Home Server Build

[davidbuss]

Edit: I RESTARTED THIS ENTIRE PROJECT. GO TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 2 AND START FROM THERE TO SEE THE GOOD PART.

 

Hello world of Linus Tech Tips!

 

I'm just messing around with some old parts I had lying around and it kind of turned into a build. I need some way to backup my main computers files and a few other computers around the house, plus I had some things I wanted to store on our network so I decided to turn it into a NAS. It's not the end of the world if anything breaks because their all parts that are almost eight years old. I don't have a case either so I'll be making a test bench type thing for it. I don't know how far this project is going to go but If I get to any of the cool ideas I have in my head, it will be awesome. While your looking this over keep in mind i'm 15 so don't scream in the comments, "YOUR DOING IT WRONG." I'm just trying to figure it out for myself. Without further ado, here it is:

 

 

Started with this, a quarter inch piece of plywood. I think it was a 1ft x 1ft piece.

 

 

Made some cuts and drilled some holes.

 

 

I found some old grippy things you put on the bottom of chair legs. Since I only have 4 motherboard standoffs lying around (I have no idea what happened to the other 4) I will be using these.

 

 

I cut them up and put them over the holes.

 

 

These are the screws Ill be using. Probably not the only screw in the right size that I have enough of. (And I'm OCD so all the screws have to be the same)

 

 

Since the screws are a few mm too long, I cut some pieces of wood to go on the back of the motherboard tray to cover the tips of the screw.

 

 

Viola.

 

 

Here's the motherboard on the tray. Am I making anyone nervous?

 

 

I have a few fans lying around but they all have their connectors cut off. I don't even want to know what I was trying to do...

 

 

Some soldering and electrical tape later.

 

 

I had another fan and a one fan controller that my friend wasn't using anymore so I put them together. I will use them later in the build. I also had to solder the fan connector back on to the fan. I still don't know why they were cut...

 

 

 

That's it for now. I might upload some sketchup drawings of what I want it to look like when its done, but it will have to wait for later. Tell me what you think in the comments.

[MrAlexOneill]

Nice job, very creative idea.

[ANUPLUCIFERGAMER]

cool. you actually recycled all the parts you had! very nice thinking though! I wonder how people get that ideas...! 

[Raboo]

Very nice job

[Giancarlo124]

Nice work so far:)

[KenadyDwag44]

Subbed!

[TicTac]

nice

[davidbuss]

Nice job, very creative idea.

 

 

cool. you actually recycled all the parts you had! very nice thinking though! I wonder how people get that ideas...! 

 

 

Very nice job

 

 

Nice work so far:)

 

 

Subbed!

 

 

nice

 

Thanks Guys!

[davidbuss]

Edit: I RESTARTED THIS ENTIRE PROJECT. GO TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 2 AND START FROM THERE TO SEE THE GOOD PART.

 

Hello Again!

 

I've been messing around with the software side of this project for a while now so I've had all these parts lying around, waiting for a spot to be put. Recently my family had our closets redone and the shelf in the pictures is part of mine. I have decided that this is where I want to put the server and that is why I finally started on the building side of the project. Here are the pictures:

 

 

 

 

I don't really know how I like the all white look. My shelves are white and are pretty much un-paintable so they will stay white but I will probably do all black on the inside with blue lights. The thing covering all of the components will be a piece of smoked acrylic and will probably be a lot darker. I'll be getting the screen from my friends dead old computer. (Thanks Jack!) I need to do some research on how I would connect the screen though so if anyone knows, feel free to leave a comment explaining it.

 

This sketchup is a rough sketch of what it will actually look like, and it may change completely over time. This is my goal for the project but we will see how far it actually goes. Between school and hockey I can really only work on weekends so it will be a very drawn out project. I might post more tomorrow but I'm not sure if it will be more sketchup, or more building. I did build a little bit today but it was all just soldering and cutting more wood.

[KenadyDwag44]

Looks Great! I think the screen needs a bezel though so It wont look like you just slapped a screen on a piece of acrylic. 

[davidbuss]

Looks Great! I think the screen needs a bezel though so It wont look like you just slapped a screen on a piece of acrylic. 

 

It definitely will once its done. I think it looks pretty ugly without one too and a darker piece of acrylic would also help a lot.

[Saladin]

Subbed. So very much subbed. [spams F5]

[KenadyDwag44]

It definitely will once its done. I think it looks pretty ugly without one too and a darker piece of acrylic would also help a lot.

