Home Server + 10G ethernet

Had to re-pin a bodged fan as the bodge broke during dismantling. I've already cut the cable where it was splice crimped. It had broken at the barrier strip. (black wire broke off)


Crimped new molex mini-fit Jr pins on


Shoved in the case temporarily to blow cool air directly over the add in cards. Currently the array is rebuilding, adding an additional disk whilst retaining one of the new disks as a hot spare. It's been going for 15 hours and is at 30%. I've ordered some Arctic P14's to replace the old scythe fans as the 120mm's seem to look remarkably small vs the 140mm's.
 
Arctic P14's fitted to replace the old scythe kama flow 120mms. They seem to shift a hefty quantity of air at full pelt.


I swapped the front intakes out for them as well as the top exhaust.


Just need to "swiss cheese" the side panel so I can fit some fans in to cool the cards.


Tested the array. I think the RAID controller is starting to become the limiting factor as it's ancient.


Copying the data back onto the array was a bit quicker this time around, although the disks in my desktop were the limiting factor rather than the network. It's nice to be able to run concurrent copies from multiple sources though.
 
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GodAtum said:
Thanks but I#m sorry to say I made the same mistake as you many years ago. Desktop with lots of hdds. Was impossible to swap out disks as I hadn't labelled them. And could not hotswap. now I have a small Dell R610 which is much easier to look after,
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I have the list of disk serial numbers and what position it occupies which makes it really easy to locate. Megaraid storage manager shows the serial numbers so I can see which one is missing and locate it quickly. Sure, it’s not as quick as a backplane with disk id and failure lights and unplugging the connections whilst it’s running isn’t wise but it beats having cheap backplanes go bad. I don’t mind a bit of downtime as the storage array is not something that needs to be permanently accessible. It simply holds one of three copies of very important files, temporary space for re-encoding work and a Plex media library.

The problem with proper servers was cost, disk quantity, power consumption and without doubt, noise. I did consider a NetApp DS4246 Disk shelf type arrangement using external cables but it’s quite an expensive way to go and it’s a second case to store.
 
I've taken the old Icydock backplanes out and examined them to see if I could determine the cause of the failure. It looks like corrosion of the contacts may have played it's part. Spot which slot is the one that has failed.


Not looking particularly pretty, but most of that is dust stuck to the contact cleaner I sprayed in a month or so ago to see if it was simply a mucky contact.


Having cleaned the PCB, it appears that the pads have corroded around the pins. What's weird is that they aren't soldered. I'm wondering if that was done to try and prevent cracked joints from disk hot swapping.
 
Managed to pickup a second solid side panel for the 750D last week so I've made a start on modifying it to fit the 2x 120mm fans for cooling the expansion cards.

So far I've got as far as drilling the 8 mounting holes for the fans. Now I need to figure out how I'm going to make the large 115mm'ish hole for the fans to breathe.


Test fitted a pair of the old scythe fans which fit back on the side great.
 
Slawomir said:
Hi, In regards to the unsoldered pins on the backplane PCB I've never seen anything like this in my entire 30+ years career. These must be soldered as it will cause electric connection problems with signaling and power supply lines comming to HDDs causing even damage to Hard Drives and SAS controller. Solder them one by one with Pb free solder and solder flux or Pb solder for Electronics with different resin based flux. Pb based solder is easier to melt and easier to apply without professional equipment. Do it ASAP or you are facing described damage. This PCB should never pass Quality Check and be sold. Shame on ICY BOX which somehow is or maybe was a good brand. You never know these days as all is made in China and most of the staff in low quality manufacturing sites due to lower cost.

This solder wire should do the job. It's Pb based and easier to apply. https://uk.farnell.com/duratool/spc22158/solder-wire-63-37-sn-pb/dp/2527485
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I've already soldered the one, just not tested it yet.

I finally tackled the side panel having actually bought the 4.5" hole saw required to create the cut outs for the fans. Not the easiest job but they seem to have come out ok. There are a couple of marks to the black finish, but nothing too obvious.


Fans fitted with silverstone filters


New solid side panel fitted to the reverse


All fitted and running.
 
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