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You are here: Home / Archives for Servers

Computers USA / BTO Diablo and AngelFire

December 4, 2011 by Stefan Didak 2 Comments
Computers USA

The new Home Office is starting to take a little more shape every day but there’s still much to do and a lot of things to complete before I can consider having properly settled in. This post, however, is not about the office itself but the people who have built the new systems that are in it. The company is called Computers USA and are the home where BTO Diablo computers and BTO AngelFire servers are built to spec. They are local to me with both stores (a short drive to Brentwood or a slightly longer drive to Clayton) and I think people should support local business more. Instead of telling people that I hope to lead by example here. Don’t be fooled by the website that needs some work. These guys know what they’re talking about and really have tons of clues about what they’re doing. That’s a rare thing to find these days when it comes to computer stores that claim they can build machines with amazing specs. In my experiene most don’t but these guys certainly do! If you’re around the area here and are in need of great quality and support, definitely check out Computers USA.

Filed Under: Hardware, Home Office Tagged With: Brentwood, BTO AngelFire, BTO Diablo, Clayton, Computers, Computers USA, Custom, Hardware, Oakley, Office 7.0 Beta, Quality, Servers, Shop, Store, Support, Workstations

Do not host with WorldStream! Thanks BREIN!

February 22, 2011 by Stefan Didak Leave a Comment
Stefan Didak Home Office Version 5

That, dear WorldStream, is what got you knocked off my shortlist. You have shown that you can’t be trusted to host anything, much less the important corporate data and development systems I might have otherwise chosen you to host for me. Needless to say, I am recommending to everyone else not to use this company for any hosting activities because it should be clear that your data and continuation of business might be at risk if a company is this negligent about its responsibilities towards its customers. Oh, and BREIN, thank you for breaking the law and showing yourself as ordinary criminals. If you had not done so I would have potentially picked StreamWorld as my new host.

Filed Under: Personal, Rant, The Web Tagged With: Dedicated, Hosting, Internet, Servers, WorldStream

StarWind Server: SAN Made Simple

September 11, 2009 by Stefan Didak 2 Comments
StarWind iSCSI Storage Virtualization

I have very little need for a SAN (Storage Area Network), because every single system is already loaded up with many terabytes of fast RAID storage. A SAN, regardless of the size, speed, and cost, would always be slower than the local storage of each system. However, if I wanted to centralize the storage for the systems in the network, whereby the systems themselves were smaller, less top-heavy computers, I would certainly be looking at something like StarWind Server or StarWind Enterprise Server (probably the latter because I like the replication features).

Filed Under: Software, Windows Software Tagged With: iSCSI, RAID, Review, SAN, Servers, Software, StarWind, Storage, Virtualization, Visualization, Windows

Stefan Didak’s New Office Pictures are now online!

October 26, 2008 by Stefan Didak 11 Comments
Stefan Didak's New Home Office, version 6

Finally, after several delays and minor setbacks, the new Home Office pictures are online for all to see. It’s been quite an overhaul that lasted longer than I expected and took more effort than I had hoped for, but the results are, as I suspect most will agree with, quite an improvement! Of course, there are many who recently still commented that my office is an amazing setup, but that is now the old office. The new one would then be, what, amazing to the 2nd power? It’d better because it took me 10 days to perform this overhaul and that’s not counting the weeks of waiting for equipment to arrive and new systems that had to be built by my dealer, etc. I could go into lengthy details about the delays and how there’s a huge critical difference between the Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB GLFS and HLFS harddisks but I doubt anyone is really interested in hearing about that. Hey wait, hold on, you’re already hitting the new office page before I’m done writing this. That’s not fair.

Filed Under: Home Office Tagged With: Hardware, Home Office, Images, Multi-Monitor, Network, Pictures, Servers, Workstation

Home Office Overhaul Nearing Completion

October 10, 2008 by Stefan Didak 4 Comments
New Home Office Nearing Completion

Yes, it’s almost done! I’m still waiting for new computer equipment to arrive at my dealer and decided to wait until the new office setup reflects the actual working conditions before I start shooting proper pictures and updating the site. In the meantime, here are a few shots of the new layout with the new extreme multi-monitor configuration. And before you say it… yes, it still looks like a mess.

Filed Under: Home Office Tagged With: Hardware, Home Office, Images, Multi-Monitor, Network, Pictures, Servers, Workstation

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Beware of Copyright

Read all about how AwareBear, a company owned by Andre Leite Alves, stole one of my pictures, pasted himself in it, and used it on their computer repair brochures.

Also, please visit the
Office Thieves Hall Of Shame!

About Stefan Didak

Hi. I'm Stefan Didak
...and I do not work at NASA
...and also not for the NSA
...not even for the CIA
...and not at CERN either!

