5.25" Bay to PCI-Express expansion card (with fan, if possible)

I’m fed up of trying to find a solid 1U rackmount chassis for pfSense purposes. I’ve seen a handful of decent 2U chassis with front mounted 5.25" bays, and I keep wondering… where can I score a mount for a PCI-Express expansion card like a NIC, because that’s really all I need front mount.

I scoured the internet and found this… “DB525-PCIED2XD01” however I have no idea where to order nor why it’s system specific (and only x4?) so I have to believe something exists out there for my needs. Tired of running a 1U with the top off to adequately cool my NICs

Come on icydock, give us a cheat code!

The very first result Google gave me. You sure you actually did search for this yourself :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Alternatively, get a cheap empty tray and put in something like this:
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16812119888

Not perfect as you’re only get a x1 PCIe link but it’s better then nothing :stuck_out_tongue:

That’s the product page yes but not stocked, and I didn’t include that link because my account isn’t allowed to post links yet.

x1 link just isn’t sufficient for dual SFP+

I think I’d look for a ‘blank drive bay’ or ‘drive bay tray’ and mount an Oculink PCIe 4.0 to PCIe x16 circuit board in there. Not too janky, nor too expensive, good enough for Intel X550 era PCIe 3.0x4 NICs.

K3n.

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