Entries tagged 'cat:Projects' (Page 1)

SBWG 0.10.11

Entry created on 2022-09-08 (edited 2022-09-12) author:steeph (374) cat:Bash (31) cat:Code (31) cat:Computer (78) cat:Linux (36) cat:Projects (41) cat:SBWG (18) cat:Scripts (28) cat:Software (53) lang:en (253) top:Projects:Code:Bash Scripts:SBWG (16)

It's been two months since I published a new version of SBWG (and therefore since I worked enough on it to make me feel that an increase in the version number may be justified). I hardly get around to working on it, lately. But when I do, I try to make some solid small steps towards the improvements I wish do be done to SBWG.

So, now there is a new version (0.10.11) but I haven't published it yet because before I do I want to test it a bit more when I'm not as fucking tired as I am right now. Writing this entry could actually be considered part of the testing that I still want to do. But as I said, I'm fucking tired right now. So I'll continue this entry another time.

Edit 2022-09-12: I did some tests with fake content offline and feel confident that I fixed more than I broke in this version. I'll add it to the project page soon.

Two long procrastinate areas that have been overdue to get fixed for a while now are permanent caching and parallelisation. For permanent caching, the bugs that I found are fixed. Aggressive caching with option `--cache` (`-C`) works and certain groups can be selected (excluding others) for permanent caching. In my test this speeds up everyday web site re-generations by up to 100%. But it also means the user has to be aware of the cache files that persist after SBWG is done and will be used the next time. Changes to existing entries will not take effect without removing the relevant cache files. For parallelisation, the bugs that I found and that affect the generated HTML are fixed. I still consider parallel mode to be experimental. Sometimes messages on stdout are weird or cut off. But who uses very verbose mode and looks at every message anyway? Parallelisation is functional and usable is what I mean to say. In my test on a Core i5 with 4 cores (8 threads) it speeds up everyday web site re-generation by around 380% with default settings. It depends a lot on how much of web site generation is generating thumbnails and other image sizes of file attachments or gallery images. Those aren't sped up that much because the CPU already is the bottleneck for those. HTML file generation profits more from having more parallel threads than CPU cores (or threads) running.

Fred - Part 2 - The Case Lid And Cooling

Entry created on 2021-05-01 (edited 2022-08-21) author:steeph (374) cat:CPUs (5) cat:Case Modding (11) cat:Computer (78) cat:DIY (17) cat:Fred (3) cat:Hardware (16) cat:Hoarding (5) cat:Projects (41) lang:en (253) top:Projects:Case Modding:Fred (3)
This entry is a reply to or continuation of the entry 'Fred - Part 1 - Modding The Quiet Into A Server Rack Case'.

In this entry I'll describe how Fred's components are air cooled.

So, after removing the fan wall and unplugging the two fans in the back of the case there was no active cooling left. That's good for reducing noise, but not enough cooling for the hard drives, the CPU and the SAS controller cards. Since the case is not mounted in a rack and nothing is placed on top of it, I decided to use the space in the case lid to place larger fans.

The CPU

My idea was to replace the CPU cooler with a larger one that just fits into the case and have a fan above it suck out its hot air (also pulling in ait from the RAM modules next to the CPU socket). I fount a heat sink from Scythe called Iori (SCIOR-1000). Mounted on the socket there would be just enough space for a 15 mm fan above it. As it turns out though, the heat sink is large enough to cool the CPU passively and the RAM doesn't need any additional cooling, too. So the fan above it is not even plugged in.

The Extension Cards

Since the HBA and the RAID card that I'm using are designed for servers with a proper airflow, they need at least some additional cooling. Their heat sinks are quite small for the amount of heat they produce. But there was enough room above them to place a fan that sucks the hot ait directly from the extension card area out of the case. I was told these cards usually don't have any problems getting extremely hot. But I rather don't want to have them do their things for hours or days streight without any active cooling. Replacing their heat sinks with larger ones would only be a sufficiant option if there was room for much much larger heat sinks.