The pictures on this page are of my home office desktop which, since I first published these pictures, have been causing a lot of chatter on various web forums and blogs.

The attention my home office has received is quite stunning and way more than I would have expected. Since things have gotten out of control in terms of questions regarding the setup, the hardware, and what on earth I am using all this for, and what kind of electricity bills it results in, I have decided to setup a FAQ and a comments page where you can read what others had to say, or leave a comment of your own.

Swag?

My wife has been trying to convince me that I should start offering crazy-home-office swag like t-shirts and coffee mugs. While I think that would be hilariously funny I'm not sure I should put in the effort to set something like that up. Perhaps I should ask the visitors of this page what they think of that idea. If you like the idea of crazy-office swag, leave a comment.

The Specs

People have asked me to list some specs on the systems in the home office. I will make an attempt at that but am not sure how up to date I can keep it since there are expansions, upgrades, changes, and quite a lot of enhancements taking place every few months.

Summary

The 7.0 office:

  • 18 Workstations/Servers
  • 4 Laptops
  • 548 TB of total storage
  • Some stuff not pictured here

The 6.0 office:

  • 14 Workstations/Servers
  • 5 Laptops
  • 125 TB of total storage
  • Some systems not pictured here

The old 5.0 office:

  • 9 Systems
  • 3 Laptops
  • 38 TB of total storage

Office 6.0 Specs

SYSTEM 'ARGON'

Base:
Intel S5520HCR
Dual Xeon X5680 6-Core 3.33Ghz
64GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Arena 2000B

Storage:
24 TB RAID-6 storage
2TB Seagate's x 12

Details:
3 x RAID Hotswap Backplane
LSI MegaRAID SAS 9280-16i4e

Network:
Intel E1G44ET

System weight:
A whopping 72 Kg

Power:
1200 Watt PSU

SYSTEM 'INDIUM'

Base:
2 x Intel Xeon W5580
Supermicro X8DA6
64 GB DDR3 ECC RAM

Chassis:
Lian-Li PC-P80

Storage:
13 TB RAID-6 storage
300 GB WD Velociraptor x 4
1000 GB Spinpoint's x 12

Details:
4 x Lian-Li EX-H34 cages
Adaptec 51645 RAID
20 ports SAS PCI-X
With 512 MB Cache

Graphics:
Asus GTX285 HTDI/1GD3

System weight:
A whopping 35 Kg

Power:
Single 1200 Watt PSU

SYSTEM 'PENTANE'

Base:
Intel i7 975 Extreme
Asus P6T7 WS SC
24 GB DDR3 RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
8 TB of storage
2000 GB x 4

Details:
3 x Nvidia Tesla C2070
Each with 6GB RAM

Graphics:
PNY Quadro FX 5800

System weight:
Only a mere 26 Kg

Power:
A 1200W PSU

SYSTEM 'KRYPTON'

Base:
Intel Core i7-965
Asus P6T Deluxe V2
12 GB DDR3-1600 RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
12 TB RAID-5 storage
1000 GB Spinpoint's x 12

Details:
1 x RAID Hotswap Backplane
Adaptec 51245 RAID
16 x SAS PCI-e
With 512 MB Cache

Graphics:
Asus ENGTX280 HTDI

System weight:
A whopping 29 Kg

Power:
Single 1000 Watt PSU

SYSTEM 'HEXANE'

Base:
Intel Extreme Quad QX9650
Asus P5Q WS
8 GB RAM

Chassis:
Lian-Li PC-P80

Storage:
6.4 TB RAID-5 storage
300 GB WD Velociraptor x 8
1000 GB Spinpoint's x 4

Details:
3 x Icy Dock MB454SPF
Adaptec 2820SA RAID
8 x SATA PCI-X
With 128 MB Cache

Graphics:
Asus ENGTX280 HTDI

System weight:
A whopping 28 Kg

Power:
Single 1000 Watt PSU

SYSTEM 'BORON'

Base:
Dual Xeon E5472
Supermicro X7DWA-N
32 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
6.4 TB RAID-5 storage
300 GB Seagate Cheetah x 8
1000 GB Spinpoint's x 4

Details:
1 x RAID Hotswap Backplane
Adaptec 51245 SAS RAID
16 x SATA/SAS RAID PCI-E x8
With 512 MB Cache

Graphics:
Asus ENGTX280

System weight:
A whopping 42 Kg

Power:
Single 1200 Watt PSU

SYSTEM 'OXYGEN'

Base:
2 x Dual Core AMD Opteron 275
Tyan Thunder K8WE
8 GB RAM

Chassis:
Procase Palo-Alto 501 Blue

Storage:
9 TB RAID-5 storage
750 GB x 12

Details:
3 x RAID Hotswap Backplane
2 x LSI MegaRAID SATA-150 6
6 x SATA150 RAID
With 256 MB Cache

System weight:
A whopping 42 Kg

Power:
A single 800W PSU

SYSTEM 'HYDROGEN'

Base:
Advance VX7670
Intel i7 975 Extreme
CLEVO D900F
12 GB DDR3 RAM

Chassis:
Clevo D900F

Storage:
1.5 TB RAID-0 storage
3 x 500 GB 7200 RPM

Details:
Yes, it's a laptop!

