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I'm still looking for a high storage density case - but I suspect what I'm looking for does not exist.
Assuming the role of a storage server, outside of storage you don't need a lot. You need the disks + ventilation, the controller capacity, the PSU, and a small brain. Start with the brain - something with the innards and size of a Mac Mini would be more than sufficient for a storage server. Say, ITX, mini-ITX.
So, is there a case similar to the Norco, for example, that jettisons the rear two thirds of the case (which is huge and can hold an EATX motherboard with a gigantic i975-class heat sink pretty easily, along with several full size cards) and replaces it with something more along the lines of a ITX MB with space for one or two cards and a standard ATX power supply? In theory, this is all that's needed, and in terms of packaging it ought to fit in a standard ATX tower configuration, yet I can't find anything on the market quite like this.
I would like to find a case with considerable storage capacity (say, 16 bays or more) that does not, in spite of this capacity, reserve 2/3rds of its internal volume to the motherboard and connected components. Right now it seems that all cases follow something of a "1/3rd drive space, 2/3rds everything else" design which becomes terribly inefficient when one is looking for a high capacity box that only needs to dole out storage over Gig-E.
Assuming the role of a storage server, outside of storage you don't need a lot. You need the disks + ventilation, the controller capacity, the PSU, and a small brain. Start with the brain - something with the innards and size of a Mac Mini would be more than sufficient for a storage server. Say, ITX, mini-ITX.
So, is there a case similar to the Norco, for example, that jettisons the rear two thirds of the case (which is huge and can hold an EATX motherboard with a gigantic i975-class heat sink pretty easily, along with several full size cards) and replaces it with something more along the lines of a ITX MB with space for one or two cards and a standard ATX power supply? In theory, this is all that's needed, and in terms of packaging it ought to fit in a standard ATX tower configuration, yet I can't find anything on the market quite like this.
I would like to find a case with considerable storage capacity (say, 16 bays or more) that does not, in spite of this capacity, reserve 2/3rds of its internal volume to the motherboard and connected components. Right now it seems that all cases follow something of a "1/3rd drive space, 2/3rds everything else" design which becomes terribly inefficient when one is looking for a high capacity box that only needs to dole out storage over Gig-E.