Rack-mount servers for slave boxes?

[Drakkun]

I'd also add that the ATI Rage XL is a terrible card for gaming. I tried to play single player games with one before and it barely got 3FPS in most games. Not sure if you can replace the video card in a 1U server.

[Shiena]

Also, if you want to go the Linux route, go for nvidia cards, not for ATI cards. ATI drivers happen to break often and with quite a few bad issues under Linux. E.g. since early 2007 not a single version of the ATI Linux drivers survived a X server restart, but just freezes the whole system. Happens with most current ATI cards, no matter if its mobile or standard versions.

[Old Dirty Bathtub]

Thanks for the advice so far.

The price factor isn't so much an issue in this case; new rack-mount hardware is crazy expensive, and I certainly wouldn't be considering this venue at all if I were building from scratch or looking at new hardware. The server I'm looking at is a refurb and the only additional hardware I'm putting in it is a $60 graphics card. The total is just over $300 per unit for a box with two processors and 4 gigs of RAM.

I admit I'm significantly more concerned about the noise issue. I've never really worked with rack-mount machines before, so I had no idea that a 1U would present such a noise issue. The first rack-mount box is going to replace an increasingly-unreliable home-grown system that has noise issues of its own, but I was hoping to solve that problem rather than make it worse. I have one server on order as an experiment; if it is too noisy I'll banish it to the garage and make it a file server.

Basilikos, I'd like to see what sort of system you're looking at. I've played around with some configurations as well, but I haven't found a low price combination that I like too much.

[Basilikos]

Basilikos, I'd like to see what sort of system you're looking at. I've played around with some configurations as well, but I haven't found a low price combination that I like too much.

Certainly. I'm busy today, but I will get a part list posted up here sometime soon (like today or tomorrow).

[Freddie]

Last year as an experiment I built a new pc in a large rack mount case (4u) using regular desktop components. I like it so much I'll never go back to desktop cases. Here's the case I used. It's only $65, nothing fancy. It has a crappy paint job, but it's well made from heavy steel:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811182566

[Basilikos]

[quote='Old Dirty Bathtub',index.php?page=Thread&postID=56836#post56 836]Basilikos, I'd like to see what sort of system you're looking at. I've played around with some configurations as well, but I haven't found a low price combination that I like too much.[/quote]

Okay, so here's the list. Note that this would also work well with Freddie's case (with the additional cost of a power supply) if that appeals to you.

Recall, first, that this system is designed to run a single instance of WoW well. 2-instance notes follow the parts list.

[url='http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154050']Case[/url] $40 (note that, depending on the PS with this case, you may need to purchase a set of adapters either for SATA or Molex devices)
Mainboard $47
Video Card $70
Ram (x2) $40
Processor $180
Hard Drive $44
DVD ROM Drive $18

Details:

Micro ATX case / mainboard for space saving. Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 256MB video card. Intel Core 2 Duo @2.33 (I think) GHz. 80GB Sata 2 HDD. 2 GB RAM. Asus mainboard (pretty decent). The only thing that would worry me is the in-case power supply, but reports from users are that it is totally stable.

Total so far: $439

Operating systems are going to be user-picked, anyway. But the ballpark is going to be another $100 or so for a home or basic version of whatever windows variant you want.
Total with commercial OS: $539.

Modifications for two instances of WoW would be to put in a much more powerful video card, a quad core processor (if you want bare-minimum smoothness out of it), more HDDs (or NFTS junction points as an alternative). You might be looking at an $800 system to run two instances of WoW.

Just a reminder - this system is designed to run WoW SMOOTHLY, not at bare-minimum performance. So it's a LITTLE more that some would like, but still called for IMO.

[Speedbump]

[quote='Freddie',index.php?page=Thread&postID=57078 #post57078]Last year as an experiment I built a new pc in a large rack mount case (4u) using regular desktop components. I like it so much I'll never go back to desktop cases. Here's the case I used. It's only $65, nothing fancy. It has a crappy paint job, but it's well made from heavy steel:

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811182566[/url][/quote]I definitely agree with you on the paint job, I scratched the top and bottom of mine very easily while putting them in my rack. At least it isn't visible now. For reduced noise i highly recommend 120mm fan cases. This case uses 1 120mm for the front and up to 2 80mm fans for the rear. The stock 120mm is quiet, but i did pickup some better quality 80mm ones for the rear, went LED too for some extra light whenever i work on the back end of the rack and just a faint glow on the front.

Here is how 3 of em look. System details are listed [url='http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=2718']HERE[/url]. As for power, not including 2 monitors, that rack and tower only have a load of around 550 watts idle, 610 in wow, according to my UPS.

[Freddie]

I agree with you about the fans. I put three Noctuas in mine.

[Djarid]

I admit I'm significantly more concerned about the noise issue. I've never really worked with rack-mount machines before, so I had no idea that a 1U would present such a noise issue. The first rack-mount box is going to replace an increasingly-unreliable home-grown system that has noise issues of its own, but I was hoping to solve that problem rather than make it worse. I have one server on order as an experiment; if it is too noisy I'll banish it to the garage and make it a file server.

1U servers tend to be the noisiest :( not since the days of Compaq Proliant 3300 server on power up with a PSU missing have I heard such a racket.

Get a couple of hundred servers in a room and you get startled a lot when colleagues appear at your elbow without warning!

[Old Dirty Bathtub]

the noise might be unappealing in a small room.

"Unappealing" is an epic understatement!

I finally got the refurb 1U server I ordered as a test. Within a minute of plugging it in and turning it on, the demonic howling of the fans actually began to cause me physical pain. The noise is actually unappealing in a small neighborhood and utterly unbearable in a small room (or house). I'm generally not terribly noise-sensitive, but being anywhere near this server was like having a 727 in a holding pattern inside my skull.

Let this serve as a warning to any future reader without much rack-mount experience (like me at the start of this thread). DO NOT mess around with 1U servers. No matter how tough you think you are, the shrieking racket these things turn out will crush you.

I think I'm going to re-pot this hardware in the nice 4U codegen case linked above and consider this a lesson learned. Thanks to all of you who tried to warn me, and additional thanks to Basilikos for posting some good hardware alternatives.