Graphics:
nVidia 280M-GTX 1GB RAM

System weight:
Heavy! 5.5 Kg.

Power:
A 240W Brick PSU.

SYSTEM 'HALON'

Base:
Core 2 Duo E6600
Asus P5W64 Professional
4 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
6 TB RAID-6 storage
750 GB x 8

Details:
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
nVidia EN7950GX2

System weight:
A mere 38 Kg.

Power:
A single 800W PSU.

SYSTEM 'HALON'

Base:
Core 2 Duo E6600
Asus P5W64 Professional
4 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
4 TB RAID-6 storage
500 GB x 8

Details:
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
nVidia EN7900GTX/2PHT

System weight:
A mere 38 Kg.

Power:
A single 650W PSU.

SYSTEM 'NEON'

Base:
Core 2 Quad Q6700
Asus P5E WS Pro
8 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BH-01B-B-B

Storage:
4.0 TB RAID-5 storage
1 TB x 4

600 GB RAID-0 storage
150 GB Raptors x 4

Details:
2 x RAID Hotswap Backplane
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
EN8800ULTRA/HTDP 768MB

System weight:
About 25 Kg.

Power:
A single 1000W PSU.

SYSTEM 'RADON'

Base:
Dual Xeon 5060
Tyan Tempest i5000PX
16 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Dragon

Storage:
6 TB RAID-5 storage
750 GB x 8

Details:
AMCC 3Ware 9500S-8
8 x SATA150 RAID
With 512 MB Cache

Graphics:
ATI X800 PCI-E

System weight:
A mere 34 Kg

Power:
A single 800W PSU

SYSTEM 'THUNDER'

Base:
Dual AMD Opteron 254
Tyan Thunder K8WE
8 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec BX

Storage:
1.2 TB RAID-5 storage
150 GB Raptors x 8

Details:
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
nVidia EN7900

System weight:
A little under 26 Kg

Power:
A single 700W PSU.

SYSTEM 'ISIS'

Base:
Asus T2-AE1
Athlon 64 4000+
2 GB RAM

Storage:
320 GB SATA x 2

Details:
Additional Intel Pro 1000+ NIC

Power:
A single 300W PSU

SYSTEM 'OSIRIS'

Base:
Asus T2-AE1
Athlon 64 4000+
2 GB RAM

Storage:
320 GB SATA x 2

Details:
Additional Intel Pro 1000+ NIC

Power:
A single 300W PSU

SYSTEM 'OCTANE'

Base:
HP NW8710w Mobile Workstation
Intel Core2 Duo T7700
4 GB RAM

Storage:
120 GB 7200 rpm HD
500 GB WD Passport
500 GB WD Passport

Graphics:
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M 512MB
17 inch 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)

System weight:
Very portable at 3.4kg! :-)

SYSTEM 'NITROUS'

Base:
HP NW8240 Mobile Workstation
Intel Pentium M 760
2 GB RAM

Storage:
80 GB HD
500 GB WD Passport
500 GB WD Passport

Graphics:
ATI FireGL5000 Mobile
15.4 inch 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)

System weight:
Very portable at 2.8Kg! :-)

SYSTEM 'XENON'

Base:
Sony Vaio PCG-809K
1 GB RAM

Storage:
60 GB HD

Graphics:
15 inch 1400 x 1050 TFT

System weight:
Less portable than the HP!

SYSTEM 'ATLAS'

Apple Macintosh:
27 inch iMac
2.93Ghz Quad Core i7
8GB RAM

Storage:
1TB HD

Graphics:
HD5750-1GB

System weight:
Heavier than it looks!

SYSTEM 'HELIUM'

Apple Macintosh:
13 inch MacBook Air
2.13Ghz Core 2 Duo
4GB RAM

Storage:
256GB SSD
1TB WD Passport
1TB WD Passport

System weight:
Like a heavy frisbee!

