International Open Solutions Centre » Hardware http://www.iosc.net/blog Share your experience and knowledge computer hardware / software / programming / design / news Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:34:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Project CORE Server http://www.iosc.net/blog/2009/06/08/project-core-server/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2009/06/08/project-core-server/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:59:16 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=68 atom-330-oblique d945gclf2 d945gclf2_pic1 img_1200 img_1202 img_1203 img_1204 img_1205 img_1206 img_1207 img_1208 img_1209 img_1210 img_1211 img_1212 img_1213 img_1214 img_1216 img_1217 img_1218 img_1219 img_1220 img_1221 img_1222 img_1223 img_1224 img_1225

This summer I found out that my working enviroment just got too many computers and generated too much heat too (of course the electricity bill is a bit too high). This is the time to talk about Green Power and Save the enviroment ;) hah

I will be getting rid of my current server which is

  • AMD Sempron (just because it’s cheap)
  • nVidia C51 Motherboard (for 3D testing)
  • 1GB DDR533 Memory (RAM is expensive when I built this)
  • Total of 1.2TB storage (4 HDD with different size)
  • 400W PSU (just too much)
  • Running on Centos 5 with XEN (I love YUM)

The current server mainly is for NAS Storage, PHP/MySQL Development server and to practice more on SSH + UNIX

OK, let’s talk about new thing now.

I am going to build my new tiny Green Powered Server which I will name it as usual – CORE Server (maybe I should call it 2nd generations?)

The aim for this new CORE server is mainly because

  • I will be bringing it along for my long term travel from UK to Malaysia and back
  • Small in size (to comply with the above) which can fit in my bag
  • I want a less power consuming server (to save the bills)
  • I want to try out the new Intel Atom Duo Core (Virtualizations with XEN and VMWare)
  • I want to build a beautiful server with facilities such like NAS, LAMP, Media Streaming, Media Player, FTP, SSH + etc (of course, this is a SERVER)

Here are the specs of my CORE Server

Hardware

Product Specs Price Remarks
Mini-ITX Casing
  • 120W Internal PSU
  • Internal 1 x 3.5″ HDD Space + 1 x 2.5″ HDD Space on the same rack
  • 1 x 5.25″ External Space
 £60 -
CPU + Motherboard
  • Intel Little Falls 2 Mini-ITX Motherboard
  • Intel Atom N330 Dual Core Processor
  • Intel 945 chipset
  • Built in Intel XMA Graphics with D-Sub and S-Video Out
  • 6 channel AC97 Audio
 £60 17cm x 17cm
Memory
  • 2.0 GB DDR2 667 (1 x Dimm maximum)
 £18 CL5
Data Harddisk
  • 2 x 1.0 TB Western Digital 7200rpm Green Power SATA II HDD
 £140 Low Power Consumption
OS Harddisk
  • 1 x 20GB 2.5″ Hitachi HDD
 £0 Used HDD from old laptop

Software

Operating System
  • CentOS 5.3 64 bit Server Edition
  • Gnome Desktop (for LAN remote VNC)
  • WindowsMaker Desktop Manager (for WAN remote VNC)
 £0 Running on ext3
Virtualization
  • VMWare Server 2.0
  • XEN kernel (Optional Boot for Testing)
 £0 -
LAMP
  • Apache 2.0
  • PHP 5.0
  • MySQL 5.0
 £0 -

Now I am waiting for my Intel Little Falls 2 to come on Wednesday and will continue this post ;)

12/June/2009

Finally the Intel Little Falls 2 arrived!!!

It really a headache when trying to put this motherboard into the tiny casing. I have to remove the HDD racks and power supply in order to fit the board in. I even have to take off the bottom part of the casing (No wonder this tiny casing so expensive, the design is really user friendly ;) )

The second problem is the cables after fit in the board and every other parts. SInce the space will be super compact, I have to squeeze all the power and data cables into the sides. The CPU Fan only remains about 3cm height of space just under the 5.25″ HDD rack on top.

Just after completing the assembles, the first thjing I need to check will be the temperature of the CPU. It shows around 40 celsius in the BIOS with the CPU fan running at about 2800rpm and the casing big fan which draws out hot air running at around 4500rpm.

Since the server will not be fit with any optical drives, so I have to temporary plug in the DVD-RW drive to install the CentOS 5.3 Final. The installation went off smoothly and then after around 30 minutes I have the OS up and running!!! It takes long for installing because I want to customised all the installations. I only choose the Server-GUI version with customized packages to keep the overall system file size below 2GB.

If you are interested in the system process details, please leave me a comment so I can tell more. At the moment let me test the server first and moving all my data files into it.

updated: by using “smartctl” command, 3 HDDs detected running at around 30 to 36 celcius, not bad huh!!!

