Running a fileserver in my garage

M

ModBoyzz

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Messages
215
Does anybody see a problem with running a server with 8 hard drives inside a garage? My fileserver is creating too much heat inside my office, and it needs to go somewhere else.

I live in south FL, (miami) and it gets very hot. However I do keep some windows open in the garage so it doesn't get too hot.

Do you guys think the humidity would cause a problem?
 
Both the humidity and heat are a problem... garages in 99% of cases aren't insulated enough to keep them cool. Keep it inside, in a closet or somewhere similar (basements are a good idea if you have one).
 
The dust might, as well as people who think they are more deserving of fileservers than you are, if those windows don't have some kind of chain on them.
 
djBon2112 said:
Both the humidity and heat are a problem... garages in 99% of cases aren't insulated enough to keep them cool. Keep it inside, in a closet or somewhere similar (basements are a good idea if you have one).
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Basements and Florida usually don't mix. At least not in that part of the state.

OP best thing I can say is throw it in another part of the house. Maybe put it in your laundry room.
 
swatbat said:
Basements and Florida usually don't mix. At least not in that part of the state.

OP best thing I can say is throw it in another part of the house. Maybe put it in your laundry room.
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Right, sorry :p
 
I used to run a few servers out in my garage (now in the basement) when I used to live at my last residence primarily due to heat concerns (My room was much hotter then it would ever get out there). Full cinder block garage with no windows, it kept a pretty even temperature all year round, except for winter when it would get fscking cold out there (Processor temps of 10C? Yes please). Never had any issues with it being out there in this setup, except for one. As alan.p mentioned, "as well as people who think they are more deserving of fileservers than you are", it was not people in my case, but spiders who thought they deserved the sole use of my servers as their new play grounds :p.
 
I'm actually thinking about doing the same thing, throw it ontop of my freezer, dust and spiders are my only concerns but usually garages are cooler areas. Mine is an average of 10F cooler atleast on the hottest days.
 
If the weather is anything like Texas (which Florida seems to have been the few times I vacationed there), then that sounds like a bad idea. Temps will be way too hot in the late spring/summer/early fall, even if it's in your garage with wind flow.
 
How is an 8 drive machine producing too much heat?

Perhaps you should look at rebuilding your box into an efficient setup so it wont produce as much heat and you wont need to move it.


The garage is a bad idea, humidity mixed in with the heat will kill your box.
 
Ockie said:
How is an 8 drive machine producing too much heat?

Perhaps you should look at rebuilding your box into an efficient setup so it wont produce as much heat and you wont need to move it.


The garage is a bad idea, humidity mixed in with the heat will kill your box.
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8 drives and a simple server should be no more than 200W from the wall. The lights in your office probably do more than that. Your desktop PC (as in your sig) probably does that. This issue is beginning to sound like the 4850 causing a persons office to go up 10 degrees compared to a 8800GT. Something else is wrong.
 
Well, I'm also running 3 30" LCD's, another 26" LCD (tv), my main rig and my ipcop (firewall). I have noticed a decrease in heat since the fileserver has been turned off.
 
FYI the specs of the fileserver are

X2 4400
DFI Ultra -D motherboard
8 sata hard drives
8800GT

I'm guessing maybe these older AMD chips produce a little more heat than the current gen cpu's.
 
You have an 8800GT running in a FS that you plan to run in your garage? I'm sure you can find some use for a powerful (relative to the FS and a lot of other people's setups ;)) graphics card like that, can't you? :eek:
 
ModBoyzz said:
8800GT

I'm guessing maybe these older AMD chips produce a little more heat than the current gen cpu's.
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Call me crazy, but for some reason I suspect that that hot piece of silicon burning out the pixels also puts out more heat than any of the "older AMD chips" (assuming stock speeds -- this IS a server, after all, the talking point here is the amount of drives, not how fast it can do SuperPi runs.)

Why have you got a 8800GT on it, rather than the modern equivalent of a FX5200 with a fanless heatsink?
 
