A new rackmount server

Keywords: rack mount bir, rack mount server, silent cpu cooler, silent noctua case, noise level, mid level, bir pc, hardware, time. Powered by TextRank.

I got a rack last year for my birthday and it's been sitting there kind of empty. I installed a 24 port switch (which is way overkill) and 2 shelves. It’s been housing my fanless micro pc box, a small Synology NAS and a laptop with the lid closed on one of the shelves. It’s blasphemy to own a rack and use it as a cabinet but I just didn’t have the time or energy to do the research and get a rack mount server.. Until now. There are an abundant amount of used servers on Amazon and Ebay but I don’t think I can put up with furnace level sounds in my small office so I went ahead and built a PC that is basically rack mounted. This hardware isn’t mission critical so I don’t actually need server grade hardware even though it’s running 24/7.

sanirim yillar sonra ilk defa bir PC toplayacam. En son 2014 yilinda - Gokturk'te oturuyorduk bunu yaptigimda. Bu sefer ama rack mount bir sasiye - topluyorum o yuzden arastirmam gerekli olacak. - - dd — 2021-02-15 21:05:17

So I went on Amazon and compiled mid level components to keep the cost and noise down. I got

My main concern was building a silent computer so I got a 2U rack for better airflow and kept the CPU a mid-range one. Noctua fans are essential here as the fans that come out of the box are pretty loud. I still haven’t installed the 3 80mm fans from Noctua but with the silent CPU cooler and default case fans I’m getting around 45-50db noise levels which is acceptable. I expect this to get down to the 30s with the new fans. The build itself took me about 4 hours to complete. The case is very tight and there is not a lot of room to maneuver in there. I could not remove the center disk housing because of a screw that just would not come off. I have seen screws that turn but do not go in but it's the first time I have seen a screw that turns but doesn't come out 🙃. Another hiccup was the installation of the CPU cooler which had a mounting plate that is installed on the rear side of the motherboard so I had to uninstall it and attach the plate and reinstall.

Migrating the services went smoothly. I keep everything as a docker container so I just had to copy over the volumes and directories. I switched from CGit (which consumes low resources) to Gitea and I had to manually organize and import some of the repos. The main reason for the switch is the built-in mirroring and issue tracking. I also ditched Laminar CI for Jenkins now that I have more resources for the convenience. I will also use this machine as a TechScan machine once the program is ready.


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First published on 2022-01-17

Generated on May 5, 2024, 8:47 PM

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