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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.
|
