Project: Network Switch -> Low Power Mini-Server

Hey guys, long time no see! This project is something that I began with a couple of months ago, and it’ll probably take me another couple of months to complete. Not because it’s a big project or anything, just because I don’t have enough time to work on this mod. Also because I already have a server and it is not necessary to complete this one very soon. So don’t expect me to work on this very often.

This is not my own picture, but it is the same type of switch.

Anyways, I got this NETWORK SWITCH from a friend of mine. I wanted to use it bus then I saw it was only a 10Mbps switch, so no good. Then my roommate came with a nice VIA motherboard with soldered in processor (a M789,picture below). This processor has a very tiny heatsink and fan on it and that’s good, because it doesn’t need anything bigger! (it’s VIA)

This is a picture of the VIA M789, ripped it from the interweb.

Sow the basic idea is to mount this board inside the housing of the network switch. I measured it and it should fit, but only just… It requires some modding before it does. I probably should tell you the dimensions of the casing: width: 43cm/17in height: 4.2cm/1.6in depth: 25cm/10in. For now I only have some SolidWorks drawings of the lay-out of the part inside the housing.

This is how the exterior should look (maybe I’ll have to paint it…)

Here’s the lay-out I had in mind.

A nice 3D-view of the thing.

I just love SolidWorks. The details in this render are sooo nice :bunny:

Another artistic view, in the front you can see the external power connector and a HDD. In the back you can see the PicoPSU.

Some specs of the system:
processor: VIA C3 800MHz
memory: DDR (256MB, I'll see what I have laying around)
PSU: PicoPSU* (otherwise it won’t fit)
HDDs: not decided (probably just some I have laying around)
other: custom made power buttons and status LEDs at the front panel
* The PicoPSU will require a power adapter because it runs on 12V, this adapter will have to fit in the space behind the motherboard.

That’s about it for now, let me know what you think! Any suggestions or comments are welcome. I also don’t have a theme for it (colors and stuff) so ideas on that are also welcome.

That looks pretty sweet! Can't wait to see the build get underway.

I'd say add a USB hub into the enclosure as well, and a 1gigabit 5 port switch, and you are set. :)

Any plans for the OS on this beast?

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Originally Posted by Luke122

I'd say add a USB hub into the enclosure as well, and a 1gigabit 5 port switch, and you are set. :)

Any plans for the OS on this beast?

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No plans on the OS yet, I think windows Home Server would be great. Only thing is that it can only just run at these specs, which means the server will get slow. Maybe I'll have to try linux or something, haven't decided yet.

On the usb and network idea: it's only a 800MHz system so don't expect wonders of it. I've already got two USB-ports, one will probably be for a printer.

I think I will use this thing only as a file- and back-up server. Gigabyte LAN would be nice, but where can I put it? there's no room to put in any PCI card or someting. And also I don't think I can use the full bandwidth due to the other specs of the system.

My bad, I thought that board had gigabit lan. Ok, then a small 4 or 5 port 10/100 switch in the case will allow you to plug other devices into it, and access stuff on this server. It will also mean less external wiring mess. :)

As for the 2 usb ports, the USB hub will use one of them to give you 4 more, so that's not really an issue.

You could always run Windows 2000 server on it, there's enough power there to do that, and that board will support up to 2gb ram as well, so there's plenty of room for growth.

Why not run freesco on it?

Thats a really cool idea.
They build sooo much extra space into the rack-mount switches which makes for a great project like this.
I may have to do something similar to this but keep the ethernet ports intact.

I really shouldn't go on this site as much. Its draining my wallet.
haha.

...definitely will keep posted.

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Originally Posted by tinker

...They build sooo much extra space into the rack-mount switches...

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Well, actually, the motherboard does not even fit in this housing. I will have to apply force (or mod the housing) for it to make it fit. And even then every mm will count! The main issue is the height; the audio ports on the 'backpanel' (now in the front) are a bit too tall. I can show a render when I'm back at my room, but that will be after the weekend (have to visit your parents some times...)

as for the OS on the thing: I like to keep everything open. A linux of some kind might be nice, though I'm not an expert at linux. Once I tried to connect my linux pc to an XP machine over the network and couldn't even get the shares to work :? That's probably me though ;)

That looks very cool, awesome idea. I am looking forward to see how this goes.

Right, I did some thinking during studying and I might go for a white case with blue accents. The render below show how I had it in mind. I thought about pearlecent white and metallic blue paints. I do think there should be some kind of graphic on the top of the case and maybe even one on the frontpanel. Tell me what you think...

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Originally Posted by silverdemon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tinker

...They build sooo much extra space into the rack-mount switches...

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Well, actually, the motherboard does not even fit in this housing... The main issue is the height; the audio ports on the 'backpanel' (now in the front) are a bit too tall. I can show a render when I'm back at my room...

