2TB Ammo Can

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pheenix

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 4, 2006
Messages
375
Yeah, so I decided to build a 2TB ammo can NAS box. I'm waiting for the hard drive and a custom I/O panel to arrive before I can wrap things up.

The top of the ammo can after I cut the 120mm fan port. The lid is quite thick which made cutting it a bitch., I'll definitely consider placing the fan ports elsewhere for future ammo can builds.

cantop1.jpg


I used some epoxy putty to permanently hold the handle in place mostly to help with air flow. Then after a couple of primer coats and a few coats of OD green, I have the finished lid.
DSCN0548.jpg


Here we have the can with the front intake (originally going to be the PSU mount for another ammo can project. I also recycled the HD bracket from an old case and sealed it in place with epoxy putty. Perhaps if I make more of these, I'll use a different method to mount the HD bracket (brazing?). Still waiting for the I/O bracket to arrive before I paint.
can1.jpg


Here's the first real fit test. I used an old IDE drive to put weight on the HD bracket, and cut an unused PCI slot cover to provide support to the PCI SATA controller. I had to use a PCI controller because the board that I have (VIA EPIA something or other). Some 3/4" x 1/16" aluminum square tube served as the motherboard mount. The 2 black sleeved cabled will be connected to 2 buttons on the front of the can (left of the picture) to serve as power and reset. Power supply is a PicoPSU 90W. And the O/S (FreeNAS) is installed on a 4GB IDE disk on module (can't see it in this pic).
fittest-1.jpg


I should have the rest of the parts this coming week, so hopefully I'll have a finished, functioning NAS Can by week's end.
 
Thanks. I'm already planning a 4 terabyte version. If this one works out, which it has so far...I'll probably sell it to help pay for the next project
 
Here's a shot of the custom I/O plate
ammonas-io-teaser.jpg


Got the 2TB drive today. The system is up and running, but I want to finish it before I post more shots. Oh, and I'm going to include a 32gb 40mm grenade.
 
Installed the mesh screen over the intake. Will post some pics later tonight of the finished can
 
sweeeeet.. my friend had one of those 12 ga boxes sitting at his house the other day.

I almost got it too.. man, this is such a badass idea :D
 
Very nice :D and definitely more practical than the hand grenade USB stick that someone posted about :D
 
Only problem is finding the time to get to the surplus store to look for more ammo cans that are in halfway decent shape (99% of the retailers on the net charge quite a bit for shipping which is understandable given their size/weight).
 
The ammo can was damaged when a pipe burst in the room while I was on vacation. AC/DC brick shorted out. I've decided to upgrade it..somewhat. I put the 2TB drive in my main machine. The upgrades to the ammo can (will post pics in a day or 2) are:

Zotac Iontix A-U (modded the DC jack to add another 6 inches to it so I can utilize the same hole in the ammo can.
4gb DDR-800
32GB Corsair SSD (For Windows)
250gb & 500gb 2.5" sata drives (recycled from laptopls I had lying around) for media/etc.
Slim sata DVD-RW drive
Replacing power/reset switches with aluminum vandal resistant type switches from mnpctech.com

It's being reborn as an HTPC system and will also be pulling double duty as a console emulator. Already have Vista installed on it and I streamed a movie from my other computer with no probs whatsoever.
 
Too bad about the pipe burst! Looking forward to the new mod. The original looks pretty sweet. Great job!
 
I built an amplifier for a friend for his "woofer chair" in exactly the same ammo can :)
 
very sweet, i picked up a 7.62 round ammo case the other day, considering putting a mini-itx system in it..

this just gives me more ideas :D
 
Looks like I'm going to be making another ammo can pc in the near future. I'll post a more detailed worklog for that one.
 
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