How to make your own home data center
emo...@gmail.com
home data center. This is a very small room (3foot X 3Foot X 10Foot)
and my idea is to have 2 or 3 computers + xbox + dvd players and other
toys; Some of them will be ON 24/7.
However, even though this is a very small room and small project, I
realize it requires some serious knowledge of data centers to come up
with a good design that will keep the room temperature and humidity in
acceptable ranges, keep the equipment working properly to prevent
damage and keep the costs and energy consumption to the lowest
possible.
Given my reduced knowledge about construction and data centers, I
think that I will need to pay someone to do the job for me.
Does anyone know of a company that could do this type of jobs?
Given the fact that this is just my home and the size of the project
is very small I hope this is affordable. Does anyone have any similar
experiences? Any information or comment will be highly appreciated.
Bill Kearney
Bear in mind that it might be less expensive to built a new room that's
already designed as an interior space than to retrofit one.
When you mention 'external' how are you planning on accessing the machines
during regular use? Things like game consoles do require access to change
the disc.
> Given the fact that this is just my home and the size of the project
> is very small I hope this is affordable. Does anyone have any similar
> experiences? Any information or comment will be highly appreciated.
Designed spaces and affordable are rarely found in the same sentence.
Josepi
this room. I doubt you want to sit in a closet for hours on end and take
medications for anxiety/SADS to make up for the lack of social interaction.
<emo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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emo...@gmail.com
> When you mention 'external' how are you planning on accessing the machines
> during regular use? Things like game consoles do require access to change
> the disc.
>
I ran HDMI, Coax, Cat6 and fiber optics into my house. I use the Cat6
cables to extend the USB and IR ports; it means that I have full
control of the machines from any room in my house. However for very
nasty tasks I have a monitor, keyboard and mouse inside the storage
room in case it needs physical intervention.
I haven’t solved the problem about changing the xbox disks from my
house, however for the movies I have a thin USB DVD drive attached
behind the LCD TV. As of right now I use my Xbox mostly for the online
content so I’m not really in a hurry to solve the disks problem.
Josepi
How far can you run HDMI?
<emo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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emo...@gmail.com
> HDMI **into** your house? Did you mean "inside"?
>
> How far can you run HDMI?
Yes, I’m using 50 Foots and works very well. I tested it before wiring
my house and it reached 150 foots until I noticed some deterioration.
Josepi
Are you trying to set up a "server" room and not a "computer /games" room?
<emo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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Yes, I�m using 50 Foots and works very well. I tested it before wiring
my house and it reached 150 foots until I noticed some deterioration
On Jan 7, 12:44 pm, "Josepi" <J...@invaliid.con> wrote:
> HDMI **into** your house? Did you mean "inside"?
>
> How far can you run HDMI?
.
Bill Kearney
> medications for anxiety/SADS to make up for the lack of social
> interaction.
Clearly, you don't know many computer admin folks...
Bill Kearney
An HDMI cable tip is reasonably small. Enough to cram through most holes.
And since they're such small connectors it's a bitch to resolder them in the
field. You're better off making a splice further up the cable instead.
Then you have to deal with the potential signal loss.
> Are you trying to set up a "server" room and not a "computer /games" room?
Um, yeah, that's pretty much what he's asking.
Bill Kearney
> cables to extend the USB and IR ports
Bear in mind if you do the job right it will probably require pulling a
building permit. This will require inspections. Most home-grown cabling
installs won't pass inspections. Just so's you know... But you'd have to
pull all the equipment out of there to have the work done anyway.
You might get some advice from a regular building contractor. One licensed
for your area.
You're basically just talking about making the room habitable. Basically
just bringing it into the same interior building 'envelope' as the rest of
the house. Simply done it's just a matter of making sure the vapor barrier
and insultation is done to make that work. The harder part would be
supplying HVAC to/from the space. Your existing HVAC system may or may not
have the spare capacity to properly supply that space (and where it's
located).
B Fuhrmann
> Are you trying to set up a "server" room and not a "computer /games" room?
That was pretty clean from the original post and the subject of the post.
No long term sitting in the room.
The room is external to the house so "into" was the proper term.
Robert L Bass
Heh, heh, heh... :^)
emo...@gmail.com
> Bear in mind if you do the job right it will probably require pulling a
> building permit. This will require inspections. Most home-grown cabling
> installs won't pass inspections. Just so's you know... But you'd have to
> pull all the equipment out of there to have the work done anyway.
>
> You might get some advice from a regular building contractor. One licensed
> for your area.
>
> You're basically just talking about making the room habitable. Basically
> just bringing it into the same interior building 'envelope' as the rest of
> the house. Simply done it's just a matter of making sure the vapor barrier
> and insultation is done to make that work. The harder part would be
> supplying HVAC to/from the space. Your existing HVAC system may or may not
> have the spare capacity to properly supply that space (and where it's
> located).
I called an electrician; he suggested that an exhaust fan and a
thermostat should solve the problem after proper wall insulation.
Then I called a HAVC expert and basically he told me that he couldn’t
help and most likely I needed a server farm expert instead. He guessed
that a dedicated air conditioner could help but that doesn’t sound
like the optimal solution to me.
I will try to ask a build contractor as you suggest and see if we can
find a more effective solution.
I finished the wiring part and already started to install the fiber
glass on the walls (I had to remove the drywall and put it back
again). However I don’t have a construction permit yet neither for the
multimedia wiring or to re-build the walls; do you happen to know what
should I do now? If I request a construction permit at this point,
will I have a penalty for not doing it in advanced?
Robert L Bass
>
> If I request a construction permit at this point, will I have a penalty for
> not doing it in advanced?
