Project: 14 TB fileserver? Building a Dual PC tower

Hi guys! been lurking around these forums for awhile, but never took the time to register, anyways, just signed up, and ready to post my casebuild on this site =)

Might as well start off with some concept images ( 3dsmax 2OO8 )

-------The idea-------

The main idea behind this project was to create a silent running file server with lots of physical space to fit all the HDD's i would need to store, uhm... stuff, and equip it with a large ass radiator to remove all the heat created, i wanted the tower to have room for 2 motherboards, just for the simplicity of having one gaming computer and one running as server in the same case, as the main aspect of this build would be silent operation , i went for 3x 250mm mist fans, and another 8x 120mm noctuas to cool things off...

-------The hardware------

--Hardware-- PC1
Asus P5K - Deluxe, p35
4gb pc 9200 ocz flex
Radeon HD3870x2
Q6600 - G0
X-fi, extreme gamer

--Hardware-- PC2
Asus P5N32-E SLI
OCZ NvidiaSLI XTC 4GB PC8500
Asus 8800GT
Q6600 - G0
X-fi, extreme gamer

--Disks--
4x 74gb toshiba 15k rpm SAS
16x 500gb Western Digital - 16mb 7200rpm - SATA
8x 750gb Western Digital - 16mb 7200rpm - SATA
4x 500gb Western Digital - 16mb 7200rpm - IDE

--Watercooling--
KTM 525 EXC Radiator
1x Aqua-Medic Oceanrunner 1200l/h pumper
5 meter watehose, 12mm
4 meter foodhose, 42mm
random plummer parts in copper
Random waterblocks

------materials--------
I wanted this case to look decent, and to be honest, aluminium cases got a bit too common for me, so i decided to go with a full plexi casing with a aluminium frame to support it, the harddrive mount ended up in perforated steel plates, somewhat to keep them a bit colder, and somewhat for the looks of it

Welcome aboard!

32HDDS?!?!?! Damn man.. this system is going to cost an arm and a leg.. and 2 more legs, and some blood, and a first born child.

Very cool project, definitely BIG. :D

--12.02.2008--

This will just be a repost of my original worklog, to share experiences and maybe give some ideas to people that wanna build up a case too ^^

Afraid i managed to delete the pictures from the original weld prosess, but i will explain whats been done

----materials-----

Started out with finding some suitable aluminium bars at the local iron dealer, after looking around a bit i ended up with 20x20x200mm square pieces, this should be the ideal considering the final weight of the computer, and that it needs some sturdiness to be able to hold it all together

Bought up about 10 meters, and started cutting/clamping and welding the pieces together

All the welds has been done on both sides to ensure its strong enough

------The result-----

The front

The bottom, probably where the disk mount is gonna be placed

Radiator area

--16.02.2008--


Motherboard tray attached to the frame, drilled up, and popped in place

Backside of the case

6mm pop's holding stuff together

...............

Lian Li Mobo plate mounted =)

20x20x3mm angled up to create a mounting point for the mobo plates

Just drilled a few holes and popped it to the rest of the frame

Cut up another 4 pieces in 20x20x3mm alu, thats gonna create the mounts for my harddrives

The main idea behind the entire harddrive mount is that the coloumn of disks shouldnt be in contact with the main frame of the case, as this will result in vibrations going too the floor, and causing unpleasant noise, there will be a few 15k rpm disks in here, so managing to keep the vibration away is crucial. The way this one work is quite simple, it will be a rubber tube holding the bolt up, so it wont be in contact with the other frame, trying to illustrate =)

Cut up , polished, and ready for mounting

Rubber thingy good to go

8mm rubber connection ensure no vibrations will be transfered further on in the case

Steel pop's, can take a tremendous amount of weight before getting loose, alot more sturdy then their alu brother

Ended up with perforated steel to create the disk mount, this should ensure somewhat better airflow, it wont get bendt that easy, and it transfers heat better then alu ever will =)

Holy (insert 4 letter word of choice here) !!!
This one i gotta follow...

