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Servers - Rackmounts VS Cases?

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I opted for building a rack and using rackmount cases since I was going to have quite a bit of equipment. The bottom server is an old HP and is extremely loud, but I never run it, its primarily there because it wouldn't sell for much money so I may as well keep it. Everything else is dead silent.

 

If I want to swap hard drives I have hotswaps in the front for most of my drives, any maintenance can be done by pulling them out on the rails, and I have a pull out KVM so I don't need to drag a monitor keyboard and mouse if I have issues that can't be solved remotely. Everything is MUCH easier than if I was to build in cases.

 

When I move to a new house all I have to do is take the top 24 port patch panel out of the rack, screw it to the wall in the closet, and load the entire unit into the trailer. It is on a rolling cabinet and fits right back into the closet.

 

I don't have any recent pictures, but here is from when I was first assembling it:

 

IMG_20150103_193923887.jpg

 

If you do go with a rackmount setup, DO NOT buy Norco cases, I bought two different models and neither of them fit the rack with rails attached. Apparently its random whether you get one built to the correct dimensions or not as there are tons of complaints online about it. I already had one system completely built and running in the case, so I had to notch out 1/4" of my rack on each side to make it fit.

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Hello, I'm planning on building a home server and I was wondering should I get a rackmount and a rackmount case or just a standard case? This seems pretty debatable to me as I am new to this, but I'm sure there's people out there that can offer up some interesting and helpful advice. 

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How many servers will you have or just the one?

CPU: i7 5820K @ 4.00GHz | Mobo: ASUS X99-DELUXE LGA 2011-v3 | RAM: Corsair LPX 64GB Quad-Channel DDR4 @ 2400MHz | GPU: GTX 970 x2 SLI | Storage: 250 GB AMD SSD x 4 Raid 0

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How big is your sever going to be, and how much expandability do you want?  Personally a normal case would be fine, they are smaller and easier to hide.

sold

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If you are building a server just for home build it in just a regular case. Rackmount chassis's are built to be as compact as possibly which makes them very loud due to the type of fans that are needed to cool them. Just use a regular PC case for your server :)

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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Will you invest in more than one server, potentially buy a small rack? If yes, then rackmount, if not then standard case.

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If you are building a server just for home build it in just a regular case. Rackmount chassis's are built to be as compact as possibly which makes them very loud due to the type of fans that are needed to cool them. Just use a regular PC case for your server :)

Very informative, thank you. That idea of having them so compact just seems fucking retard to me lmao, so I'm thinking on compact but not too compact so that they can perform much easier. Are there rackmounts that have decent spacing in them though? 

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How big is your sever going to be, and how much expandability do you want?  Personally a normal case would be fine, they are smaller and easier to hide.

I'm not sure how many I will need, all I know is that I'm starting small. I think a case might be too small so I'm not sure. 

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Very informative, thank you. That idea of having them so compact just seems fucking retard to me lmao, so I'm thinking on compact but not too compact so that they can perform much easier. Are there rackmounts that have decent spacing in them though? 

If you really want a Rackmount chassis I would look into at least a 3U or 4U one. I would really suggest getting a cheap, compact regular PC case since it will probably be cheaper than a Rackmount one and you won't need a server rack for it.

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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If you really want a Rackmount chassis I would look into at least a 3U or 4U one. I would really suggest getting a cheap, compact regular PC case since it will probably be cheaper than a Rackmount one and you won't need a server rack for it.

wtf is 3u/4u lol 

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If you really want a Rackmount chassis I would look into at least a 3U or 4U one. I would really suggest getting a cheap, compact regular PC case since it will probably be cheaper than a Rackmount one and you won't need a server rack for it.

By the way, where can I find a brace or whatever it's called for the racks? 

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wtf is 3u/4u lol 

Rackmount case size is generally measured in U's.

 

For example, a 1U case would be really thin like this:

http://www.logic-case.com/Images/DBImages/Products/83282_1.JPG

 

and a 4U case would be a lot thicker like this:

http://www.logic-case.com/Images/DBImages/Products/92401_1.JPG

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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By the way, where can I find a brace or whatever it's called for the racks? 

You should probably be able to find a used server rack for cheap on a classifieds website or you can build your own if you are handy enough.

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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You should probably be able to find a used server rack for cheap on a classifieds website or you can build your own if you are handy enough.

Ah I see, apparently they're called cabinets or some shit lol 

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You should probably be able to find a used server rack for cheap on a classifieds website or you can build your own if you are handy enough.

Okay so what are the things that go into cabinets called? For example, this cabinet 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-24U-Server-Rack-Enclosure-Cabinet-19-with-2-Mesh-Doors-on-Wheels-NR/381206434019?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D28790%26meid%3D0804a48b04b0457a8e2a0b6452690828%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D20%26sd%3D151369048684

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They would be called Rackmount Server Chassis's. Look here if you are looking to buy a new one :)

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Server-Chassis/SubCategory/ID-412?&cm_sp=Cat_Servers-Workstations_7-_-VisNav-_-Chassis

 

PS: I would get something like this if you are looking to save money:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148059

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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They would be called Rackmount Server Chassis's. Look here if you are looking to buy a new one :)

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Server-Chassis/SubCategory/ID-412?&cm_sp=Cat_Servers-Workstations_7-_-VisNav-_-Chassis

 

PS: I would get something like this if you are looking to save money:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148059

sweet thanks, so then the entire system goes into one of those then? 

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sweet thanks, so then the entire system goes into one of those then? 

Yep, just make sure everything you pick is compatible with the case.

