Feasibility of a 10" Wide Rackmount Case (3U or 4U) for ITX or Possibly mATX

Hi all,

I’ve been exploring the idea of building a compact PC that fits into a 10-inch wide rack, like the telecom-style 10" racks, and I’m trying to figure out what’s actually practical in terms of enclosure design and motherboard support.

Ideally, I’m looking for something:

10 inches wide

Around 3U or 4U in height

Roughly 7.87 inches (200mm) deep, though I’m fine with a bit of overhang at the back if needed

Able to support a Mini-ITX motherboard

With room for an internal PSU (either Flex ATX or PicoPSU)

Fully enclosed if possible, or something that can be enclosed without too much extra work

A Mini-ITX board is 6.7 by 6.7 inches, so it should fit comfortably within the width, but with I/O clearance, power routing, and cooling, things get tight really fast. I’ve also been wondering whether a MicroATX board could be made to work at 9.6 inches square. It seems like a long shot within 10 inches of width, but maybe someone has found a creative solution.

Here’s what I’ve found so far:

I emailed Jeff and he told me that MyElectronics.nl makes a really clean Mini-ITX rackmount case that fits the 10" width. It’s fully enclosed and well designed, but a bit expensive as an EU option and limited in expansion options.

DeskPi has a very basic Mini-ITX mount, but it’s open frame and doesn’t support a PSU or enclosure.

From what I’ve seen, Jeff has been doing some other work regarding the possibility of a 2U design that might support both a board and PSU. That sounds promising if it ends up available.

What do yall think?

Kirsty