NORCO RPC-230 2U Rackmount Server Case 1 External 5.25" Drive Bays - OEM

Pros: Solid case, good value, relatively easy install.

Cons: Not much room for the drives. Be sure not to get tall RAM or you won't be able to mount 3.5" HDDs behind the front case fans. Airflow thru grill makes noise, installing quieter fans didn't help me.

Other Thoughts: Using this for main PC and another for an NAS. Wish I'd have gotten 4U cases so the PSU and HDDs could stand on end and create more room.

Pros: We have bought two of these for servers that I installed and then mounting at the data center.
I also have a personal one that I use as a server in the garage.
All 3 of mine have mounted without issue
Yes the fans are loud... It's a SERVER CASE... you don't put it under/on your desk.

Case come with extra screws that are marked, which is nice if I don't want to go to the garage to find my stash of extra screws

Cons: The paint does Scratch very easily, but I don't buy servers for their aesthetics so it's still 5 stars in my book.

Other Thoughts: As with MANY other server cases made with thin aluminum, there are sharp edges, so be careful and don't let your kids put the server together without adult supervision.
This is not a con, since it should be common knowledge to anyone who has worked on chassis with thin aluminum.

Pros: Holds 4 hard drives

Cons: Some sharp spots

Other Thoughts: Fit my 12u rackmount enclosure perfectly. Ordered a second one as well.

The orientation for the power supply usually means an extension for the extra 4 (or in some cases now, 8) pin connector will be needed.

Pros: Nice looking case, everything inside fit well, without an optical drive and with 2 HDD

Cons: Holes don't actually fit the rack - too wide, so it gets to sit on a shelf with one half attached to make sure it doesn't move off. They are also part of the front facing of the case, so it's not looking easy to fix. To make it fit I would have to re-drill it, but it's a standard rack, so should be fit by standard components. Not the best setup. Also the front fans are exceedingly loud. Like a wind tunnel.

I bought another manufacturer's case at the same time, and it fit beautifully - I can't say I'm all that impressed with the Norco.

Other Thoughts: I bought Norco based on the strength of the name and was disappointed. I'll probably go to a different brand next time.

Pros: Rock solid, 4 hard drive bays, nice configuration and airflow, all hard drives mount nicely, 19" mountable case for a 19" rack, the optical drive also mounts nicely contrary to what some people say, the drive screws in from the bottom of the case. LOL at the guy that used hot glue.

Cons: NONE this is an excellent case, my guess is there are a lot of IT guys out there that don't research before they buy. I had not one problem fully utilizing this case and mounting it with rails on a 2 post rack.

Other Thoughts: RL-26 and RL-20 are the rails for this case. You can also buy a 2 post conversion kit.

Pros: Fits four hard drives, 2U, and most important: Very shallow depth. Too many cases out there are massively deep (23 inches?!) and simply take up far too much volume making working at the back of a rack a chore.

Cons: 1. Paint scratches very easily. Paint should not be weaker than my fingernails, there's a problem there.

2. Razor sharp edges everywhere.

3. 5.25" bay holes do not like up at all, completely inadequate. I had to use hot glue.

4. DOESN'T FIT ON A RACK! Yeah, the rack ear holes are nearly half an inch too wide! This is not a fault of my rack, I have 15 other devices mounted without any issue whatsoever. I'm now going to have to drill out new holes.

Other Thoughts: I got this because it was the only case that was 2U, fits four HDDs, and very shallow design for mini-ITX boards. And because it remains the only one, I'm probably going to buy another. Just keep in mind that the tolerances and quality of manufacturing are very shoddy.

Pros: This a great quality case, and very, very inexpensive. Materials feel extremely solid for this price. There is plenty of room for a mATX motherboard, 4 HDD and with a bit of creativity and monkeying around I was even able to mount a 2.5" HD to hold the FreeNAS OS. Just make sure you plan your installation very carefully to avoid any delays/issues. For instance, I had to make all front panel, SATA, and power connections before sliding the motherboard in. Other than that, if you have build computers for a while you shouldn't have any issues at all (if you do, you might want to pursue a different career).

Cons: As few other uses have stated, this case's fans are LOUD, extremely loud. You can easily replace those fans with something very inexpensive such as these: MASSCOOL FD08025S1M4 (Item#: N82E16835150007). Also beware of the lack of rear fans, just in case you are going to running intensive applications. I am going to look for fans similar to the Rosewill RFX-100 90mm Case Fan, except that for this case they would need to be 60mm or less. It just makes me uncomfortable to know there is no hot air being pulled out, and the front fans might not be able to push it all the way back, since the wiring is blocking a nice amount of air.

Even with these details I don't think it is fair to knock an egg off on this great case.

Pros: I now have a total of 25 of these cases and I'm certainly going to keep ordering them.

-sturdy build
-have them stacked on a rack just perfect
-looks good
-cheap

Cons: -noise. fans are extremely loud, but it's easily fixed by modding the fans to a lower voltage. now they're nice and quiet. lots of guides on google

Other Thoughts: -on my latest order of 4 cases it is so far 4 days late... pretty bummed because it's essentially costing me money by not being able to build my machines

Pros: No problems at all building a new system with this case. To me, it has plenty of room and drive bays. I even like the way it looks. I will definitely be buying another one later this year.

Cons: The fans are horrendously loud. I got this case to build a pfsense router and replace my old one which was so old that the CPU fan wasn't regulated by the motherboard, and these fans are even louder than that! It's ridiculous, but seeing as how fans are easily replaceable and cheap, I won't knock an egg off for that. I still like the case.

Other Thoughts: I will be buying another one for my home lab at some point later this year. I'm very pleased with the layout and quality.

Pros: I was looking for a 2U case to put in my ccna lab/rack, and this fit the bill. Currently using it with an older p4 board and antec cpu, no problems there. Trying to use an older ide drives makes things a little difficult, so go with SATA for optical and hard drives.

Cons: The mounting ears DO NOT match the rack that fits CISCO gear just fine. So I don't know what to say about that.... -1 egg for that.