3d Printz's Case Turns a Raspberry Pi Into a Neat, 10TB-Capacity Network-Attached Storage Appliance

Pseudonymous maker "3d Printz" has designed a compact desktop case to turn a Raspberry Pi 3, 4, or 5 into a low-cost network-attached storage (NAS) device with up to 10TB capacity — and it's, unsurprisingly, 3D printable.

"This case for your Raspberry Pi 5, 4, or 3 is designed to hold up to 10TB of storage," 3d Printz explains of the design, which offers a neater solution to a Raspberry Pi powered NAS than bare circuit boards and USB hard drives. "The case features two full-sized HDMI ports, a USB [Type-]C power in, Ethernet port, a screen to display stats, and good airflow."

Designed for use with the full-size Raspberry Pi range — 3d Printz built it with the latest Raspberry Pi 5 in mind, though it should also be compatible with earlier versions — the case includes a mounting point for the Raspberry Pi board itself, pressure-fit mounts for USB hard drives, a 60mm fan for airflow, and clever use of adapters and a USB hub to provide the full-size HDMI ports and multiple external USB 3.0 ports.

The project adds a little flair by building on previous work with adding system status reports on a compact OLED panel, providing at-a-glance information on system temperature, the assigned IP address, available memory, and disk usage. "I am running OMV and Immich," 3d Printz says of the software selected for the build, "but you can install whatever you want."

The print files for the case, and links to all of the parts used, are available on Printables under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. "All parts are already oriented correctly and do not need support," 3d Printz says. "I printed mine at 0.16mm layer height in PLA."