Monster 1U Server

OK, I have the SOL console fully working without using any of the Java stuff which is hopelessly broken. Here's what I did in OMV:

Added / edited the following lines in /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_TERMINAL="serial console"
GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="serial --speed=115200 --unit=1 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=tty0 console=ttyS1,115200n8"

Save the file and run in a root shell:

update-grub2

Shutdown OMV.

On another machine on the same LAN as OMV, run this command in a shell (install ipmitool if you don't already have it):

ipmitool -U <ipmi_user> -P <ipmi_password> -I lanplus -H <ipmi.ip.add.ress> sol activate

Turn on your OMV box and watch the above shell. It will look just like a regular bootup, you can enter the BIOSs, and you'll get a login screen.

Build summary.

All up and running with only very minor difficulty with the ipmi SOL console redirection. The standard Java app via web browser is horribly broken. This isn't the server's fault; it's just that the Java that used to work has been long ago deprecated. See above for the Grub fixups to make this work in a terminal.

All in all a good unit for a very low price.

Some oddities you should be aware of if you wind up buying one of these.

1) The case is purposed to the motherboard. That is to say there is no provision for the standard snap in I/O shield that is provided with every standard motherboard purchase. All the I/O ports on the motherboard penetrate the case to the outside via specifically located holes in the sheet metal. If you ever wanted to try to use a different motherboard it almost certainly will not fit. Also, the case is not tall enough to accept a snap in I/O shield even if you were to cut the metal out to try and make it fit. You could probably just get away with removing metal where needed to allow access to the ports. You might even be able cut down a supplied with motherboard I/O shield to get a cleaner look.

2) I do not know how the motherboard standoffs are secured to the case and whether they are easily removed. I just didn't look at this detail, so how easily a smaller motherboard could be adapted into the case is unknown and something I wouldn't be interested in doing anyway.

3) Hard drives mount into the case by attaching to the drive bottom 1/8in inside diameter rubber grommets for 1/4in panel holes using 6-32x3/8in long pan head screws. The problem here is that the spacing in the case for these fasteners is 1 3/4in as seen on older drives. Many or most new high capacity drives have a wider screw spacing. So these larger drives will only be held in with two fasteners, not four. I don't see this as a problem if the case is used horizontally as intended. I wall mounted mine vertically and the drives flop up a bit where there are no screws holding them down. I'll look into providing some small rubber bumpers on the inside of the case lid to prevent this movement.

Well, if you were considering buying one of these it's too late for now. Not a single one available on ebay from any source. The seller I got mine from sold more than a thousand of them in various CPU speed / RAM configurations.

Perhaps some will appear in the third hand market some day.

This is a one year update on my Chenbro NR12000 server I bought last year on ebay for $162.00US.

What I have done to it in the past year is add a 40mm fan to the SAS chip heatsink for a few degrees reduction in that chip's temperature which really wasn't worth the effort. I had the fan lying around in my spare parts bin, so it was essentialy a free upgrade.

I have also filled up all available drive bays for a full complement of one 2.5in SSD and twelve 3.5in SATA hard drives. OMV6 runs on a 16GB USB stick.

Future disk space growth will most likely be handled by swapping out existing small hard drives with new larger hard drives or by adding another SAS card into the available PCIE slot and connecting up my old DAS box which holds eight removable hard drives.

It has run flawlessly 24/7 since I put it in service a year ago.

My only regret is not buying another one of these immediately to have as a spare. So far, not a single one of the more than one thousand previously sold on ebay by the original vendor has shown up there for resale into the third hand marketplace.

My last server had eight hot swap bays as did the eight bay DAS box I added onto it later. But after more than five years of use and not really needing the easy drive removability I found I could easily do without it.

Here's a pic of the 1U Chenbro with the cover off. All that is different with it now is that all thirteen drive bays are now full.

Zitat von crashtest

If I had that, wall mounting would make sense. But, I'd consider leaving the top off (if it didn't affect air flow) just to look at the drives.

It's mounted vertically on the inside of the door on my gun safe which is rarely opened so it is little seen.

The shipping weight was 32 pounds according to FedEx, but I have no idea how much it weighs with all the drives installed or how much power it draws.

Message deleted; source turned out to be a scam

Zitat von crashtest

The Chenbro NR12000?

Yes.

Not sure about one being 32GB. The description is 16GB but the details say 32GB. The price are lower than what I paid last year.

I regretted not buying a second one when I had the choice last year, maybe now I will.

Zitat von crashtest

Did you buy your original Chenbro from this site? (http://www.citifunny.com?) And, did you buy again?

I'm seriously thinking about buying one but there's not much on the web site's reputation. (http://www.citifunny.com)

No, I didn't get it at citifunny.com, I got it on ebay from a vendor named Esiso https://www.ebay.com/str/esisodotcom. I haven't decided to buy another yet and I agree that the citifunny site content is sparse. But using a credit card is more or less foolproof as far as protecting your money goes. The only real concern I would have is that if you have to return it to get your money back you have to pay the return shipping, and that box is heavy.

Zitat von crashtest

I'm seriously thinking about buying one but there's not much on the web site's reputation. (http://www.citifunny.com)

So, are you going to buy one?

Paypal is very solid because both Paypal and the credit card attached to your Paypal account stand behind the transactions.

As an example, every single eBay sale is via Paypal. There is no other way to pay there.