Sweet!

[TechNiklas]

Which Software are you using to create a 3D model?

[BloXx99]

Which Software are you using to create a 3D model?

Look's like google sketchup. It's free to download. fairly easy to use. =)

[Missioncode]

Hello Again!

 

I've been messing around with the software side of this project for a while now so I've had all these parts lying around, waiting for a spot to be put. Recently my family had our closets redone and the shelf in the pictures is part of mine. I have decided that this is where I want to put the server and that is why I finally started on the building side of the project. Here are the pictures:

 

 

 

I don't really know how I like the all white look. My shelves are white and are pretty much un-paintable so they will stay white but I will probably do all black on the inside with blue lights. The thing covering all of the components will be a piece of smoked acrylic and will probably be a lot darker. I'll be getting the screen from my friends dead old computer. (Thanks Jack!) I need to do some research on how I would connect the screen though so if anyone knows, feel free to leave a comment explaining it.

 

This sketchup is a rough sketch of what it will actually look like, and it may change completely over time. This is my goal for the project but we will see how far it actually goes. Between school and hockey I can really only work on weekends so it will be a very drawn out project. I might post more tomorrow but I'm not sure if it will be more sketchup, or more building. I did build a little bit today but it was all just soldering and cutting more wood.

I would through a magnetic dust filter on the intake

also if you want a lot of lights go to ebay and get a strip of LEDs , you can get what ever color you want, they run on 12V DC, and you can cut them to length, and you could add a POT to dim and brighten them. I thought I would add some ideas you don't have to take them, just thinking out loud.

This looks great I was going to just chuck mine in a closet it but this looks awesome.

 

**One day I will master the strange thing called English**

Edited October 21, 2013 by Missioncode

[davidbuss]

Yup, its Google Skethup. If you want to download it, it's free.

[davidbuss]

I would through a magnetic dust filter on the intake

also if you want a lot of lights go to ebay and get a strip of ELDs , you can get what ever color you want,they run on 12V DC, and you can cut them to length, and you could add a POT to dim and brighten them. I thought I would through some ideas in. This looks great I was going to just chuck mine in a closet it but this looks awesome

That's the plan. I was planning on hooking up the LEDs to the same POT as the fans so that they would be indicative of the fans power. I was gonna make the LEDs blue too. Tell me what you think.

[Sundanc3]

 

 

 

I took longer than I care to admit watching your avatar...

[Missioncode]

That's the plan. I was planning on hooking up the LEDs to the same POT as the fans so that they would be indicative of the fans power. I was gonna make the LEDs blue too. Tell me what you think.

That sound great you just want to make sure that the LEDs are in a spot where you cant see them directly as they can hurt to look at. You want indirect light. Adding a Pot will help to dim them.  As I said you can get strip of 300 LEDs for like $6 from ebay shipped to almost any where.  

 

 

I took longer than I care to admit watching your avatar...

I think its the gif from 4chan of people typing the the capcha wrong. 

[davidbuss]

Which Software are you using to create a 3D model?

 

 

Look's like google sketchup. It's free to download. fairly easy to use. =)

 

Woops, meant to reply to you guys. It is sketchup and if you want to download it it is also free. It is definitely one of if not the easiest CAD softwares to learn (In my opinion) but if you really go into detail, it can begin to get difficult and a few features are a tad bit finicky.

[davidbuss]

I took longer than I care to admit watching your avatar...

 

 

I think its the gif from 4chan of people typing the the capcha wrong. 

 

I don't know where its from or even where I got it. (I think I just googled gif or something) Your not alone though. I have watched it for an embarrassingly long amount of time too. 

[davidbuss]

Edit: I RESTARTED THIS ENTIRE PROJECT. GO TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 2 AND START FROM THERE TO SEE THE GOOD PART.

 

Hey guys! I don't have time to write too much or post any more pictures than this, but I have somehow found a way to squeeze some work into the past few days despite being incredibly busy. Here's a little teaser for the future:

 

 

Hope you like it

[CyBaNeTiiKz]

Looks pretty good! Love the idea! Cant wait to see more updates on this!!

[chromeboy42]

subbed, great renders BTW, are you a 3d artist, if not you might consider a side career in the art. That screen will be pretty cool when it's finished, but will you have a slide out keyboard or will it just display info?