Reworking My Large System
- Thread starter DJ Bobcat
- Start date
Problem is, you never know you got 'em until they don't work. Copying everything from one place to another exposes them... but sometimes the software just thinks they're corrupted.[emoji1] In any case, this was my OLD media server I was copying them from, and putting all the files on the new Dell server. Then I'll retire the old server, including the 1TB drives that were in it the last 7-8 years. That was a GREAT server... ran 24x7 for all those years on SuSe Linux. Needed to be retired though. Windows 10 (build 1709) won't connect to Samba 1.0 because it's a security risk... time to update, or in this case replace.[emoji4]
The old SuSe server is gone
... Dismantled it and took the old hard drives and anything reusable out of it, then tossed the carcass out.[emoji1] I forgot how old that thing was. I checked my records and found I had bought all the components in January 2009. I would have built it pretty soon thereafter, so it had been running almost non-stop for over 9 years. The technology in it was interesting too. The EVGA motherboard had both IDE and SATA (six ports). I was using (3) 1TB SATA drives (RAID5) and a SATA DVD drive, but the system drive was an 80GB IDE drive. The motherboard was a transitional board, but it had PCIE 16, and PCI E slots, in addition to PCI's. Pretty cool. I don't think I ever ran a computer that many years. I built a new office computer at about that same time, but that motherboard was replaced a long time ago, and the motherboard I replaced it with is getting on in years now. I have a newer office computer, and the old one is still on Windows 7, and only used for some of the art applications installed on it. So now I have reduced the number of computers I own by five (but added the two Dell Servers), and I'm still paring down... I think I'm down to 28 computers now.[emoji1]
... Dismantled it and took the old hard drives and anything reusable out of it, then tossed the carcass out.[emoji1] I forgot how old that thing was. I checked my records and found I had bought all the components in January 2009. I would have built it pretty soon thereafter, so it had been running almost non-stop for over 9 years. The technology in it was interesting too. The EVGA motherboard had both IDE and SATA (six ports). I was using (3) 1TB SATA drives (RAID5) and a SATA DVD drive, but the system drive was an 80GB IDE drive. The motherboard was a transitional board, but it had PCIE 16, and PCI E slots, in addition to PCI's. Pretty cool. I don't think I ever ran a computer that many years. I built a new office computer at about that same time, but that motherboard was replaced a long time ago, and the motherboard I replaced it with is getting on in years now. I have a newer office computer, and the old one is still on Windows 7, and only used for some of the art applications installed on it. So now I have reduced the number of computers I own by five (but added the two Dell Servers), and I'm still paring down... I think I'm down to 28 computers now.[emoji1]
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Is 6 inches enough?... Or is 7 better, or maybe eight?[emoji1]... Get yer minds outta the gutter!!![emoji1] I'm talkin' about raising the height of my new rack. This is a DJ Forum, not Chaturbate.com![emoji1]
Currently, the SKB R-104 sitting atop the SKB R-1906 stands 32.5 inches high. When standing and operating the controller, I have my arms fully extended. I don't like bending over... four hours bent over is bad for an old man's back, so I need the rack elevated so I can stand straight up while I'm working. A standard table stands about 29 inches high. Kitchen counters are around 35-36 inches... that's only 3.5 inches higher than my rack. Six inches would elevate the rack to 38.5 inches. I think that's enough, but I'm building it, so I can build it as high as I want.[emoji4] What height would you make it if it was yours?
Currently, the SKB R-104 sitting atop the SKB R-1906 stands 32.5 inches high. When standing and operating the controller, I have my arms fully extended. I don't like bending over... four hours bent over is bad for an old man's back, so I need the rack elevated so I can stand straight up while I'm working. A standard table stands about 29 inches high. Kitchen counters are around 35-36 inches... that's only 3.5 inches higher than my rack. Six inches would elevate the rack to 38.5 inches. I think that's enough, but I'm building it, so I can build it as high as I want.[emoji4] What height would you make it if it was yours?
