Hi,

Is it possible to install to an IBM server without an IBM Console Server?

I was thinking that maybe I could take the SCSI hard drive out and put it into another PC install everything then put the hard drive back into the server and finish setting up using PCAnywhere.

Thanks.

(presuming you are talking about the IBM rack mount servers, the xSeries) ...

If you buy the xSeries Cable Chain Technology Cable Kit (IBM part number 06P4792), the you can hook a regular keyboard, mouse and monitor to the server. The cable kit is US$55 from ibm. That worked for me.

Try this link: http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/ModelLookup2/865451Y

If the link doesn't work, go to ibm.com and pop the part number into the search engine there.

Hi,

Thanks. Do you know anywhere in the UK that sells them? I bought a NetFinity server but it seems to come under the X-Series as well.

David

Hi,

Just a quick question. Is it worth installing a second processor to take advantage of the dual processor mo/bo in my server? If so, does it have to be the same speed as my existing one?

Regards,

David

dbarker,

which IBM server are you referring? If you are refferring to Netfinity 4000r, please let me know how you will get the second CPU. do you just contact IBM? That would be expensive, wouldn't it?

cheers,
:beer:

Hi,

Yeah I'm talking about the NetFinity 4000r (do you have one?). I was thinking that I could just buy one and put it in the machine. Is there any reason why this couldn't be done?

David

Yes, I have two of these servers (with P3/550). I suppose you have opened your server and take a look inside. The CPU used is not Socket 370 as people would have guessed for 1U servers. Netfinity IBM 4000r (as weel as VALinux 1000, both are actually identical servers) uses Slot 1 CPU that is installed sideways on the motherboard. Yes, you can just get your own CPU and plug it in yourself if (this is what I think) you can find a Slot 1 CPU without the plastic case (to reduce its height) and a low profile Slot 1 CPU fan (this I am not sure where to find). Remember, the heigh of the CPU + fan has to be less than 1.7"

I also have VALinux 1000. I called VALinux to ask for the second CPU (P3-850Mhz) ugprade and they quoted me $450, which is at least about 3 times more expensive than the street price. I can't believe it!

cheers,
:beer:

Hi,

I haven't taken a look inside yet. I know where I can get some Slot 1 CPU's (I assume it will be possible to take the case off yourself?) but I can't think of anywhere for the slim-line fans off the top of my head (At overclockers.com maybe??).

If we ask IBM they will probably charge a small fortune for a CPU [;)].

Seeing as you have two of these servers can I ask how reliable are they? What do you run off them? I was considering using mine for a co-lo and then using it to host web sites.

Thanks,

David

There is always a slot/fcpga converter. I never used them in the dual CPU environment though, so...

I guess the fan issue can be addressed by choping up a custom solution :D Perhaps a good aluminum heatsink with a right amount of thermal paste and a fan positioned a bit away, on the side or top, where there might be more room?

Just some thoughts...

Ales

Originally posted by dbarker
Thanks. Do you know anywhere in the UK that sells them? I bought a NetFinity server but it seems to come under the X-Series as well.


All I can suggest is to try the ibm site and see if they have a UK store. Otherwise,pop the part number into google and see if a local distributor is found.

btw... I have found that ibm.com is rather expensive for CPUs and memory, but competitive for disk drives.

Originally posted by Ales
There is always a slot/fcpga converter. I never used them in the dual CPU environment though, so...


Ales, you are wonderful! I have never thought about this possibility before! Yes, I will try this asap ... If I can install Socket 370, then I do not need custom solution for the cooling fan ... I can get low profile Socket 370 fans (usually Thermaltake Golden Orb). Thanks a lot!!

cheers,
:beer:

Glad to be of some assistance :)

But do have in mind that converters can sometimes cause trouble. I have installed quite a few and almost every time I overclocked the CPU, the converter caused the machine to crash sooner... Usually 5-20% less speed :rolleyes:

I know you are not going to overclock the server but it seems that the converters have different, less stable resistance/signal path than factory slot1 CPUs. It might be an issue when you have a dual system... I hope it won't be.