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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Hello, I'm planning on building a home server and I was wondering should I get a rackmount and a rackmount case or just a standard case? This seems pretty debatable to me as I am new to this, but I'm sure there's people out there that can offer up some interesting and helpful advice.

Try looking for a 4U rack case. You can install 120-140mm fans, 4U cases are much quieter than the 1u-2u racks.

But 4u tend to be expensive. :)

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | CPU Cooler: Stock AMD Cooler | Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (WI-FI) | RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 | GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB Zotac Mini | Case: K280 Case | PSU: Cooler Master B600 Power supply | SSD: 1TB  | HDDs: 1x 250GB & 1x 1TB WD Blue | Monitors: 24" Acer S240HLBID + 24" Samsung  | OS: Win 10 Pro

 

Audio: Behringer Q802USB Xenyx 8 Input Mixer |  U-PHORIA UMC204HD | Behringer XM8500 Dynamic Cardioid Vocal Microphone | Sound Blaster Audigy Fx PCI-E card.

 

Home Lab:  Lenovo ThinkCenter M82 ESXi 6.7 | Lenovo M93 Tiny Exchange 2019 | TP-LINK TL-SG1024D 24-Port Gigabit | Cisco ASA 5506 firewall  | Cisco Catalyst 3750 Gigabit Switch | Cisco 2960C-LL | HP MicroServer G8 NAS | Custom built SCCM Server.

 

 

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Hello, I'm planning on building a home server and I was wondering should I get a rackmount and a rackmount case or just a standard case? This seems pretty debatable to me as I am new to this, but I'm sure there's people out there that can offer up some interesting and helpful advice. 

Do you just what a server rack and a server box to look COOL ? 

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I opted for building a rack and using rackmount cases since I was going to have quite a bit of equipment. The bottom server is an old HP and is extremely loud, but I never run it, its primarily there because it wouldn't sell for much money so I may as well keep it. Everything else is dead silent.

 

If I want to swap hard drives I have hotswaps in the front for most of my drives, any maintenance can be done by pulling them out on the rails, and I have a pull out KVM so I don't need to drag a monitor keyboard and mouse if I have issues that can't be solved remotely. Everything is MUCH easier than if I was to build in cases.

 

When I move to a new house all I have to do is take the top 24 port patch panel out of the rack, screw it to the wall in the closet, and load the entire unit into the trailer. It is on a rolling cabinet and fits right back into the closet.

 

I don't have any recent pictures, but here is from when I was first assembling it:

 

IMG_20150103_193923887.jpg

 

If you do go with a rackmount setup, DO NOT buy Norco cases, I bought two different models and neither of them fit the rack with rails attached. Apparently its random whether you get one built to the correct dimensions or not as there are tons of complaints online about it. I already had one system completely built and running in the case, so I had to notch out 1/4" of my rack on each side to make it fit.

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I opted for building a rack and using rackmount cases since I was going to have quite a bit of equipment. The bottom server is an old HP and is extremely loud, but I never run it, its primarily there because it wouldn't sell for much money so I may as well keep it. Everything else is dead silent.

 

If I want to swap hard drives I have hotswaps in the front for most of my drives, any maintenance can be done by pulling them out on the rails, and I have a pull out KVM so I don't need to drag a monitor keyboard and mouse if I have issues that can't be solved remotely. Everything is MUCH easier than if I was to build in cases.

 

When I move to a new house all I have to do is take the top 24 port patch panel out of the rack, screw it to the wall in the closet, and load the entire unit into the trailer. It is on a rolling cabinet and fits right back into the closet.

 

I don't have any recent pictures, but here is from when I was first assembling it:

 

IMG_20150103_193923887.jpg

 

If you do go with a rackmount setup, DO NOT buy Norco cases, I bought two different models and neither of them fit the rack with rails attached. Apparently its random whether you get one built to the correct dimensions or not as there are tons of complaints online about it. I already had one system completely built and running in the case, so I had to notch out 1/4" of my rack on each side to make it fit.

Dude nice setup, that helps a ton, so to get this understood, you have your servers running completely silent? What are the specs exactly? Oh and yeah for sure I'm going with a rackmount and chassis idea, a standard pc like case would just seam completely stupid 

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Dude nice setup, that helps a ton, so to get this understood, you have your servers running completely silent? What are the specs exactly? Oh and yeah for sure I'm going with a rackmount and chassis idea, a standard pc like case would just seam completely stupid 

 

If you are doing a single server and just have a normal wireless router, I'd stick with a normal case. Really the only reason to rackmount is when you have a bunch of crap, keeps it nice and tidy.

 

The main server is an E5-1620v2 with 32GB ram and 10TB or so of hard drives, using Coolink fans in the Norco SS-500 drive cages as the stock fans are quite loud, and then NF-F12's for the case and CPU fans, with a cut down Hyper 212 for the CPU cooler since it was too tall to fit a 4U case.

 

I then have a small 2U server for torrents, running a J1900 board and a 1TB hard drive. A single 80mm Coolink fan in the front is all I need for airflow in that system since I'm using a PicoPSU for power and the J1900 has a TDP of 10W.

 

The only noise that I sometimes hear is the battery backup fan, mainly due to the basement being gutted while I remodel and bouncing sound all over. 

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i would like to add that if its just a server on its own a normal case is just fine. rackmont cases are better stacking in a small rack or cabinet and switches and higher end routers fit in. also when purchasing a cabinet beware of cabinet depth as there are shallow cabinets(650mm) for just network stuff and if you do go for a rackmount case 4u cases are pretty much a standard pc case layed on its side

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