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!

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

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

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.