200mm fan impacted the temperature of your storage? I'm wondering because I'm considering this mod and a 200mm Noctua is rated for 146.9 m³/h at 18.1 dB(A) while a dual 92mm is rated for 2 x 62.6 m³/h at 16.3 dB(A) with the low noise adapter. That seems pretty close and I'm thinking the airflow will not directed towards the drives as much.

[@mattybbg6850]

@3:22 i did laugh like a maniacal villain.

[@ShaferHart]

Did the drives get hot before this? What difference did you notice in terms of actual temperatures?

[@Cynyr]

Screw holes, slice most of the new front of leaving only 5mm of the case side. Use the holes for the heat melt nutserts as a dining guide. Drill out the holes to be slightly bigger than the books being used to allow some wiggle for alignment at the end.

[@bcboncs]

don't know if I'm lost in the jargon but if you could explain like I'm 5 or point to a link that'd be great

[@flyguy8791]

Dang that front panel mod really cranks the Node 304 up a notch. I've been considering moving a server of mine into this case and that might just be the push I need. I didn't even realize it was a 10 year old design!

[@JavierChaparroM]

Daaaaang that front pannel print looks clean!!

[@Ram5nTv]

Hello Wolfgang bro. Why you need 4 or 5 SSD? I can't understand. Is there build storage with HDDs? I know that one piece SSD for OS. Can you answer please?

[@MrMars-ip9ym]

there is spaces for 2.50inch drives they mount flat inside of the white hard drive holders that's what the extra holes are for

[@lordgarth1]

I have that unas chassis in a box somewhere I was going to build one before I bought a bought a synology. Maybe I’ll dig it out.

[@pierrey.6801]

You can actually mount the SDD on the exterior part of the white 3,5 disk holder, there is room for 4 SSD (7,5mm) between the 3 holders, you need to screw the SSD first and then the 3,5 HDD, in total you can fit 6 HDD and 4 SSD at the same time

[@RetroBerner]

You can mount 2.5" drives on the outside of the sleds, but you have to screw them in before mounting the 3.5" drives

[@atomsapple]

This. I do this so I can fit 6 HDD and 2 SSD.

[@AHAguilar]

Hello @WolfgangsChannel , in minute 1:14 you say there is no place to mount 2.5" ssd, I think you are showing there is, I might be wrong, but those 4 small holes seem to be exactly for it.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

You’re right 🧐

[@AHAguilar]

@@WolfgangsChannel anyway, I really liked the way your NAS came out and love the way you manage your home lab. I also got tired of Raspberrys at current prices and opted out for some Mini PCs. Keep on it! you do big things!

[@vollhorst140]

Very nice video. I made similar moods my case aswell, albeit not that nice, more of glue, ducttape and dremel job. I had the 304 as a case for 4 years and switched to 804 a month ago. Filling up all the space in 304 with drives etc. is such a huge pain in the butt because cables. There are cables everywhere and no space to shove them into or tuck them away.

[@Granatenman]

Why is your Fan in the back also an intake? Should it not be an outtake?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

You're right :) I'm not sure why it's an intake in the video, but I've replaced it with a Noctua 140mm fan in exhaust for the actual build

[@florianblank9441]

Mega geil! @Wolfgang , hast mich mit der low power idle sache echt angesteckt. bin auf der suche nach dem AsRack board, aber ist echt nix zu finden. und die ganzen mATX cases sind schmutz.

[@Indra_Ninja]

Solid front panel for the extra bling

[@jonathans.8650]

Awesome! Really looking forward for the build in the modded 304! 🤟

[@terotahvo6849]

Maybe more quiet but two NF-A9 gives over 10 m3/h more airflow NF-A9 78.9 m3/h NF-A20 146.8 m3/h

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Yep, but you have to compare them at similar noise levels, because two 90mm fans will have to spin way faster to reach the same airflow. Plus with two fans so close to each other there’s turbulence and such to take into account

[@dededed1]

Man, missed ur vids a lot (mb just didn’t see them releasing) Keep making the content, pls, thats one of the best pc blogs out there

[@LittleMopeHead]

Nailed it. Why can't people make proper 6-8 bay PC case that serves as a NAS too. I've been using the Silverstone DS380B and it's been okay. Heat issues regularly though.

[@kumuj]

Классное видео! Кажется мне пора тоже собирать свой nas :) Ноут под кроватью с usb hdd уже не круто :) Буду заказывать свой 304

[@krisclem8290]

Is there a mod that makes the drives hotswappable, It would be nice to have access to them from the front instead of taking apart everything.

[@fordonmekochgalenskaper5665]

I use the big brother to this case, Fractal Node 504, little bigger and easier to build in and handle mATX and 8 3,5 disks

[@jonathans.8650]

OMG - Can't wait for the build! How much power draws the PiKVM?

