Raj's Prototype Designs [Discussion Thread]

[gorbachev]

I think there's actually lots of interest in 20 drive tower builds.  I've added a few to that section of the prototypes thread (see here.  You'll see that the price difference compared to the rackmount systems is significant ($200+).

 

Excellent! Really appreciate it. Doesn't look much different from what I was planning.

 

I was planning on going with a Biostar H55A+ LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI ATX motherboard instead and slightly more powerful PSU. Price comes out the same.

 

The Biostar is $100 cheaper than the SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O, but does not come with an onboard video card. Are there any other reasons why I should go with the Supermicro in your opinion?

[Rajahal]

The Biostar H55A+ looks like a great board, thanks for bringing it to my attention!  The reason it has no onboard video is that it is designed to work with the i3/i5/i7 processors, all of which have built-in video capabilities.  Notice that the board does have video output ports (DVI, VGA, etc.).  So when used in conjunction with an i3, you will not need a separate video card.

 

The advantages of the Supermicro X8SIL-F-O are IPMI and the smaller MicroATX form factor.  IPMI (a.k.a. remote management) allows you to control every aspect of the server remotely, even BIOS.  The MicroATX form factor won't matter much if you are using the motherboard in a huge case such as a Norco, but in some instances it may be useful.

 

The Biostar looks like a great budget replacement for the Supermicro.  If you get it, please try to get it rated at Level 1 or better.

[teamhood]

Modified - Anyone have any luck in finding a good 'budget' mobo for the AMD Sempron 140?

[DoeBoye]

Nope, it's EOL'd, deactivated, no intentions to return.  I made a thread concerning the replacement mobo (as per Jetway) and making the request thereof from Newegg for it to be carried.

 

For those not following grandprix's other thread, NewEgg got back to me and informed me that the replacement Jetway board should be in stock in a few weeks...

[teamhood]

Any thoughts on the Foxconn A74ML-K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186188&cm_re=740g-_-13-186-188-_-Product

 

It looks like it could support 20 drives? Not the 24 I want to future proof, but it looks like power consumption would be very low...

[Rajahal]

Modified - Anyone have any luck in finding a good 'budget' mobo for the AMD Sempron 140?

 

My favorite remains to be the Biostar A760G M2+.  Available at chipsdigitalPC (my preferred vendor) and also on eBay.  Or do you mean a budget board for a 20 drive build?

 

Any thoughts on the Foxconn A74ML-K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186188&cm_re=740g-_-13-186-188-_-Product

 

It looks like it could support 20 drives? Not the 24 I want to future proof, but it looks like power consumption would be very low...

 

Should work fine, I don't see anything to indicate that it would be incompatible with unRAID.  However, I don't see how you'll get 20 drives on that board.  15, no problem, but to get to 20 drives you would have to use both PCI slots (4 drives on each) and your server would have considerable performance bottlenecks during parity checks or other multi-drive operations.  The price is definitely nice.

[vexhold]

Raj-

 

With the 20 Drive Tower, were you able to line up the Norco SS-500 screwholes with the Antec Screwholes?

 

I am having a bugger of a time lining them up.

 

Of course now that I finally got all the tabs flattened (had to use 3 different sized C-clamps)

 

Thanks

[grandprix]

Raj-

 

With the 20 Drive Tower, were you able to line up the Norco SS-500 screwholes with the Antec Screwholes?

 

I am having a bugger of a time lining them up.

 

Of course now that I finally got all the tabs flattened (had to use 3 different sized C-clamps)

 

Thanks

 

I've got something similar to this.  Then have a ratcheting bar "c" clamp.  Love them.

[vexhold]

Raj-

 

With the 20 Drive Tower, were you able to line up the Norco SS-500 screwholes with the Antec Screwholes?

 

I am having a bugger of a time lining them up.

 

Of course now that I finally got all the tabs flattened (had to use 3 different sized C-clamps)

 

Thanks

 

I've got something similar to this.  Then have a ratcheting bar "c" clamp.  Love them.

 

The problem though is the fact that the motherboard side is almost fully enclosed and you cant get a C-clamp in there for the rear flaps.

 

[Whaler_99]

Had the exact same problem, with my Antec 1200. Two different C Clamps, plyers and a large flat head screw driver...

