Last summer I built myself a Mini ITX Linux workstation - the Blue Penguin. I used it for a few months and it was great, but it was always a little slow for really comfortable, everyday use - because of the slow 2.5" hard disk, I think. Eventually I found a Linux distro (Yoper) which works very well on my laptop, so the Blue Penguin fell out of use. Recently I've been thinking about building myself a file server for my network, and so I decided to use some of the bits from the Blue Penguin to do it. The most important thing with this computer is for it to be silent or very quiet, because it'll be running 24/7 in my bedroom. The ideal mobo for this would be one of the fanless Mini-ITX boards, such as the Epia 500. However, I already had the 800, which comes with a small but fairly noisy fan. So I decided to replace the fan and heatsink that comes with the board with a Zalman ZM-LB47J Northbridge Cooler which fits it perfectly. I also underclocked the processor to 600Mhz with the jumper on the mobo to make sure it runs nice and cool. What else does a file server need? A nice big hard disk. I got myself a Maxtor 200gb disk, and a Nexus Drive-A-Way to keep it quiet. The software I'll be running is called SME Server - based on Red Hat Linux. It supplies a very simple-to-manage file server which can be administered through a web interface. I plugged in all my components and a spare CD-ROM drive and installed the OS, making sure it all works: The case I'll be using is a fairly plain Maplin box, but I rather like the simple, clean looks, and I will be adding a couple of "touches" to make it look a bit more stylish. Here's the components laid out on the chassis: More tomorrow, hopefully!
that's a GREAT project. i really like how it's coming out. i'd like to build a little file server as well. i was looking at an NAS but those are just too expensive and i have tons of spare parts. problem is the power consumption of using a computer to be my file server. i just want a centralized storage device to upload all my spare data and files and share it among my network.
id love to be able to afford to make a file server like you are its looking great i cant wait to see what you'll do with it subscribed 3t3rn@l
Looking good, It's been a long time since I've seen a maplin box modded. They were all the rage at one stage....Been trying to get one for myself, never in stock. What PSU is that?
It's a long time since I bought it, but IIRC it's a Morex from here: http://www.morexintl.com/product/psu_60w.php There's a large number of the cases in stock in Maplin at Aintree. This project is nearly finished.. I'll hopefully be posting the rest of the log in a few hours
Part 2 Mounting brackets for the hard drive: Drilling: The holes cut for the back connectors: Mmm, switchy goodness: Test fit of the switch: Air hole: Test fit of the grill: All wired up: Another view: Finished!: Tried to show the awesome LED button: Really happy with how this turned out
Nope.. don't have any need for one. I'll have to take it to bits if I need to re-install the software anyway because of the lack of access to the back connectors (unless I can get network booting to work, bloody fiddly!)
i say take a fiew mm of the hs, i realy dont like the look of the grill =/ or just get rid of the raisers
The more I looked at it, the more I thought you guys were absolutely right - it did look a bit naff with the giant standoffs on the grill. So: Looks MUCH better. Thanks for the suggestion
The button was from www.kustompcs.co.uk and the box is from this range, you can get all sorts of sizes: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=1728&doy=31m7
Like the project except for the fan grill. Why don't you cut a bigger hole and mount the fan grill on the inside, so it's flush with the top. Would look much better and neater
taking the hi-fi comment further, why not make a feature of the blowhole and make it look like an old valve amp. the ones that come with cages around the valves like this you could even get an orange led for that old valve amp warm glowyness