--16.02.2008--

My plexi package arrived =)

over 5 square meters of red, clear and dark coloured plexi ^^

The plexi i had ordered were mostly precut to meet my requirements for it. Placed it all up, taped it, and good to start working

The top taped up too

Ready to mount the first 250mm fan, welcome to your new home ^^

Tape ftw!

No idea whats this one is called in english, but lets just go with large ass dremel for now, taped the edges to prevent the cutting blade to slip , and scratch up the oh so fragile plate

Got it all smoothened up

And another one coming up

First one mounted up =)

There we go =)

--------- Building a custom water reservoir--------

I also wanted to get some place to store my coolant, so came up with a decent idea on where to store it all

After a visit to the local plumber, i ended up with the following:

2 meter 45mm rubber hose, cut up in 1 meter lengths, and yea... they are ALOT larger then the picture gives a impression of

Misc stuff bought inn for the occasion

All welded up and good to go

Tightened up with some hose clamps to keep the water from leaking out

And this is how copper looks after being polished up

And there we go, one custom reservoir

Cut out a plate of lexan i had around in the shop, and mounted it to this one

Plate mounted up using self drilling bolts

Should look pretty awesome when you get some colored water trough it =)

--03.03.2008--

Bought in about 12 meter of normal rubber bands to seal of vibrations between the plexi and the frame

And the appropriate rubber sealing for the end of the alu squares

Again, lost some images in the progress, and YES i know the plexi is dirty.

Anyways, since im working around in a bikeshop i found a few of those iron pieces that will save ur plastic when u happen to tip over on ur bike, made some holes, and threw some bolts trough em, same goes with the plexi

The bottom

Sideview :p

No pictures for this process either im afraid, but quite simply used one of those wood drills with 120mm size to get the holes done

The backside

And heres the bolts! directly from bauhaus =)

....

-------The watercooling--------

The radiator looks something like this =)

As i stated earlier, some of the point of building this computer, was to make sure its silent, and can run efficient on low voltage fans

ended up with using a KTM 525 EXC radiator, this alone should be able to dispatch alot more heat then the normal "pc radiators" u can get around there

Also made a custom fan duct out of plexi to make sure all the air goes trough the radiator, and not everywhere around it

Created the fanduct in 3mm plexi, easily cut up with my "dremel" :P

Another angle

used m8 bolts to make sure the radiator fit well into the rest of the case

Used some tube aluminium to cover up the bolt, and to make sure its stable to the rest of the case

10mm outlet from the hose, should ensure enough flow =)

Enough for now, ill post some more tomorrow =) And thanks alot luke, ill get confy ^^.

youre german arent you?
where do you live exactly? :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by grevaeg

Ended up with perforated steel to create the disk mount, this should ensure somewhat better airflow, it wont get bendt that easy, and it transfers heat better then alu ever will =)

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I'll agree with the better airflow and good strength, but as far as heat transfer aluminum is second only to copper in that category for industrial use (and a few rare earth or precious metals)

Thermal conductivity of some common metals from http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/th...ity-d_429.html
k = (W/m K)
Acrylic 0.2 k
Aluminum 250 k
Brass 109 k
Copper 401 k
Gold 310 k
Silver 429 k
Steel 46 k
Stainless Steel 16 k

i think youre going to need more jiggawatts......

looks great...i have a mod that similar in design comin up

Incredible work, man... and what a project!
+rep for the sheer SIZE of it.

holy crap, an 8800gtx and a 3870x2 in a file server?!? looks great nonetheless

Awesome!!!!!!!

I know that this might sound bad but... When you use copper tubing dose'nt that mean that you wanna use copper water blocks or they corrode... I'm not quite sure I will ask some one that knows a little more. (I'm pretty sure you thats right.)

