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Dual 3.5″ HDD NAS Case for Odroid H2 / H2+

Introduction

The Odroid H2 and the Odroid H2+ are some of the few single board computers which offer PC like interfaces including 2x SATA, an NVMe slot, 2x 2.5 GBit ethernet (1 GBit for the H2) as well as dual RAM sockets. Besides the interfaces the board is equipped with a powerful, yet energy efficient x86 processor and includes an on board power supply.

In my opinion, the board is the perfect fit for an open source NAS system build. Unfortunately the case which is offered by the manufacturer didn’t meet my requirements.

I therefore built myself a compact and stable case which has the features I want. Maybe it still needs some spit and polish but the result is quite useful for me and maybe for you as well.

Before you start printing, be sure you want to have this case. It will take you a while to get hold of the parts and you will require some grams of filament 😉

Parts

Assembly Instructions

  • General rules
    • Use M3 12mm screws if not noted otherwise
    • Insert M3 nuts into hexagonal holes
    • Insert M3 nuts in the corresponding slots

You should start by mounting the fan to its mounting plate using the fan screws.

Depending on you choice of the bottom plate its a good idea too add the door to it.

After installing the nuts on the bottom, you can screw the fan and the back panel to the bottom plate. And add the feet (use M3 16mm for the feet).

Its time to screw down the Mainboard…

…and add the HDD rails…

…as well as the mount for the pushbutton (use M3 16mm for this).

I used some superglue to keep the push button in place. Don’t forget the current limiting resistor for the LED (@3V3).

Its time to install the remaining hardware. I connected the fan controller board to one of the SATA supply cables…

…and did some cable management. The BIOS battery can be glued to the side of the HDD rail.

Add the button inlay to the front cover.

The top and side covers can be mounted next. It is important to have the side panel with the vents on the right of the case. Do not screw down the side panels on the front. They will be fixed using the front cover.

The front cover is fixed using four M3 16mm screws. You need a screwdriver with a thin shaft in order to be able to screw it down trough the vent slots on the sides.

Done.

Files

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11 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    Anonymous 30. August 2020

    I am using ODROID-H2 Case Type 1 + Fan.
    I hope that the NVMe SSD will not get too hot or the HDD.

    • Tobi
      Tobi 30. August 2020

      I don’t like the original cases because of the connectors on the side and the material but I think the thermals are alright.

  2. John
    John 13. September 2020

    This looks really cool and pretty close to what I’ve been looking for. I’m pretty new to 3d printing and haven’t done any modeling myself at all but I am curious. Any particular reason you used so many separate parts? I’m wondering if some of the separate parts could be printed as one piece. Maybe sides & bottom for example, or HDD rails & back panel. Anyway, thanks for sharing this. I’ve got a 5 node odroid h2+ cluster and I really wanted each node to be in something like this so the nodes slide right in per se.

    • Tobi
      Tobi 13. September 2020

      Hello John, thank you for your feedback. There are several reasons for the multipart approach:

      The prints are taking a lot of time. It is easier to correct a smaller part and print it again during the design phase.

      It is not possible to print the whole cage (front, back, bottom and sides) at once because of large holes in the front and the back. If you print the bottom and the sides the print will vibrate because of the height of the sides which might lead to a bad print quality.

      The layering of the flat panels on the z-axis might be a problem and might result in weak parts.

      Having multiple parts allows easy maintenance and makes it easier for someone else to modify the print.

      The surface finish is more even if you can lay the panels flat on the printbed.

      • John
        John 13. September 2020

        Ah, I see. Makes a lot of sense thanks. I’m trying to figure out if it would be worth some sort of dovetail on the side panels so they could interlock.

        With regards to ventilation, do you think it would be ok to stack these vertically too? I only have enough room for 3 across. I noticed the vents on the top in the rear.

        • Tobi
          Tobi 14. September 2020

          There are also some vents in the back. I think this should be enough to get some air between the HDDs. So far I didn’t have any problems with the thermals. Maybe you can do a test print and lookup the HDD temperatures via the SMART diagnostic. If the upper one doesn’t get warmer, it shouldn’t be a problem.

  3. Anonymous
    Anonymous 13. September 2020

    It already happened that the LAN was no longer addressable under TrueNAS Core 12 (beta). Host down… I suspect this is a problem with the Realtek driver. I have read about similar problems with older Realtek chipsets… .
    Since I’m running the Odroid without monitor and keyboard, I had to switch it off to access it again.

  4. Alex
    Alex 15. October 2020

    Just built the case, looks great and thermals are fine (I put the fan to blow the air in). The only question is how to configure fan controller board.

    • Tobi
      Tobi 15. October 2020

      Took me a while as well. The best manual I found was the following:
      manual

  5. GIGN1987
    GIGN1987 29. October 2020

    Hello,

    can you please update aliexpress links ?Just got this nice case and i need correct parts to buy. Push button link not working. Which hole is for push button and led holder on the fan mount.

    Thanks for reply 🙂

    • Tobi
      Tobi 31. October 2020

      Hi, I updated the link. As you can see in the pictures, the push-button is intended to be press fit into the holder part. I would also recommend to add a drop of super glue in order to secure it. It is possible to buy a special kind of push-button separately: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4000507362201.html

Comments are closed.