Hey Homelab Heroes,
Thought I’d drop a little something special for you all — a sneak peek at what we’re calling the HL15 Beast! 
Now before you start frantically measuring your rack and planning cable routes, a quick disclaimer: this is still a prototype, and the design isn’t final yet… so don’t go carving the model name into your NAS just yet. 
But yes — it’s real, it’s bold, and it’s brewing in the lab.
Stay tuned… it’s only going to get wilder from here.
Looking good!
Is this the potential 5U version with E-ATX board support?
Other than the 5U height dimension, what would the depth/length dimension be?
DANG! Yes. please leave it without the notches !!!
I love the name. Can I place my order now😜
Adding on these questions, Why was 5U chosen? Will the room beneath the drives be used as well? Maybe adding 5.25 inch bay support for external devices like SSD caddy, DVD-ROM or tape drive?
I think some people were complaining that 4U didn’t allow for some of the taller CPU coolers they wanted to use, or for taller GPUs with power connectors on the top. 45HL still hasn’t responded re water cooling support; I have my doubts on that given the placement of the radiator.
If the backplane is raised 1U and the space under it is otherwise unused, a good use for that space would possibly be some optional external 5.25" drive bays.
I would think the extra 1U of space beneath the backplane should make it more serviceable overall. The 4U design really doesn’t have enough room for your hand to get underneath and unlatch the SFF 8643 connectors. That makes re-seating or replacing the cables more difficult. You pretty much have to remove the backplane to get at it in a comfortable way.
I second this. I’d love to have 3 5.25 in devices along the bottom, along with a front power/reset switch and USB ports.
I would like a bluray writer and another 2 blank bays for something to put
Also not shure if 45 homelab can talk to fsp and get a 1000 watt version of this with a replaceable/removable battery but that would be great for a nas setup https://youtu.be/aBdtuCTyfAs?si=b-JdLrvF7FOTB9aA
I’ve always been curious why we don’t have dc ups since battery is dc why not have replaceable batteries on the system that can be easily serviced instead of a ups that converts ac to dc back to ac just for your psu to convert back to dc
I really hope its available without the Beast cutout. I also hope 45 Drives starts offering 140mm fans as they are quieter and would look better on the larger face.
Not much, when they insist on running them as 2-pin. 
After all the feedback and complaints i doubt 45Drives would make the mistake of not using PWM this time, even if cheap PWM fans. Atleast I would hope. Especially with all the competition that is entering the market.
When I got my unit i remember looking at it funny because of how much dead-space it had between the fans. After doing some rough measurements I remember thinking that 140mm fan could fit. I even looked up shrouds to use 140mm fans in the 120mm mounts.
I don’t know if the actually could fit, if the inside seams and support structures would impede their use.
If they could fit it would be silly to not use them. It would be kinda like having a full car tank’s capacity for fuel to use and only using 85% of it (120/140).
Actually, 73.5% of it. Remember πr²? Also remember that a percentage increase going from x to y is not the same as the percentage decrease in y going back to x. (If you have $1 and you lose 50% you have 50¢, but to get back to $1 that 50¢ has to go up 100%.)
For a simple square, going from 120 mm to 140 mm is a difference of 5200 mm². 14400 mm² vs 19600 mm². 5200 / 14400 is an increase of about 36%.
If you consider a circle instead, the percentage increase is actually the same since π is just a constant. If you ignore that some area is lost to the frame and motor, the math is more like (π70² - π60²) / π60². (15393 - 11309) / 11309 mm² = 4084 / 11309 mm² = an increase in open area of about 36%. Probably even higher since, eg, the diameter of the motor hub is probably the same in both versions.
That’s substantial.
Ya I also wish there was some AIO support, I was going to order an HL-15, rip the drive bays out to use as a matching Compute server, but the front fans are spaced for even drive cooling, not AIO mounting. So i located a vendor that focuses on such chassis. If the Deeper version used 140mm fans, they would give full drive coverage with airflow, but also allow for 280AIO possibly. Not everyone is using the very old hardware and heat is an issue which alot of large GPU and CPUs.
I also had friend from a NAS community sold on HL-15, he placed order, i guess it got cancelled and prices changed when he went to reorder. Then another that bought one of the HL8 has been dealing with high drive temps.
I LOVE my hl-15 but i have no chance of getting more people to use them with things the way they are going. Soon I need to get a larger storage solution because I’m already using all 15 slots in my HL-15 for 28TB. but with several price increases since my preordered purchase, its hard to rationize the difference in price from competitors that are starting to flip the homelab market on its head. with pricing and innovation.
