I have just got an old Dell power edge 1950 server (2x quad xeon 2.5ghz no HT 8gb ram 500gb hdd) I plan on using it as a distributed render station for v-ray. I have this working through a Win 10 installation. Are there any other good or useful applications I could run through Win 10 i.e game servers or home network utilities?
you could install linux and have multiple vms including windows 10 to do the rendering. stuff like pfsense, freenas, etc could all run (in theory have not tried it out yet.) in a vm and still work.
For the windows install. something like glasswire would work to monitor you network.
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I've always wanted to buy one of these, but I was always wondering if i can put non-Serial Attached SCSI drives in them like the 8TB seagates?
@LordXenu I wouldn't recommend one of these. If you're looking for Dell server hardware (or just server hardware in general) there's a couple devices I'd have to recommend. Either the R720, which ebays for about $200USD with a good configuration, or the cs24-sc. Not much is known about the latter, it was supposedly a custom build for short term cloud compute nodes. The R720 was one of their best sellers for a while.
@01SAF Since you've got one, there's a ton of stuff you can do with it. You'll get the most out of it if you're willing to run Linux on it, since Linux can make more efficient use of older hardware with lower specs.
Here's a few ideas:
- Plex Media Server
- Private Git repository
- email server
- Backup server (depending on the status of the drive, probably not a good idea)
- Game server (that thing would run minecraft and any source engine server nicely)
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Mine has a 2 sata raid card pluged in via sas. They are 250gb not sure if larger drives are supported.
Sounds good might try Linux with some VMs as a summer project. Got it cheap on eBay for under $50 so was good value, only problem is it's a 1u so the fans are deafening. Is there a way to adjust fan curves or a good way of getting quite ones as they are a weird dual 40mm type with a 12 pin connector. Currently I'm running it with the lid off with USB fans blowing down on the heatsinks and ram.
Yeah, I figured I'd recommend better hardware to LordXenu before he buys. Since you've already bought it, there's no point in lamenting about the decision.
I remember something on reddit's /r/homelab about fan mods for the 1950 and 2950 servers (which are very similar) a while ago. Can't find it right now, only one for the 2950, which is 2u. Yours is 1u, which requires smaller fans. From what I remember, the fans are dual 40 so that if one fan goes down, it still pushes air. Servers are built with a lot of redundancy.
From looking at the wires there are 4 fans per connector each with 3 wires. I might try putting in resistors or disconnecting some of the redundant fans as the system dosent seem to run that hot.
Resistors are definitely possible. Disconnecting the fans may cause the case to start beeping which is louder than the fans. Fan failure notices are not fun. Maybe you can find some quieter 40mm fans that can replace them with 3wire connections?
It seems to run fine with no fans pluged in, no beeps. There are internal USB sockets near the fans so I might try new standard 40mm fans via USB to molex or 3/4 pin. I got some cheap USB powered 140mm fans which I'm using with lid off blowing down into the case. If I can't find good 40mm I might mod the case lid so the fans can be mounted above the case.
Sounds good. Definitely check the DB rating of the fans. 40mm's are loud. You should be able to splice the fans into the loom that connects to the 12pin on the mobo if you'd like to have it work properly. The bios has a fan controller that will change the speed of the fans, but I don't think it's user adjustable.
Make sure you've got the fans over both the CPU's and the ram in the meantime. Both throw lots of heat.