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Here's a render of the front panel straight from the front. The green line is where the edge of the housing starts. You can see that the audio-ports on the backpanel are about 0.5mm too high to fit in the housing. So I have that much space! Actually I meassured it, I have exactly 41 mm of space between the top and bottom of the casing...

Have you installed RAM on that mobo just to see how tall it is, it may not fit in that rack. I know my RAM sits higher than my rear connection modules.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silverdemon

You can see that the audio-ports on the backpanel are about 0.5mm too high to fit in the housing.

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Do you need the audio ports on a server? Even if you do, you could remove them and solder wires to the board connected to panel mounted sockets somewhere else.

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Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Have you installed RAM on that mobo just to see how tall it is, it may not fit in that rack. I know my RAM sits higher than my rear connection modules.

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I measured my tallest RAM module, it's 35mm from the board to the top. That should give me just enough room...

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Originally Posted by xmastree

Do you need the audio ports on a server? Even if you do, you could remove them and solder wires to the board connected to panel mounted sockets somewhere else.

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Na, I probably don't'need it but I think I can figure out a way to fit everything inside the housing with no soldering. I think that would be the best option because: 1. my soldering station is broken and 2. I'd rather not solder this board, as it is actually my roommate's board...

What do you think about the color-scheme? any suggestions?

Fire and ice man. You've already got red dragon, I think an ice theme would be pretty cool. Pearlescent white paint, white and blue LED's. Maybe some stenciled snowflakes airbrushed on. Take some clear plexi and make a cover for he front. Cut it into the shape of icecycles. There's a lot of cool designs you could do with an ice theme.

Clear plexi, with some lacquer sprayed on to look like it's frozen up on the inside. I'm not sure how to achieve that, but it would look good, especially with cool blue lighting.

Edit:
Ahaaa.....

sweet idea man. looks too be an awesome mod. +rep

Thats a cool idea. I like the original idea. Just use bigger blue stripes on it.

Right, I did some rendering again. I like the idea of (fire and) ice so I tried to get a frosted look on the front panel. I think it will look nice, though the render is not 100% as I would have wanted it. The edge around the panel should obiously be more white-ish. In the render I also put a blue light inside the case, so you ca get an idea of how it'll look with LEDs/CCFLs in it.

Also I made another render with the old front-panel but with a bit wider stripes.

I think it looks nice with the wider stripes, although I might want to put some logo/picture/(snowflakes?) on the top, so maybe then the smaller stripes will look better.

Anyways, thanks a lot for the input guys. Tell me what you like of the frosted look...

Awesome look. I think do the plexi and wider stripes.

Ok, so here's my latest render. Transperent front panel and thicker stripes. I made the front striper bigger than the back one, just to try it out. I think it looks quite nice. I also added some more (LED)lights on the inside of the case.

One thing I'm still not happy with is the way the frosted edge looks in the render. I just can't seem to get that edge to be white. (anybody who knows a way to do that in SolidWorks? I'm currently using a decal...)

[edit]: Oh yeah, I know the stripe 'stops' at the side of the case, this is just more easy for me to render this way, in the final thing the blue stripes will go all the way around...

It looks great, fantastic idea this is.

Thats a great mixture of the 2. It looks great.

Any updates here?

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Originally Posted by Luke122

Any updates here?

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Is that a rhetorical question?

Obviously, there are no updates :P
but I didn't even work on this mod for a while now :( you, the usual problem: time...

I'm a bit busy with my uni-work and some other assignments I have to do (I get money for them :D). So no news on this mod yet, also because the system I wanted to put is would be a bit too slow for a server, I think I need at least a 1GHz+ system to run Windows HomeServer. This thing is just 800MHz...

Anyways, maybe I'll have some time in the summer to mod this thing, probably won't'be able to do this any sooner :(

Sorry for the delay and letting you wait and all...

Good to know you haven't dropped this mod.

Hello friends of TBSC,

I'm sorry I haven't been able to be here a lot lately. But I have some problems in my life, study-wise and personally...
Due to this my spare time is very limited and I won't have time to build this computer.
Fortunately I recently got another computer that can do the job and needs less (close to no) modding. I'm sorry to disappoint you with this news, but I have one small thing to make it up.

My new computer is a 2U-server, a Dell PowerEdge 2450, with 2x1000MHz PIII processors, 1,25GB RAM, 4x36GB SCSI HDDs etc. I'll show you one picture in this thread, and I'll create a new topic somewhere on this forum to show you everything (and ask some questions).
link to new topic

Once again, I am sorry I can not continue this project, but as I said, I have limited time and I have a replacement...

Damn, that project was looking great. Hope you dig it up later down the track.