DIY Rackmount build & 2nd Unraid HW attempt


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In prev. posts I was using a QNAP server but ended up not overly happy with it while having some hardware already I could use in a new build.
That HW is in part a bit oddball stuff though.

 

Still a work in progress as I'm waiting on a few more parts.

  • Case: 
    Short depth rackmount case that can hold 12 drives. 
    https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/IPFS-miner-12-bay-nas-server_1600153306892.html
    Verdict: For the price w/o shipping it's great. Once you figure in the shipping it's not really worth the money. 
    It's not terrible but not too much thought was spent on details. Case must've been in production for a while now.
    Hey, it fit's my wall-mounted network closet just fine! 14.5in depth is the max. I can use in it.
  • "Mother"board: Com Express carrier board: https://us.dfi.com/product/index/1411
  • CPU / Computer on Module: Congatec conga-TS175
  • RAM: 2x 8GB
  • HBA: Broadcom Broadcom 9400-16i
  • 350W FlexATX PSU (Silverstone)
  • HDDs: 6x 8TH + 2x 6TB + 512GB SSD cache.
     

Modifications, oddities, problems:

  • Cut out the rear fan guards for better access to the drive backplanes & cabling.
    (I'll mount guards to both sides of the fans.
  • Need a short PCIE flex cable / riser for the 90deg bend.
    A regular 90deg adapter did not align. Not sure if it's a case, or motherboard issue.
  • Looking into some data transfer issues. Maybe it's the cheap SFF-8087 cables?
    The PCIE flex adapter? Backplane? 
  • Ventilation in the top-portion is not so great and the oddball motherboard only has a single 3-pin fan header.
    Need to manage the fan on computer module, 50mm fan added for the HBA card and the rear 2x 120mm fans.
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  • Fan situation has been sorted.  The 12cm rears are Noctua straight on 12V and no RPM management.
    CPU fan and 50mm HBA fan are on 7V. For some reason the speed management on this development oriented hardware is not working properly.
    The two small fans were the worst noise offenders and it's bearable now.
  • Transfer issues have been solved - a higher quality PCIe flex cable was needed. The flashed the  HBA card  to the latest firmware.
  • Ran memtest and CPU /GPU stress tests. All came back fine, all temps stayed within limits. (General ventilation in the upper case section is not the best.)
  • Time to start thinking about what else I can utilize the not so meager CPU for (Intel Xeon E3-1505L v6 - 25W). 🙂


 

Edited by diewurst
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