If any of remember me talking years ago about turning an old beer keg into a computer then you'll remember that it never got past the sketchup and a couple photos on a long dead website. But I never gave up on it. I was simply waiting for the right time to revive it and make it into something much more interesting. Keg-Server This is where it gets interesting. It's not just a single board stuck in there with a bunch of old drives. It's a precisely calculated and more intensive process. In fact, it's already begun and is close to being completed with the exception of some hard drives missing since they tend to get expensive when you're buying enough parts to build 2 12TB systems. I will be posting pictures on my website later detailing the entire process and I will add the link to the thread later. But I will give you a list of everything going into the build and you can do the math on the cost and come up with your own ideas of how you think it will look. Here is a list of what is being used for PC components (all from NewEgg unless specifically noted): 2x ASUS C60M1-I AMD Fusion motherboards 12x Hitachi Deskstar 2TB hdds 12x Rosewill 10" SATA-III angle-flat data cables 2x 8GB (2x4GB) G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 RAM 2x SeGoN 8GB miniDing micro flash drives COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Bronze Certified picoPSU-150-XT + 102W Adapter Power Kit from Ituner Networks Cage system parts (all from Menards): 1/8"x24"x24" steel perferrated sheet (x2) 1/16"x3/4"x3/4" 8ft aluminum angle (x2) #8x32 1/2" machine screws with locknuts (x100) **NOTE: this is in no way part of the KEGputer that was done for NVIDIA for the 2011 CES. I do commend BennyBoy on his final product and finishing well ahead of me.**
I'm sure some are kinda interrested as to the progress of the Keg-Server. So I finally took a whole 30 minutes and threw together a quick page on my server with all the photos of the progress so far. http://keg-server.kacomps.com
Please take the time to vote in my poll so I can see if I should delve into a second project after this or not. Thinking the next project will involve a pony keg unless someone has an idea that they wouldn't mind letting me roll with.
For the skeptics that aren't sure this project is going to make it til the end you may want to check out the link to the progress shots. As of this posting, the inner frame is assembled and waiting for the perferrated sheet to be attached and parts installed.
You may want to post some of the progress pics here on the forum so that people can see progress is being made.
Then don't click the link to see the photos. Only reason I put up the link is because I have friends that want to see the progress but don't want to join a site and weed through hundreds of posts just to view it. Progress of the mod is also being done on the FreeNAS site using the link since the system will be based on that once it's completed and operational. Updating one site is much easier than updating 2 or 3 with the same content.
Progress is still being made slowly. Hours at work increased so time on the keg-server has decreased but none-the-less it will be finished. Putting the perferrated sheet on is a little trickier than expected. With it on the outside of the frame it won't fit inside the keg so now it has to be recut and ground down to fit inside the frame. Hopefully the holes still line up. If not, it'll be off to the store to get some aluminum sheet and that will mean drilling quite a few holes to allow the airflow I want. More photos coming soon.
3 of the sides completed with perferrated sheets added inside the frame for added stability for the weigh of the parts to be added later.
PSU installed along with the mod to hold the hdd towers. To complete: install hdd towers and divider install mobos install hdds install cooling fans wire in switches To do later: add in additional hdds order picoPSU for 2nd board order RAM for 2nd board More photos coming this weekend so keep checking back.
Please do not use the term Kegputer it is taken and was done twice by my buddy Benny. Google search Kegputer.
I agree with posting the progress on here. Your friends don't have to join Bit-Tech to view your progress you can just send them a link to this thread. I would suggest cutting vents( like 2 intake vents on each side or 4 vents equal spaced) so that your gear stays cool in the keg around the bottom and placing a vent or 2 in the top like front to back cooling on a regular case it will just be from bottom to top, hot air rises. Hope this makes sense. You could use low RPM 120 mm or 140 mm silent fans but it should provide adequate air flow to cool all your gear. Please post more pics as you progress and I'm sure you will get more comments/suggestions.
Actually, you may want to search the forums here. I first used the term on August 31, 2006, in here as my first project after searching with google to see if it had already been done. It hadn't so I went ahead with it. Yes it was on hold for a few years but it never died. If you can prove that he did it prior to that then I'll greatly ask the admins to change my thread to have "keg-puter" removed. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=119692&highlight=keg-puter There's the link to my first post on it. Or here to where the term was used in 2007 by another person: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=529012
I'm updating my 2 forums and my website seperately. I do plan on putting vents in the top and a few fans inside. Once it's fully assembled. I'll figure out where to drill the holes in relation to the fans. Plan to have it sit so Labatt is exposed as the front. Planned on dual 120mm silent fans for intake and dual 80mm for the exhaust on top. PSU is placed so that the large 140mm fan on it blows up past the hdd towers. Will also have a couple blowing across the hdd towers towards the center. More photos devinitely coming this weekend as the installs continue. Might be slow since I'm also having to do a custom FreeBSD build for it as the OS.
If you never saw the project through, even if you did start it, and Benny did and it was published far and wide, you should not use the term GOING FORWARD I will point Benny over here (he does not mod anymore) but my larger concern is that NVIDIA had Benny do the second project (I am not representing NVIDIA in this thread mind you) and in that project the term was used heavily. Maybe you can qualify with the history then indicate the later project done by Benny and NVIDIA so people do not get confused? A win-win solution would be great.
I will give him credit for the kegputer but kegserver will stick around. Since you aren't posting here as an NVIDIA rep I won't bust your nuts for not doing research ahead of time. Benny and NVIDIA do have a nice one that serves 2 functions. If its acceptable I'll keep the thread title the same and make a note in my first post that this is not based on the kegputer that was publicized. How about links between his gaming system and my server system? I think that might be fair. Both get credit for our works that we've done. I should warn you, I have another project in mind that hasn't been done before and I'm going to make it happen in less time than this one. Google "the 343" for my next project.
Thanks for looking out after the name for me Darth, but in the end it's just a name and I would have to hold any grudges for something like that. Kris Rey from Nvidia was the one who came up with the name if I remember correctly, we where throwing a bunch out there and that one stuck. My Keg computer before the nvidia one I just name Kegatrator, and that was in the fall of 2010. It seems like the name has been thrown around a bit in the past by several people so who's to say someone thought of it an never posted it on the web? Well anyways if you Google Kegputer all you can find is the Nvidia project all over the web, so I'll just leave it at that. I challenge anyone to dethrone the Nvidia Kegputer from it's inter-web title! Oh and btw Darth I'm not done with computer modding, I shall be back into the buisness as soon as I move back to Idaho next spring. Defiantly going to be more revisions of the Kegputer in the future.
Well, since Benny isn't upset over it we will leave it at that. It's just a name. Since it's only a name, I think Keg-Server is worth holding onto for my dual 12TB NAS inside a half barrel/full keg. Unfortunately mine won't contain the tasty beer that the NVIDIA did. Best luck on your future mods Benny. You'll have to keep us all updated. I'm curious to see what else you can do.
