This started as a "little project" which has taken much more time, attention, and money than I'd originally imagined.
It's still ongoing; but, it's stalled now that things are functional, and I've been concentrating more on my network topology, including learning about Windows Server 2003 and Exchange mail services.
Since I'm not sure when this will be "complete", I thought I'd get some photos posted so that my friends can see what I'm talking about.
The goal was really simple... I wanted an enterprise-level server and storage system at a consumer-level price (and noise level). A lot of money was spent (details later, perhaps); but, it was easy to do once I started looking at the pre-built equipment which would meet my needs. I mean, after you come to believe that $4,000 is a good price, $2,000 seems like a bargain you can't refuse :-)
I also wanted it to fit in. In addition to the noise it generates, rack-mounted server equipment tends to have a large footprint. Most serious server equipment is far too deep to just tuck under a desk. I also looked at unusual commercial offerings from Chenbro and Lian Li; but, they didn't seem to use space as well as I thought they could or should.
Above all, after progressing through a ton of server equipment over the years, I wanted to build something that would meet the long-term requirements of our house and my work. In fact, I expect this to be "overboard" within five years as SAS and SATA hard drives gain capacity much faster than our needs will grow.
The short version: This is two CM Stacker cases mounted to a rolling chassis. It contains two computers, one of which hosts two 16 port RAID cards. Right now, 5 of the hot swap bays are dedicated to the second computer; but, that's likely to change. The case currently houses three power supplies, though it's beginning to look like a fourth might be required.
I took what may be a unique approach to ventilation: Large fans suck air in from underneath the chassis, and the remaining 5 fans in each case blow air out. Channeling the air this way allows me to use two filters on the bottom, and leaves the case blowing filtered air through the hot-swap bays, instead of the drives becoming dust-catchers.
Enough talk -- here's some photos... Each includes fairly detailed comments about the construction.
I hacked my way through a lot of this first one with a pair of Klein nibblers that just weren't up to the thickness of the metal.
A rotozip with an angle cutting attachment and a carbon cutting blade made short work of the rest.
The mesh plate that Cooler Master installed on the bottom was nothing but trouble, and I can't see much value for anyone in it having it there.
I needed to cut the vent holes large enough to make the case fan screws accessible; but, I wanted to keep them as small as possible -- at this point, I still wasn't sure how I'd affix the filters.
By this stage, I'd reversed the motherboard tray in the right hand server. Cooler Master did a very good job with the symmetry of these cases, though alignment wasn't perfect. In the end, I left one of the roughly 15 screws out.
Also note the "decorative" curved platic on the top of the case. It can't be removed without exposing metal edges and it needlessly adds about half an inch to the height of the case, though I suppose you need some clearance if you're going to use the "blowhole" fans.
At this point, I think I probably should have left the 80mm fans out of the top, and covered it with sound-proofing material. CM's proprietary mounting bracket for the fan would make it a bit more awkward to do that and not degrade the appearance.
I have considered mounting another peice of wood to the top... I could use the thickness I'd save by removing the plastic garnish, I'd cover the blow-holes, and the whole cabinet would have a solid top to work with. Of course, having only three wheels, usage as an end-table would not be recommended. If I were going to have it in an exposed location, though, I probably would've stuck with 4 wheels with the side-removable filter setup.
This was done with ply that's just under an inch thick. A 4'x4' panel was less than $10.
8 of the holes line up with tapped holes in the case that were originally installed for the tiny provided castors. The 4 towards the corners go through the industrial castor as well as securing the case.
This just seemed like a good idea to me.
Before mounting the base, I put small peices of sound dampening material in the void left by that useless mesh.
.thumbnail.JPG "06- Base In Place (Prior to Filter Holders)")
This was the original design.
Up until this time, I'd still been trying to figure out how I was going to mount the filter. Once I got to this point, I decided that side-removable filters were unacceptable, and I changed the design to use one center wheel.
Four of the bays were implanted with sensors for the SunbeamTech fan controller.
Though only 4 of the SuperMicro cans got temperature sensors, I replaced the fans on all of them with Antecs, and reversed the direction of airflow. After feeling the heat from a single can, I can't believe that all of the manufacturers draw this heated air INTO the case.
The fans will eventually be controlled by the Sunbeamtech controller; but, they're powered by the cans for now.
Kudos to SuperMicro. One of the fan clips was cracked - probably in shipping. Instead of RMAing it through the vendor, I wrote to SuperMicro, explained the situation, and they shipped a new clip via 2 day express. My thanks to them for the no nonsense handling of the situation, and not asking me to mail back the broken one.
(Initially, "support" told me to send my email to "rma", instead of just forwarding it themselves... I was a little concerned about things to come; but, "rma" replied within hours, and the situation was resolved)
I didn't cover the whole surface since going any further would interfere with door insertion and removal.
The soundproofing (Elemental Designs eDead) also serves to cover vent holes in the panel. It's my intention to have as much control over airflow as I can without random gaps in the case.
Not shown is the hole I'd nibbled into each of the inside panels to pass wires through. I then cut a slit through the soundproofing, and it forms its own gasket.
I'd orignally planned to cover the cross-over wires with split tubing; but in the end, I've decided to let them go naked.
I was concerned that these lighted fans would be too much at night; but, they're more sedate than I'd expected.
Each half of the server has three of these. The bottom ones draw air into the case, and the back one pushes air out. With three fans already pushing out the front, the back one might not even be needed; but, I'm over-engineering this as best I can. Silicone gaskets where installed between these fans and the case to eliminate vibration.
Thermaltake Blue Orb fans contribute their own glow, and the Adaptec RAID cards are actually quite striking to behold. When the drives aren't active, it falls into what my friends called "Knight Rider Mode", though I actually found myself thinking of Cylons.
Does that prove my geekdom???
This is polycarbonate to which I epoxied some filter material.
The hole in the plastic doubles both as a "grip", and it allows access to another grip that was cut into the panel.
That's it, for now... so far, even with the side panels off, it's much quieter than the two servers it replaces. I still need to install the fan controller, and probably a 4th power supply.