Evolution of Lian Li's SOHO Server Cases

Introduction

For some enthusiasts, it seems like there's an almost insatiable need for more storage space. With the advent of super-detailed games, high-quality music, high-definition video and more, needs for kilobytes or megabytes have quickly given way to needs of gigabytes. If the media can just be archived, there are a few good solutions available now and even better emerging technologies like Blu-Ray on the horizon. However, for practical everyday use, nothing really beats a hard disk drive - especially twelve of them.

Enter the home-server case. Massive server tower cases are nothing new, but considering these types of machines have traditionally been strictly for commercial use manufacturers have never cared much about the cases' appearances. Now that home users are interested in storing such large quantities of data, it only makes sense that case builders are starting to pay more attention to aesthetics and usability in their server cases.

While we've looked at several cases in the past year or so that are capable of holding many drives, there are other features of a case that make it truly fit to hold a server. The most important features are that it can comfortably handle extended motherboards - as a lot of the professional dual-processor boards are extended length - and longer expansion cards as well. Beyond that, ample cooling and expansion options must be present, and if there's an option to hold a secondary power supply that's a bonus as well.

Lian Li, well known for their quality, all aluminum cases, took a stab at this genre a couple years ago with the PC-V2000, which essentially is a bulkier version of the PC-V1000 reviewed in our roundup of several tower cases. The V2000 gets a lot about this type of case just right, and the design overall will please many people just as its smaller sibling's did. Presently Lian Li also offers several newer cases designed for the same market, and we'll take a look at how one of their latest, the PC-201B compares to the V2000.

More information can be found on the Lian Li website. Also, thanks to Directron for the PC-V2000 unit.