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2009/06/08/project-core-server/feed/ 0 Samsung NC10 Netbook around £299 (RM1600) http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/10/29/samsung-nc10-netbook-around-299-rm1600/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/10/29/samsung-nc10-netbook-around-299-rm1600/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:28:39 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=60 http://waterblowing.com/2008/10/29/samsung-nc10-netbook-around-299-rm1600/

Samsung NC10 Netbook

Samsung NC10 Netbook

Among all the hot netbook in the market now, I found that the Samsung NC10 Netbook comes with the most competitive specifications and also, a good price. The NC10 comes with all the features that maybe you can not even find on an expensive laptop. The only things to disadvantages compare to expensive mobile laptop maybe just the speed of processor. I have not yet tested any Intel Atom based computer yet but I believe that you do not need a super powerful processor for a laptop now a days. If I am not with my MacBook now, I definitely will get this one for travelling.

For me, netbook will be good for email, web conferencing, voip, messenger, photo organizing, music, movie (even HD) and of course, working ;)

Let’s look at the spec

Processor

  • Intel® Atom™ Processor N270 (1.6GHz)
  • 533MHz FSB with 512KB Cache
  • Chipset: Intel 945GSE + ICH7M

Memory

  • 1GB (1 x 1GB) DDR2 667MHz
  • Memory Slot 1 x Slot SODIMM

Hard Drive

  • 160GB SATA

Software

  • Operating System: Genuine Windows® XP Home (SP3)
  • Samsung Magic Doctor
  • Samsung Update Plus
  • Easy Display Manger
  • Easy Battery Manager
  • Easy Network Manager
  • Easy Speed Up Manager
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader

Display

  • 10.2” WSVGA (1024 x 600) SuperBright© Gloss LED Display

Graphics

  • Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
  • 128MB Integrated Graphics

Audio

  • HD (High Definition) Audio
  • Multimedia Player
  • EDS (Enhanced Digital Sound) Effect
  • 2 Watts Stereo Speakers (1W x 2)

Input Devices

  • 84 Key with Silver Nano technology (Anti-Bacterial Keyboard)
  • Touch Pad (Scroll Scope, Flat Type)

Networking

  • Wired Ethernet LAN (RJ45)
  • 10/100
  • Wireless LAN
  • Atheros® Wifi 802.11b.g
  • Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

Dimensions

  • 261mm (W)
  • 185.5mm (D)
  • 30.3mm (H)
  • Weight: 1.33kg

Power Supply

  • 60 Watt AC Adapter
  • 6 Cell Lithium ion Battery

Interfaces

  • 1 x VGA D-Sub Out
  • 1 x Headphone-out
  • 1 x Mic In
  • 1 x Internal Mic
  • 3 x USB 2.0
  • 3 in 1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC)

Warranty/Miscellaneous

  • 1 Year Warranty
  • Samsung Recovery Solution III
  • McAfee Virus Scan
  • BIOS Boot Up Password / HDD Password
  • Kensington Lock Port
]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/10/29/samsung-nc10-netbook-around-299-rm1600/feed/ 1 Overheating Burn My PSU http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/08/11/overheating-burn-my-psu/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/08/11/overheating-burn-my-psu/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:25:20 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=54 Today half way working on website, then my PC suddenly power off itself…following by some burning smell….OMG!!! the Power Supply Unit (PSU) gone!!! Luckily I can sure that only the PSU gone without hurting the new ATI 4850 graphics card + my mobo + all 3 HDDs…

Quickly I went to the nearby supplier got a NEW 520W Hiper PSU for the replacement….the old 500W PSU is a cheap £10 product but still last for the past 2 years. The reson of PSU burning is very simple, my PC are almost all ON for 24/7…this is now the time to invest a good PSU (cost me £40 for this Hiper PSU)

Let see how long will this last for then ;)

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/08/11/overheating-burn-my-psu/feed/ 0 New iPhone 2.0, It’s here NOW!!! http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/09/new-iphone-20-its-here-now/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/09/new-iphone-20-its-here-now/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:44:03 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=47 The conference is still on and I just making a quick shout first

The new iPhone still comes with the 3.5 inch screen but have more features now

- 3G Enabled

- GPS

- Compatible Audio Jack

This time the phone look a bit fat at the back (black plastic) with smaller edges with nice chrome buttons ;)

I definitely will buy one and try on after trip to Japan. Let’s see will O2 UK give away the phone for free like the BBC website stated (if you are on the high monthly contract payment)

more updates here in a social way (my personal social blog site)

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/09/new-iphone-20-its-here-now/feed/ 0 Web Server Order DONE http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/03/web-server-order-done/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/03/web-server-order-done/#comments Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:32:33 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=46 According to my last post Web Server, 1 or 2 Quad Core Xeon?
, I just did the order for Single Quad Core Xeon today. With the saving of paying extra for 2nd Xeon, I can get a NAS or Mac Mini, I really think that this web server will not need 8 COREs. ;)

Anyway, the server should reach See See next week and she will get the CentOS 5.1 on while I will wait for the connection to further configure.