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You guys are NO help at all.[emoji1] Since I got NO RESOPNSE to my question, I went ahead and cut my pieces for a 6 inch height extension. I'll try to build it so additional inches can be added later if necessary.
The wooden PC shelf didn't work out. In order for it to be sturdy enough to support the two Nano Computers and a small Ethernet switch, it had to be thicker than the available space. So it's back to plan A... the metal shelf. Got the pieces made to attach the steel shelf to the rack, and it fits perfectly underneath the controller. Need to go back to the hardware store for shorter screws though, since the ones I bought (to mount the PC's on the shelf) were for the thicker wooden shelf.! Having to use the metal shelf will force me to narrow my keyboard/mouse shelf by an inch or so on each side. Not sure yet how that's gonna work. Guess I'll figure that out tomorrow. Finishing the fabrication of the keyboard/mouse shelf is on the agenda for tomorrow.[emoji4] I'll take some pics after all the fabrication is complete.
I'll have some time and some good weather to work on the rack mods out in the garage tomorrow, but likely won't get any work done on Sunday... Easter. Family brunch at 1:00PM, and the weather is supposed to be pretty cr@ppy too. It's not a bad thing to step away from a project for a day or so anyway. I usually return with a fresh perspective.[emoji1]
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I was right about ONE thing... got nothing done on my Large System rack today.[emoji4]... We did have a GREAT Easter brunch, though. About 13 other family members joined my wife and me at our favorite Mexican restaurant. They always serve Brunch on Sunday, but they had a new Brunch menu today, and everything was FABULOUS![emoji4]
... And the weather was cr@ppy as forecast.[emoji1]... Cold, cloudy, and windy. So there was no way I was gonna work in the garage today anyway... Might as well eat brunch.[emoji1]
Looks like I'll be moving the rack rails back 2 inches on my stereo/cabinet server rack. While attempting to put servers in the rack (last night), and after removing all the handles from the rack-mounted server cases and UPS's... I was hit with the realization that the keyboard drawer ALSO has a handle that sticks out from the front about two inches...CR@P!!!... No way around that one... Can't open the keyboard drawer without a handle.[emoji1]I could just put a keyboard and mouse on the top of the rack, but then what do I do with a rack-mounted keyboard drawer???[emoji1] It's just six screws, so it won't take much time. It will take longer to put all the handles back on the servers and UPS's I took them off of.[emoji1] It's quite possible I can get that done this evening. I have all the servers shut down except for my Media (music) server, which I temporarily moved to my new SKB slant-top rack. It's all a game of musical servers/racks.[emoji1]
... And the weather was cr@ppy as forecast.[emoji1]... Cold, cloudy, and windy. So there was no way I was gonna work in the garage today anyway... Might as well eat brunch.[emoji1]
Looks like I'll be moving the rack rails back 2 inches on my stereo/cabinet server rack. While attempting to put servers in the rack (last night), and after removing all the handles from the rack-mounted server cases and UPS's... I was hit with the realization that the keyboard drawer ALSO has a handle that sticks out from the front about two inches...CR@P!!!... No way around that one... Can't open the keyboard drawer without a handle.[emoji1]I could just put a keyboard and mouse on the top of the rack, but then what do I do with a rack-mounted keyboard drawer???[emoji1] It's just six screws, so it won't take much time. It will take longer to put all the handles back on the servers and UPS's I took them off of.[emoji1] It's quite possible I can get that done this evening. I have all the servers shut down except for my Media (music) server, which I temporarily moved to my new SKB slant-top rack. It's all a game of musical servers/racks.[emoji1]
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Recycle, recycle, recycle.[emoji1] Every project leads to another. Today I'm working in my office. WHAT A MESS![emoji1] I'm going to reuse (recycle) the old monitor arms that were once used with my old Large System. I have a dual monitor stand in the office already, but with the addition of the iMac, I really need three. I can add a third VESA bracket between the dual arms, which was not possible with the dual monitor stand. This will get all the monitors up in the air, and I'll be able to move them more freely than before.
