Switching To A New Server Case - Now Living in a Motor Coach

[David Bott]

Hi All...

 

I sent this to LimeTech but no response from anyone.  So, well, thought I would post it here...

 

Hi Tom...(Or someone in support.)

 

Hope this email finds you well.  Long time it has been and my Lime-Tech 15 bay server is still running great.

 

I come to you today however with a question.  When I got this MD-1510/LI server from you, we lived in a 3000 sqft home with a section in the basement just for my NOC.  So the server was out of the way and never thought much about it.  Fast forward to today, and we are selling this home and moving into a 600 sqft motor coach.

 

In any case, the issue.  I will bring my server.  Yes, I will find a place to put it.  I need to as it has all of our business records on it, personal and business photos, music, and movies.  13TB used out of 17.5TB.  So, well, I have to make it work.  Whats the issue...ok, I'll get to the point...the noise.  

 

Looking inside the MD-1510/LI server in a PC-A17 case we have the 15 drive bays and on the back of each of the 5 bay caddy is a cooling fan. (3 drive cooling fans in all.)  They seem to make the most noise.  I stopped a fan to see the noise level and an alarm went off.  (Did not know I had that...so cool.)  However, that got me to thinking.  If a fan stops, the alarm goes off and I do not know how to stop it without shutting down.  I have no docs or anything with the server or the drive bay system. 

 

1) Can the Alarm be turned off?  (I see a switch on the side of the bay by what looks like a ribbon cable connector.  No idea what it is for.)

 

2) Can I stop the fans if stored in a cool place? (Unplug them somehow or are they part of the drive bay system and thus can not be stopped?)

 

3) If I need to replace a fan, it is special?  It is inside some plastic casing that is housing each fan.

 

Or...

 

4) Can I move to a case that is more quite (And maybe smaller) and still keep my drives all setup?  If so can you recommend a system or build me one I can just move the drives into and not have an issue?

 

Thank you.

 

David Bott

 

[garycase]

Build yourself a new server in a mini-ITX case using high capacity drives.

 

My favorite case for this is the Lian-Li PC-Q25B, which happens to be on sale right now at Newegg for a very good price:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112339&Tpk=Q25B&IsVirtualParent=1

 

Stick in a SuperMicro Atom-based motherboard:  http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-X7SPA5

 

... and 6 3TB WD Red drives and you'll have 15TB of storage in a VERY small form factor;  or use 4TB drives and you'll get 20TB.    Only draws about 20 watts when the drives are spun down;  is VERY quiet (mine is 3 ft from me and I cannot hear it).

 

[David Bott]

Thank you very much and it looks like a fine system idea!

 

One of the things I wanted to see about doing was to use the drives I have and NOT have to redo it all and buy all new drives and to reconfigure it all.  I know I can copy over things from one server to another, but that then requires another licence for UnRAID. 

[neilt0]

Or get a HP Microserver.

 

The answer is Microserver, now what's the question? 

[David Bott]

Never heard of an HP Microserver.  Looked it up.  Also cool.  But also means I start over.

 

Ok, maybe I just have someone make me one and then I need to copy everything.

[David Bott]

BTW...The  Lian-Li PC-Q25B seems to only have 5 bays..not 6.  So not sure how you would get 15/20TB.

[garycase]

It holds 7 drives => 5 in the hot-swap cages; and 2 on a metal platform at the bottom.  All are VERY well cooled -- none of my drives get above 35 during parity checks, and they're usually in the 29-30 range.    I have the parity drive mounted on the bottom tray, and it never gets over 32.  The other 5 are in the hot-swaps, and with the 140mm fan blowing directly across them they stay very cool -- temps range from 31 to 34 during parity checks, with an occasional one hitting 35  [My ambient is typically mid-70's F).

 

You could use your current UnRAID key and copy the data from a PC (using the free Linux Reader so it could read the data) ... or you could buy a Plus license and just copy the data directly from your old system.

 

I suspect your old drives are (by today's standards) fairly small ... but if any of them are 2TB units, you may be able to reuse a couple => 4 4TB plus 2 2TB drives would give you 16TB of space.    Just depends on what you want to have available.    But I think you'd be happier with a nice new, QUIET, 20TB server 

 

 

[c3]

David,

 

1) Yes, the alarm can be turned off.

2) No, do not turn off the fans.

3) Yes, the fans can be replaced.

4) Not sure how many drives you have, but typically the number of drives causes the case to be large. You can replace the fans with quieter fans, add temp controller to drop the noise even lower.

 

A picture of the drive enclosure and fan would help. A new power supply and four new fans will make you current server much quieter.

 

As mentioned, you can build new, smaller with today's bigger 4TB drives.

 

If you'd like help, there are several people on the forums who will build a server for you. Since you have data, maybe someone local? Where are you?

[David Bott]

Hi...