Now is the time to hunt for cPanel

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/03/web-server-order-done/feed/ 0 iPhone2 for £100??? http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/03/iphone2-for-100/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/03/iphone2-for-100/#comments Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:01:08 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=45 iPhone 2 will be selling for only £100 in the UK? Sounds possible…let’s wait for the 9th June announcement ;)

If it’s true then I will be ready to get one to try.

news from http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/29957/Apple-prepping-low-price-iPhone

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/06/03/iphone2-for-100/feed/ 0 Web Server, 1 or 2 Quad Core Xeon? http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/28/web-server-1-or-2-quad-core-xeon/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/28/web-server-1-or-2-quad-core-xeon/#comments Wed, 28 May 2008 14:02:52 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=42 Still deciding on what specs to go for the web server since pricing coming down a lot. Should I choose the single Intel Xeon Quad Core 5420 or 2 of the same processors? It seems that I cannot find any information in any search engine.

I have been thinking of I may not need to go for 2 x Quad Core, there are few reasons

  • High CPU Loading seems like not really happened due to the site we served on this server mostly will be private
  • Even I have super power 2 x Quad Core but can the 100mbps LAN able to be fully utilized?
  • With the money saving for the 2nd processor, I may able to get a Mac Mini as for backup

If anyone got some good suggetion then please let me know.

The other specs for this Dell PowerEdge 1950 will be

  • 4GB (2 x 2GB) memory
  • 2 x 300GB SAS 15K rpm HDD
  • Dual Gigabit Ethernet
  • Redundant Power Supply

Cheers

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/28/web-server-1-or-2-quad-core-xeon/feed/ 0 Mac Mini 1U Server http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/13/mac-mini-1u-server/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/13/mac-mini-1u-server/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 13:06:00 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=37

I just been thiking of the Apple Mac Mini can be a good 1U server. When I search for this information on the internet, I found out that there are already a hosting company in Cambridge provide this service. Interesting huh.

Why using Mac Mini as 1U server? There are a few reasons

1) Pricing wise it will be cheaper than the standard 1U server
2) Half of the size or maybe just 1/4 size of a standard 1U server, which means I can host more server in a 1U rack
3) Performance wise is competetive which the Mac Mini running on Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83
4) The power consumption also less, which is quite GREEN
5) The downside maybe the MEMORY not in ECC mode, but do I really need this now a day?
6) The other downside will be the HDD (Harddisk) which can be quite limited especiallly if I want to make an internal RAID 1 seems will be a problem. But I can overcome this by putting in an external USB HDD or backup to another NAS server (possibly a Mac Mini NAS) (NAS = Network Attached Storage)

I am currently experimenting the enviroment by using my Macbook. Apache 2 and PHP 5.0 already comes with the Mac OSX Leopard, so I just need to enable them. Now just finish installing the MySQL 5.0.5 64 bit into my Macbook and going for test run.

As for Control Panel, Webmin will be a good choice tooo since it’s open source and easy to setup, maintain and for use.

I will put on more progress here soon.

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/13/mac-mini-1u-server/feed/ 0 Web Server from Dell UK / Dell Malaysia http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/06/web-server-from-dell-uk-dell-malaysia/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/06/web-server-from-dell-uk-dell-malaysia/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 10:54:10 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=33 Interesting, very aggressive customer service sales call which I experienced. If it is not a public holiday, normall when I request a quotation, the same day i will get the call and quotation from them. Why I want to buy Dell computers? The reson is simple, I can only find proper server quotation no matter in UK or Malaysia (especially Malaysia). Most server vendors do not really provide server solutions to small and medium business, at least I cannot find them easily. I can build the server by myself for my clients, but the other problem is normally you cannot get the components and parts for server easily, especially the server processors and good 1U casing. I have been trying to look for parts to assemble the server but also ends up with buying a ready built server is far cheaper. This is the current hardware market, just can’t get any more profit from selling computer hardware.

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/06/web-server-from-dell-uk-dell-malaysia/feed/ 0 Web Server Project http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/06/web-server/ http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/06/web-server/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 09:55:08 +0000 boyd http://www.iosc.net/blog/?p=31 The next project going on will be adding 2 more servers into our datacentre in Malaysia. One server will be serving a client social networking website for Asia and the other one will be the web application server for another client. Once the hardware specs decided then I will put up the details here to share will all of you. Please subscribe and stay tuned ;)

]]> http://www.iosc.net/blog/2008/05/06/web-server/feed/ 0