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Thread: Farms, Names, Pictures, Projects and Paper Trays

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Danish Dynamite View Post
    these a program out there called BoincView apparently you will need to run WINE on linux to get it to work but makes it very simple to monitor your different comps
    Yes I had stumbled across that, however I probably will not be using it - wherever possible I avoid closed source programs - and the boinc manager itself can happily connect (although one at a time) to different nodes.

    Quote Originally Posted by Danish Dynamite View Post
    is that the 16 port switch ? lol
    hehe, that's something I had left over from a project a few years back, but still works perfectly well.

    And if you are wondering why I have it under the monitor. Well, it's so I can watch all those little lights flashing away at me

  2. #12
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    Got a parcel today, so more pictures!

    First, the parcel itself:


    Opening it up, this is what we find:


    The full contents:


    Nice can of compressed air there - that's what got me my free shipping on the order

    The black things in bags are standoffs - They let me add an extra 50mm to the depth of each tray.

    Finally the trays looking proud atop my computer:


    EDIT:
    WOOHOO! Another THREE parcels just arrived in the post! (First one was via a courier)

    Sadly I've got lectures now, but once I get back later today expect loads more pictures!

    EDIT2:
    Sadly, one of those parcels is infact not mine - it's for somone else in my house (which I share with 6 people) - nice of the postman letting me know that before I signed for all three..
    Last edited by S. Starbuck; 10-07-2008 at 11:20 AM. Reason: Me happy. Me has parcels :)

  3. #13
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    So as I mentioned in the edit, here are the two other parcels that came today that were mine:


    One of them turned out not to be as interesting as it could be:


    One of the many books that I'll get in the next few days for my uni course.

    Moving on though, the second parcel was a bit better:


    After many attempts I just about got a picture of one of them you can make out:


    Now what do all CPUs come with? Stickers of course!
    So here are those stickers applied to the trays. Note also I've got the standoffs on them now.


    That's it for today! Hopfully the motherboards will turn up tomorrow.

  4. #14
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    Thumbs up

    Very ambitious S. Starbuck !

    Looks like your going to have some fun soon.

  5. #15
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    Going to have fun? I'm already enjoying this!

    Power supplies is the big hurdle I've got though. I can get a PSU for each board, be it a mini one or a standard, or I've been suggested to look at using one PSU to power multiple boards.

    One such link I was sent:
    http://www.overclock.net/faqs/112866...ply-power.html

    I'm not over keen on that idea personally, but I need to get some feedback from people that have done it. (If anyone here has, feedback would be great!)

  6. #16
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    well it does make sense from what i have read just don't forget to factor in the fact that psu do loss efficiency over time, i forget the % but i think it was in the range of 5 to 10% per year

  7. #17
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    Today is a good day, as you are about to see.

    Firstly this package came in the normal post:


    And inside, many network cables:


    Then about 5 minutes ago, this parcel arrived:


    And then a smile when I opened it up:


    woohoo! lots of nice motherboards:


    Inside each of those boxes:


    The full contents spread out. Not massive of stuff, but as it's a cheap board that is to be expected.


    Closeup of the motherboard:


    And finally, one of the motherboards in the rack, checking they do indeed fit:


    Annoyingly I got an email today saying the RAM and Compact Flash cards for them are going to be delayed - by how long I don't know. Still, I've got enough to start getting things sorted.
    Last edited by S. Starbuck; 10-08-2008 at 02:53 PM. Reason: Still can't spell...

  8. #18
    AMDave's Avatar
    AMDave is offline Seeker of the exit clause Moderator
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    This is turning into quite an event, S. Starbuck.

    generally I name my nodes with 2 digits dn01 etc.. because I believe in expansion and I don't see myself running more than 99 boxen. I am up to dn07 now. Not that it really matters what you call them. Have a crack at the constellations (it is still World Space Week :D )

    I have a firm belief in your dream and I know it's going to work.
    For projects, I'd be as bold to say, kick the tyres on the 10K challenge - 10K in all projects that are running well at the time you try them, then hell-bent on your absolute favourite. (heh - catch me if you can - I think you might)

    Now that you have the major components the memory delay might seem to take forever, but I recommend you spend some time planning how you are going to implement the software side.

    eg building a working cruncher on one machine and cloning the drive to the others will produce problems with machine id's on projects so you'dd need to detach from all BOINC projects before cloning the disk, you'd also have to boot each individually to change the host name (and the IP if you don't use DHCP) etc.

    You have some time to plan it out now which will save you time in the long run.

    BTW, I am getting as green as this website ;)
    (offtopic - Ototero would be nervous of that comment. Oh, for the mad old days! LOL)
    . . . . . ___
    . . . . . . .\___/\______
    . . . . . . . \__AMD___\\__
    ---------------------------------------------

  9. #19
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    Farms, Names, Pictures, Projects and Paper Trays

    I have similar interests in this developing farm equation. I like the fact your very serious about reducing the electricity needs. I also like the tray like vessels for holding each motherboard. I am fascinated with your developing situation and your awareness in using uncommon subjects for your installations.
    Have you thought about using a SSD for a HDD? This would reduce the constant current flow needed for those old constantly rotating disks of Yor!

    For my treasured idea I was going to mount my systems on a 4 ft x 4 ft 3/4 inch piece of plywood. Then hang the board from the ceiling with the backside of the plywood away from the wall surface by just a 1/2 inch or so to conserve space. I was planning on using the on-board Video only as a back up. Since these were to be my crunchers I was going to access everything from DOS/Command Line and install Linux to handle all operations. Least amount of confusion, also less instruction paths to accomplish the same goals; crunching.

    Sorry I have not posted sooner, I am kinda overly busy at the moment.





    Challenge me, or correct me, but don't ask me to die quietly.

    …Pursuit is always hard, capturing is really not the focus, it’s the hunt ...

  10. #20
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