tmp31416

so, third configuration of my rig, a tweak on the second. changes: * replace all three SYBA SY-PEX40015 sata cards with a single Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 card. * to free the single pcie 16x slot for the supermicro card, replace the asus passive 4350 graphics card with a powercolor passive 4350 with a pcie 1x connector. surprise, with similar specs, this card is nonetheless bigger. the heatsink is *huge* compared to what the asus has! * finally put the reset switch inside the case, by re-purposing a startech.com "plate6f" slot cover all other physical specs are the same, save for the random lock-ups that are no longer part of the package. well, almost: i did loose the front usb ports because the new graphics card is blocking access to the motherboard leads. and two of the six sata connectors on the motherboards are blocked by that graphics card. did i mention it is big? ...for some reason, knoppix now refuses to boot with this new configuration. something i will have to look into when i get the time. but as long as unraid 4.5.6 boots, i'm happy. some pictures: ** reset switch, outside: ** reset switch, inside (along with the new sata + graphics interfaces): ** the new sata/sas controller plus the re-layed out cabling: ** another view of the cabling: voilà!

thank you! it might be cleaner than some builds, but it's not to the standards set by guitarlp, icoburn, or unraided, to name a few. i might make it more tidy "real soon now", though, as i will be replacing the 3 syba raid 2 port controllers with a supermicro 8 ports one -- see the thread about it in the "hardware" forum (*). hopefully, i will be happier with the end result. as for blocking the open/unused vents, i did use black construction paper. the alu ducting tape was used simply because it will simply stay there and not fall over time. using anything else was not an option, as it would not have lasted. cheers. (*) reader's digest conclusion: don't try to be cheap with your components, you will end up regretting it. too often, you *do* get what you pay for...

thank you. i think i could make it tidier if i had slightly longer sata cables to route them like some of you guys have done (straight lines, 90 degree angles, being able to go along the sides of the drives, etc.). the last two trayless bays (KINGWIN KF-1000-BK, added after the fact) sort of spoiled "the look", i might go back and tidy things up in the future. as for the cd-rom, i used it to test all hardware before running unraid (knoppix and other live cds are a godsend). if i re-generate another bart-pe cd, i might be able to use it to flash the firmware on new syba cards (all instructions to do so make use of windows xp or 7 for an os). i haven't used it with unraid, maybe i should try to see if it can see the drive. though from your question i doubt i might be able to do with "plain vanilla" unraid. maybe we don't have to recompile the kernel to make use of the dvd-rom? as long as Tom (mr. unraid himself) left a handful of loadable kernel modules with the os, this might just be a question of editing one's "go" script. i have an usb lcd display (2x20, iirc) that i would love to connect to my nas (usb hd44780 lcd unit from 'lcdmodkit', check on ebay) but i would need to: (1) fabricate or find an adapter to give it a standard usb connector to plug it into one of the external usb ports (because it connects to the motherboard usb leads), (2) find some sort of little enclosure to house it (it would sit on top of the nas), (3) find some software, running under unraid, to give me stats: drive usage, drive & cpu temp, etc. but like the cabling it will have to wait (unless someone can list me all the required parts off the top of their heads). cheers.

so here it is, my second build, or more accurately, just a "reincarnation" of my existing/previous rig. the idea was to be able to have more drives (i was using an antec 300 and had already 6 disks in it) and especially to make maintenance easier and quicker, i.e. not to have to open the box to replace a failed drive or to add a new one. just that is worth its weight in gold to me. the entrails of the box are the same: gigabyte ga-ma770-ud3 motherboard, sempron le-1250 cpu, 2gigs of ddr2-667 ram, asus radeon 4350 passive graphics card, tp-link gigabit nic for "server to server" transfers, an ide dvd burner "just in case", that lets me boot some live cd for testing (if need be). the new build adds: 3 syba sil3132 pcie 1x sata cards (adding 6 ports to the mortherboard's 6), two supermicro CSE-M35SB drive cages (noctua 92mm fans replacing the stock ones) and two Kingwin KF-1000-BK trayless racks. it replaces the antec 300 case with a coolermaster 590 case, with [3 arctic cooling AF12Pro PWM + 1 scythe sff21d] fans for cooling, and the ocz ModXStream 500w with a 600w one. i did work at closing all unnecessary vent holes to try to ensure that a max. of air would be sucked in by & around the drive assemblies. i thus went from 6 internal drives to a possible 12, all accessible from the outside. the drives have been running fairly cool (max temp. has been 31c, maybe 32c). the geek factor has obviously shot upwards with all the separate drive activity lights... and the white fans (looks geeky to me). the only disappointment is that the drive fault lights are not functional with the sata version of the supermicro cse-m35sb. beyond that, i have been quite happy with the new server, whilst not as quiet as the previous incarnation, is not that noisy after all. here are some pictures, this time in a more manageable size (no need to use any funky software, it turns out win7's built-in picture viewer/editor can resize quite well. the ui is a pain, but if you are persistent, you can the job done). cheers.

...(procrastinating / taking too long a break whilst doing my income tax report) ...and this is my old rig. case is/was an antec 300; all fans (save for the top 140mm antec tri-cool) are/were scythe 800rpm fans (SFF21D); the psu is/was an ocz mod-xtreme 500w (modular cabling is a blessing!); all 6 hard drives are wd sata, with half of them being caviar 500gb and the other half caviar green 1tb; an ide lg dvd burner is thrown in there "just in case" unraid is held on an 8gb patriot "xporter xt boost" usb thumb drive motherboard is a gigabyte ga-ma770-ud3; cpu a sempron 1250; 2gb of kingston ddr2-667 ram; video card is an asus passive 4350 (ati) the second gigabit nic is a tp-link tg-3269c (realtek pci card) the other expansion card seen in the picture is an adaptec 2940 and shows this used to be one of my unix test machines. the drive with the red thumbscrews is the parity drive. since a drive failure meant "opening the hood" to get to the drive, and since this case made adding more drives a bit of a challenge, is why i "reincarnated" my nas. pictures of the new beast forthcoming. sorry if tinypics did not shrink the pictures for this post. "my bad", next time i'll endeavour to do a better job uploading them. //edit// thank ${deity} for the possibility to edit previous post. the images have been shrunk and re-uploaded to tinypics. so here goes, 5 pics: not the best job overall, but for a first unraid build, it served its purpose very well. that configuration was very quiet, even more when unraid spun down the drives. it could be left turned on 7/24 even if its temporary digs are near the bedrooms (until the renos are finished). and before anyone asks, it's "partially dressed" with a sunbeau "lan party bag" (http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/Lan%20Party%20Bag/Lan%20Party%20Bag.html) to make a hasty exit more dignified in case (bad luck) happens. shut down, unplug cables, hook up the straps, get out of the house with less fear of dropping the box. (i guess i've been involved with way too many disaster recovery exercises at work...) cheers.