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Chapter 2: Book Server Project
When we last left the Book Server project, the computer was awaiting the mounting brackets for the power and LED. In this chapter I will finish the final touchups and do a test run of the system and check the system temperature under various conditions.
1. The Power button and power LED were purchased from Radioshack. I didn't use the button and LED from the donor case because it would not be a very clean look. Placing it on the lexan would not look quite right and removing the lexan would mean removing the LED and pwr button connections to the motherboard each time.
2. The server is now ready to be placed in its final home.
3. The monitor, keyboard and mouse will be attached for testing. In the future, the network connection and system power will be the only cables visible. The server will be accessed via remote desktop from one of my other computers.
4. The lexan sheild seems to add more noise dampening.
5. The screenshot below shows TVersity server running on the Book Server and being recognized by the Sony PS3.
6. The video selections are visible:
7. The IDE cable was causing abnormal airflow which resulted in higher than normal temperatures at the lowest setting for the fan speed. The screenshot below is before streaming any media. At this low fan speed, I streamed a 720p HDTV video to the PS3. The temperature hit my max setpoint and the system shut-down.
8. I increased the fan speed to max and this stabilized the temperature.
Update 7/13/07: I reversed the fan to blow into the case and exhaust through the rear opening (hard to see in the pics but it is to next to the power brick connection. Refer to page 1 pics step 7). I also changed the IDE cable to a short 6" cable that no longer hinders the airflow. This allowed me to lower the case fan speed to ~3000 RPM which resulted in an idle or limited resource intensive use to 25 - 27 deg C and be much quieter.
With the fan changes and better airflow, the temperature when transcoding and streaming HD media was 30 deg C average and never went above 40 deg C at peak.
Conclusion:
The Book Server project was a success. Added an Acomdata external USB 750 GB drive which now stores all the media. The drive has been in use for since 7/13/07 with no issues.
Costs:
Total cost: <$500.00 (some parts were purchased on sale or deeply discounted)...
Fun factor: 10 out of 10
07/21/07
Windows Home Server RC1 Install on the Book Server
Book Server Volume 2 - Intel Atom 330 upgrade
Please e-mail info@terracode.com with any comments or questions.
Terracode copyright 2007