[NCLUG] suggestions on building a box

Sean Reifschneider jafo at tummy.com
Fri Jan 12 18:03:36 MST 2001


... or why I don't like building boxes any more...

With the exception of laptops, I've built just about every box we have.
Back in the good old days, you *REALLY* needed to be careful about what
parts you put in a box for running Linux.  And, admittedly, it's kind of
fun to build up a box...  It is a way of getting EXACTLY the hardware you
want, if you know what hardware you want (all the way down to cases and
motherboards).

However, I've recently gotten tired of it all.  Low-profile case suppliers
who act supprised that every one of the power supplies we've had (out of
like 10) have failed ("Nobody else is having problems").  The ABit
motherboards that won't POST if a CD drive is on the same chain with
a drive.  And the fans available for CPU, power supply, chassis and drive
cooling seem to completely die after a year (or less).  Trying to find
a reasonable case...  Trying to find the parts I want.  Having to order
the parts I want from 10 different places and pay shipping on all of them...

We've gotten a few pre-built boxes and I must say that they are superior
to hand-built boxes in many ways.  First of all, they usually have fans
that will last forever.  I don't know how or why they kick so much
butt, but they do.  They also tend to have better cable management and
ducting for better air flow and cooling.  Case designs tend to be vastly
superior on even the lowest end systems than what you can get for under
$200 on your own.  Ease of maintenance...

Things like thumb-screws, captive screws, cases that can be held together
with one screw, handles built in to the cases, cables not flying all over
the place, and not having to put up with fans dieing are nice.  PCI card
holders, screwless and easy-maintenance systems, etc...

For example, the eVectra we have at the office is a nice little box,
with one (thumb?) screw holding a panel on which covers the drive.
Pull that off, and tug on this leaver and the drive comes right out.
We also have these IBM Intellistations that have nice handles, are 3
years old and are still the quietest boxes we have (multi-speed fans
that haven't picked up any bearing rumble).

The down side is that a lot of times these nice cases have funky
motherboards in them, so you can't just pop in an Athlon board when
you're ready to go to it.

VA Linux has a very nice, cheap, easy-to-maintain box that Chuck had at
the last InstallFest.  IBM has a nice, low-cost "tower" box that you
can rack-mount if you really want to be a geek.  HP has an inexpensive
GHz Athlon box.

I've been asked many times if how much money I saved by building boxes
myself.  The unfortunate reality is that in most cases it seems like I
pay a premium for building the box.  Something around 10%.  PCPower and
Cooling power supplies are not cheap, especially when you can't get the
case you want without a power supply.  It just kind of nickle and dimes
you to death.  The only real exception is for the small form-factor
rack-mount boxes, which most places are charging a solid grand premium
for (because places like Above.net and Exodus charge by the inch in
racks, and so it's easy to justify spending that money up front to fit
more boxes per inch).

So, there's my story.  I'm not saying that you shouldn't build a box,
I'm just giving you an alternative view.

Sean
-- 
 That weapon will replace your tongue. You will learn to speak through
 it.  And your poetry will now be written with blood. -- _Dead_Man_
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com - Linux Consulting since 1995. Qmail, KRUD, Firewalls, Python



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