The Hard Drives

I don't want to have have hard drives run continuesly without any active cooling, especially when they are sitting in enclosures that don't allow for any aitflow without some amount of pressure. There is just no-where for the heat to go on its own in these tight drawers. I decided for three 140 mm fans that would neatly in a row behind the hard drive compartment and backplane. Since the motherboard isn't that large, there was nothing but a few cables in that area of the case. I've mounted an aluminium bar that I had lying around and tucked two pieces of flat plastic between this bar and the bar that originally held the fan wall at the bottom. That way, the air that is pressed in from above gets directed only into the hard drive compartment where it has no way to escape without passing the hard drives.

Unfortunately the room around the hard drives is so small that quite a lot of air preassure is needed to cool them as much as I wanted to. Running the fans at full speed all the time is hardly enough to keep them at a temperature that I deem acceptable. I tried to increase the cooling effect by sealing all the edges and other tiny spaces where some air could escape without cooling the hard drives. But this didn't lead to a measurable difference. I ended up taking out two of the 16 hard drives to increase the size of the duct. I chose two drives in the centre so that there now is a large surface where the air cools the remaining drives. That lowered the temperatures of the surrounding drives a lot. The temperature of the drives at the edges was of course hardly effected. But those weren't the problem anyway.

I'll probably continue about the rest of the case mod in a followup entry.

File Attachments (12 files)
Making the holes for the fans was easier than I expected. I marked the borders with a pencil by following the outlines of the actual fans, cut the rough holes with an angle grinder with a cutting disk, then did the finishing with a rotary tool (a not Dremel).
Making the holes for the fans was easier than I expected. I marked the borders with a pencil by following the outlines of the actual fans, cut the rough holes with an angle grinder with a cutting disk, then did the finishing with a rotary tool (a not Dremel).
I used up several cheap grinding bits for the finishing. The remaining borders between the fas are only a few millimeters wide. But the ~2 mm thick steel holds up surprisingly well. They don't make regular home computer cases from that material.
I used up several cheap grinding bits for the finishing. The remaining borders between the fas are only a few millimeters wide. But the ~2 mm thick steel holds up surprisingly well. They don't make regular home computer cases from that material.
First coat: primer, second coat: matte black, thirdly added sparkly sprinkles. In the picture I started taping the sides for what comes next.
First coat: primer, second coat: matte black, thirdly added sparkly sprinkles. In the picture I started taping the sides for what comes next.
Then I painted the middle part pink. After the tape was removed I noticed the paint came off in one spot. Well, that's how it goes if you don't do it right. I can just cover this with a sticker. For now I just added a matte clearcoat.
Then I painted the middle part pink. After the tape was removed I noticed the paint came off in one spot. Well, that's how it goes if you don't do it right. I can just cover this with a sticker. For now I just added a matte clearcoat.
In between cooling systems. I tested the modded lid as it was in the picture but closed. It did do something and it was better than the open case with scattered fans in the next picture, but not by much.
In between cooling systems. I tested the modded lid as it was in the picture but closed. It did do something and it was better than the open case with scattered fans in the next picture, but not by much.
That's how it looked for a day while I used the NAS before finishing the new cooling system. Notice the large space in the middle. That will be used in the next pictures.
That's how it looked for a day while I used the NAS before finishing the new cooling system. Notice the large space in the middle. That will be used in the next pictures.
This is how the case looked inside now. (I'll write about the power supply in the next entry.)
This is how the case looked inside now. (I'll write about the power supply in the next entry.)
Fred_Case_Lid-08-IMG_20200502_082859.jpg (image/jpeg, 2401167 B)
Fred_Case_Lid-08-IMG_20200502_082859.jpg (image/jpeg, 2401167 B)
And from the outside. The fan on the bottom right cools the RAID card and the HBA. I don't know if it's cooling it enough because I don't know what the cards/processors are made to withstand. But they still ran a few years after that picture was taken. The CPU fan is off because it stays cool enough during a hours-long burn test.
And from the outside. The fan on the bottom right cools the RAID card and the HBA. I don't know if it's cooling it enough because I don't know what the cards/processors are made to withstand. But they still ran a few years after that picture was taken. The CPU fan is off because it stays cool enough during a hours-long burn test.
The cooler mount wasn't made for that socket. I think it was for an AMD socket. The bracket was really strong and tight and eventually broke in two. The CPU lid didn't take any damage though and I simply used a few zipties to hold the cooler in place without much preasure on the CPU. That still was enough to cool the CPU passively and the machine ran three quarters of a year that way.
The cooler mount wasn't made for that socket. I think it was for an AMD socket. The bracket was really strong and tight and eventually broke in two. The CPU lid didn't take any damage though and I simply used a few zipties to hold the cooler in place without much preasure on the CPU. That still was enough to cool the CPU passively and the machine ran three quarters of a year that way.
Fred_Case_Lid-11-PXL_20210424_093519403.jpg (image/jpeg, 3628307 B)
Fred_Case_Lid-11-PXL_20210424_093519403.jpg (image/jpeg, 3628307 B)
Eventually I made my own bracket (not in the picture) and now that is held down by zipties. It's quite sturdy.
Eventually I made my own bracket (not in the picture) and now that is held down by zipties. It's quite sturdy.

