Comments on: White Box Server Contest

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:21:05 +0000

hey ben,
have i seen that TOWER of a thing at RESPAWN LAN?

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:19:55 +0000

hey ben, have i seen that TOWER of a thing at RESPAWN LAN before?

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:11:41 +0000

This thread prompted me to take up the challenge, and build a replacement server for my six year old p4 3.0Ghz storage server, and various other single purpose machines.

Final Build:
Noroco 4020, 4U Rackmount, 20 hot-swap bays.
I7 920
p6t-se
6x Corsair 2GB 1333
8x 500GB WD Caviar – 3.5 TB Raid5 array
4x 1TB WD Caviar black + spare – 3.5TB Raid5 array
2x Dell Perc 5i sata raid controller
intel dual 1Gb PCIe server NIC (lan)
intel 1Gb PCIe desktop NIC (wan)

VmWare ESXI 4.0
Freenas – For Storage
PFsense – Firewall / Router
Ubuntu Server – Mail Server
Ubuntu Server – Web Server
Ubuntu Server – SABnzb
Windows XP – Software Testing / video conversion

The only recycled parts were the 500GB drives from my old server.

Total Build cost, after $200 in rebates: 1,845.21.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:12:38 +0000

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Susan

http://8080proxy.com

By: zach

zach — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:29:34 +0000

Sorry TWO DVD drives not 16, and cost about $1,800.00

By: zach

zach — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:25:47 +0000

Specifications

* Intel Core i7-920 2.66Ghz Quad Core Processor
* Supermicro X8SAX Motherboard
* Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset
* 6GB ECC DDR3-1333 (3x2GB)
* Upgradeable to 24GB of DDR3-1333
* 4 x SATA-II Hotswap Bays
* 4 x Western Digital 500GB SATA-II Raid Edition Hard Drives
* Preconfigured as RAID 5
* Supports RAID 0,1,5,0+1
* 16X DVD-ROM SATA
* Dual Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN
* Port Teaming Supported
* 6 x SATA-II Ports
* 8 x USB 2.0 Ports (Expandable to 10)
* 1 x 1394a Firewire Port
* 1 x S/PDIF Digital Out
* nVidia 8400GS Video
* (2) PCI-e x16 / (1) PCI-e x4 / (2) PCI-X / (1) PCI
* 8 Channel High Definition Audio
* WOL, WOR, PXE Supported
* 465 Watt Power Supply

By: Sean Scott

Sean Scott — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:05:46 +0000

Pics are now up at http://connectedcommuter.com/?p=177

By: Sean Scottt

Sean Scottt — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:08:03 +0000

I was using my server as a standalone linux server until I saw your segment. I added the Patriot flash drive and 3ware RAID controller as suggested. I’ve migrated my server over to the new ESXi VM and it’s working like a champ. I plan to install Untangle to replace my router as well.

* VMware ESXi 4.0
* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700
* 6 GB DDR-II Memory
* 5x Intel Gigabit NIC
* 3ware 9650SE RAID Controller
* Patriot 8 GB Flash Drive (ESXi OS)
* 4x 500 GB Seagate 7200.12 Hard Drives (VM Datastore)
* PC Power & Cooling Silencer 420w PS

My box probably costs less than $2k as I only had to purchase the RAID Controller, 4x Hard drives, and Gigabit NICs, which cost about $600.

Will have pictures up soon at http://connectedcommuter.com/?p=177

-Sean

By: Psychosis

Psychosis — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:59:54 +0000

What do you use that thing for?

By: mark hilton

mark hilton — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:26:22 +0000

not a little more expensive a lot more expensive

By: Ben Miller

Ben Miller — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:25:04 +0000

Well here is my server/desktop, its a little more then $2000…but hey i like it

http://members.optusnet.com.au/missingo/CUBE/DSC_00302.JPG

Intel 920
Gigabyte GA-EX58-Extreme
6GB Corsair DDR3 1600
280GTX MSI
Adaptec RAID 52445
Highpoint 2340
Intel 4port pci-e Gigabit card
16x WD 1TB black edition
8x WD 1TB green edition
12x Samsung 1TB
4x Hitachi 300GB SAS 15k’s
2x Silverstone 1000op psus
2x Lian Li 343B cubes (bolted together)

this is my little rig, hope you like it