 

Shawn

 

[christuf]

The problem though is the fact that the motherboard side is almost fully enclosed and you cant get a C-clamp in there for the rear flaps.

 

It is a challenge, but using the holes around the area, you can get to all of them with a large clamp (one of these)... I've done it myself!

[vexhold]

See, now that one is nice. All the ones I have laying around have a thicker middle that made it impossible to gett in and maneuver in those holes.

 

In the end I made it work, but now I am stuck on the SS-500 holes lining up.

 

Any Ideas?

[teamhood]

I just had a boat shipped to the house aka the Norco 24 drive 'case'. I just placed an order for the cables that Raj mentions in the design part as well and had a few questions about what plugs into what.

 

1. Molex power - I only need to plug one molext from the p/s into each card (not sure if they are cards or not)?

 

You know what - does anyone have a picture of an all hooked up that I can peep? There are three more connections per horizontal card that I'm not sure what they are and where they will get plugged into as not all my my hardware is here just yet...

[vexhold]

I just had a boat shipped to the house aka the Norco 24 drive 'case'. I just placed an order for the cables that Raj mentions in the design part as well and had a few questions about what plugs into what.

 

1. Molex power - I only need to plug one molext from the p/s into each card (not sure if they are cards or not)?

 

You know what - does anyone have a picture of an all hooked up that I can peep? There are three more connections per horizontal card that I'm not sure what they are and where they will get plugged into as not all my my hardware is here just yet...

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=e01c5519111c052bd7d78919a29d5f01&topic=10085.0

[Rajahal]

Raj-

 

With the 20 Drive Tower, were you able to line up the Norco SS-500 screwholes with the Antec Screwholes?

 

I am having a bugger of a time lining them up.

 

Of course now that I finally got all the tabs flattened (had to use 3 different sized C-clamps)

 

Thanks

 

I actually haven't built a server using the Antec 1200 and the Norco cages yet.  I did build one using the Lian Li PC-P180.  I also had some issues with the cages not lining up with the screw holes, but it was due to the cages having different patterns of screw holes (two of the cages were different from the other two!).  I've since used these cages in other builds and haven't had the same issue, so I figured that I must have gotten two cages from an old batch and two from a new batch.

 

Have you tried simply filling the cages over?  I generally install the cages such that the handle faces downwards when it is open (and the power and sata cables in the back are towards the top of the server).  Do they not line up in either direction?

 

I just had a boat shipped to the house aka the Norco 24 drive 'case'. I just placed an order for the cables that Raj mentions in the design part as well and had a few questions about what plugs into what.

 

1. Molex power - I only need to plug one molext from the p/s into each card (not sure if they are cards or not)?

 

You know what - does anyone have a picture of an all hooked up that I can peep? There are three more connections per horizontal card that I'm not sure what they are and where they will get plugged into as not all my my hardware is here just yet...

 

Each backplane (what you are calling 'cards') has two molex power plugs.  This is intended for a setup where you are using redundant power supplies (which I assume you aren't).  Norco officially states that you should only need to provide power to one of the two ports (doesn't matter which one).  However, when the 4224 first came out some people reported issues that were solved when they provided power to both ports.  In the past I've used molex splitters (like this) to provide power to both ports.  However, I'm currently building a 4224-based server for a client, and I think I'll try using just one of the ports and seeing what happens.  I would suggest that you try the same, and then only use the molex splitters if you actually run into issues.

[Whaler_99]

Raj-

 

With the 20 Drive Tower, were you able to line up the Norco SS-500 screwholes with the Antec Screwholes?

 

I am having a bugger of a time lining them up.

 

Of course now that I finally got all the tabs flattened (had to use 3 different sized C-clamps)

 

Thanks

 

I have an Antec 1200 and should have the Norco in early this week and can check for you how mine lines up.

 

Shawn

[Whaler_99]

Raj-

 

With the 20 Drive Tower, were you able to line up the Norco SS-500 screwholes with the Antec Screwholes?

 

I am having a bugger of a time lining them up.

 

Of course now that I finally got all the tabs flattened (had to use 3 different sized C-clamps)

 

Thanks

 

I have an Antec 1200 and should have the Norco in early this week and can check for you how mine lines up.