ADDITIONAL NAS & SAN

38 TB of central storage
Of which 4.8 TB of SCSI storage
And 3.2 TB of XHD storage

TOTAL STORAGE

58.6 TB of central storage
67.4 TB of systems storage

Office 5.0 Specs

SYSTEM 'ARGON'

Base:
Dual Xeon 5080
Tyan Tempest i5000PW
32 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Arena 2000B

Storage:
Nearly 8 TB of storage
750 GB x 8
400 GB x 2
750 GB x 2

Details:
Areca ARC-1230
12 x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 1 GB DIMM Cache

Graphics:
ATI X800

System weight:
A whopping 86 Kg

Power:
A 500W and an 800W PSU

SYSTEM 'OXYGEN'

Base:
2 x Dual Core AMD Opteron 275
Tyan Thunder K8WE
8 GB RAM

Chassis:
Procase Palo-Alto 501 Blue

Storage:
3 TB RAID-5 and 1.5 TB RAID-0
750 GB x 4
750 GB x 2
250 GB x 3 (IDE)

Details:
LSI MegaRAID SATA-150 6
6 x SATA150 RAID
With 256 MB Cache

System weight:
A whopping 42 Kg

Power:
A single 800W PSU

SYSTEM 'HELIUM'

Base:
Core 2 Duo E6600
ASUS P5W64 Professional
4 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
3.2 TB RAID-6 storage
400 GB x 8

Details:
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
nVidia EN7950GX2

System weight:
A mere 38 Kg.

Power:
A single 800W PSU.

SYSTEM 'HALON'

Base:
Core 2 Duo E6600
ASUS P5W64 Professional
4 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
3.2 TB RAID-6 storage
400 GB x 8

Details:
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
nVidia EN7900GTX/2PHT

System weight:
A mere 38 Kg.

Power:
A single 650W PSU.

SYSTEM 'NEON'

Base:
Core 2 Quad Q6700
ASUS P5E WS Pro
8 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Bravo BA-01B-B-B

Storage:
4.0 TB RAID-5 storage
1 TB x 4

600 GB RAID-0 storage
150 GB Raptors x 4

Details:
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
EN8800ULTRA/HTDP 768MB

System weight:
About 36 Kg.

Power:
A single 1000W PSU.

SYSTEM 'RADON'

Base:
Dual Xeon 5060
Tyan Tempest i5000PX
16 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec Dragon

Storage:
320 GB x 4 RAID-5
320 GB x 4 RAID-0

Details:
AMCC 3Ware 9500S-8
8 x SATA150 RAID
With 512 MB Cache

Graphics:
ATI X800 PCI-E

System weight:
A mere 34 Kg

Power:
A single 800W PSU

SYSTEM 'HYDROGEN'

Base:
Dual AMD Opteron 254
Tyan Thunder K8WE
8 GB RAM

Chassis:
Chieftec BX

Storage:
150 GB Raptors x 6
Single RAID-0 Array

Details:
Areca ARC-1220LP
8x SATA300 RAID PCI-E x8
With 256 MB Cache

Graphics:
nVidia EN7900

System weight:
A little under 26 Kg

Power:
A single 700W PSU.

SYSTEM 'ISIS'

Base:
ASUS T2-AE1
Athlon 64 4000+
2 GB RAM

Storage:
320 GB SATA x 2

Details:
Additional Intel Pro 1000+ NIC

Power:
A single 300W PSU

SYSTEM 'OSIRIS'

Base:
ASUS T2-AE1
Athlon 64 4000+
2 GB RAM

Storage:
320 GB SATA x 2

Details:
Additional Intel Pro 1000+ NIC

Power:
A single 300W PSU

SYSTEM 'OCTANE'

Base:
HP NW8710w Mobile Workstation
Intel Core2 Duo T7700
4 GB RAM

Storage:
120 GB 7200 rpm HD
160 GB WD Passport
160 GB WD Passport

Graphics:
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M 512MB
17 inch 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)

System weight:
Very portable at 3.4kg! :-)

SYSTEM 'NITROUS'

Base:
HP NW8240 Mobile Workstation
Intel Pentium M 760
2 GB RAM

Storage:
80 GB HD
80 GB WD Passport
120 GB WD Passport

Graphics:
ATI FireGL5000 Mobile
15.4 inch 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)

System weight:
Very portable at 2.8Kg! :-)

SYSTEM 'XENON'

Base:
Sony Vaio PCG-809K
1 GB RAM

Storage:
60 GB HD

Graphics:
15 inch 1400 x 1050 TFT

System weight:
Less portable than the HP!

ADDITIONAL NAS & SAN

12.5 TB of central storage
Of which 1.8 TB of SCSI storage
And 1.2 TB of XHD storage

TOTAL STORAGE

12.5 TB of central storage
30.5 TB of systems storage

Total office: approx. 43 TB.

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