This is a awesome build by the way! Dont let me scare... Cant wait to see it finished!

i cant wait to see how you are going to manage all those cables...its going to be a nightmare

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scar~face

i cant wait to see how you are going to manage all those cables...its going to be a nightmare

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Cabler ARE gonna be a mess, gets the chills just thinking a bout all those sata and power cables stretching around in there -.-

Quote:

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Incredible work, man... and what a project!
+rep for the sheer SIZE of it.

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Thanks dude =)

Quote:

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i think youre going to need more jiggawatts......

looks great...i have a mod that similar in design comin up

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Have 2x thermaltake 1200w thoughpowers around, shouldnt be much of a problem with wattage :P

And no FrooP, im from norway, sorry :P

This looks like it has a lot of potential. Good job so far. +rep

Mate love the idea. Fantastic tech and a fantastic start to what looks like a great mod. Can't wait for more.

I just want the storage capactiy....14TB!??!?!?!?!! I think I'm in love.

for the power connectors, can you get the heads, and make your own power leads?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killergamer

I know that this might sound bad but... When you use copper tubing dose'nt that mean that you wanna use copper water blocks or they corrode... I'm not quite sure I will ask some one that knows a little more. (I'm pretty sure you thats right.)

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Ya, It's called galvanic corrosion. I don't think it occurs very fast but over time can cause problems like leaking and such.

Cool mod by the way. 8)

Thank You Night, I was hoping some one would tell me. Like I said before this is a sweet looking mod!:up:

A BEAST!! I love it! Cant wait for more champ! My only input is

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No idea whats this one is called in english, but lets just go with large ass dremel for now

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Its called an "angle grinder" lol the ultimate dremel!!

I will keep up with this bad boy!!!

THIS IS AMAZING!!!! Can't wait to see this when it is finished!

Wow... didnt expect a frontpage view all of a sudden :P

Ill get some more pics up today, thanks for comments people ^^.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NightrainSrt4

Ya, It's called galvanic corrosion. I don't think it occurs very fast but over time can cause problems like leaking and such.

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This is easily prevented with a coat of clear paint =)

Update Update Update!!!!

Ah well, here we go again =)

Posting up some pics on the case before stashing all the hardware inn there, enjoy ^^.

1cm room between the two top plates, and 1cm room between the two front plates to ensure good airflow and a decent looking fan grill :P

Fans in place and good to go

That red plexi looks really good. Awesome work man.

I love this case, great work, and +rep for sure.

Looks freaking great for a file server, +rep for such a great idea.

thx for rep guys , really appreciated ^^.

Ill get some more updates out later today most likely

/me wants one.....

+rep ;)

The corrosion only occurs when the copper and the other metal (containing zinc usually) are touching. If they are in the same loop they are fine and will never corrode . . . well, I can't say never, but it won't happen from being in a loop together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d_stilgar

The corrosion only occurs when the copper and the other metal (containing zinc usually) are touching. If they are in the same loop they are fine and will never corrode . . . well, I can't say never, but it won't happen from being in a loop together.

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if where talking galvanic corrosion then the metals don't have to touch and it will corrode via the coolant.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spawn-Inc

if where talking galvanic corrosion then the metals don't have to touch and it will corrode via the coolant.

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Sorry, you are right. If the coolant conducts electricity, then there will be corrosion. I was assuming that the coolant would be non-conductive. If the coolant doesn't conduct electricity though, there will be no problem as the two metals have to be electrically connected.

From the wiki:
There are several ways of reducing and preventing this form of corrosion. One way is to electrically insulate the two metals from each other. Unless they are in electrical contact, there can be no galvanic couple set up. This can be done using plastic or another insulator to separate steel water pipes from copper-based fittings or by using a coat of grease to separate aluminium and steel parts. Use of absorbent washers that may retain fluid is often counter-productive.

Good luck on the mod!

if only all those HD's were Hitachi 1tb HD's :( The case looks great now nonetheless. :)

Very cool mod. The red plexi gives it a nice touch. Great mod all together! +rep

Where did you get that plexi from? And how thick is it? The color is great!!! Awesome mod btw!

Nice rig man looks great and thats a LOT of hdd's