Potential Deal: 2 x Dual 2011 nodes @$199, Quanta Openrack

[server_lol]

Maybe hit up some of these guys to make an adapter.

c6100 atx adapter | eBay

I sent that guy and another ebay dude to see if they could look into making an adapter. Check with your friends folks. Let's get some info on how to hook these units up to a regular ATX PSU.

I am desperate for these units

I looked at the doc and the adapter would seem to be simple, but all the "signaling" pins, not sure if they refer to "smart" power supplies and such. If so, how would the signals interop with an ATX PSU. Just speculating as I am not a PSU guy.

 

[RobertFontaine]

Once I get my compute node finished I will probably buy one and figure out how to make it work.

For a 2x2 2P setup to run VMs with 2670's I dont think there is an alternative that can even come close to this. 2P motherboards run about 300USD each on fleabay.

The power requirements on the motherboard side of this toy seem pretty standard.... I will buy a spool of wire, a pin tool, miscellaneous connectors and a mitt full of resistors and open up a book if I must. I am obscenely lazy so I prefer the plug it in and don't think approach, but if I have to spend an hour on it rather than buy a chinese cable or follow a recipe I will. I don't think this is anything that requires more than a cheap multi-meter.

 

[T_Minus]

I find it ironic everyone keeps saying 2P 2011-v1/v2 boards cost $300.

I've literally purchased over a dozen in the last 12mo and NEVER spent more than $250, and 50% I spent <120$

You guys just need to watch ebay and not be impatient

 

[RobertFontaine]

I like pragmatism.... thank you.

 

[server_lol]

I find it ironic everyone keeps saying 2P 2011-v1/v2 boards cost $300.

I've literally purchased over a dozen in the last 12mo and NEVER spent more than $250, and 50% I spent <120$

You guys just need to watch ebay and not be impatient

Well, you would still have to get the case and the power supplies. 4 CPUs, boards, case, power supply for 199 is good.

 

[server_lol]

I am thinking about getting a 220V outlet. Could someone attach a couple of clear pictures of the power cord, esp. the end that plugs into the wall outlet. Thanks

 

[RobertFontaine]

House current is not 3 phase. To get three phase into the home would require the power company to run another line from the transformer or change your service on the side of the house.

There is a hack to get 3 phase from single phase using a motor as a generator that machinists etc use to run industrial equipment. This quickly makes no sense at all for our purpose.

220 single phase power supplies are more efficient than 110 single phase power supplies but modern single phase power supplies are quite efficient.

If you are pulling as much power as your dryer / stove with your rack 220 could make sense. Building a wiring harness for a power supply isn't rocket science but you need to do it to spec or fire. The big rack power supplies can be had cheaply....

But the atx power supplies are available and have wiring harnesses already installed...

It seems pretty clear to me that I am not having the power company run lines and I'm not going to turn a small motor into a 3 phase generator.

 

[server_lol]

Is a 3-phase really required?

 

[Chuntzu]

No it is not, just 220v. Actually 200-270v per the image shown of the power supply from the auction.

 

[Chuntzu]

Though the comments about three phase have to do with the way Facebook and the like we're using a couple of the legs to get their specified voltage.

 

[server_lol]

No it is not, just 220v. Actually 200-270v per the image shown of the power supply from the auction.

Cool. Yeah, I had a chat with our data center folks and they did not see anything that say 3-phase required either.

Anyhow, their view is that these stuff are cheaply made and expected to fail. There is a reason they are so cheap Large operations (super computing centers, etc) using these cheap servers and the servers do fail "often". Failure is part of the operational expectation and budget so to speak. I figure for large enough operations, someone must have carried out operational research to determine that the servers and their "MTBF", upfront cost, replacement, etc, all in all, are worth it.

For a home user, well, you are out of 199 regardless

 

[dba]

Is a 3-phase really required?

No. I ran my first test unit on plain-old single phase 220V, obtained by temporarily unplugging my central vacuum.

