Casetronic "rack2tower" build...

Post#1 by **n0ctilucient** » 06 Mar 2018, 23:57

Recently I picked up a Casetronic C146 1u mITX server chassis to mount on my rack2tower stand.
see... http://www.travla.com/business/index.ph ... er=product
also... https://www.racksolutions.com/rack-to-tower-1u.html

I'll be using it w/ my octacore Intel Atom mITX mobo w/ 64 gigs of ECC ram.
see (below left)... http://www.asrockrack.com/general/produ ... ifications

I also just purchased an Acard 64gb ramdrive...
see (above right).. https://techreport.com/review/16255/aca ... a-ram-disk

And now I have a LiteOn 3.25 slim "trayless slot" CD/DVD burner to add to the build....
see... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Optical-Drive- ... SwepJXVtSr

Perhaps for use w/ "makemkv"...
see... http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=224

I'm also considering upgrading my mobo loadout (w/ this "end of life" solution)...

OEM...
http://www.adiengineering.com/products/rcc-ve-board/

Distributor???...
https://store.netgate.com/ADI/RCC-VE-8860-board.aspx

Post#2 by **n0ctilucient** » 07 Mar 2018, 18:12

The idea is to build a recording workstation that doubles as a gaming system.
But the problem with this type of small form factor build is summed up in one word...

"Thermals".

My choice of the "green" Atom processor is to further reduce heat and lower power consumption.

So I will probably also add thermal tape... a copper Heat spreader (above left... in "red" below the "yellow" heat sink)
and Graphene sheets (above right) to the back of the mobo CPU (and GPU) to passively radiate heat to the case.

Post#3 by **n0ctilucient** » 23 Mar 2018, 19:34

As far as processor core count I intend to heterogeneously
increase it using the Atom's unused SoC graphics cores.

On the challenge of using the best Porteus build for this rig
I will seek to create an ultra lightweight PekWM (XCB) desktop.

I'm posting right now with this light weight build... I just need to harden it more.

I'll probably also use some ideas from this post...
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=72359

It helps (for now) to have the CD/DVD burner but I will probably follow
wread's lead and boot from an internal (secure non-USB) flash card.

Post#4 by **n0ctilucient** » 26 Mar 2018, 09:43

In regard to my choice of software for this build...

For DAW (mixing/sequencing) audio production I'll use "Non" (FLTK).
see... http://non.tuxfamily.org/

And for editing/looping digital samples I intend to use "ReZound" (FLTK).
see... http://rezound.sourceforge.net/ss.shtml

For gaming I'll have to probably add Vulkan... Wine... Steam and/or PlayOnLinux.

Post#5 by **n0ctilucient** » 26 Mar 2018, 10:07

Update... I'm having a bit of trouble getting a decent single slot GPU.
Galax... XFX and Inno3d seem to be sold out.

Out Of Stock (because of "crypto miners")...
http://www.xfxforce.com/en-us/products/ ... -460p2tfg5
http://www.inno3d.com/products_detail.php?refid=297
http://www.galax.com/en/graphics-card/1 ... atana.html

Post#6 by **n0ctilucient** » 26 Mar 2018, 10:07

No luck on the GPU front... but I scored the ramdrive today!

Now I'm considering a 1u waterblock for CPU liquid cooling,
(I'm thinking about switching mobos so I can overclock AMD's Ryzen)...
see... https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-annihilator

Post#7 by **n0ctilucient** » 29 Mar 2018, 18:51

It just arrived in the mail...

Unfortunately... although it fits like a glove a trip to the hardware
store is needed to get the right tool to remove 2 chassis standoffs.

Post#8 by **n0ctilucient** » 09 Apr 2018, 12:00

Update... just located ramdrive memory @...
https://www.amazon.com/PC2-6400-DDR2-80 ... fered+ddr2
https://www.amazon.com/PC2-6400-800MHZ- ... fered+ddr2

Post#9 by **n0ctilucient** » 16 Apr 2018, 21:16

The ramdrive memory arrives early next month (from China?). Anyway... my
only reget is compromising on capacity. Only 32gb is available @ 800mhz.

The 64gb max seems theoretical and probably only possible @ lower clock speeds.

So... choosing the lesser of 2 evils I went with performance over capacity.
In any case... I'm throwing zram under the bus in favor of "swapspace".

(I'm writing this post with it)...

see... [Solved...] Zram alternative?

64gbs of ram... 8 cores and 32gb of swap?

This build is going to be a real beast!

Alas... this is the price of admission to pro audio/video production.

Post#10 by **wread** » 20 Apr 2018, 10:52

David, with that rig I thougth you were going to crypto mine!
At least you can give them suppot as node for all -over 1000- crypto coins!

Beware of your e-bill!

Post#11 by **n0ctilucient** » 20 Apr 2018, 18:47

Hi wread...

I'm sure this would make a powerful (although expensive) crypto miner.
To do it... would require 8 of these networked. Yeah.. I could picture that.

I'm also a hardcore gamer. I can't wait to see how this plays Star Citizen (native Linux)...

The beauty of it... was my choice of the 8 core/thread Intel Atom processor w/ 64gb mobo.

It has both low power and thermal specs.

Unfortunately... there is now an 8 core 16 thread 128gb version...

That thread count would give me 2 recording tracks per thread @ 32 tracks.

I guess... if I go that route I should trade up for a AMD Ryzen 16 core 32 thread mITX.

If I go that route... because of the 1u chassis design I would need the
above noted waterblock to cool things down below 70 degrees F.

What is noteworthy... is the mobo memory is rendered moot
by the ramdrive which executes high performance swapping.

Swapping would destroy an SSD which would be many magnitudes slower anyway.

My calculation is... the ramdrive would give me (in addition to mobo memory) 1gb/track @ 32 tracks.

Currently... I'm negotiating with the OEM (ADI) to get the 8 thread 8gb mobo that uses Coreboot .

Coreboot is a winner... because I'm always concerned about the security aspect.

I'm also grateful... that since I built my 1st server 15yrs ago there are now quieter solutions.

My first 1u server had 16 fans. It sounded like a jet taking off when I powered it up...