If you want to be completely up front, just tell the guy you didn't realize you
need a permit and you're applying for it now. Most of the inspectors I've dealt
with over the years are only interested in making sure you don't burn the house
down or electrocute someone. Fines are usually only given to people who
willfully disobey an inspector's orders or do really dumb stuff.
--
Regards,
Robert L Bass
==============================>
Bass Home Electronics
DIY Alarm and Home Automation Store
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
Sales & Service 941-870-2310
Fax 941-870-3252
==============================>
Bill Kearney
> glass on the walls (I had to remove the drywall and put it back
> again).
There are things like vapor barriers to consider. Do them wrong and you
GREATLY raise the risk of mold damage. How the barriers are installed and
how they're integrated with your existing living space depends on a lot of
other variables. It is specifically NOT ENOUGH to just cram fiberglass
batts into the stud walls.
When you have a difference in temperature from the outside air you need to
consider moisture problems. Warm air on one side and cold air on the other
WILL cause condensation. This will happen in both summer and winter.
Having an appropriate barrier set up will keep it from becoming a much
greater problem (like rot inside the walls and causing mold to spread
throughout your house). That means the wall and roof has to be set up to
allow decent air exchange to minimize the risk. It's not hard or
necessarily expensive to do this properly. But it can be VERY expensive
later if it goes wrong.
You should *stop* and consider paying a licensed residential construction
contractor to assist in the work.
Also consider that computer equipment can generate a lot of heat. You need
to have a plan for getting that heat out of the space and cool air in to
replace it. As in, you can't just dump a HVAC duct into the space without
also having a means to pull it back out. Your existing HVAC system may or
may not have enough spare capacity to do this. If you just graft a duct
onto your existing setup you may end up raising your HVAC costs way out of
proportion. HVAC systems are supposed to be balanced.
Where are you located? Not specifically, what state and what climate?
Computer equipment can tolerate running in cool environments. Too much heat
or too much moisture will cause problems. Depending on how cold it gets in
the winter you may not need to add heat to the space. But you'll probably
need to have a way to keep it cool come warmer days. Depending on your
area dealing with moisture might be necessary year-round.
> If I request a construction permit at this point, will I have a penalty
> for not doing it in advanced?
That depends. Worst case, yes you could be fined. But not terribly likely.
More likely you'd have to remove anything that blocks the inspector from
seeing the work. Inspections are done during the whole construction
process, to make sure the work is done properly. The inspector needs to see
what's been done in the walls before you put up drywall.
Also consider that if you do it wrong and it burns down your house (or
causes mold damage) your insurance policy may refuse to cover anything.
When seeking a permit it might be best to limit the description of what
you're going to do with the space. Getting overly detailed about the
network and other non-electrical wiring may cause permitting problems.
Having the non-electric wiring all installed properly (up to code) is
important for the safety of you and the property. But getting a permit for
a 'computer room' might be a bigger hassle. Getting a permit to put
electric in and insulate the closet would probably be a lot simpler. Of
course, how you decide to present the project is entirely up to you. I'm
certainly not suggesting you misrepresent anything.
emo...@gmail.com
> Where are you located? Not specifically, what state and what climate?
>
> Computer equipment can tolerate running in cool environments. Too much heat
> or too much moisture will cause problems. Depending on how cold it gets in
> the winter you may not need to add heat to the space. But you'll probably
> need to have a way to keep it cool come warmer days. Depending on your
> area dealing with moisture might be necessary year-round.
>
I’m located close to Seattle, so humidity is something to keep in mind
year around. I’m not very concerned about low temperatures as rarely
we go bellow 20F.
Robert L Bass
>
> I�m located close to Seattle, so humidity is something
> to keep in mind year around. I�m not very concerned
> about low temperatures as rarely we go bellow 20F.
If the space abuts the exterior of house, you could just vent it, top and bottom
into the dwelling. A fan panel at the bottom can draw air from the house into
the data closet, creating a positive pressure in the room. Insulate the
exterior of the closet just as you would the exterior of the home. The vapor
barrier on the insulation plus the air flow should keep the space clear of
moisture and the temperature will be the same as inside the house.
Lewis Gardner
> On Jan 9, 11:04 am, "Bill Kearney" <wkearne...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Where are you located? Not specifically, what state and what climate?
>>
>> Computer equipment can tolerate running in cool environments. Too much heat
>> or too much moisture will cause problems. Depending on how cold it gets in
>> the winter you may not need to add heat to the space. But you'll probably
>> need to have a way to keep it cool come warmer days. Depending on your
>> area dealing with moisture might be necessary year-round.
>>
> year around. I�m not very concerned about low temperatures as rarely
> we go bellow 20F.
A small window unit through the wall would be more than needed for the
space. These things are cheap. The last one I got at Home Depot cost
less than $75. I wouldn't worry about it unless the room temp got above
90F on a regular basis.
You could run SpeedFan www.almico.com/speedfan.php on one of the PCs to
see what the CPU and internal temps run. It is a great program that does
real time and graphs so you make good decisions about ventilation.
There are two ways the temperature in this external building can rise.
The first is heat gain of the room itself. This is primarily due to
sunlight. If the building is in the shade then this problem can be
minimized. Likewise color and roof ventilation can do quite a bit to
minimize heat buildup from the sun. Second is heat from the equipment in
the room. This could be minimized by using power conservation on the
equipment or arranging the equipment with the hottest on top with a
small vent to the outside.
Be careful about fans. In your area they could drag in moisture causing
more harm than good.
Josepi
"Bill Kearney" <wkear...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Bob F
In this area, I suspect all you will need is venting in the summer. The heat
given off by the computers should be plenty to keep it warm and dry in the
winter. A simple thermostat controlled vent fan could be used to keep the temp
down when it gets too warm.
Josepi
gear nreak down when the moisture comes and mould grows in the dust on the
gold connectors.
"Bob F" <bobn...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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