Hey guys, long time no see! This project is something that I began with a couple of months ago, and it’ll probably take me another couple of months to complete. Not because it’s a big project or anything, just because I don’t have enough time to work on this mod. Also because I already have a server and it is not necessary to complete this one very soon. So don’t expect me to work on this very often.
This is not my own picture, but it is the same type of switch.
Anyways, I got this NETWORK SWITCH from a friend of mine. I wanted to use it bus then I saw it was only a 10Mbps switch, so no good. Then my roommate came with a nice VIA motherboard with soldered in processor (a M789,picture below). This processor has a very tiny heatsink and fan on it and that’s good, because it doesn’t need anything bigger! (it’s VIA)
This is a picture of the VIA M789, ripped it from the interweb.
Sow the basic idea is to mount this board inside the housing of the network switch. I measured it and it should fit, but only just… It requires some modding before it does. I probably should tell you the dimensions of the casing: width: 43cm/17in height: 4.2cm/1.6in depth: 25cm/10in. For now I only have some SolidWorks drawings of the lay-out of the part inside the housing.
This is how the exterior should look (maybe I’ll have to paint it…)
Here’s the lay-out I had in mind.
A nice 3D-view of the thing.
I just love SolidWorks. The details in this render are sooo nice
Another artistic view, in the front you can see the external power connector and a HDD. In the back you can see the PicoPSU.
Some specs of the system:
processor: VIA C3 800MHz
memory: DDR (256MB, I'll see what I have laying around)
PSU: PicoPSU* (otherwise it won’t fit)
HDDs: not decided (probably just some I have laying around)
other: custom made power buttons and status LEDs at the front panel
* The PicoPSU will require a power adapter because it runs on 12V, this adapter will have to fit in the space behind the motherboard.
That’s about it for now, let me know what you think! Any suggestions or comments are welcome. I also don’t have a theme for it (colors and stuff) so ideas on that are also welcome.