Wall Mounted Headless Home Server

S

SCUZNUTS

New member
This is a quick run through of my home server build which I decided to mount onto the first wall you see when you walk into my home, as an art install/conversation starter :)

-Warning not the best photo quality-

I am using the below components:
i3 3220, 1155 socket.
1 x 8GB 1333mhz
Adaptec 51245 RAID card
7 x 3TB drives - a couple of greens, most are WD reds due to better for RAID.
120GB Intel SSD
Generic UPS - Very basic, sends command to shutdown PC if power outage is detected.
Couple of Fractal fans and one Noctua fan.
Generic bluetooth USB.

First I layout a general idea I had in my head;
QQvGbHM.jpg


Im using mostly all parts laying around that are not being used as my server is up 24/7 normally.
SOq4O4i.jpg


Most of the mapping done.. mounted a test MB and the actual Raid card.
jYwHBPS.jpg


I finished cutting all the holes I needed and glued / dowel it all together.
The acrylic at the back fits into a notch a sawed about 5mm into all sides.
9TDdj0a.jpg


First pic of the server up and running on the wall :D:D:D:D
0jcdZuq.jpg


Picture a bit further back, pretty much what you see when you walk in the house.
hXtK9xg.jpg


Got the front window on here and the front USB 3.0 ports.
zTWQgQc.jpg



On the config / software side of things the drives are in a RAID 5 which I am moving to a RAID 6 soon with another 3TB so I do not loose any space.
I'm running Windows 7 on the SSD configured to run all my needs.

I am upgrading the motherboard soon to one with 2 Gig LAN ports, running vmware ESXi on the SSD.
Formatting the entire system with the new RAID 6 I will create.
The hypervisor will for a start run my existing Windows 7 config in a VM and then I will have my existing pfsense router config setup in another VM, allowing pass through of on of the gig ports to be my WAN port for my internet.

I have tested the future setup above and it all works fine. Just waiting on a mate to provide the space to back up around 13TB of data (It may be a few months before this project will update).

Anyway hope you like it! :):)
 
Thanks :) :D

Oh if anyone has suggestions on lighting it up, let me know :)

At the moment I'm thinking ribbon LED lighting, but not sure.
 
That actually looks really good, but 2 things;

1. is there anyway for you to hide the metal brackets? (If not replace with brass plated ones as will go with the wood better)

2. Can you look to replacing the standard heatsink and fan with something like a H100i, a H60 or something like as it will add to the visual impact that you have started, and also if you have matching drives eg 2 WD greens, or 2 WD reds, then place them in the top 2 places as seeing a WD green and a WD red looks odd.

Lighting...

Idea 1....

Now with the black acrylic as background, personally I would look to either a few white LED lights on 1 side, and a full strips of blue LEDs on the others sides, where the noctua fan is, place the White LEDs so as it highlights the MOBO and the blue ones to accentuate the other components.

Idea 2....

Underneath each of the components place blue LEDs and around the outside of the box place White LEDs (but not too many white ones else it will detract from the effect) (lift the drive up a little by placing a washer between it and the back acrylic as that will give ample space for a couple of leds to shine enough light through for the dramatic effect)
 
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Good ideas.

The brackets are what I just found at the time, I could try source brass or test colour one of them.

I do have a spare sealed loop water cooler I could attach where the noctua fan is..

I like both lighting ideas. Will have to get down to sourcing where to get em from. Thoughts for cheap?
I will probably look at DX.com , cheap China parts.
 
I saw your layout and thought... hmm you should have kept the bowl of apples in the final design. That would have been 100% unique! ;)

As for the brackets, you could put them on the inside. With a router you could cut about 2 or 3mm into the inner frame so the brackets are flush with it. they could then attach to the wall underneath your black gloss acrylic without interfering with the design.
 
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Warchild said:
I saw your layout and thought... hmm you should have kept the bowl of apples in the final design. That would have been 100% unique! ;)

As for the brackets, you could put them on the inside. With a router you could cut about 2 or 3mm into the inner frame so the brackets are flush with it. they could then attach to the wall underneath your black gloss acrylic without interfering with the design.
Click to expand...

Brackets idea - That would make it look like its floating, and means i dont have to replace the brackets.. might need a new router bit though.. unless I can get away with a dremel..
dam you for giving a good idea, I'm going to be thinking about it for a while now.

And the apples didnt last the build time :( but I my wife has the Mac in the office :)
 
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While you have your router out, can you recess the fans into the framework? Possibly even replace with LED fans to help with the lighting.

As for where to get them from, unfortunately I don't have any idea where to source them from where you are as I am in the UK, so sorry I can't help you there.
 
YouWhat said:
While you have your router out, can you recess the fans into the framework? Possibly even replace with LED fans to help with the lighting.

As for where to get them from, unfortunately I don't have any idea where to source them from where you are as I am in the UK, so sorry I can't help you there.
Click to expand...

Sadly that would kill the strength of the framework as the fans are the tallest part of the build and match the height of the frame.

Fans are expensive, but I agree would help finish it off.
 
why did you use so many L brackets? I would have used a vesa mount so that it would have looked sleeker. You could still do that mind, if you put the cables into the wall it would look even better, I'm guessing that its a just a stud wall.
 
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andrewmchugh said:
why did you use so many L brackets? I would have used a vesa mount so that it would have looked sleeker. You could still do that mind, if you put the cables into the wall it would look even better, I'm guessing that its a just a stud wall.
Click to expand...

Reasons so many was because I didnt measure it to go into the studs so I needed it as solid as possible (I could hang off it now lol). Also Earthquakes.
The back plastic is only 3mm thick so the only strength is the frame itself.
I will be investigating other ways to do it, I like Warchild's suggestion on the first page.

At the moment I actually prefer to see the cables, but if I did go through the wall I would have to go down under the house
;)
 
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