Time to upgrade?


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I have two Unraid servers that were upgraded exactly 7 years ago. Both run on Supermicro X8SIL-F motherboards and Xeon processors. There only things that were upgraded are fans, PSUs and drives. Both are running fine and I am thinking why change anything if it ain't broke, or am I missing something?

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7 years is fine for server grade stuff as long as it's kept well ventilated and hasn't overheated from dust bunnies. The only reason I can think of to mess with a working system like that would be lack of CPU power along with high power draw. However... you can buy a WHOLE lot of electricity for the upgrade cost difference, so unless you are running out of CPU power I'd keep running as is.

 

BTW, if you are in a heating heavy climate, with little or no need for A/C, then the power is not bad either. The power drawn by those servers is exactly the same economy wise as keeping a space heater running year round. Paying for A/C to cool your servers means you are paying twice the power, so may be more of a concern.

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40 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

7 years is fine for server grade stuff as long as it's kept well ventilated and hasn't overheated from dust bunnies. The only reason I can think of to mess with a working system like that would be lack of CPU power along with high power draw. However... you can buy a WHOLE lot of electricity for the upgrade cost difference, so unless you are running out of CPU power I'd keep running as is.

 

BTW, if you are in a heating heavy climate, with little or no need for A/C, then the power is not bad either. The power drawn by those servers is exactly the same economy wise as keeping a space heater running year round. Paying for A/C to cool your servers means you are paying twice the power, so may be more of a concern.

I'm on a ticking time bomb, rack in the garage, cooking yep

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11 minutes ago, ijuarez said:

I'm on a ticking time bomb, rack in the garage, cooking yep

Heh. As long as it's below rated maximums, warm isn't bad. It's the extreme swings that will get you. In a garage situation, I'd invest in an insulated box with greenhouse type ventilation. Only allow outside air to circulate when the temperature is above normal room temp.

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4 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

You have it easy. See my previous reply. Seal the heat in until it's too warm, then vent with a thermostat.

Well, my plan was to just move it and hope for the best......

Wasn't really planning on constructing anything.

I think it'll be ok.......

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8 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

Heh. As long as it's below rated maximums, warm isn't bad. It's the extreme swings that will get you. In a garage situation, I'd invest in an insulated box with greenhouse type ventilation. Only allow outside air to circulate when the temperature is above normal room temp.

no no brother, is not  warm in the garage...its hot...winter im good with it will not overheat.

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1 minute ago, CHBMB said:

Well, my plan was to just move it and hope for the best......

Wasn't really planning on constructing anything.

I think it'll be ok.......

If the ambient temperature gets below 10 C I'd disable spindown. The temperature shock of spinning up a cold hard drive can have devastating consequences. Ask Tom @limetech about his garage experiences.

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