steers
Well-known member
Hello again everybody. The opportunity has presented itself to finally build a dedicated server for around the house (I live with 3 other software engineers) thanks to Chilly. I thought I would document the gradual process here on HWC. Nothing like a good summer project, right? As far as the name, this is going to bring the number of computers I'm currently running up to 3, so I decided to take the names of the MAGI (from Evangelion moreso than the Bible). Real original I know, but it's fun :thumb:
Anyway, some planned out specs:
2x Xeon E5504 (2.0 GHz Quad-core, LGA1366) - from Chilly => GET!!
SuperMicro X8DAi - from Chilly => GET!!
XFX Radeon HD 4850 - Shipped => GET!!
CoolerMaster ATCS840 - Shipped => GET!!
6x 2GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3 - Shipped => GET!!
Seasonic X650 PSU - Shipped => GET!!
2x Noctua NH-U12DX - Shipped => GET!!
4x Noctua NH-P12 - Shipped => GET!!
Disks:
Intel X25-M G2 (/boot, /) => GET!!
WD Black 1TB (/swap, /home) - Shipped => GET!!
WD Green 2TB (/samba)
The plan is to have this server do pretty much everything for us. It'll be running CentOS 5.5, and its duties will be:
Game server (TF2, Minecraft, etc.)
Fileserver (BitTorrent server too)
App server (SQL, SVN, MATLAB, etc.)
Some networking stuff (VPN)
June 12th: Build complete.
News:
May-21: Xeons and motherboard acquired from Chilly. Today is GOOD day.
May-23: After a bit of research I've chosen the Seasonic X650 to power the server. 80PLUS Gold seems pretty important for a system that's going to be on 24/7. Full modularity is a nice bonus too :thumb:
May-25: The UPS man showed up today with a small shipment (a few fans, the video card), but I thought I'd snap a pic of what I've got going so far. See below.
May-26: The case came today, but I'm feeling a bit too lazy to do much work on it. I installed the P12s that I had in the top and that's about it. I'll probably post another update later in the week, or on the weekend.
May-27: Set my sights on Mushkin's 1333MHz 6GB Blackline kit with 7-7-7-20 timings. Good price, and I've heard good things about Mushkin. Going to pick up a couple of kits in the next order.
May-31: Paycheck get! Arranged to get a couple of Mushkin kits FedEx'd here.
June-3: The memory came today, and the credit card's been paid off so it's time to place another order! This'll cover everything except the SSD and the 2TB drive, which I suppose will make up the entirety of the final order.
June-3: Power supply, heatsinks, 1TB Black and the last fan (ordered today) shipped out today via Purolator Express :thumb:
June-4: A beautiful brown cardboard box showed up at my doorstop today. I'm only waiting for one more, but in the meantime (not this weekend though) I can get started on whipping things together :biggrin:
June-7: I took the time to get what I had (mostly) installed into the case. Check out my later post for more early-stage build pics.
June-12: Got it fully assembled. All that's left now is to work out the last few issues then onto configuration! :clap: More shots in a later post.
June-16: Finally found it was extra standoffs shorting out my last RAM slot. Remove those and problem solved! Now it's time to get installin'! :funky:
Anyway, some planned out specs:
2x Xeon E5504 (2.0 GHz Quad-core, LGA1366) - from Chilly => GET!!
SuperMicro X8DAi - from Chilly => GET!!
XFX Radeon HD 4850 - Shipped => GET!!
CoolerMaster ATCS840 - Shipped => GET!!
6x 2GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3 - Shipped => GET!!
Seasonic X650 PSU - Shipped => GET!!
2x Noctua NH-U12DX - Shipped => GET!!
4x Noctua NH-P12 - Shipped => GET!!
Disks:
Intel X25-M G2 (/boot, /) => GET!!
WD Black 1TB (/swap, /home) - Shipped => GET!!
WD Green 2TB (/samba)
The plan is to have this server do pretty much everything for us. It'll be running CentOS 5.5, and its duties will be:
Game server (TF2, Minecraft, etc.)
Fileserver (BitTorrent server too)
App server (SQL, SVN, MATLAB, etc.)
Some networking stuff (VPN)
June 12th: Build complete.
News:
May-21: Xeons and motherboard acquired from Chilly. Today is GOOD day.
May-23: After a bit of research I've chosen the Seasonic X650 to power the server. 80PLUS Gold seems pretty important for a system that's going to be on 24/7. Full modularity is a nice bonus too :thumb:
May-25: The UPS man showed up today with a small shipment (a few fans, the video card), but I thought I'd snap a pic of what I've got going so far. See below.
May-26: The case came today, but I'm feeling a bit too lazy to do much work on it. I installed the P12s that I had in the top and that's about it. I'll probably post another update later in the week, or on the weekend.
May-27: Set my sights on Mushkin's 1333MHz 6GB Blackline kit with 7-7-7-20 timings. Good price, and I've heard good things about Mushkin. Going to pick up a couple of kits in the next order.
May-31: Paycheck get! Arranged to get a couple of Mushkin kits FedEx'd here.
June-3: The memory came today, and the credit card's been paid off so it's time to place another order! This'll cover everything except the SSD and the 2TB drive, which I suppose will make up the entirety of the final order.
June-3: Power supply, heatsinks, 1TB Black and the last fan (ordered today) shipped out today via Purolator Express :thumb:
June-4: A beautiful brown cardboard box showed up at my doorstop today. I'm only waiting for one more, but in the meantime (not this weekend though) I can get started on whipping things together :biggrin:
June-7: I took the time to get what I had (mostly) installed into the case. Check out my later post for more early-stage build pics.
June-12: Got it fully assembled. All that's left now is to work out the last few issues then onto configuration! :clap: More shots in a later post.
June-16: Finally found it was extra standoffs shorting out my last RAM slot. Remove those and problem solved! Now it's time to get installin'! :funky:
Last edited: