Personally I like the system showed up top, but if your looking for the tank to be outside you could go with a PVC system. Basically you just get some PVC pipe and cut holes half way through on one side and put the net buckets in the holes, which is where your plants will grow from. So each hole is a basic hydro system but its all connected and then the actual tank can be basically wherever the hell you choose to put it. Just the farther you go from the plants the more piping you'd need and a stronger pump. Also would be able to put the pipes on the ground so its about as short of a system you can get.