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+date = 2022-11-27
+title = "Building a Custom Rack-Mount Server"
+description = "I finally built my own custom rack-mounted server after years of indecision."
++++
+
+## The Dilemma
+
+For years, I have been using desktops and a Raspberry Pi as the backbone of my 
+homelab. I have always wanted to move toward a single dedicated server that 
+could handle all of my tasks, but was often put off by the complexity of the 
+choices (and financial roadblocks at some times).
+
+However, after purchasing a small server rack this past year, I have been 
+researching to see what kind of rack-mounted server I could buy. I initially 
+bought a Dell R720XD loaded up with everything I could ever want in a server - 
+but I did not care for it. It was far too loud, and the age of the CPU/RAM was 
+something I wanted to improve upon.
+
+After returning the R720XD, I decided that I wanted to build my own server with 
+modern, consumer-grade PC components. This time, I am very happy with the 
+results of my server.
+
+## Components
+
+I'll start by listing all the components I used for this server build:
+
+- **Case**: [Rosewill RSV-R4100U 4U Server Chassis Rackmount 
+Case](https://www.rosewill.com/rosewill-rsv-r4100u-black/p/9SIA072GJ92825)
+- **Motherboard**: [NZXT B550](https://nzxt.com/product/n7-b550)
+- **CPU**: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with Radeon Graphics
+- **GPU**: N/A - I specifically chose one of the few AMD CPUs that support 
+onboard graphics.
+- **RAM**: 64GB RAM (2x32GB) _Max of 128GB RAM on this motherboard_
+- **Boot Drive**: Western Digital 500GB M.2 NVME SSD
+- **HDD Bay**:
+  - 10TB WD White _(shucked, moved from previous server)_
+  - 8TB WD White _(shucked, moved from previous server)_
+  - 2 x 8TB WD Red Plus _(Black Friday lined up perfectly with this build, so I 
+  grabbed two of these)_
+- **PSU**: Corsair RM850 PSU
+- **Extras**:
+  - Corsair TM3Q Thermal Paste
+  - Noctua 120mm fan _(replacement for front case fan)_
+  - 2 x Noctua 80mm fans _(replacement for rear case fans)_
+  - CableMatters 6Gbps SATA Cables
+
+## Building the Server
+
+This took quite a while for me to build (in my opinion of time), totaling 
+around 3 hours from start to finish. The case has some peculiar construction, so 
+you have to completely remove the ODD & HDD cages to install the motherboard and 
+other components first.
+
+Now, I've never built a computer of any kind before, so I was quite 
+nervous. Personally, the only challenging part was getting the CPU cooler to 
+screw into the motherboard without sliding the thermal paste around too much 
+underneath. I'm still not entirely sure if I did a great job of it, but 
+nothing's broken yet.
+
+The main components were all fine and simple.
+However, installing the hard drives is slightly tedious as I need to power 
+off the server and completely unscrew the HDD cage to install or remove any 
+drives.
+Additionally, the drives are screwed directly into the metal cage with small 
+screws, which are quite a bit different from the HDD trays I'm used to in 
+other machines.
+
+Seeing that the cases with hot-swap bays were 3-4x the price, I'm okay dealing 
+with the tedium of removing the cage to install new drives.
+
+## Software
+
+I'm not going to dive into the software as I have done so in other recent posts. 
+However, I wanted to note that I am using Alpine Linux on this server and 
+hosting most services inside Docker. No virtual machines (VMs) and very few 
+bare-metal services.
+
+## The Results
+
+How did my build turn out? Well, after migrating my other servers and their 
+services over, I found that my server is blazing fast. The heaviest of my 
+applications, Plex, is handled with ease. Even 4k streaming seems to be 
+effortless.
+
+I am very happy with the results and will likely continue to improve on this 
+server as the years go by rather than buying another used server online.
+
+### Mistakes I Made
+
+This post wouldn't be complete unless I wrote about the mistakes I made while 
+building. The only real mistake I made beyond a "whoops I dropped a screw" 
+related to airflow and fan direction.
+
+While installing the two new hard drives that showed up on 2022-11-30 and 
+getting ready to install the case in my rack, I noticed that the hard drive 
+temperatures were quite high.
+
+I used the `smartctl` command for each of my drives (`/dev/sda` through 
+`/dev/sdd`):
+
+```sh
+doas smartctl -a /dev/sda | grep Temperature_Celsius
+```
+
+The results were unusual - all four drives were idling at ~44-46 degrees 
+Celsius. The only drive that was cooler was my 10TB drive, which was at 38 
+degrees Celsius. I noted that this 10TB drive was also closest to the case fan.
+
+```sh
+ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
+# /dev/sda
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   147   147   000    Old_age   Always       -       44 (Min/Max 22/46)
+# /dev/sdb
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   141   141   000    Old_age   Always       -       46 (Min/Max 21/48)
+# /dev/sdc
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   144   144   000    Old_age   Always       -       45 (Min/Max 19/61)
+# /dev/sdd
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   171   171   000    Old_age   Always       -       38 (Min/Max 14/56)
+```
+
+After looking to see if I could fit more fans into the case, I noticed that the 
+120mm fan used for intake from the front of the case was actually pushing air 
+out of the case by mistake. This fan sits right in front of the hard drive bay.
+
+Once I flipped the fan around to act as an intake fan, the temperatures dropped 
+immediately! They are now idling at ~31-33 degrees Celsius. A single fan 
+spinning the wrong way caused my drives to idle 10-15 degrees higher than they 
+should have.
+
+```sh
+ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
+# /dev/sda
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   209   209   000    Old_age   Always       -       31 (Min/Max 14/56)
+# /dev/sdb
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   196   196   000    Old_age   Always       -       33 (Min/Max 19/61)
+# /dev/sdc
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   203   203   000    Old_age   Always       -       32 (Min/Max 21/48)
+# /dev/sdd
+194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   196   196   000    Old_age   Always       -       33 (Min/Max 22/46)
+```
+
+This was a silly error to make, but I'm glad I found it today before I screwed 
+the case into the rack and made things a lot more tedious to fix.