Posted: 5/1/2017 4:12:12 PM EDT
I've been looking for a cheap storage server. Just idle desire, but something I would occasionally search on 'just in case.' My target was a Dell R710 w/ 3.5 bays or an r510 w/ 3.5 bays. Well, while dropping off our dead gear at a recycling event, guess who spied a shiny T410 case. It must have really liked me, as it managed to follow me back to the office. Once I was able to check it out - perfect condition, iDrac Enterprise, dual PS, dual 5620 Xeons, H200 and two additional 1g ethernet. Best, it RUNS. I'm not sure why anyone would throw out a perfectly functional server, but I'm not complaining that they did. 
But... 16g is not enough to be my main home VM box, and it only has 8 memory slots, and no drives or trays. If I outfit it the way I want, this "free" server will wind up costing me about $1k. TL/DR - Some days it sucks getting what you want. 
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Well... I could sell it as it sits, and it would probably cover the cost of the two Geiselle triggers I bought at the NRA show... but I have two issues with that plan.
1- I'm OK with re-purposing someone's discarded gear, but I'm not OK with doing it for a profit. 2- I doubt the triggers would be as useful as the server at running my home network. Its maddening. I found two companies selling what are advertised as New Dell 3tb SAS drives in trays. The price bounces up and down between $86 and $128 per. When I look, its under $100. When I convince myself to buy, its over $120. I swear, I'll catch them under $90 one of these days. |
| I'm in the process of setting up an HP DL380p G8 I got from a local recycler for a great price. I found the hard drive trays on eBay for $10/ea. Once I have the trays I'm planning on trying some SSD in the trays or possibly some leftover 15k drives. Look to see if a local electronics recycler operates a store. sometimes they have great prices. The local one here called comprenew has 8G server ram for $24. |
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Yes, but the space, power and heat are in one box. This will let me shut down about 3 other old, slow, power hungry boxes. Net, at least a wash, with the bonus of redundant PS, HW raid, corp grade hardware, etc.
This T series is surprisingly quiet, with its one large fan in the back. That may change when I get it loaded with drives. I'll know later this week. Right now I'm doing a memory burn-in. I found a good deal to max out its memory, and I found an even better deal on what look like NIW Dell OEM 3tb SAS drives in trays. If I can't play with what I want with this, I probably need company sponsorship for it. :-) |