 

Shawn

 

Slid it in tonight and sure enough, screw holes did not line up, with the locking tabs on the bottom. Pulled it out, flipped it around, with the lock tabs at the top, all the holes lined up perfectly..

 

[loadme]

my order is finished. lucky for EU is the ease of ordering the centurion 590

 

Western Digital Caviar GreenPower 2TB SATA II (ears)

ASUS M4A88TD-M/USB3, AM3, mATX

Corsair Builder Series CX430, 430 Watt

centurion 590 case

2GB Corsair DDR3 PC1333 C9 ValueSelect

AMD Sempron 140 AM3 "box", Sockel AM3

 

i wont use any sata controller card in the beginning. my level1 check hopefully succeeds with 5 drives (no bays yet, just low budget)

depending on the noise of centurion 590 case fans i would go for level 2 check as well

 

 

building starts next week. i try to show some results asap.

 

 

 

2 month ago I rebuilt my unRaid server with this hardware.

Just stopped by to tell everyone, that the board runs with 5 drives right now and didnt get me any trouble.

Level 1 test passed. For level 2 it lacks of one more drive. When I got my 6th drive up and running for another 2 month, I try to post a system overview.

 

 

 

[teamhood]

The Biostar H55A+ looks like a great board, thanks for bringing it to my attention!  The reason it has no onboard video is that it is designed to work with the i3/i5/i7 processors, all of which have built-in video capabilities.  Notice that the board does have video output ports (DVI, VGA, etc.).  So when used in conjunction with an i3, you will not need a separate video card.

 

The advantages of the Supermicro X8SIL-F-O are IPMI and the smaller MicroATX form factor.  IPMI (a.k.a. remote management) allows you to control every aspect of the server remotely, even BIOS.  The MicroATX form factor won't matter much if you are using the motherboard in a huge case such as a Norco, but in some instances it may be useful.

 

The Biostar looks like a great budget replacement for the Supermicro.  If you get it, please try to get it rated at Level 1 or better.

 

This board is giving me a hell of a time... It can boot unRAID, but there is something going on when I add the MV8 cards. In the BIOS > Boot > HD priority I am unable to disable any of the hard drives! I am able to move the USBDRIVE to the top, and also change it to be the first boot, but every time I save and reboot, it clears the USB. If I disable the MV8's I am able to boot.... I don't know if I need to change a setting somewhere in the BIOS or not, but any help would be great. I started a thread over in MOBO section.

[Zen]

You need to go into the MV8's BIOS setup and disable INT13.  That will stop any of the drives attached to the MV8 from showing up as possible boot drives.

[ilovegoodnugz]

Hey everyone, just wondering Raj recommend that you use a corsair cx430 on even the 12 bay builds, I am planning on using a zalman ms1000 with 3 of the 3 in 3 5.35 drive bays powered by 4-pin molex. Does this power supply have 4 pin molex that will support all 3 drive cages? Thanks in advance.

[Rajahal]

The CX430 has three 4 pin molex plugs, so it sounds like it will be perfectly matched to the three 3-in-3 cages (if each one is powered by a single molex).

[Whaler_99]

Then also on the next page there is the "SATA IDE Combined Mode" set that to disabled and see what happens.

 

 

Just wanted to say thanks Prostuff1 for this. Was wondering why two of my six onboard disks were showing as hdx instead of sdx. That was the setting I had to disable. Haven't used AMD much, bit of a pain to find on mine, Biostar TA870U3+.

 

Cheers,

Shawn

[gorbachev]

The problem though is the fact that the motherboard side is almost fully enclosed and you cant get a C-clamp in there for the rear flaps.

 

 

I just finished switching the Antec drive cages to Norco SS-500s on my Antec 1200 last night. I have two SS-500s in the top two cage slots, and yes, the rear flaps are a bitch.

 

However, you CAN get a C clamp over them, at least the two upmost ones. If you look at the wire holes in the backwall, the upmost one is wider than the others ones. If you get a standard 4" C clamp, you can snake it through that hole and reach at least the two topmost flaps just fine.

 

What I did with the two under them was to use a small hammer. I got this small hammer with, maybe a 5 inch handle, and a two inch head. It's small enough to fit in the cage, but sturdy enough to do actually bend the flaps. It worked ok.

[ilovegoodnugz]

For more pics and info to the same/similar single drive bay design they sell at monoprice see this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817990001