Fred - Part 1 - Modding The Quiet Into A Server Rack Case

Entry created on 2020-11-22 (edited 2022-08-20) author:steeph (374) cat:Case Modding (11) cat:Computer (78) cat:DIY (17) cat:Fred (3) cat:Hardware (16) cat:Hoarding (5) cat:Projects (41) lang:en (253) top:Projects:Case Modding:Fred (3)

Fred is an old Supermicro rack server that I got as an attempt at building a NAS that replaces all the smaller NASs that I already had. But I like to collect stuff and it's never going to be enough. So it ended up being just another extension of my home network.

Overview

It's an old 3U Supermicro server case with 16 3.5" hard drive drawers, a good but not too bulky Asus motherboard and a nice low-power Intel CPU. I kept the motherboard, CPU and 32 GB ECC RAM. It's more than enough.

I wanted to do some mods on the case though to make it more comparible to my home and my visual taste in computer cases. In short, what I did was: Switch the PSU to a quieter one, build fans into the lid for quieter drive and card cooling, painted the case, switched the CPU cooler for passive cooling, added two HBA cards and 14 8 TB hard drives (two drawers left intentionally free).

I will tell about/may document these mods in more detail in separate entries.

File Attachments (22 files)
The case before I started (but not before I added some stickers)
The case before I started (but not before I added some stickers)
The pretty much finished case
The pretty much finished case
Fred-3-IMG_20200516_203621.jpg (image/jpeg, 2372090 B)
Fred-3-IMG_20200516_203621.jpg (image/jpeg, 2372090 B)
Fred-3-IMG_20200516_203634.jpg (image/jpeg, 2341046 B)
Fred-3-IMG_20200516_203634.jpg (image/jpeg, 2341046 B)
Fred-4-IMG_20200516_203641.jpg (image/jpeg, 2899272 B)
Fred-4-IMG_20200516_203641.jpg (image/jpeg, 2899272 B)
Making the holes for the fans was easier than I expected. I marked the borders with a pencil by following the outlines of the actual fans, cut the rough holes with an angle grinder with a cutting disk, then did the finishing with a rotary tool (a not Dremel).
Making the holes for the fans was easier than I expected. I marked the borders with a pencil by following the outlines of the actual fans, cut the rough holes with an angle grinder with a cutting disk, then did the finishing with a rotary tool (a not Dremel).
I used up several cheap grinding bits for the finishing. The remaining borders between the fas are only a few millimeters wide. But the ~2 mm thick steel holds up surprisingly well. They don't make regular home computer cases from that material.
I used up several cheap grinding bits for the finishing. The remaining borders between the fas are only a few millimeters wide. But the ~2 mm thick steel holds up surprisingly well. They don't make regular home computer cases from that material.
First coat: primer, second coat: matte black, thirdly added sparkly sprinkles. In the picture I started taping the sides for what comes next.
First coat: primer, second coat: matte black, thirdly added sparkly sprinkles. In the picture I started taping the sides for what comes next.
Then I painted the middle part pink. After the tape was removed I noticed the paint came off in one spot. Well, that's how it goes if you don't do it right. I can just cover this with a sticker. For now I just added a matte clearcoat.
Then I painted the middle part pink. After the tape was removed I noticed the paint came off in one spot. Well, that's how it goes if you don't do it right. I can just cover this with a sticker. For now I just added a matte clearcoat.
In between cooling systems. I tested the modded lid as it was in the picture but closed. It did do something and it was better than the open case with scattered fans in the next picture, but not by much.
In between cooling systems. I tested the modded lid as it was in the picture but closed. It did do something and it was better than the open case with scattered fans in the next picture, but not by much.
That's how it looked for a day while I used the NAS before finishing the new cooling system. Notice the large space in the middle. That will be used in the next pictures.
