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-date = 2022-11-27
-title = "Building a Custom Rack-Mounted Server"
-description = ""
-draft = false
-+++
-
-# 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.