EXPIRED Supermicro 836 Chassis - ~$100 shipped

[BlueFox]

Looks to be an older version with the A backplane, but given shipping on these is normally ~$80, well, hard to argue with the price. There is even a motherboard included, but X8 generation stuff is electronic waste at this point. Seller takes offers too, so might even get it for less, but the price is already very good: DELL CT-040 Fluid Data Intel Xeon E5540 2.53GHz Server w/6GB,DVDROM,QLOGIC Cards | eBay

Edit: And gone. Hopefully someone here picked it up.

 

[daviddoran]

That's a killer deal, even if you just wanted the drive trays and bezel. If I needed another one of these I'd jump at it, but I already have 2 I'm not using, so hopefully someone else can snag this.

 

[BlueFox]

For those that missed out, here's another for a bit more, which is also taking offers: Dell Compellent Series C40 SAN Storage System 6GB Ram - Intel Xeon E5540 2.53GHz | eBay

 

[Masejoer]

For those that missed out, here's another for a bit more, which is also taking offers: Dell Compellent Series C40 SAN Storage System 6GB Ram - Intel Xeon E5540 2.53GHz | eBay

Interesting. Off topic, but does Dell have any rebadged SC216? I'm waiting for a cheaper SC216 to move one of my servers into when I rebuild it with new parts, from an existing SC846. That system only has 2.5" drives now, so using (3d printed) adapters in 3.5" bays has gotten a bit annoying.

 

[BlueFox]

If they do, I'm regrettably not aware of it (though I don't think there is). Pretty much every OEM has rebadged Supermicro stuff however, so there may be cheaper options. Even then, the last one sold for ~$165 shipped about a week ago on eBay.

 

[Masejoer]

If they do, I'm regrettably not aware of it (though I don't think there is). Pretty much every OEM has rebadged Supermicro stuff however, so there may be cheaper options. Even then, the last one sold for ~$165 shipped about a week ago on eBay.

You must mean the one I saw that had no trays. Yeah, I'd prefer one with all 24 Trays are expensive separately.

 

[Samir]

...X8 generation stuff is electronic waste at this point.

I hate to make this correction here as I thought the userbase here knew the difference--ewaste (landfill) is for stuff that's broken and can't be repaired; working stuff should be passed on to whoever will use it to keep it out of the landfill.

This kit is perfectly usable as-is as a backup/offline unit. And honestly since the drives consume most of the power and are the heart of the performance, even for production use this is actually fine (within limits).

 

[BlueFox]

I hate to make this correction here as I thought the userbase here knew the difference--ewaste (landfill) is for stuff that's broken and can't be repaired; working stuff should be passed on to whoever will use it to keep it out of the landfill.

This kit is perfectly usable as-is as a backup/offline unit. And honestly since the drives consume most of the power and are the heart of the performance, even for production use this is actually fine (within limits).

Offline maybe. Online, the power consumption would cost more than a more modern system fairly quickly. Recycling it doesn't mean it's going straight to a landfill. Unfortunately unnecessary electricity consumption is also wasteful.

 

[Masejoer]

Offline maybe. Online, the power consumption would cost more than a more modern system fairly quickly. Recycling it doesn't mean it's going straight to a landfill. Unfortunately unnecessary electricity consumption is also wasteful.

I'd agree with this - the online/running cost. More than the electricity (cheap here), it's the heat generation! I'm actually trying to do upgrades specifically for the heat load. Also picked up a couple cheap thinkpads to offload tasks to a 4W-idle load. Just non-important FTP/HTTP services so I can stop paying $50/year for hosting. Even they're overkill for a lot - 8th gen i7 CPUs? I could get by with a 20 year old dual core and still have a responsive system.

 

[Cruzader]

I hate to make this correction here as I thought the userbase here knew the difference--ewaste (landfill) is for stuff that's broken and can't be repaired; working stuff should be passed on to whoever will use it to keep it out of the landfill.

I hate to make this correction here as I thought the userbase here knew the difference but e-waste is for stuff that is broken, old or for other reasons discarded.
Majority of e-waste is fully functional but outdated, and it does not go to a landfill.

 

[EasyRhino]

metaphorical e-waste.

And of course, try not to put any electronics in a landfill because they can leach nasty chemicals, try to put them in a proper ewaste disposal. (which is actually hard, I have a huge box of truly broken electronics just waiting for the next ewaste day event in my town).

and also... I had never even heard of a "Dell Fluid" series before seeing that listing!

 

[Samir]

Offline maybe. Online, the power consumption would cost more than a more modern system fairly quickly. Recycling it doesn't mean it's going straight to a landfill. Unfortunately unnecessary electricity consumption is also wasteful.

I would like to see how much different a modern system will be on power for 16x SAS HDDs--I don't think it would be more than 40w if even that much.

Unfortunately, most electronics that are discarded do end up in landfills, overseas maybes, but landfills nonetheless. 60 minutes did an undercover story following some CRTs from the USA from a company that swore they didn't throw them away. Was a real eye opener. Coupling that with the fact that electronics waste is the fastest growing category of waste worldwide to the point it is considered a 'problem', then re-use is a far better alternative if possible.

I don't disagree that unnecessary power consumption is wasteful, but this is usually a lot more trivial in homelab than it is for data centers. If power was the only concern, we would all be on much newer gear all the time (and paying 5-figures for it). Obviously there is a sweet spot on cost between opex and capex for each of us, and that sweet spot differs quite a bit when you have power for free, gear for free, or both, or neither.