...And, while I have everything shut down, I'm going to reuse (recycle) a three (disk) drive hot swap tray I took out of my old SuSe server when I retired and dismantled it. It will be nice to be able to swap disk drives in and out of my office computer any time I want, without having to open the case.
Had to clean off my desk first, though. Lotsa dust there was.[emoji1] It didn't look too bad until I started moving stuff around and you could see the black desktop underneath... and it was actually BLACK, not gray.[emoji1]
I think this job is gonna take a few hours, but will check several tasks off my list. I'd rather be working on the rack, but the weather ain't cooperatin'.[emoji1]
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...And, while I have everything shut down, I'm going to reuse (recycle) a three (disk) drive hot swap tray I took out of my old SuSe server when I retired and dismantled it. It will be nice to be able to swap disk drives in and out of my office computer any time I want, without having to open the case.
Had to clean off my desk first, though. Lotsa dust there was.[emoji1] It didn't look too bad until I started moving stuff around and you could see the black desktop underneath... and it was actually BLACK, not gray.[emoji1]
I think this job is gonna take a few hours, but will check several tasks off my list. I'd rather be working on the rack, but the weather ain't cooperatin'.[emoji1]
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Spent the entire day working in my office. I got the monitor arms set up and the hot-swap rack installed in my computer. Took quite a while, as I continued to confront obstacles, but found solutions to most of them. The good thing was, I had everything I needed. I don't need to order any parts.
The hot-swap rack fits in two in two 5 1/4" spaces, and has three 3.5 inch drive bays. But I had a 2.5" SSD drive bay and a 5 1/4" DVD drive and only one remaining 5 1/4" space. Fortunately, I had a dual 2.5" rack/Slim DVD combo rack I could install, which allowed me to keep my SSD in one bay, and I can put a new 2.5" drive in the second bay, and I have a half height DVD drive. It turned out pretty good. I'm not sure about the monitor arms yet. Maybe they'll work, maybe not. I need to play with them a while to see. If not, I'll just keep two of the arms and leave the iMac unmounted.
I thought I'd post a pick of my server rack that I converted from an old stereo cabinet. I spent yesterday getting servers mounted in it and getting everything working. This one I'm pretty happy with...
The hot-swap rack fits in two in two 5 1/4" spaces, and has three 3.5 inch drive bays. But I had a 2.5" SSD drive bay and a 5 1/4" DVD drive and only one remaining 5 1/4" space. Fortunately, I had a dual 2.5" rack/Slim DVD combo rack I could install, which allowed me to keep my SSD in one bay, and I can put a new 2.5" drive in the second bay, and I have a half height DVD drive. It turned out pretty good. I'm not sure about the monitor arms yet. Maybe they'll work, maybe not. I need to play with them a while to see. If not, I'll just keep two of the arms and leave the iMac unmounted.I thought I'd post a pick of my server rack that I converted from an old stereo cabinet. I spent yesterday getting servers mounted in it and getting everything working. This one I'm pretty happy with
...
![IMG_E1501[1].JPG](https://ourdjtalk.com/data/attachments/32/32914-d6f0787bbd955110de00a09a99f08735.jpg "IMG_E1501[1].JPG")
Ah, cmon' now... I know you can't put your Dell T-30's in THAT![emoji1]... Did you see my new Dell T-30's in the bottom of my rack?
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Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany...been there and it's amazing how many 2-liter mugs they are able to carry. But, if you've ever seen the size of those women (woman), you'd know why.
Nope... Pretty sure that's a pic of my wife bringing me refreshments as I lounged by the pool last Summer.[emoji1]
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T30 was converted to a desktop. The QNAP runs Plex and a few other server apps.
