George's dream build - Page 9

Mark Rose · 2016-03-20, 00:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prime95

An interesting idea -- a lot of air in there.

Do you think there will be a problem snipping the power cord and splicing it into 5V from the PSU?

The current draw is labeled as 2 amps @ 5 volts on the switch, correct? A molex hard disk, floppy, or sata connector should be able to handle that on the 5 volt line.

I'd hunt online for a cheap molex/sata cable and a cheap barrel connector pig tail, to avoid damaging either power supply cable. Splicing should be straight forward. Two wires, a little solder, and some heat shrink tubing. I wouldn't use electrical tape as it will come loose over time. The red wire is 5 volts, the black wires are ground.

You'll see a lot of USB to barrel connectors for sale, but a USB port cannot supply enough current.

There are also a lot of molex to barrel connectors online, but every one I've found is for 12 volts, like this one or this one. Actually, if you have a skinny set of pliers, you can pull the pin out of a molex connector and move it from the 12 volt to the 5 volt position. That might be the way to go.

Joe O · 2016-03-20, 01:14

Your switch and both the netgears require 7.5V DC
no need to cut the cord just get one with the right terminator.
I'll look to see if I can find a switch that runs on 5V DC

Bingo! The successor to your switch http://us.dlink.com/products/connect...esktop-switch/ runs on 5V and uses from .8 to 3.48 watts depending on activity

and the size is Device Dimensions (W x D x H)
•1.4 x 5.8 x 3.4 inches (39 x144 x 84mm)

Mark Rose · 2016-03-20, 01:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe O

Your switch and both the netgears require 7.5V DC
no need to cut the cord just get one with the right terminator.
I'll look to see if I can find a switch that runs on 5V DC

Bingo! The successor to your switch http://us.dlink.com/products/connect...esktop-switch/ runs on 5V and uses from .8 to 3.8 amps depending on activity

It says its max input is 3.48 watts, which is 0.7 amps, so it could be safely supplied from a USB 3 plug, too!

Madpoo · 2016-03-21, 00:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe O

...<links to Sandisk Cruzer USB etc>...

I've used several of those Sandisk Cruzer sticks... they're nice and small. In my case, I have one in my car stereo, preloaded with a bunch of MP3s. Doesn't stick out, pretty reliable.

I have another in my RV stereo... same reason.

Now, I must admit that I did have one of them, a small 4GB module, just up and die. Inserted into anything, even my laptop, and it was simply unreadable. Curiously though, I cracked it apart and there's just a micro-SD card inside, so I pulled that out, put it into an adapter, and it read fine.

That one instance aside, I like the form factor so much, I bought more in 8-16 GB sizes and they've been going strong for a couple years at least.

I can't vouch for their speed for any uses beyond playing MP3s... I know when I have them plugged into my PC to copy songs to them, it's fast enough over USB 2.0.

Madpoo · 2016-03-21, 00:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prime95

It is a 7 year old switch, kinda large: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127082

Ugh. I might have an old Netgear 8-port gigabit switch I could send you (it would be the GS108 if I remember their model numbering scheme). I'll have to dig through my pile of junk and see if it's in there... if so, you have dibs.

bgbeuning · 2016-04-02, 18:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Rose

This is making my itch to build a cluster stronger.

So I wonder how many of these would fit in a 4U case...

7 x 16.8 x 25 inches

Prime95 · 2016-04-09, 03:21

An update. When I'm not mucking with it, the thing runs smoothly for days on end.

I replaced the big USB stick with a tiny one, much cleaner. While I was at it I bought a spare and created a backup.

I removed the plastic case on the network switch and successfully mounted the board inside the case. I snipped off the wall wart and am now powering the switch using the PSU.

I drilled holes in the bottom of the case and have mounted the stack of 5 CPUs inside. I hooked up the 3 case fans.

I made 5 custom length ethernet cables and neatly zip-tied them.

I've installed the side panels on the case and am now monitoring temps. So far the H110s are in the low 60s, the Z170 is in the upper 60s. Not too bad. I should have mounted the Z170 on top of the stack so that the power supply fan sucks its heat away more efficiently.

To do:

Mount the front panel. There is a rat's nest of wires that needs to be neatened.

Solve some boot issues. For reasons unknown the Z170 has decided to boot straight to UEFI. This is not ideal for unattended operation after a power failure.

Figure out how best to back up data daily.

Investigate a better way to monitor and shutdown the CPUs. Running 5 SSH windows is a bit cumbersome but may be the best I can do.