 

[Samir]

I'd agree with this - the online/running cost. More than the electricity (cheap here), it's the heat generation! I'm actually trying to do upgrades specifically for the heat load. Also picked up a couple cheap thinkpads to offload tasks to a 4W-idle load. Just non-important FTP/HTTP services so I can stop paying $50/year for hosting. Even they're overkill for a lot - 8th gen i7 CPUs? I could get by with a 20 year old dual core and still have a responsive system.

Like I said, everyone has a sweet spot and I'm lucky that power or heat isn't a factor. But at one of my other sites that it is, the older servers are not in production and generally don't get even powered on until winter--when some heat would be useful.

 

[Samir]

Majority of e-waste is fully functional but outdated, and it does not go to a landfill.

I wish that were true. Sadly it isn't, and literally tons of electronics are being smashed up like cars and dumped because it's the 'cheapest way' to deal with it.

 

[Samir]

metaphorical e-waste.

And of course, try not to put any electronics in a landfill because they can leach nasty chemicals, try to put them in a proper ewaste disposal. (which is actually hard, I have a huge box of truly broken electronics just waiting for the next ewaste day event in my town).

and also... I had never even heard of a "Dell Fluid" series before seeing that listing!

Yes, possibly better term.

Even a lot of those ewaste events are what ends up in landfills. The 60 minutes undercover story I referred to earlier was from one of those events.

Yep, I wouldn't have believed Dell used Supermicro stuff like this until I saw this either. Pretty neat! And now you can ask your clients if they're low on 'Dell Fluid' haha!

 

[BlueFox]

I would like to see how much different a modern system will be on power for 16x SAS HDDs--I don't think it would be more than 40w if even that much.

It's way more. Dual 1366 compared to a modern low power system would likely be on the order of 200W difference. They are very power hungry. Looking at an extra ~$300 a year in electricity (average US rates), nevermind the extra power required for cooling. If you're in California, it's closer to $1k annually. So, yeah, upgrade...

 

[Samir]

It's way more. Dual 1366 compared to a modern low power system would likely be on the order of 200W difference. They are very power hungry. Looking at an extra ~$300 a year in electricity (average US rates), nevermind the extra power required for cooling. If you're in California, it's closer to $1k annually. So, yeah, upgrade...

I highly doubt it for storage unit since the cpus won't be taxed. 16x drives will take up more power than the rest. Not sure where you're getting $300 from when it literally costs just a few dollars per cpu, even the 95w version:

Intel Xeon X5670 vs Xeon E5540 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Why exactly should I upgrade when I don't have to worry about power? This all comes down to cost at the end of the day, and if that means you have to upgrade then 'you do you' and leave opinions about what is ewaste out of it since those are not 'trufacts' for everyone.

 

[BlueFox]

I highly doubt it for storage unit since the cpus won't be taxed. 16x drives will take up more power than the rest. Not sure where you're getting $300 from when it literally costs just a few dollars per cpu, even the 95w version:

Intel Xeon X5670 vs Xeon E5540 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Why exactly should I upgrade when I don't have to worry about power? This all comes down to cost at the end of the day, and if that means you have to upgrade then 'you do you' and leave opinions about what is ewaste out of it since those are not 'trufacts' for everyone.

Their idle is terrible compared to anything modern. The platform itself also draws a ton of power on top of the CPUs (60W with dual IOH). $300 is the annual cost for a constant 200W load at average US prices. The calculator on the site you linked is just plain wrong for a number of reasons.

There's no such thing as free electricity, so, it's always a consideration. When newer stuff has an ROI of months, then yeah, it's electronic waste, nevermind it being an ancient platform that is no longer being supported. It's not about my opinion as one cannot argue with the math.

 

[Samir]

Their idle is terrible compared to anything modern. The platform itself also draws a ton of power on top of the CPUs (60W with dual IOH). $300 is the annual cost for a constant 200W load at average US prices. The calculator on the site you linked is just plain wrong for a number of reasons.

There's no such thing as free electricity, so, it's always a consideration. When newer stuff has an ROI of months, then yeah, it's electronic waste, nevermind it being an ancient platform that is no longer being supported. It's not about my opinion as one cannot argue with the math.

If modern idle was so great, then why are newer power supplies so much more wattage? I won't disagree on 60w for the rest of it, motherboard, storage controllers, nics, etc., but I highly doubt these same power draws are zero on a newer platform, so your point is moot. I also doubt that the efficiency you're touting is also bringing power costs to zero, so it doesn't cost zero--old or new--and the difference is not as steep as you claim it is. If your claim is the math proves your point, then as they would say in school, "show your work." I have no doubt your use case can be shown by your math, but I have yet to find a single all encompassing formula for calculating all use cases of all things homelab. If you have such a formula, it would be useful for the entire community to have it.

I guess just because you have to pay for electricity, no else can have it for free. A very arrogant stance imo. If your entire argument is just your opinions presented as facts, then nothing outside of your experience seems to exist--rois and use cases that don't apply to you simply do not exist--even when they do. Such self-centering isn't the reality of a very diverse broader community.

There's a lot of people like yourself contributing to the poisoning of the world by continuously spreading this fud about powering old gear being somehow insanely expensive. (There's even more of this on reddit's homelab communities where people are told to overbuy for most use cases and then end up downsizing at a loss.) This fud is simply not to true to those of us that see both sides of the coin and understand both opex and capx investments in relation to homelabbing.

 

[Cruzader]

If modern idle was so great, then why are newer power supplies so much more wattage?

Because its not always gone sit idle?...

And newer power supplies are not always so much more wattage.

The average psu size for a standard dual cpu config has gone down not up.
You increasingly see 460-500w for what used to be 750-900w.