The NeXT N1000 or "NeXT Cube" computer. Click image for larger view.

Here is a view of the NeXT Cube from the front with the chassis, optical drive and inner drive cover removed. The backplane is visible on the bottom with the motherboard (on it's side) and power supply (not visible) plugged into it. The system's internal full-height 5 1/4" hard drive sits unsecured upon the power supply, plugged into the motherboard from the back. The hard drive is an SCSI Seagate ST41200N. Click image for larger view.

Other than cleaning, very little work was needed to get this machine up and running. The image above shows the NextStep OS BuildDisk utility running off an external drive (as drive 0). I temporarily set the internal drive's jumpers (for more info about jumpers see link below) for SCSI 2 so the system would ignore it After the build I removed the external drive and reset the internal drive to SCSI device 0. Click image for larger view.

Almost finished, this photo displays the rear of the NeXT Cube just before installation of the back panel/fan. Note that there are four slots on the backplane, for expansion. The optical drive is attached in the middle, the hard drive sits on top. I did not do anything with the optical drive, I can come back to that later. The cables connect from the drives directly into the motherboard. Click image for larger view.

Closeup view of the NeXT Cube from the rear. The bottom port is used by the display. Note that there is a "regular" ethernet portal, and an external SCSI port. Click image for larger view.