On-prem with a twist: The Pi Server Rack

cadawg (69)in #server • 3 years ago

Hi Everyone,

The other day I logged in to my Pi-Hole DNS and saw that my Pi was running at 70+ Degrees (Celcius)

Screenshot from 2021-12-13 17-07-37.png

Upon noticing this, I knew I had to do something about this temperature, as I know it won't be good for the Pi's performance or long time health.

So, I headed over to ThePiHut, to see what cooling solutions they have came up with. I found what is effectively a mini server rack with 2 fans, and knew that it was the one I wanted. I also had some other services I wanted to run, so the other Pi racks would make sense.

Screenshot from 2021-12-13 17-11-31.png

So I purchased this and (already owning one Pi 4 4GB) ordered 1 more 4GB Pi and a couple of 8GB Pi's (For more intensive uses), and a couple of SSDs, one 1 TB and one 2 TB.

When it arrived, I assembled the case with a bit of a struggle, as the parts weren't quite perfectly fitted, but I did get it together. Unfortunately, one of the holes was incorrectly drilled and so one rack hung off.

I did contact their customer services and they got me a new plate and rack in order to fix it. And finally, a very nice booting set of Pi's... quite satisfying.

And for the other side:

Where are the power cables, you may ask?

For neatness, I decided to install Power Over Ethernet boards and a Power Over Ethernet switch. The boards take the power over ethernet power and convert it to 5v 2.5A which is usable by the Pi. I hope you like my cabling job :)

Now, does the cooling work?

Screenshot from 2021-12-13 17-22-51.png

I would say that it has most certainly worked a treat. The middle Pi's run the two fans off of their 3v3 rails.

As I'm getting gigabit internet soon, I also used this opportunity to upgrade everything to Gigabit-capable networking.

Screenshot from 2021-12-13 17-27-31.png

And, before I go, what am I using these Pi's for?

Backups of my PC (2tb)
Pi-Hole DNS & HomeBridge
Unused, Might Use as a Handshake resolver soon
A Media server (1tb)

I'm quite big on having everything under my control, and this will enable me to take it a little further.

Thanks for stopping by, rate my cabling.
~ CA

#on-prem #self-hosting #gigabit #project

3 years ago in #server by cadawg (69)

$60.40

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igormuba (70) 3 years ago

I need to build one of those for docker (to develop locally) on Linux, running multiple containers on my computer is not good and docker on Windows is buggy compared to native Linux.

But also, I want because it looks cool! Hahaha

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cadawg (69) 3 years ago

100%, my mate pointed out it's not the most cost effective way to get server power, but it's certainly a nice little project and even better - I have physical containers I can wipe if all goes TITSUP, just an SD Card Flash away!

But yes, the coolness factor is 100% the selling point for me :)

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mermaidvampire (72) 3 years ago

You did explain everything but I still don't get it. Hahaha! Good job on this new setup. Looks like you are prepared for the zombie or alien invasion. Hahaha!

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cadawg (69) 3 years ago

Haha. Thanks :) Yeah, should call it the doomsday computer and mark it up.

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deathwing (72) 3 years ago

Nice rack.

$0.16

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