[@Jaabaa_Prime]

"Literally made me giggle like a little girl" Brilliant! 🤣🤣🤣

[@edwardbaynes6310]

I might be wrong, but it seems to me that the 3D panel could be improved to use the same attaching method as the original front panel, by that I mean, those plastic pegs. At least from your build, you could have left more metal at those four spots to hold the pegs at the same position. Is this something that you discussed with the model's author?

[@BrianThomas]

I've seen this case on sale before. I thought it was extremely cool how the drives hang in the case.

[@fugixi]

Awesome job on this one. ❤

[@LTSDK1]

Why is the rear fan set as intake and not exhaust?

[@Ultraschorsch]

Can't wait for your server build video for the Node 304!

[@GurinderSandhar]

Are you able to do a review/guide for Shelley relays?

[@xcruell]

You really need more top layers if you want to use the inserts, because if you're unlucky it will slide at an angle into one infill hole, instead of going straight down

[@alexanderos8209]

Like always a great video. One big suggestion for the next big modification: Use a oscillating multitool instead of an angle grinder next time you do a case modification. It might not be as fast, but is way more precise and safer to use. (Actually the blade wont cut you if touch it lightly).

[@Cyba_IT]

Very nice build man, that front fan is a thing of beauty. :)

[@koolightcool]

For a German, you speak very good English.. no offence to my fellow Germans. I just Sturm into your video now, You're doing an amazing job I'm going to watch all and subscribe.

[@Omikronik]

i think you could cut the pci-e slot with a dremel for the corners for more accuracy and then just angle grinder for the rest. Every great pc mod starts with an angle grinder after all

[@LMN22]

Cool video. Just hopping into learning about nas, and san setups. No idea still what the difference is between the 2 but im wanting to build a nas instead of buying one for 8k. Lol you have any build videos? Or know where to find some, yt search is giving me nothing

[@arg8763]

If Jonsbo had made the N3 just a smidge bigger for M-ATX it would be perfect. This is pretty nice though if you are looking for an 8 drive NAS.

[@gearboxworks]

Did I miss the link to the 3D printer in the description?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

pinned comment

[@Alex-fl2yh]

Will your upcoming home server video be about the build in this case because please explain more

[@liowyew]

Will a 3000rpm fan solve the overheat problem?

[@mihonalmighty]

You can mount the 2.5 ssd on the sides of they bays, before you mount the 3.5 drives :D

[@jonathans.8650]

Is there a good/cheep 3D printing service if I want to build that too? I live in Germany, so that would be good too.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Unfortunately all the ones I’ve tried are so expensive that you might as well buy a printer. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the Bambu Lab one, there are plenty of decent printers below $200. Will probably be slower and require some tinkering to get the quality just right, but still.

[@jonathans.8650]

@@WolfgangsChannel Ok, thank you for the feedback. Can you maybe also tell me how much the needed plastic for the printing costs?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

@@jonathans.8650 173g for the front panel, 51g for the SSD bracket

[@josipX]

I'm too scared to check how much power my current home server is slurping up on a monthly basis so maybe it's time to build something like this.

[@Aggaggagg]

Я бы сделал металлические штыри/болты по углам как направляющие и какие-нибудь резиновые вкладыши вместо гаек, вместе с магнитами должно держать довольно крепко.

[@MegaBubu82]

Hast du noch einen link zum PCI KVM?

[@elizburhan]

Hallo Wolfgang Könntest du mir das Frontpanel auch ausdrucken, gegen Bezahlung?

[@SynysterCondom]

Would like to see what you can do with a Fractal Node 804

[@Maya-mt3se]

Is pla weakening or melting from heat a concern?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Doubt that it'll get to that point. we'll see in a few months though

[@PontschPauPau3451]

@@WolfgangsChannel PLA begins to deform at between 55 and 60 degrees Celsius. I highly doubt with that kind of air cooling the ambient temperature of the PC will get that hot, but I'd keep an eye out for the parts close to the CPU and drives themselves just in case there's localized heat spikes melting the plastic. Awesome build man!

[@prashkd7684]

Fractal designs are carp. Because of their extra small form factor thre's high amount of heat trapped inside which , for Australian summer is a big downside. Also, if few years down the line you want to add more HDDs to your NAS, you end up buying a whole new enclosure. I purchased a 8 bay SilverStone enclosure for my NAS with only 4 HDDs running in it. It has been ~ 2 years and I've now reach the capacity so all i need is 4 more HDDs to double the capacity with no unnecessary expenses !

[@tech.junkie]

No cooling issues with your Silverstone? IIRC, I've seen complaints about their NAS cases that their airflow design isn't optimal for cooling drives in a balanced way.