 

Thanks for the info.  Leaning towards new system.

 

Running a full 15 drive system currently with 17.5TB. 

 

Where are we?  We are mobile.  As mentioned, we moved into a motor coach to just travel.  Sold everything.  Big thing for us as Joe L. would be able to verify.

 

http://OutsideOurBubble.com

 

So...Who wants to build a server and ship it?  LOL    (BTW..the above box looks clean, small, and quite.  All positives when you are in a coach.)

 

 

[whiteatom]

Replacing fans is the answer. I have 3 norco 5-in-3s and they are almost silent with the right fans. My server is under my desk and the fans are quieter than the drives themselves.

 

No drive heat problems at all.. 32 degrees max during a parity check is ok with me if I don't have to listen to them

[kizer]

These guys are on the forum and build unRAID servers.

http://greenleaf-technology.com/

[David Bott]

Thanks guys.

[David Bott]

Just wanted to send our a thanks to Gary for helping our with a server build for me to replace a 15 drive system. 

 

I did not really have the time, and Gary was willing to help out.  We needed a small space server but with the storage of at least of what we had before.  Thanks to the new 4TB drives, we ended up with not only more storage, but also a much faster system in a small, quite, little box.

 

The server ended up using the new 4TB Seagate NAS drives (ST4000VN000) running on an Intel 3.3Ghz and 8 Gigs of RAM.  I will let Gary get into the full specs if anyone cares to know.  But this is one nice little system.

 

So, thanks Gary.

 

[c3]

Nice looking server. Let us know how those two drives without airflow run. Pretty sure they would uncomfortable in my 85+F server space.

[David Bott]

Here are the numbers.  They do very well.   Max temp I have seen is 33C.

 

The top is Drive 1 as you can see, and the drive on the bottom is the parity drive.  As you can see, they run all the same which is nice.

 

As mentioned, the highest was like 33C when that was when all drives were running and I was doing all kinds of stuff like moving data from one server to the other and then a full parity check.

 

[c3]

33 is no worries, it looks real nice!

[garycase]

Nice looking server. Let us know how those two drives without airflow run. Pretty sure they would uncomfortable in my 85+F server space.

 

First, there's only one drive mounted on the bottom tray (I presume you're referring to that area as "without airflow")

 

Second, it gets very good airflow through the bottom of the case thanks to the vents and the upward airflow from the top-mounted fan.

 

Third, the entire bottom cage is aluminum, which provides excellent heat dispersion.

 

Finally, as David noted, the drives stay very cool -- in the upper 20's or lower 30's, depending on the load.    I've built several servers with that same case, and it's by far my favorite case for systems with a "Plus" system.    Obviously if you want more than 7 drives, you need to consider other alternatives.  I always put the parity drive on the bottom tray -- and it also is always as cool (or cooler) than any of the drives in the hot-swap bays.

 

Having said all that, I suspect almost ANY drives would be "uncomfortable" in an 85 degree environment !!    I'd expect that with that ambient temp the drive temps would still be okay, but would be in the upper 30's ... possibly even hitting 40 during parity checks.

 

[KC]

What case is this?

 

Looks nice and compact.

 

 

Nice looking server. Let us know how those two drives without airflow run. Pretty sure they would uncomfortable in my 85+F server space.

 

First, there's only one drive mounted on the bottom tray (I presume you're referring to that area as "without airflow")

 

Second, it gets very good airflow through the bottom of the case thanks to the vents and the upward airflow from the top-mounted fan.

 

Third, the entire bottom cage is aluminum, which provides excellent heat dispersion.

 

Finally, as David noted, the drives stay very cool -- in the upper 20's or lower 30's, depending on the load.    I've built several servers with that same case, and it's by far my favorite case for systems with a "Plus" system.    Obviously if you want more than 7 drives, you need to consider other alternatives.  I always put the parity drive on the bottom tray -- and it also is always as cool (or cooler) than any of the drives in the hot-swap bays.

 

Having said all that, I suspect almost ANY drives would be "uncomfortable" in an 85 degree environment !!    I'd expect that with that ambient temp the drive temps would still be okay, but would be in the upper 30's ... possibly even hitting 40 during parity checks.

[garycase]

It's a Lian-Li PC-Q25B.    It is by far my favorite case for small ("Plus") systems.    It can hold up to 7 3.5" drives plus one 2.5" drive

[KC]

does the PSU sits to the left (or depending on viewpoint - top) of the CPU heatsink?

 

How about fans? I see a single exhaust (on top or on right depending on angle) are there any other case fans?

[garycase]

does the PSU sits to the left (or depending on viewpoint - top) of the CPU heatsink?

 

How about fans? I see a single exhaust (on top or on right depending on angle) are there any other case fans?