Ditch the video card... there is half you power consumption/heat right there.
 
ModBoyzz said:
FYI the specs of the fileserver are

X2 4400
DFI Ultra -D motherboard
8 sata hard drives
8800GT

I'm guessing maybe these older AMD chips produce a little more heat than the current gen cpu's.
Click to expand...

Why? Is this not a headless server?

Ditch the video card, and get a cheap mobo with onboard video.
 
45w processor and a all in one motherboard should set you back $100, that will solve most of your power issues right there.

If you really want to push it, swap out your drives for lager 1tb green drives and you'd have a server that sips as much power as a lightbulb.
 
Ockie said:
45w processor and a all in one motherboard should set you back $100, that will solve most of your power issues right there.

If you really want to push it, swap out your drives for lager 1tb green drives and you'd have a server that sips as much power as a lightbulb.
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Agreed. I built a fileserver out of a cheap Intel Desktop Board and a Celeron 420 (in my sig). With a gig of RAM, it set me back less than $120, can handle up to 4 SATA drives, has onboard video and gigabit LAN, and uses almost no power.
 
djBon2112 said:
Agreed. I built a fileserver out of a cheap Intel Desktop Board and a Celeron 420 (in my sig). With a gig of RAM, it set me back less than $120, can handle up to 4 SATA drives, has onboard video and gigabit LAN, and uses almost no power.
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Sounds like my fileserver setup:

Intel D965WH
Celeron 420
2x512MB Kingston Value RAM

Then I added:
3ware 9650SE-8LPML
8x WD10EACS
 
Reducing heat is not the way to fix heat problems. Preventing heat from getting in in the first place is.
 
myren said:
Reducing heat is not the way to fix heat problems. Preventing heat from getting in in the first place is.
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LOL, that sounds like my old Sgt Major back in Panama.... "What do you get when you take mud and add more dirt? More mud."
 
Reducing heat ia always a solution. However, even if enough air flow could be added to bring the temps within spec, the real problem is swings in the ambient environment, both temperature and humidity, may cause condensation; and disk drives especially, are prone to failure when this happens.
 
Alright, MHO.

Putting your server in a hot humid garage = BAD IDEA.

You can spend the money to build your own server.

Or you can buy a NAS box to house your data.

My current NAS draws about 30 watts to hold a gig of data. I run it in RAID 1 mode for 500 gig actual with some backup. You would not even notice that running in the same room as you. I figured the power savings alone would pay for the NAS in about 5 years.

After I ran out of room again this month, I broke down and dished out the cash for a real NAS. I am looking at a brand new Thecus N5200 on my desk right now. Unfortunately, the 3, 1 TB WD GREEN drives will not get in till Friday. I will fill in the last 2 slots in a few months when the price of drives drops again.

My new setup will give me large, expandable, and relatively cool (temp wise) storage for quite a while into the future. Since they are just now shipping the 1.5 TB drives, I will be able to continue to expand my NAS for quite a while into the future.

Don
 
Syntax Error said:
You have an 8800GT running in a FS that you plan to run in your garage? I'm sure you can find some use for a powerful (relative to the FS and a lot of other people's setups ;)) graphics card like that, can't you? :eek:
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Lol, the 8800GT was an unexpected gift from a friend. So I'd feel pretty bad selling it.
 
Man, I think I'm going to have to add an AC unit in this office. It's still pretty warm in here.

Or a cheaper way might be to throw these rigs in one of my hallway closets, running long DVI cables to my office and calling it a day.
 
ModBoyzz said:
Lol, the 8800GT was an unexpected gift from a friend. So I'd feel pretty bad selling it.
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Well you don't have to sell it, just try running it without the card (if you have onboard video) or a card that is a bit more basic (8 MB Trident PCI anyone?). If it's a true 'server' then you shouldn't need that GFx power, which will save heat and energy!

Just some food for thought. Who knows, if for the time being you have an 8800GT paper-weight so be it, otherwise split the money with your friend if you sell it...
 
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