That's how it looked for a day while I used the NAS before finishing the new cooling system. Notice the large space in the middle. That will be used in the next pictures.
This is how the case looked inside now. (I'll write about the power supply in the next entry.)
This is how the case looked inside now. (I'll write about the power supply in the next entry.)
Fred_Case_Lid-08-IMG_20200502_082859.jpg (image/jpeg, 2401167 B)
Fred_Case_Lid-08-IMG_20200502_082859.jpg (image/jpeg, 2401167 B)
And from the outside. The fan on the bottom right cools the RAID card and the HBA. I don't know if it's cooling it enough because I don't know what the cards/processors are made to withstand. But they still ran a few years after that picture was taken. The CPU fan is off because it stays cool enough during a hours-long burn test.
And from the outside. The fan on the bottom right cools the RAID card and the HBA. I don't know if it's cooling it enough because I don't know what the cards/processors are made to withstand. But they still ran a few years after that picture was taken. The CPU fan is off because it stays cool enough during a hours-long burn test.
The cooler mount wasn't made for that socket. I think it was for an AMD socket. The bracket was really strong and tight and eventually broke in two. The CPU lid didn't take any damage though and I simply used a few zipties to hold the cooler in place without much preasure on the CPU. That still was enough to cool the CPU passively and the machine ran three quarters of a year that way.
The cooler mount wasn't made for that socket. I think it was for an AMD socket. The bracket was really strong and tight and eventually broke in two. The CPU lid didn't take any damage though and I simply used a few zipties to hold the cooler in place without much preasure on the CPU. That still was enough to cool the CPU passively and the machine ran three quarters of a year that way.
Fred_Case_Lid-11-PXL_20210424_093519403.jpg (image/jpeg, 3628307 B)
Fred_Case_Lid-11-PXL_20210424_093519403.jpg (image/jpeg, 3628307 B)
Eventually I made my own bracket (not in the picture) and now that is held down by zipties. It's quite sturdy.
Eventually I made my own bracket (not in the picture) and now that is held down by zipties. It's quite sturdy.
The old power supply after it died. (The unplugged fan and the missing screws do not resemble how it looked while it was in use.)
The old power supply after it died. (The unplugged fan and the missing screws do not resemble how it looked while it was in use.)
Maybe it would have lived longer if I had cooled it better. It wasn't efficient. It would have been too loud.
Maybe it would have lived longer if I had cooled it better. It wasn't efficient. It would have been too loud.
The new power supply. Fits well in height and leaves more than enough room for its modular cables (even for the ones that aren't used) and airflow.
The new power supply. Fits well in height and leaves more than enough room for its modular cables (even for the ones that aren't used) and airflow.
I'm happy with the adapter plate and how it turned out, even though I originally made it for a different SFX unit and the fan cutout now seems redundant. But it actually looks kind of professional. That's rare enough with me. I bet you can't tell which part I made myself. (Or is this because the photo is so bad?)
I'm happy with the adapter plate and how it turned out, even though I originally made it for a different SFX unit and the fan cutout now seems redundant. But it actually looks kind of professional. That's rare enough with me. I bet you can't tell which part I made myself. (Or is this because the photo is so bad?)
I made my own modular cables with old molex connectors for the HDD backplane. The unused cables in the plastic bag has its place at the back of the PSU.
I made my own modular cables with old molex connectors for the HDD backplane. The unused cables in the plastic bag has its place at the back of the PSU.

