Building a Crate Cruncher

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We build our basket crunchers into fairly large baskets we get from The Container Store for about $9.00 to $12.00 each, depending on whether you pick them up at one of their stores or have them shipped to you. We don't have one of their outlets near the Dungeon of Crunch in Nebraska, so I grabbed a couple of these plastic crates at WalMart for $4.00 each to see if they'd work.

These aren't as nice as the baskets, but they will do the job until I can get some more baskets shipped in. The large holes provide adequate ventilation, but not quite as good as the baskets.

In this first picture, I've got the motherboard mounted in the bottom. You need to think things through each step of the way, and consider everything! I've left just enough room to plug a monitor, keyboard and mouse in for the initial OS install. Once it's up and running, it will run headless and be controlled using Virtual Network Computing (VNC).

The crates are very easy to drill through, and easy to cut with a utility knife. Just take your time and be careful. They're flexible and soft, so it would be quite easy to slice your thumb off or drill a hole in your leg.

Here is a view of the bottom of the crate, showing how I drilled holes where the motherboard has them along the edges, and used cable ties to mount the board to the bottom.

You have to move the mobo and other major components around before you start drilling or cutting, thinking about where everything will go while making sure you can mount the stuff. Remember, you still have to be able to get all the essential stuff hooked up and be able to make repairs when required. Think it through, take your time and it will all work out.

Here, I've got the HDD mounted on the bottom. It can be mounted on the sides, as well. I had room on the bottom, and I prefer the weight there. With this one, the Arctic Cooler HSF on the Phenom 9550 Quad-Core will pull a little air across the drive.

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