Ales

Thanks, I've found one on the UK IBM site for £48. With the Socket Convertor do you think it will be stable enough to run a hosting platform? Or should I stick with a single processor? What benefits does a dual processor bring?

Thanks,

David

hm ... what did you find for 48 poundsterling (dang how do you make that symbol)? How much would the P3/850 costs in UK? I do not want to paly $450 for it .... I will go with Socket Converter since I think it will be stable enough ... need to get a good coverter though .... and yea ... do not overclock it ... I burned my socket converter exactly because I overcloecked the CPU.

cheers,
:beer:

As far as converters - I used both no name and ABIT slotkets. Don't know about the other name brands but these showed no particular difference in terms of stability.

ABIT was a more flashy product, with the plastic holders etc., the other ones were a simple PCB plate with very little to hold them attached to the board. I sometimes had to use some very innovative ways to keep CPUs from falling out.

But as far as overclockability, they were pretty much the same... So... if the first one seems unstable, try another one.

But I would't concern myself about server crashes... It's just a remote possibility that there might be problems. If there are, check the slotket/converter...

Ales

Hi,

The £48 is for a cable to connect the keyboard, video and mouse to the IBM server. (Try pressing 'Shift+3' to get a £).

A "Intel P-3 CuMine FC-PGA Skt370 866/133MHz OEM CPU" costs £137 in the UK ... how are you going to put a 866mhz CPU into the IBM 4000r since I thought it could only take upto 750mhz (Mine has a single 650mhz processor).

I think I will get a socket convertor and then buy a second CPU. How much faster is it with a dual CPU?

Also what benefits would there be from having two 9GB SCSI drives in a RAID against a single 18GB SCSI drive?

Thanks,

David

Originally posted by dbarker
The ?8 is for a cable to connect the keyboard, video and mouse to the IBM server. (Try pressing 'Shift+3' to get a ?.


Hm ... Shift+3 will give me pawn sign ... I think the keyboard layout in US and UK are different :)


A "Intel P-3 CuMine FC-PGA Skt370 866/133MHz OEM CPU" costs ?37 in the UK ... how are you going to put a 866mhz CPU into the IBM 4000r since I thought it could only take upto 750mhz (Mine has a single 650mhz processor).


I am going to put it on my VALinux server 1000... which, as I said, is identical to IBM Netfinity 4000r. I guess BIOS update may let you go to higher clock. In fact, I am just confused since with my VALinux I got P3/850 but with PC133 (2GB) SDRAM ... I always thought this system is using 100Mhz FSB.

I think I will get a socket convertor and then buy a second CPU. How much faster is it with a dual CPU?

It all depends ... Currently my VALinux 1000 with P3-850 and 2GB emmory is not doing as well as I expected. I am hosting two very popular VB forums with total of around 100-120k pageviews daily and around 600-700k hits. Server load has gone up although I still have 1GB of free memory. I am using IDE drive (thoug 7200rpm) but then this single drive has to server apache request (including writing apache logs), mysql request (read/write/querries, including writing mysql logs), email request, etc... etc... IDE is not really good for such a thing since it will be a great burden for the CPU. Thus, I am pretty sure second CPU will speed up things.

[quote]
Also what benefits would there be from having two 9GB SCSI drives in a RAID against a single 18GB SCSI drive?
[/quoote]

What RAID level are you planning to use? Does the server come with RAID controller? I will think a RAID drive (Raid 0, or stripping) will be faster than a single 18GB SCSI drive since in the case of RAID 0, two data blocks will be written on the two drives at the same time while without RAID the two data blocks will have to be put in queue to be written on a single drive.

I am thinking of using 2 drives (not in RAID) instead of 1 with a plan of putting mysql partition in one drive and /home on the other so that both web server and mysql server would have their own drives to work on ... This would speed things a bit, I would guess ...

cheers,
:beer:

I might do a RAID 0 configuration then. Do you recommend getting an update to the BIOS on the server? Seeing as it's really hard to get hold of 650MHZ CPUs at the moment.

