iStarUSA Group Mini-ITX NAS Tower 7 x 5.25 Bay Computer Case

***Update 2018***I know it’s been a while, but wanted to add some photos for those that are curious. The rack handles I added myself to make it easier to transport. I also added Noico on the front and side door to minimize noise. Other than that it’s just how it came.Also, it’s without a motherboard being used as direct attached storage. I mentioned freenas in my original review however I chose to mount an SAS card in there, and link the drives (Atto card in thunderbolt pcie) to my Mac mini which I use as my server. I’m presently running OpenZFS on OSX and highly recommend it. Just as solid as the ZFS on FreeBSD and Linux. Original review left as is below, as I’m just as satisfied with this a number of years later as I was when first writing the review.I’ll be buying this again next time I need a similar case.—————Where do I start...I needed an NAS, and decided after quite a bit of research to go the DIY route instead of the Synology / QNap / Prebuilt solution. Why? I thought they were overpriced for what they provided, weren't as versatile or upgradable, and I didn't want to be stuck within a software / management suite that was vendor specific. I also wanted the rock-solid reliability of the ZFS filesystem, so I went for a FreeNAS build.This thing has it all. It's a bit larger than the iXSystems FreeNAS Mini, but not by much, and has so much more versatility in deployment. For me, I wanted 2.5" hard drives, which is uncommon in NAS systems and so any premade solution is a ton of wasted space. In this thing, I can cram 3 Supermicro M28SAB's and an lcd fan controller, totalling 24 drive bays. With 2tb 5400rpm WD Red NAS 2.5" drives that's 48 TB in this little box!Onto the box itself: It's exceptionally well built. This is my first iStarUSA product, and I'm highly impressed. I just don't see case build quality like this anymore- it's simple, customizable, the whole thing comes apart (literally, it's like an m16) and in my opinion much more attractive than the competition. My requirements were basically: Have a door (which I can damp to reduce fan noise / vibration), feel solid, full metal, be attractive and simple in a home office and have 5.25" bays from top to bottom. You'd be very surprised how rare that is to find! There are units like the Antec 1200, 900, some offerings from Zalman etc. that are popular in the lime technology and FreeNAS forums, however those were a bit big for me, seemed kinda silly with the whole "gaming style" thing, and didn't have a door. I wanted a smaller, lower powered unit that was still quick and didn't skimp on space. For me, this iStarUSA case really fit the bill. There is also a 5 bay version if you want to go a little smaller. The price difference (about $100 currently) wasn't too much in my eyes . This thing is built more like a Caselabs case than your average PC case.I wanted hot swap, so solutions that were common for others like the Fractal Design offerings didn't really do it for me. Also, the units with built in hot swaps like the silverstone and norco didn't fit the bill due to the wasted space for me. The Lian Li cases are nice, but the current offerings don't have doors along with 5.25" top to bottom. Regardless of those two points, it's still better than any of the current Lian Li models as well as long as you can cope with the 7 bays. iStar was supposed to put out a 9 bay model, but on their website it says "custom order only". Not sure what that means, or if you have to buy bulk as a distributor, but it's worth inquiring with them if you need the extra room.Only caveat is that I wish there were more mounting holes in the 5.25" bays.. there's 4 for each bay (2 on each side). Since I'm using 2.5" drives in smaller hot swap units, it would have been nice to have a ton of mounting options like the older style SCSI cases or the offerings from Addonics etc.. However, it doesn't seem like a dealbreaker and the units fit fine with a little adaptation / drilling a few holes.Bottom line, if this fits your use case buy this thing with confidence you can't lose. It's a create quality unit. Totally worth it if you want to go the extra mile from some of these dinky NAS cases they are putting on the market these days. There's so much gear in this thing I had to put rack mount handles on the top to move it around! And, it's quiet, runs cool and fits all of my hardware like a glove without being too cramped.Look no further. I researched everything under the sun, took a stab at this and I'm delighted. I think you will be too.

Got 8 HDDs installed in the case by using two hdd hot swap drive bays. motherboard fits in well and it is working great.