Dell CS24-SC:
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| Image from ebay |
Here are the specifications:
CPU: 2X Intel L5420 quad core @ 2.5 GHZ
SATA trays: 4, but make sure the seller includes them.
USB ports: 4 USB 2.0, 2 front, 2 back
Ethernet: 2X GBE + one for management
Video: Internal Intel chipset, 1X VGA (back)
Memory: Up to 48 GB DDR2 EEC
Some notes:
This is an incredible value. If you are going to build a renderfarm or compute cluster, it doesn't get any better than this. If you find a better deal, I want to see it!
It has a PCI-E slot, so you can add a better graphics card. It's single slot, so the maximum you could fit would probably be something like a GTX 640 (Though that starts to approach the cost of the server!) If you want more GPU power in something like this, you would probably have to go to liquid cooling.
If you like this model, but need more memory, the
I noted 16 GB maximum memory for the -SC model above, but I forget, it could be 24 GB.
Before getting this, I read some of the reviews (which are surprisingly scarce), and it was claimed to be loud. This is not the case. The fans spin up loudly, but once booted, they throttle down, and stay nice and quiet. I've got a Dell laptop right here that is louder than the server. The server also runs very cool, so the cooling is doing its job. I ran a smoke simulation in Blender for an hour, all cores at 100%, and it only got mildly warm. This was in a room with an ambient temperature of probably about 85 F.
If you're curious about how fast this is, here's a nice comparison chart: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+L5420+%40+2.50GHz&id=1259&cpuCount=2 This shows that it's a little slower than a modern desktop, but remember that the entire thing costs somewhere around half of what just the CPU of a new computer might cost! At the cost, scaling out over multiple servers is a good option too.
I've run Linux mint, FreeNAS, and Ubuntu Studio on it. Boot time is rather slow, but I haven't timed it. When using onboard graphics the X server sometimes has to be started manually with startx. I haven't had any such problems with a graphics card.
All in all though, if you're looking for power without the price, it doesn't get any better than this!
Just found your post because I came across the same server builds on eBay and wanted to get one for my home office.
ReplyDeleteI haven't installed the OS on it yet, but I was expecting the thing to generate some noise, so I've been looking at liquid cooling options.
But folks are reporting that they are actually really quiet and I read somewhere it actually draws less than 1 amp at idle. With 48GB of RAM and up to 16TB of disk space, this is a sweet little package for $150.
Excellent writing about Liquid cooling server. I like the way you have started your topics and describes it beautifully.You have described that how liquid cooling server is used to cool the server?
ReplyDelete