David

dbarker,

I don't know how close the netfinity server you have is to the eServer x330 that I have, but keep the following in mind -- my server's BIOS was set up to boot off the LAN. It wouldn't boot from the CD-ROM until I went into the BIOS and disabled the DCHP boot feature.

Other than that, it has been a breeze to set up. IBM makes very nice server hardware. :)

Hi,

Thanks for the info. I have two options of where to host to my server:

One place is with 50gb/month bandwidth at £117/month (£1404/pa).

The other is a 64kb/s bandwidth at £75/month (£675/pa)

I'm not sure which will be best for hosting about 40 - 50 sites on where the bandwidth never goes over 2 - 5gb/month (at the moment)

Also, one more question about the IBM servers. If I open them and place my own hardware in does this void the warrenty? I also heard somewhere that the NetFinity servers have a 150W power supply, is this so? As it can't run that much on a 150W supply.

Thanks,

David

You are correct about the powersupply.
"NOTE: The Netfinity 4000R includes a single 150W power supply..." From IBM technical information about the 4000R.

Do you know of anywhere to get a new power supply? Maybe 300W which would be small enough to fit inside?

Thanks,

David

I have three of these systems. One with 2 7200 RPM drives + 2 800Mhz Processors + 2GB of RAM -- there is no problem with 150 watt power supply.

I added a 2nd processor to one myself, if you go the slocket route - securing it is the tough part. Asus makes a dual-processor capable slocket, they are a little difficult to find, but it is the most stable slocket on the market. I had no problems, running Windows 2000 at full bore.

QUESTION: Any of you guys figure out how to make it so the system turns on automatically after power failure? These things require you to press the front switch!!

Originally posted by Ales
There is always a slot/fcpga converter. I never used them in the dual CPU environment though, so...

I guess the fan issue can be addressed by choping up a custom solution :D Perhaps a good aluminum heatsink with a right amount of thermal paste and a fan positioned a bit away, on the side or top, where there might be more room?

Just some thoughts...

Ales

What's the height diff between a normal slot 1 cpu and geting a convertor? I found some slot 1 cpus and if you find a same speed slot 1 cpu, you can't just plug it in?

Slot 1
http://acmicro.e-sales2000.com/PPMain.asp?sg=1&gr=3&it=1&si=14

Convertor
http://www.econopc.com/applications/search/itemdetails.asp?sku=CNVPGASLT1

I'd like to know this too as I've just found the same speed CPUs and would like to get another one (Or maybe a faster one...)

Can't you just plug it in and leave the fan off?

David

Heh, this is quite an old thread, I had almost forgotten about it...

ClusterMania: I'm not sure about the hight of this specific converter, but as far as I can remember, similar converters were a little higher than ordinary slot1 CPUs.

There were some troubles securing them to the board, since they need special plastic stands. Those stands come included with the converter but a lot of them were badly manufactured and allowed for the converter to slip out of the slot. Some techs used epoxy to prevent that, I sometimes used plastic fasteners since it's cleaner and easier to remove. If you plan colocating, shake the box thouroughly before shipping :)

dbarker: as for the vent thing, I beleive these CPUs would freeze in a couple of minutes without active cooling. Anyway, I see no reason why a went wouldn't fit on the second CPU. I beleive all motherboards use similar standards and there should be enough room. Anyway, in the worst case, you can get a non-standard cooler and a slim fan from an electronics shop.

In any case, you should be able to just plug in any CPU that the motherboard supports, real slot1 or on a converter, it makes no difference... I don't know if there is a jumper or a BIOS setting that must be changed, but that's normal.

Ales

ANother comment: At least on my 2 440BX dual Pentium systems... you DON'T have to have the same CPU speed for both. Yep, not kidding.

I think I tried to use the 1u special Golden Orb heatsink... I think it fit.

Originally posted by dbarker
I'd like to know this too as I've just found the same speed CPUs and would like to get another one (Or maybe a faster one...)

Can't you just plug it in and leave the fan off?

David


http://63.249.195.107/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=IBDS&Category_Code=IBM