Add 2 more CPUs if temps stay low!!

bgbeuning · 2016-04-10, 19:41

Two questions.

Usually the motherboard tells a power supply when to turn on.
If all your boards are on PicoPSU's then it requires a jumper to fool the main PSU.
If one board uses the ATX-24 connector from the PSU, then when that board
is off the other boards will not have power. What did you do?

The boards have pins for connecting case POWER and RESET
buttons. The POWER button needs to be connected briefly for the MB
to tell the PSU to supply power.
Do you have POWER buttons for each board?

Prime95 · 2016-04-10, 19:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgbeuning

If one board uses the ATX-24 connector from the PSU, then when that board
is off the other boards will not have power. What did you do?

One board does use the ATX-24 connector (why spend $30 for another picoPSU). Since all boards are running all the time, this really isn't an issue.

Quote:

The boards have pins for connecting case POWER and RESET
buttons. The POWER button needs to be connected briefly for the MB
to tell the PSU to supply power.
Do you have POWER buttons for each board?

Yes, each board has its own power switch.

If one is thinking of doing a build like this there are parts one can order from china for dirt cheap as long as you can wait up to 30 days for delivery. The power switch and standoffs are examples. I can provide links if there is any interest.

bgbeuning · 2016-04-11, 19:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prime95

Figure out how best to back up data daily.

Samba shares are easy to set up and then another machine can access the shares.

# Add user 'gw'
sudo smbpasswd -a gw

Add this to /etc/samba/smb.conf
[prime95]
path = /home/gw/prime95
valid users = gw
read only = yes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prime95

Investigate a better way to monitor and shutdown the CPUs.

I find the http://www.mersenne.org/cpus/ page very useful for watching the machines.
It just told me one machine had not reported for 20 days.
After checking, the PSU and disk had died.

bgbeuning · 2016-04-12, 19:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prime95

If one is thinking of doing a build like this there are parts one can order from china for dirt cheap as long as you can wait up to 30 days for delivery. The power switch and standoffs are examples. I can provide links if there is any interest.

Links please.

Link for PicoPSU would be nice too.

How much distance did you separate the boards?

Thanks!

2016-03-20, 01:14	#90
Joe O Aug 2002 3·5²·7 Posts	Your switch and both the netgears require 7.5V DC no need to cut the cord just get one with the right terminator. I'll look to see if I can find a switch that runs on 5V DC Bingo! The successor to your switch http://us.dlink.com/products/connect...esktop-switch/ runs on 5V and uses from .8 to 3.48 watts depending on activity and the size is Device Dimensions (W x D x H) •1.4 x 5.8 x 3.4 inches (39 x144 x 84mm) Last fiddled with by Joe O on 2016-03-20 at 02:10

2016-04-10, 19:41	#96
bgbeuning Dec 2014 3·5·17 Posts	Two questions. Usually the motherboard tells a power supply when to turn on. If all your boards are on PicoPSU's then it requires a jumper to fool the main PSU. If one board uses the ATX-24 connector from the PSU, then when that board is off the other boards will not have power. What did you do? The boards have pins for connecting case POWER and RESET buttons. The POWER button needs to be connected briefly for the MB to tell the PSU to supply power. Do you have POWER buttons for each board? Last fiddled with by bgbeuning on 2016-04-10 at 19:42

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2016-04-09, 03:21	#95
Prime95 P90 years forever! Aug 2002 Yeehaw, FL 2057₁₆ Posts	An update. When I'm not mucking with it, the thing runs smoothly for days on end. I replaced the big USB stick with a tiny one, much cleaner. While I was at it I bought a spare and created a backup. I removed the plastic case on the network switch and successfully mounted the board inside the case. I snipped off the wall wart and am now powering the switch using the PSU. I drilled holes in the bottom of the case and have mounted the stack of 5 CPUs inside. I hooked up the 3 case fans. I made 5 custom length ethernet cables and neatly zip-tied them. I've installed the side panels on the case and am now monitoring temps. So far the H110s are in the low 60s, the Z170 is in the upper 60s. Not too bad. I should have mounted the Z170 on top of the stack so that the power supply fan sucks its heat away more efficiently. To do: Mount the front panel. There is a rat's nest of wires that needs to be neatened. Solve some boot issues. For reasons unknown the Z170 has decided to boot straight to UEFI. This is not ideal for unattended operation after a power failure. Figure out how best to back up data daily. Investigate a better way to monitor and shutdown the CPUs. Running 5 SSH windows is a bit cumbersome but may be the best I can do. Add 2 more CPUs if temps stay low!!