Dell Poweredge 2400 Server Case mod.

While I'm saving up a few more bucks for my gaming rig parts (to go in Project No Idea) I was browsing eBay and I ended up buying a Dell Poweredge 2400 Server.
It has a dual P3 MoBo, dual PSU's and a 9 gig drive in it. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but for $25 I can't complain.

I may set it up as a home server to back up all my files, or I may use the case as a PC and mount the drives in the side so I can have it sit better on my desk, while still seeing into it through a window.

It should be here tomorrow. I missed the courier on Thursday and they have it rescheduled to arrive tomorrow. So I'll take a few pics then.

In the mean time, here is what it looks like and you can judge how wide it is by the CD drive and where the floppy drive is mounted.

My other though is that front looks really good to mount a radiator behind for a liquid cooled set up.

I love finding computer deals like that. I scored 2 Gateway 6400 servers for $5 each from my school. Your poweredge is massive wide. I like the clean box shape of it. That will be nice when modded, good luck!

Don't you hate courier companies?
I missed it last week, rang them and had it booked in for delivery today. After hanging around all day for it, I rang again and they said there must have been an error and it wasn't loaded on the truck.
So tomorrow hopefully it will arrive...

I wish I could get me a hold of a deal like that. Being 15 and no job really hurts when you need a new computer. Hope the mod works out for you.

Sweet Deal! man, for 25$, that's actually decent! You could try finding a couple more good deals and cluster them. Then that might work a bit better for a file server...

I got home from work and it had arrived!

So here are some pics.

Inside the case. Note the big air duct over the processors:

Under the duct you can see the two PIII processors and heat sinks, with the 120mm fan mounted to cool them:

The front with the cover off showing the space for up to 6 SCSI drives:

Here's what it looks like under the top cover where the dual PSU's are and the back of the CD drive is:

One thing I never realised before is a server MoBo is opposite to a normal MoBo. It's mounted on the other side of the case to a normal PC, so I can't just slot any old motherboard in without modifications.

Good thing we are a modding forum, isn't it? :D

This thing is heavy as hell too. It's almost a two person lift!

Word. I know Dell has been into using unusual form factors. My family just picked up a Dell C521, which is some sort of half height BTX. My Gateway servers use standard ATX motherboards.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bucko

This thing is heavy as hell too. It's almost a two person lift!

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... The reason I got rid of my Compaq Proliant. It was like a PII and some other stuff, got it free from a dude at a local computer shop. He said I could have it, but I'd have to figure out how to work it and stuff. After 2 days, I was so pissed by the size I gave it back. To much hassle. This is going to be sweet though, I've always wanted to see some mod a hug server.

I see a lot of potential in wire management in this case too. An ATX PSU should fit where the two server PSU's are. By having it all on that top tray, I could put all the wiring up from the PSU there and make a modular set up with easy access through the removal of the top panel.

The best thing I like though is the space! It's makes it so much easier to do anything I may come up with because of that fact alone.

haha that case looks so innocent and waiting to be modded

I've made the decsion that this server case will become my games machine, and it will also be the Ratputer. So I'm locking this thread, and all updates will be in the Ratputer thread.
Click HERE or click the pic in my sig.