A Cautionary Tale

For a long time I've wanted to put together a really fast system. So I got myself a Tyan 2885, 2 Dual Core 2.6Ghz Opteron cpu's and a 8 SCSI 320 10K rpm drives connected to an Intel SCRU42X RAID controller with 512MB of cache, and a 500 watt power supply and an ATI 1650 512MB AGP8x video card.

Yes, folks it's fast; but one thing I didn't include in my specifications was HEAT & Power. For those who don't know the faster a drive spins at, the hotter it gets. How hot does it get xor, well let me tell you. I can heat my apartment in the winter time with it hot. I go outside when it's on and watch the power meter spin really fast. If my apartment isn't AC'ed in the summer and I leave it on THERMAL MELT DOWN occurs hot.

So the moral of the story is, I use my Dual CPU G5 Power MAC as my server which doesn't set the heat detectors off.

xor

PS Bigger, faster, isn't always better You get a real lesson in why companies want lower power cpu's

Sounds like an expensive lesson! I've got 2 computers here, both athlons, and 5 drives spinning. When I turn on the ham radio, this room turns into an oven.

And can penguins actually live in that kind of climate?

We have 2 dual xeon servers at work in a small rack by the copy machine. We had to install an Air Conditioning unit for them. It's one of those where the unit sits outside.

Also, if it will draw more than 30 or 40 amps you will need a special outlet installed.

It's actually the acceleration of the drive heads that causes much of the heat in hard drives.

Cool, I love to learn something new; I didn't know that.

Regarding the expensive mistake you have no idea. During the time I was running 3 servers I was getting billed for someone else's meter. So when they finally got things straighten out I got a back bill of like $3600.00 that they Peco; an Execelon Company (yeah right, nothing excellent about them) wanted immediately or it was lights out do not pass go do not collect $200; ouchy!!!!!!!


xor

How are you running 8 drives and the rest of that on a 500 watt power supply?

While the room will not be any cooler, I like 140mm fans blowing in and out of my drive bays. Drives stay a lot cooler with minimal noise.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Mod Note: Not a Linux technical question...

It's a Enlight 8950 Case with there 560watt EPS12V/SSI single power supply. It's sort of a mixed bag case with a built in 5 SCA drive enclosure and then 3 68 pin drives in the slots. It's got excellent front to back airflow but it still heats up the room. I use to have it under the desk know it sits on top which seemed to help move the air a lot better.

xor

xor

Man I just ran what you had listed and it comes out over 540 watts. With that kind of investment I would keep a close eye on my voltages.

You may notice how the plug and outlet are different for refrigerators and air conditioners. To power up a rack of blades, you would need a similar power circuit.

When they produce an animated feature, the power company notices a marked jump in power consumption. Most of it is probably for air conditioning, but they may be able to collect most of the heat in vents and blow it out.

I remember that animation for a razor that came out in the late 70's. It was the first ground breaking WOW commercial, and was a story in the nightly news after it was released. (The second commercial like that was the Apple Macintosh spot that run only during the Super Bowl.) However the ad agency that purchased the Cray computer, underestimated the cooling costs, and couldn't generate enough work to pay for it. Also, because the Universities had there own Cray computers, they weren't able to rent it out.

Blades are made now that are 1/2 of the depth of a rack, with the connections on the front to enable air to flow upwards without obstruction. However, I've read that many feel that the density had gone too far.

They should produce there animations in ND in the winter. Then the animation farms could heat the buildings instead of having to run as much air conditioning!