1u Home Server Updates
Lots of people seemed to enjoy my other post about my 1u wall mount home server here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeServer/s/XZZMRXfYju
So I thought I’d share some upgrades I’ve made to it.
Firstly the motherboard ended up dying, so I replaced it with the newer generation from the same series, the Asus P11ci. This still has the SAS port meaning I can use up to 6 drives which was a must. I took this opportunity to change the CPU from the previous Xeon to an i3 9100T. Same performance but less power and newer architecture.
I also took the opportunity to add a passive heatsink to reduce noise. Speaking of which, I changed the PSU to an Enhance unit because the PSU was by far the loudest part of the old build.
Most importantly, I wasn’t happy with how warm the hard drives were getting previously. Even zip tying some fans near the old hard drives arrangement wasn’t helping because there was no room for airflow and the cable management was horrible. So I designed and 3d printed a bracket to hold the hard drives which gave them more space. The bracket also houses a PCB I took from a hot swap enclosure, meaning I can power all 6 drives from 2x 4 pin molex rather than 6 individual connectors and adapters. It also means the data cables all come from the same place which also helps. The bracket mounts into existing holes in the case. It could be better but this is a first prototype which I intend to use because I paid a 3d printing service for it. The fans aren’t aligned because I had to avoid some metal studs protruding from the base of the case.
All in all the server is much quieter (barely audible) and when all the drives are spinning up, the temperatures have improved by up to 10 degrees per drive, with the warmest maxing out at 43 degrees which I’m okay with.