Aperture

I’ve build before servers in my life, for different peoples and companies, but never for myself. Usually with a brad name like HP, IBM, Dell and others things are pretty straight forward: you choose a model, customize it according with your needs, and also have the option for the equipment to be shipped fully configured (from hardware perspective), or buy the barebones (case + motherboard) and components separately and start assemble on your own.

Here, when you start something from scratch, it’s a bit trickier, because you have to pay real close attention to all details. (for example, a CEB form factor motherboard will not fit in a E-ATX case, and vice versa). What type of CPU cooling is required? Unless the server is rack mountable and the case design supports passive cooling, stay out of setups with heat sink only as most likely you’ll have around 30 seconds of operation time until thermal shutdown. What power supply to use? Very careful here. Consider the following aspects:

• CPU TDP (total dissipated power): how many watts are transferred into heat during 100% CPU load. That heat (measured in watts) must be taken outside CPU area (ideally directly outside the case). Check here the manufacturer specs;
• How many hard drives you plan to install? Normally, a 7200 rpm SATA HDD takes only 7 to 10 Watts during random seek / write operations. However, during system startup, when the HDD is initialized (actuator starts up from 0 to 7200 rpm), around 20W are consumed for a small period of time (only when the disk is initialized) per each disk. This is the reason why smarter SATA, SCSI and SAS drive controllers are starting up the disk arrays in sequence (disk 0 is initialized, afterwards disk 1, and so on until the whole arrays resumes normal operation);
• Optical drives: consider here a max. 15 watts per unit;
• How much memory you plan to install in your system? What type? Check again your manufacturer specs as this depends on memory type, operating frequency and memory module capacity;
• How much power your motherboard will take from the power supply for system bus operations north/south bridge and voltage regulators? Are any on-board devices there (video, audio, networking, peripheral controllers)? Most likely yes. Do check your system board specs. For a normal system, consider 30 watts for motherboard operations.
• Do you plan to add any add-in boards? Check the specs for each of them.
• Additional case cooling required? Count them in.

In this moment you should have a pretty final picture of how many watts your power supply must deliver. Now, add at least 50% to that number and you have the real wattage requirement for your system.

Another thing to look for in case of dual CPU setups is that your PSU must have dual 12V CPU power lines. Without it, your system will not boot. It is not necessary to look for specific server PSUs as brands like Thermaltake, Antec, Enermax, and others produces solid PSUs with enough power and proper connectors for dual CPU configurations (look for E-ATX / CEB compatible power supplies).

I was really excited when I saw all those big boxes ready to be unpacked and the contents to be put together. One by one, things started to take shape. A bit disappointed on how the SATA power and data cables work their way to the front of the 3.5″ drive cage of my Intel SC5299-E server chassis.

Everything was connected and double-checked, so I was ready for the first power up. Everything was plugged in, and… I gently push the power button. OMFG! I stood there and watched and I couldn’t believe my eyes! Well, my ears actually! The system sounded like a twin turbo V8 engine @ 7000 rpm accelerating in my bath tub.

I didn’t panic that much, knowing that then a server starts up, all the coolers are at maximum rpm to compensate for wattage consumption during system init, so I just stood there and wait a bit… the POST OK beep was nearly inaudible and system started to load… so I’ve waited a bit more, but the horrible “howling” was still there.

Then I thought, ok, let’s install the OS, so the OS power management functions will calm down the beast. Which I did, but… no, the noise is still there. Juggling around with the BIOS settings still didn’t do any good.

So, let’s open him up. I’m going in. The main noise was generated by the 120 mm case fan mounted at the and of an air duct which sucks up hot air from memory and gets it off the case. Unplugging that fan reduced the noise level by half, but still not enough.

Looks like the two Intel boxed coolers running @ 6000 rpm make a lot of noise. I call the one on the top Taz, and his twin brother below… Taz. Since the case does not support passive cooling solutions, the only option was a third party product. Doing some research, I’ve came across ThermalTake CL-P0303, the only affordable active 2U cooling solution for Intel Xeon (LGA-771). Apparently, this dual heat pipe copper cooler only sold in the US for $39.99 MSRP, therefore I’ve ordered two.

Delivery lead time was almost 2 weeks, but it sure worth the wait. After I’ve installed the Thermatekes and 2000 rpm Recom case fan in front of the memory air duct, my server purrs like a kitten. Taz & Taz are now resting in a secured drawer from my office in order contain the two beasts.

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