I did visit Germany during Oktoberfest, but was in the Stuttgart area and they don't do it like Munich. I did visit the Hofbrau House in Munich at another time during the year and saw the girls carrying like 20 mugs of beer.
Got to replace one of my NAS drives .. if you look at the larger image, drive 4 is out. Still runs as it was in mirroring mode, but starting to look for one.
Not sure what I'm going to do today. Still got a lot of tasks on my list. I may take today off and just chill. Here's the results from yesterday's efforts...
... I'd prefer having the two end monitors turned more inward, but the mounting arms are spread as far as I can spread them, and turning them inward won't work. If I could move the center one back a little, it might help some... just not as much as I want...
... here's a pic from the top (not sure if you can see it very well). I may just have to unmount the iMac and let it sit back on the desk. The iMac stand is (virtually) un-removable, and it hits the top of the desk anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't matter too much... Except I spent all that time getting the monitor mounting arms set up to replace a dual monitor stand I already had.
... I'd prefer having the two end monitors turned more inward, but the mounting arms are spread as far as I can spread them, and turning them inward won't work. If I could move the center one back a little, it might help some... just not as much as I want...
... here's a pic from the top (not sure if you can see it very well). I may just have to unmount the iMac and let it sit back on the desk. The iMac stand is (virtually) un-removable, and it hits the top of the desk anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't matter too much... Except I spent all that time getting the monitor mounting arms set up to replace a dual monitor stand I already had.
Could always add some spacers to the outer VESA bolts forcing the outer monitor edges toward you.Not sure what I'm going to do today. Still got a lot of tasks on my list. I may take today off and just chill. Here's the results from yesterday's efforts...
View attachment 33966
... I'd prefer having the two end monitors turned more inward, but the mounting arms are spread as far as I can spread them, and turning them inward won't work. If I could move the center one back a little, it might help some... just not as much as I want...
View attachment 33967
... here's a pic from the top (not sure if you can see it very well). I may just have to unmount the iMac and let it sit back on the desk. The iMac stand is (virtually) un-removable, and it hits the top of the desk anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't matter too much... Except I spent all that time getting the monitor mounting arms set up to replace a dual monitor stand I already had.
Could always add some spacers to the outer VESA bolts forcing the outer monitor edges toward you.Not sure what I'm going to do today. Still got a lot of tasks on my list. I may take today off and just chill. Here's the results from yesterday's efforts...
View attachment 33966
... I'd prefer having the two end monitors turned more inward, but the mounting arms are spread as far as I can spread them, and turning them inward won't work. If I could move the center one back a little, it might help some... just not as much as I want...
View attachment 33967
... here's a pic from the top (not sure if you can see it very well). I may just have to unmount the iMac and let it sit back on the desk. The iMac stand is (virtually) un-removable, and it hits the top of the desk anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't matter too much... Except I spent all that time getting the monitor mounting arms set up to replace a dual monitor stand I already had.
Not sure what kind of spacers I could get. I probably need 2 inches on each of the two outer monitors. I have another kind of a mount that I could use for the center monitor. It would put Center monitor back further, but maybe too far. The mounting post is attached to the back edge of my desk and can't move any further forward. I have another bracket that would allow me to mount it further forward, but that bracket requires drilling a big hole in my desk... Don't think I wanna do that.[emoji4]
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2" would be tough. A 1/4"-3/8" piece of black plastic pipe would work, but you'd have to play with the other side of the mount as well as the screw would be coming in at an angle to the monitor. Another option I was playing with for my wall mounted monitors was angled blocks of wood, 1 top two holes, 1 for the bottom 2 on the mount, maybe a 15 degree angle - larger on the outsides. paint them black and drill holes at an angle.
![IMG_1503[1].JPG](https://ourdjtalk.com/data/attachments/32/32919-825304171c6c53faeb0ac1cc8eea9198.jpg "IMG_1503[1].JPG")
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