Posted March 8, 2013 · Original PosterOP As I've announced before, I was in the process of building a new iteration of my K'nex home server. This is the hardware build log, with pictures of the building process, as well as a video showing the server case empty as well as populated from all angles (check bottom). I'll be writing a tutorial on the software part as well, which you can find following the link below. Also, you can find more pictures in the Google+ album, follow the link below. Below is also a link to pictures of my previous home serverSoftware tutorialMore picturesPrevious home serverSo, the idea with this server is primarily to function as a file server. It has 3 WDC Green 2TB drives, of which two are in RAID1. It features full disk encryption on all drives. It also server as personal cloud storage (see software config), a web server, a proxy server. It is generally just because I love working with computers. The reason I had to build a new one (this is the third iteration) is that the previous server had a malfunctioning power supply embedded in the motherboard which took almost all components with it.Because I didn't want a malfunctioning PSU again, I decided to go with a quality ATX PSU this time, instead o fa power brick and onboard power delivery circuitry. The parts list is as follows: Motherboard: ASUS P8H77-I CPU: Pentium G465 CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D14 RAM: 2GB no brand DDR3 1066MHz PSU: Corsair CX430M Boot drive: Kinston SSDNow V+200 60GB Storage drives: 3x2TB WDC Green Case: K'nex version 3.0 I will be modding that PSU to incorporate a Noctua NF-F12, just as I did with the PSU of my gaming rig. This time, I'll be doing it a bit different, though. I'll be leaving the RPM sensing cable attached and connecting that to my motherboard for monitoring purposes. I made a video of that: Now, for the build log: I started by salvaging and modifying the HDD cage from the previous iteration.After that, I started work on the motherboard tray. Since this was a mini-ITX build, just as the previous iteration, I could re-use some of the previous tray.Next, I figured out how to fit the PSU in my design:Then, I attached all of the HDD cables before continuing with the rest of the wiring:All wired upBelgian flag anybody? (Yes I'm from Belgium)At first, I used a Trancend SSD.But because that was a piece of junk, I switched to the Kingston oneLast thing to do was fitting the massive cooler.That's my latest home server build. Hope you enjoyed it. ========================== UPDATE! [30/04/2013] I've decided to start Litecoin mining on my server. To do that, I've bought a passively cooled 6450. To attach it, I had to use a 16x PCIe extender, because of the giant cooler sitting over the PCIe slot. I ordered mine at cablesaurus, because those have an external power connector. It arrived broken though, if you look carefully, you can see one trace missing. Nothing a little bit of soldering can't fix of course ;) And to house this thing, I had to expand the server a little bit. Not a problem with K'nex though :) GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8, 2013 Nice, I sent ages with k'nex as a child. I was thinking of making a LEGO case. "An Excellent Signature" Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8, 2013 · Original PosterOP Nice, I sent ages with k'nex as a child. I was thinking of making a LEGO case.I'm more of a lego guy, but knex is way more suitable for a pc case... GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8, 2013 As a fellow Belgian and K'nex fanboy I must congratulate you. This is awesome. Usually I hate coloured cables but in this case they go extremely well with the colourfull K'nex parts. Also do you think you'll have problems with dust? Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8, 2013 · Original PosterOP As a fellow Belgian and K'nex fanboy I must congratulate you. This is awesome. Usually I hate coloured cables but in this case they go extremely well with the colourfull K'nex parts. Also do you think you'll have problems with dust? Yeah, when you're building with K'nex colors really don't matter :p I don't really care about the dust, I'll probably by one of those magnetic clip-on fan filters for my PSU but the rest may get as dusty as the Sahara ;) I take the server out at least once a year (LAN party), so it gets regular cleaning ;) GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8, 2013 Same mouse and keyboard setup as me lol! I love my MX! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 9, 2013 · Original PosterOP Same mouse and keyboard setup as me lol! I love my Marathon!What do you mean with Marathon? GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 13, 2013 LOL great selection of casing! And you have an odd selection of motherboard for such a low end processor. You could've gone with cheaper motherboards and save yourself some money. Also the cooler is overpowered LOL The Internet is invented by cats. Why? Why else would it have so much cat videos? Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 13, 2013 · Original PosterOP LOL great selection of casing! And you have an odd selection of motherboard for such a low end processor. You could've gone with cheaper motherboards and save yourself some money. Also the cooler is overpowered LOL Aha, but the motherboard wasn't entirely by choice... These were parts I got as RMA for the broken parts on the previous iteration. The cooler is meant to be overpowered, as it's meant to run silent ;) GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 13, 2013 Wow man thats awesome xD Just wish I'd thought of it Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 13, 2013 · Original PosterOP Wow man thats awesome xD Just wish I'd thought of itThanks! To be honest, this idea came from a friend of mine ;) GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 15, 2013 Very interesting! I've never really seen anything like this! Lian Li | Silverstone | Corsair Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 30, 2013 Wow man thats awesome xD Just wish I'd thought of itthats still a awesome build lol Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 31, 2013 Hehe nice job =) Intel i5 3570k | MSI GTX 670 Power Edition/OC SLI | Asus Sabertooth Z77 | Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB | Fractal Design Newton R2 650W | NZXT Switch 810 SE Gun Metal | BenQ 24" XL2420T 120Hz | Corsair K90 | Logitech G500 / Logtitech Performance MX | Sennheiser PC 360 | Asus Xonar DGX | NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision 2 Wireless Kit Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 Nice one, but I still prefer real server cases, might be a bit more expensive, but totally worth it. Projects | > Project DisplayGRID < | > Portable Virtualization Server < | > CORE GTX < | Projects Community | > Schnitzel Teamspeak Server < | Community Guides | > Getting started with a NAS < | > Setting up your Ubiquiti Access Points < | > pfSense Guide < | Guides Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 This looks pretty awesome, but how strong/stable is it? Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 · Original PosterOP Nice one, but I still prefer real server cases, might be a bit more expensive, but totally worth it. Why are they 'totally worth it'? A server case would kill airflow, forcing me to use small high RPM fans to keep everything cool. Now this thing is inaudible when my drives are in standby, allowing me to keep it in my bedroom without having to turn it off when I go to bed. This looks pretty awesome, but how strong/stable is it? Actually pretty sturdy. I'm able to pick it up with one hand without the case breaking/any links disconnecting :) GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 That's genious! When I saw the title I wasn't sure if k'nex was just a fancy name, of if someone actually intended to build a case with it. :D Project Lava Flow - CaseLabs S5 Watercooled 600t build log Prodigy build log Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 Nice build there! Codename: HighFlyer, specs: CPU: i5 2500k cooled by a H70ish(2 rad) Mobo: MSI MPower Z77 GPUs: Gigabyte GTX 660 OC 1150 MHZ core, 3150 memory both RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16G @1600mhz SSD: ADATA Premier Pro sx900 / HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB/Samsung 1TB Power supply: Corsair RM650 80+ Gold Case Corsair Carbide 500R 5.4 ghz achieved on the good old 2500k, may it rest in peace. Current daily OC is 4.8 @1.41 v Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 Nice biuld there dude! Not sure if serious or just for LOLs but definitely gona get a mention in the LIVE SHOW Linus and Slick do! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 This is a pretty creative build, if you do some more tidying of of cables and such, you may get build log of the week! [9:01:47 PM] Slick: And the award for life time acheivement in the field of "maker of the least amount of sense" goes to Kilmer. Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 · Original PosterOP This is a pretty creative build, if you do some more tidying of of cables and such, you may get build log of the week! I've tried, but failed miserably... It is pretty impossible to tidy up cables in such a small compartiment :( I'm already happy that it fits all the cables as is :p GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 I absolutely love k'nex cases. I have a mate who built one with with the capability to hold a screen. Looked pretty awesome: http://www.atkcommunity.com/showthread.php/2445-K-nex-case-Mk2-update-1 |i5 3570k @4.4Ghz | Asus Maximus V Gene | 8gb Corsair XMS3 | 2 x MSI HD7970 OC @ 1175mhz | 512gb Crucial M4 | Corsair AX750 | Fractal Design Define Mini | Dell P2416D Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 30, 2013 · Original PosterOP I absolutely love k'nex cases. I have a mate who built one with with the capability to hold a screen. Looked pretty awesome: http://www.atkcommunity.com/showthread.php/2445-K-nex-case-Mk2-update-1 Holy crap, that's awesome! GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 1, 2013 · Original PosterOP That's genious! When I saw the title I wasn't sure if k'nex was just a fancy name, of if someone actually intended to build a case with it. :D I'm always serious in my titles ;) + it's nice to have people ask "what do you mean by K'nex server?" GAMING RIG -- K'NEX SERVER -- LINUX TUTORIAL -- NOCTUA PSU Code of Conduct -- Legal Issues -- Moderators -- Provide feedback! Link to post Share on other sites
