Are quiet 1U/2U rigs possible?

[cleverhandle]

Yes, I know that rackmount machines are neither intended for my living room nor for silent operation. But let's say I ignore that. What are the challenges and possibilities for taking a lower end machine (like a slow Athlon XP or VIA with one or maybe two IDE disks) and finding/modding out a 1U or 2U chassis to provide near-silent operation with decent cooling? I'm thinking the CPU fan shouldn't be a huge problem, at least in a 2U chassis. Just an undervolt and maybe an underclock along with it. And I might be able to dedicate a few U's to to some kind of central drive enclosure that would get all my drives behind a nice, big, and slow fan or two. Or just buy quiet and cool drives. But I'm not at all sure about the power supply. Seems like some chassis/mobo combos require different power specs, and I don't quite follow all the distinctions. Any pointers?

 

http://store.yahoo.com/ituner/posoformi.html

that should solve your PS problem if you go VIA

 

[Cerb]

Shouldn't be too big a problem. Mount fans with foam tape or noise killer gasket things, get a heavy case, and a heatsink you can duct out the back (maybe make the duct with posterboard).
Panaflos should be your best friends.

 

[cleverhandle]

JAGedlion: Nice find on those Via DC/DC converters - thanks. Definite possibilities there.

Cerb: I've never actually gotten inside a 1U or 2U unit - are there usually good fan mount and airflow possiblities? Any models you'd recommend?

Some more searching turned up a few references to these TKPower units - open frame and fanless, at least at lower wattages. Probably a bit more expensive than the DC/DC solution above, but better power as well.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle
JAGedlion: Nice find on those Via DC/DC converters - thanks. Definite possibilities there.

Cerb: I've never actually gotten inside a 1U or 2U unit - are there usually good fan mount and airflow possiblities? Any models you'd recommend?

1U? No. Well, maybe, but it'd be a lot of work.
2U? The 19" Evercase at Newegg. I also like one of Antec's, but Newegg doesn't seem to have it, nor Directron. Nicest thing about it was it had ribbon cables for the risers. 2U cases have room for 80mm fans.

Some more searching turned up a few references to these TKPower units - open frame and fanless, at least at lower wattages. Probably a bit more expensive than the DC/DC solution above, but better power as well.

If you're going VIA, might as well just make your own case out of something. Check out www.mini-itx.com. Also, those PSUs above are probably going to run you quite a bit more than the VIA solutions. Getting a flex-ATX barebones and making a custom case (after all, you've only got 1, maybe 2 expansion slots) might also be an option.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: Cerb
If you're going VIA, might as well just make your own case out of something. Check out www.mini-itx.com. Also, those PSUs above are probably going to run you quite a bit more than the VIA solutions. Getting a flex-ATX barebones and making a custom case (after all, you've only got 1, maybe 2 expansion slots) might also be an option.

Sounds like a fun project, but not what I'm after in this situation. A bit of background: I have, so far, 6 machines forming an elaborate Fortress of Solitude around my desk: 1 main desktop, 2 providing network services, and 3 used for lab/development work. Along with those are the speakers, printer, KVM, laptop, and network/phone gear, and I'd like to add another network server in the future. It's actually surprisingly efficient and inobtrusive, but it's an absolute beast if I have to pull a machine out for maintenance. So I'm thinking about setting up a bonafide 24U rack here, not just one or two small PC's. I was thinking particularly of the network servers in this thread - they don't require a lot of power, expansion, or drive space, but they do run constantly, so a near-silent 1U Via setup seems pretty ideal both for noise and power. And I'm already planning on getting a little crazy (though not Deathstar crazy) with the desktop - watercooling, LCD screens, maybe some pretty lights, etc. - so I don't want to expend too much time/energy/money on the servers.

A follow-up question: How exactly do PCI risers in these cases (like, say, the Supermicro SC512) work? Do they just plug into a motherboard PCI slot, or do they require some kind of special connector? My router needs 3 ports, and I was hoping that would possible by combining the built-in NIC, and a dual-port Intel model.

 

http://www.adexelec.com/ lots of riser stuffs

 

[Cerb]

They just plug in a PCI slot. The main thing is that you can lose slots, as most (cheaper ones, anyway) use the 1st and second slots...well, how many boards out there now use those for AGP and (evil) AMR? With risers based on ribbon cables, you can use any available slots.