[geeks] Thumper wannabe? (a few more low cost x86 server)

[Micah R Ledbetter]

On Jan 24, 2008, at 07:40, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> Just came across this server:
>
> - Dual 3.06 GHz Xeons on an Intel MB
> - 2 Gigs or RAM (PC-3200 DDR)
> - Dual Ethernet
> - 12x 250 Gig IDE HDs (3 TB total raw storage) on 12 port RAID  
> controller
> - Triple-redundant power supply
> - 3U design
>
> $829.95 + $1.95 for S/H from Justdeals.com (I've bought from them in  
> the past,
> always went well)
>
> Link: http://justdeals.com/Items/GS_SVR-C8G?sck=46180970
>
> This server struck me as a "Ghetto version" of Sun's Thumper server...

Nice.

I wonder what that case is? In a cursory glance over to Newegg.com,  
cases with 12+ hotswap 3.5" bays are $500+ and up to $850 or so, at  
least, from Antec and SuperMicro. I'd be nice to know the hotswap  
capability - is it just 16 slots exposed on the front, or are there  
trays and such for easy removability? Could I replace the IDE drives  
with SATA or SCSI and keep the hotswapability, or is there a backplane  
I'd have to replace? Are the PSUs standard ATX, or are they somehow  
difficult to replace? etc...

Also, I wonder at their "redundant" PSU setup - does triple 300W PSUs  
sound like enough power to you? Wouldn't a full load of 16 drives max  
them all out simultaneously?

  - Micah