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Computer In A Hub Project (Case Mod)

 

Old Office

Original Computer

Original Computer

Foamy

 

 

The CHP (Computer hub project) is basically just a case mod, without any specific objectives. It doesn't look especially cool, there's no neons or over clocking going on here. If anything it's a case mod for practicality.

This page was made post moding, anything else would have taken way too much planning. (More then no planning)

It all started something like this:
(Or not, I may just be on crack)

Me: (Sorting thorough old junk at the old "office") Hey, here's those old 10mb hubs.
Other Guy: Those things are a pieces of crap.
Me: Yah... We might need them someday.
Other Guy: For what? I'd rather kill someone for some new switches then go back to 10mb hubs.
Me: Yah, I guess your right.
Other Guy: We should do something with them.
Me: They almost look big enough to fit a computer into.
Other Guy: Maybe if you connected the two hubs and took out the partition between.
Me: I could put that crappy Gateway LC500 in it probably.
Other Guy: I guess. Anything is better then the on board computer.
Me: I suppose it would be cool in a vaguely interesting way.

So without any planning or even knowing if it would work like it we thought it might, we started hacking and screwing the two hubs into the vague shape we wanted with the least amount of work possible.

As you can see everything is pretty much just jammed in there with not much room to spare. I saved space by taking the power supply out of the metal shell (I accidently shorted one out) and not installing a floppy.

If we had planned it, it probably would have gone smoothly, but thats just not what we wanted evidently. Total building time was something like 10 hours.

After having it finished, the best things about it are:

  1. It's small
  2. Rackmountable
  3. Cooler then a standard case (I think)
  4. Looks like a network hub
  5. A custom Redundent Array of Independent Power Lights, or "RAIPL" (1x24 just in case)
  6. One can make non-working network patches on the front, if one were so inclined. (More wires = coolness)
  7. Don't have to look at the old case anymore.