 

The motherboard is "behind" the power supply.  There are several pictures of another build using this case here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=28860.0    If you go down a ways, you can see how the motherboard is mounted.  You can also see how cramped the case is if you use an ATX power supply (which I don't recommend, but Lian-Li does claim ATX compatibility).

 

As for cooling ... there's a front fan that blows directly over the hot-swap drive cage;  a top-mounted fan that exhausts air out the top of the case;  and of course the fan in the power supply, plus the heatsink fan on the motherboard => altogether that provides VERY good airflow, especially with an SFX power supply like I used in this build.    If you use an ATX PSU, the airflow isn't as good, as it really fills the left cavity.

 

The air intake is from vents on the front of the side panels (not shown in this picture) and on the bottom panel.    These provide excellent airflow over all of the drives; and of course the top fan is right over where the motherboard mounts, so air from the CPU's heatsink vents very nicely out the top.

 

I've built several systems with this case -- one with an ATX power supply and the rest with SFX units.  My main server uses a passively cooled motherboard (SuperMicro Atom D525 board);  the one I built for David has an Asus motherboard with an i3-3225 and the stock Intel heatsink.    His system runs circles around my Atom !!      [Due to both the CPU and the superb Seagate NAS drives]

 

[c3]

Nice looking server. Let us know how those two drives without airflow run. Pretty sure they would uncomfortable in my 85+F server space.

 

First, there's only one drive mounted on the bottom tray (I presume you're referring to that area as "without airflow")

 

Second, it gets very good airflow through the bottom of the case thanks to the vents and the upward airflow from the top-mounted fan.

 

Third, the entire bottom cage is aluminum, which provides excellent heat dispersion.

 

Finally, as David noted, the drives stay very cool -- in the upper 20's or lower 30's, depending on the load.    I've built several servers with that same case, and it's by far my favorite case for systems with a "Plus" system.    Obviously if you want more than 7 drives, you need to consider other alternatives.  I always put the parity drive on the bottom tray -- and it also is always as cool (or cooler) than any of the drives in the hot-swap bays.

 

Having said all that, I suspect almost ANY drives would be "uncomfortable" in an 85 degree environment !!    I'd expect that with that ambient temp the drive temps would still be okay, but would be in the upper 30's ... possibly even hitting 40 during parity checks.

 

Thanks Gary

 

The room with servers runs 85-88, sometimes 90 here in the TX summer. I have (4) Norco 4224/4220, averaging 21 drives each. They are modified with 120mm fan wall using Delta fans and stay 38 with very little deviation. This is do to active PWM fan control via X9SCM's dual PWM controllers. One is used for the midwall, the other for CPU. They can run cooler, within 2C of ambient. I tested the AC failure case, taking the room to nearly 100, the drives get to 40 which triggers shutdown. But at 95 they keep running. I wanted to keep the drives in a narrow temperature range. From power off ~30C to full power 38C is the range I wanted to keep the drives. A lot of the drives never power down.

 

[whiteatom]

 

It's a Lian-Li PC-Q25B.    It is by far my favorite case for small ("Plus") systems.    It can hold up to 7 3.5" drives plus one 2.5" drive

What does it weigh full of drives? I'm thinking about building one for work, but I'll have to be able to fly it occasionally.

[garycase]

 

It's a Lian-Li PC-Q25B.    It is by far my favorite case for small ("Plus") systems.    It can hold up to 7 3.5" drives plus one 2.5" drive

What does it weigh full of drives? I'm thinking about building one for work, but I'll have to be able to fly it occasionally.

 

I shipped it to David in two boxes (shipped the drives separately -- probably not necessary, but I tend to be paranoid about drives being VERY well packaged) .. and the total shipment weight was just over 21 pounds.    Without the extra packing material it's probably 2-3 pounds less than that ... but you then have to add about 1.5 pounds back for the 6th drive (which he already had) => so I'd say 20-21 pounds is VERY accurate for the total weight.

 

[garycase]

...  but I'll have to be able to fly it occasionally.

 

I have NOT used this case, but if you need to transport your UnRAID sever, it may be a better choice, although it doesn't support the same drive complement as the PC-Q25B.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112348

 

It has 4 hot-swap bays (vs. the 5 in a PC-Q25B)

 

It has a 5.25" bay (vs none in the PC-Q25B) => you could mount a 5th drive in that.

 

It does NOT list any additional 3.5" drive support, but does support 2 2.5" drives.  I assume -- but do NOT know -- that you could probably mount a 6th 3.5" drive with a bit of custom configuring of the bottom tray (i.e. this may require some drilling).

 

It has a nice 140mm fan in front to blow over the drives (like the Q25B), but does NOT have a top fan like the Q25B does.

 

In short:  I don't like the case as well as the Q25B, and haven't used one, but it's clearly designed for easy portability.    If a 5-drive system would work well for your needs, it should be fine => one in the 5.25" bay, plus the 4 hot-swap bays, would be a good configuration.