[@prashkd7684]

@@tech.junkie it's a large enclosure

[@rupertmurdoch469]

Beautiful clean design👍

[@Dreadylock9170]

planning to get rid of mines because i need hot swap and room for new Matx but i like it

[@tech.junkie]

Yo, @Fractal Design, need an idea or two on how to enable the Node 304 to be even more functional and versatile?

[@arsenalfanatic09]

cool mod, I'm assuming not enough room to keep a front panel USB? Also idk if you did it or not, but it's usually a good idea to paint-pen the edges of the cuts on metal to avoid rust.

[@exodus454]

You should get a mining PCI remote mount for the pikvm, I've been using two of them for the past year and they've actually been flawless for my video card and LSI card 👍

[@WolfgangsChannel]

That PiKVM card doesn't actually need PCIe connection at all, it's only a way to mount it inside the case. So basically all you'd need is a PCIe-sized hole in the back

[@transatlant1c]

If that’s the case, then you can consider taking the PCI bracket off, finding some holes on the PCB and transferring them to the outside cover then just putting in some stand offs and screwing it to the cover directly. Either that or a little mount screwed to the back. Happy to help you with that if you want

[@ydiadi_]

What is the mobo and cpu used in this built

[@seifenspender]

Cool video! Will try the same on mine. I think the link in the description for the 4x SSD mounting bracket is wrong. It links a fan speed adjustment bracket by the same user Wookbert. The correct thing id is 4029248 by Wookbert.

[@SergeBee-r4e]

my ITX board only has 3-pin for the fans. Is there an adapter or something? Looked for it online, did not find a good solution.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

I use an external PWM fan controller

[@SergeBee-r4e]

@@WolfgangsChannel Can you recommend a specific one please?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Noctua NA-FC1

[@BrianThomas]

You could use screw's, nuts and washers.

[@danieltiganus8046]

Is there a similar mini case for a lot of HDD but for mAtx motherboard?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Node 804

[@tamildesan837]

Thermaltake 200 TG using micro atx can fit 6 drives. Some of the older cooler master micro atx cases (Elite 344)can fit 6 drives + 2 more with some converters from 5.25 into 3.5/2.5

[@The_0p3r8t0r]

Angle grinder next to a foot protected by only a canvas shoe had me cringing. But otherwise brilliant job and you make it look so very easy. Bonus Henry Cavill too

[@severgun]

Better than naked arm.

[@joachimFritsch]

Where can I buy the 304 in Germany?, I can’t find it …

[@awesomearizona-dino]

Great work, The stock face on that case is super boring. Ive found that magnets like to be touching to hold well, so any spacers or shims you could add, to get them actually touching should work.

[@amitabhbarik3964]

I want to build this, but will there be temperature issues in hot climates like India?

[@-aexc-]

they're pretty low power components with a lot of airflow (with the mod) so it is fine. (I am in India)

[@chrisvandijk99]

Its a good case, but I built in the 804! :-) i like the little bit extra space inside

[@chromerims]

Fractal Design Node 304 👍

[@ggnone]

Where can i get those stl's?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Pinned comment

[@zeal514]

Get bigger magnets. They should 100% hold... Worse case scenario, glue your magnets to the case. Reses opposing magnets in the front cover, so that the 2 will pull eachother in.

[@SamuHell782]

3:07 Ricky and Elliot meme.

[@esrevinu.]

excellent video.

[@movax20h]

Way better than original. Nicely done. I just do not understand why Fractal botched some of the design elements in this case.

[@v456lt73KK]

Странно, что у тебя трудности с фиксацией крышки. Если у тебя в ответной части также стоят приличные неодимовые магниты и ты ограничил движение плоскостей относительно друг друга, то сила на отрыв должна быть в несколько десятков килограмм.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

С ответной стороны только метал 🙃 Надо попробовать магниты приклеить

[@severgun]

1) Magnets + HDDs? 2) What ITX motherboard have 10 SATA ports?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

1) For better or for worse, that only works in hacker movies. You're more likely to destroy a hard drive by bending it with a strong magnet, than by demagnetizing the platters. And that's with rare earth magnets. Household magnets are not strong enough to do any damage 2) Supermicro A2SDi-8C+-HLN4F has 12 SATA ports, and you can add as much as 24 ports to any motherboard by using an inexpensive PCIe SATA adapter: www.amazon.de/MZHOU-Erweiterungskarte-Festplattenerweiterungskarte-SATA-Kabeln-SATA-Power-Splitter-Kabel-24SATA-4x/dp/B09K3FT3ZZ

[@aliancemd]

This makes me want to buy a 3D printer... I definitely would if I lived in a bigger "house".

[@zarx4305]

I hope someday you make a video talking about what strategies you used to learn and speak English so well

[@StahLHerZRocK]

304 in stock has no any problem with hdd cooling.