BLucid

Entry created on 2021-03-29 (edited 2022-08-09) author:steeph (374) cat:German (1) cat:Podcast (3) cat:Projects (41) cat:obsolete (4) lang:en (253) top:Projects:Web Sites:Discontinued (4)

I would like to tell the story about that time I co-founded and hosted a podcast for a few short years. But not today. This here is just to remind me.

Edit: Well, I'll just tell it real short then. I wanted to start a podcast in German language about lucid dreaming because there weren't any. But I wouldn't have done it alone, so I asked around, Zitrom joined and we recorded some episodes. We called the project BLucid because that sounded cool. He also made the intro jingle that I still like very much. Eventually I started to record episodes with others instead when Zitrom wasn't available anymore.

At some point I didn't find anybody who would join me for new episodes and so the project died. After a few years of me not having any time for that any more anyway, I decided to cancel the domain and take the site offline.

Now I'm re-publishing the podcast episodes on draft0.de.

And maybe eventually I will find somebody to co-host the podcast again. Some day. Feel free to send me a note if you'd like to be in the podcast, in German or English.

SBWG 0.10.10

Entry created on 2022-07-10 (edited 2022-07-15) author:steeph (374) cat:Bash (31) cat:Code (31) cat:Computer (78) cat:Linux (36) cat:Projects (41) cat:SBWG (18) cat:Scripts (28) cat:Software (53) lang:en (253) top:Projects:Code:Bash Scripts:SBWG (16)

I decided to publish a new version of SBWG. I hardly got around to editing it in the last few months. So it doesn't really contain the new things that I had for a while intended for v0.10.10. But there were a few bugs that I wanted to have fixed in the latest published version. There still are known bugs. But now there are a few less.

Well, since it doesn't really contain anything new that's relevant, I didn't have to create this entry. But I did, so I'll use it to say I also fixed the RSS feed of draft0 and the menu link of steephlog on mobile. Bugs that I didn't know I had introduced in the last update and that were very happy that I didn't test things beforehand.

The things that did change since my last SBWG update just aren't that interesting. But I'll list some here, nevertheless: Entries can now have custom notes (using the 'note:' tag; Topic tagpages now also show the author names of entries; Srickied entries are now excluded from the RSS feed because they're just used as notices at the top of tagpages and don't belong context-less in the feed (there is a better solution planned); Error reporting inside of the script now includes information on the basis of which the clean-up routine can decide how to handle things differently for different errors and stuff; SBWG now locks directories; There is now a flag that hides attachments to an individual entry that are of a specific mime type, and, you could just read the CHANGELOG file instead of this if you really are interested in these little changes.

It'll probably continue to be slow in the foreseeable future. There are a lot of ideas in my head and several bugs in the code and probably vice versa. But time… not so much.

Edit: Oh, and another thing: I started to test updates and changes that I made to SBWG live on this web site because it's more fun if something breaks every other day. I'll pretend I don't mind.

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