 

[Boddy]

Wikipedia has a wealth of information about 3 phase power.
Try Google search: "wikipedia 3 phase power"

e.g.
Three-phase electric power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Three-phase - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phase converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ground and neutral - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (note section on 'Shared neutral - three phase circuits)

I'm no electrician so do not take this as gospel. But I recall reading that electrical distribution wires on the street carried 3 pairs of wires and each pair of houses were connected to an alternating pair of wires at the street, so to balance the load. It may be overly simplistic, but I wonder if 3 phase power is similarly used to feed alternative servers or racks, but each server only receiving a single phase of power. Hence why @dba got their server working with a single phase 220 v wiring from his central vacuum.??? I could be wrong but this may point towards asking the right questions. This is electricity folks, not my specialty, best to ask the experts. Mucking with electricity without knowing what you are doing could be dangerous!

 

[RobertFontaine]

The racks are set up in threes so your guess sounds plausible....

Enclosures don't fail. Heat kills electronics. A fat twin supermicro is built like a tank as are their motherboards but not in this price range. BIOS availability might be the real show stopper.

 

[bWonder]

I've been following this discussion. Looks like you guys should let europeans have these racks . The 220v is exactly what we get from wall outlet. We keep losing on every eBay deal because of postal and VAT and customs.
So these racks would be a perfect match with 2670s from the price tracking thread??

 

[server_lol]

I've been following this discussion. Looks like you guys should let europeans have these racks . The 220v is exactly what we get from wall outlet. We keep losing on every eBay deal because of postal and VAT and customs.
So these racks would be a perfect match with 2670s from the price tracking thread??

Thought it was a fair request until I ran into a friendly electrician who thought he could pull a line for me for $50...going through the existing conduit/outlet on the inside of the garage, practically opposite the breakers panel

Yeah, the E5-2670 should work fine. I have not tested though. I did pick up a pair for 190. Probably will have to pick up another pair.

 

[server_lol]

No. I ran my first test unit on plain-old single phase 220V, obtained by temporarily unplugging my central vacuum.

Would you be able to post a couple of pictures on your setup? It will be good to see what it actually looks like.

 

[server_lol]

Are these of standard 1U height? Thanks...

By the way, I did buy one just to investigate. I have plenty of 208V power available, and serial port servers to manage them. Patrick, would be glad to write up something for the site.

Also: Looks 19" to me. The triple-wide version is definitely 21" though.

UPDATE: 19" wide but won't fit in a 19" rack, which have 17 3/4" openings between the rails. See later post for more details about these quirky servers.

 

[dba]

Are these of standard 1U height? Thanks...

They are not 1U height. These are OpenCompute and use OpenCompute sizes, which are decidedly different than standard rack units.

 

[dba]

My OpenCompute debug kit arrived today. Finally.

Below are a few photos of the $460** "OCP Debug Kit" that I ordered from Penguin Computing in Fremont, CA. The kit includes the tiny and very expensive OpenCompute debug board plus two relatively inexpensive custom cables. The debug board plugs into the standard OpenCompute debug port, and displays boot codes on two small numeric displays, and also presents a USB serial port that will get you console access.

A spend of $460 isn't much if you have a ton of these servers, but it's way too much if you are buying just one or two. Intel does publish the pin assignments for the debug port, so you can make your own serial cable.

Here is a photo of the full kit. Does it look like $460 worth of kit? No, but I'm just glad that this extremely specific gear is available, regardless of price.
No documentation is included. The tiny board plugs into the OCP debug port. What are the other two cables for? I have no idea.

Here is a rear view of one sled in one of the eBay OCP servers for reference. Note that there is no rear plate and no top cover, and that the disk cables pretty much just dangle there. Extreme minimalism.

Here is the debug board (outlined in blue) plugged into the debug port on the right side of the motherboard sled. Note the two single-digit displays, and the tiny USB port. There is also a small button that does - I don't know yet.


**
Debug Board, Quanta OCP 1 $349.99 $349.99
Cable, Serial, USB-mini-B/6-pin, Passive OCP Debug 1 $12.00 $12.00
Cable, Serial, USB-A/6x1 header, 3.3V, FTDI 1 $31.00 $31.00
Cable, Extender, 2x7/2x7, 20mm, OCP Debug 1 $4.00 $4.00
Subtotal $396.99
Est. Sales Tax $34.74
S & H (3rd Day) $28.54
QUOTE TOTAL $460.27