[Complete] Azure [A Rack Server Mod] - Overclock.net

wastedtime · 05-01-08

List Of Updates :

1. Router Table and Design Pics

2. Packages, PSU Side Panel Slot and Cheap Cutting Disks

3. Front Panel Cut/ Acrylic Side PSU Side Panel Cover/ Paint Stripped

4. Sleeved Everything in Sight / Paint Arrives

5. Chasis Painted / Acrylic Steps Take Shape

6. Front Panel Complete

7. Paint Job Complete

8. Fan Panel Sanded and Polished / Acrylic Steps Complete

9. Designs for PSU and Drive chamber

10. Top Cover Takes Shape

11. Base for PSU and Drive Hold Takes Shape.

12. PSU and Drive Hold Mockup

13. Acrylic Steps Revisited / Small Photoshoot

14. DVD Drive Mod

15. Drive and PSU hold takes shape

16. Opnions on billet window design

17. PSU and Drive Hold Complete

18. Putting Everything together

19. Monitor Mod Starts ..

20. Monitor Mod Epic Fail....

21. Monitor Mod.. Part 2 .. Planning

22. Yehhh.. A Sponsor

23. Monitor Mod Part 2.. Starts...

24. A small Competition with Paint

25. Sleeving wires using a drain cleaner

26. Painting the Monitor Chassis

27. Monitor Complete

28. Project Complete

I finally got stung by the modding bug and decided to do my own mod.

I have been researching and practicing for a couple of months now. I ordered all the stuff that I need for the mod yesterday. So I guess this is a good time to go ahead and announce the mod.

A little background:

This is my first ever mod. So there are going to obvious things that I may miss I am banking on the more experienced modders here to pull me out of trouble.

This mod is going to be a learn/ practice gig for an other mod that I have planned out.

A couple of months back I bought a rackable server off ebay to work as a folding rig and also for running my virtual machines and web server. This server does not have a top cover.

Here is the server lying dis assembled in the bedroom :

The back that holds the exhaust fans

So here are the list of things I am planning to do for this mod.

1. Fully Paint the Server Chasis black .

2. Fabricate a top cover for the server. ( The top cover will have a hole in the center to accommodate a delta 4000rpm intake fan )

3. Cut the exhaust grill out and put an acrylic front in there.

4. Custom acrylic feet. The feet will be in the form of steps.

5. The PSU that came with the server died. So now i am going to use an other desktop PSU to power the server. I am planning to use a chrome wire loom to enclose the wires coming from the PSU to the server .

6. Fabricate an acrylic cover for the PSU.

7. Fabricate an engraved ring around the fan.(This was inspired from the Billet Window from Bill Owen's warcraft case mod. )

8. Add blue CCFL's in the server to give it a nice blue and black look

wastedtime · 05-01-08

So here is the work I have been able to get done in the past week:

I made myself a routing table. Thanks to Syr

This is how the top Cover will look

Mockup and sketch for top cover :
the top cover will be fabricated out of 1/4" solar gray acrylic.

Sketch for front panel :

This is how the case feet will look . The case feet will be fabricated out of 1/4" clear acrylic. I am planning on putting blue LED's in there that will give the case feet a nice blue glow

Top view with the case feet :

Sketch for case feet

wastedtime · 05-01-08

Final Pictures :

The rack with the CCFL's on..

The harddrives:

In full glory

The monitor

More pictures of the monitor Here

Syrillian · 05-01-08

*subscribes*

"Azure". Great word, great imagery.

Hey!.... nice router table.

And, dang! You sure are professional with your drawings and cut-out replicas. Seriously.

The dremel router bits do not have bearings, so take extra care not to mar the edge when routing (beggin' yer pardon if you already are aware of this pitfall).

Yay! Acrylic stuff. Cool!

wastedtime · 05-01-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syrillian

*subscribes*

"Azure". Great word, great imagery.

Hey!.... nice router table.

And, dang! You sure are professional with your drawings and cut-out replicas. Seriously.

The dremel router bits do not have bearings, so take extra care not to mar the edge when routing (beggin' yer pardon if you already are aware of this pitfall).

Yay! Acrylic stuff. Cool!

You subscribing to my thread is a great honor sir

Oh thanks for the dremel tip. Didnt know that :P.

I just received the tracking number from tap. The whole order is scheduled for delivery on the 8th of May.

Luckily I will have the heatshrink here soon. I can at least start on the PSU sleeving

nategr8ns · 05-01-08

Ooh I really want to set up a routing table now, but I don't think I would use it very often

Subscribed because Azure sounds cool, and I've never seen a rackmount case mod before

EuroFix · 05-01-08

For somebody who is doing their first mod ever, you are well prepared and organised - thats already half the success

Im watching this one.

wastedtime · 05-03-08

Thank you all for your kind replies

Small Update :

I received a package from performance-pcs and xoxide.

1. A delta 220 CFM fan.

2. A couple of Fan Filters
3. 1/8" Heatshrink
4. A sunbeam PSU modding kit.
5. 5FT of red el wire (Not sure what I am gonna do with this )
6. Zip Tie Mounts

My initial plan was to house the PSU separately and then have 2 chrome wire looms carrying all the wires from the PSU to the server.
So the obvious choice would be to drill two holes in the server using the hole saw.

But I hit a snag. First off the server chasis is too thick for my hole saw. I have a cheapo hole saw that I picked up from harborfreight. So after over 30 mins with the hole saw I had barely scratched the surface.

Secondly I realized that there is no way I can directly insert the 24 pin connector through that hole. So essentially I will have to remove the connector and then put the wires in through the hole and plug the connector back in. This is not a problem if the server is empty but if I have to change the PSU for any reason. The whole process is going to be a PITA.

So what I did was cut a rectangle on the side which will be covered up with a piece of acrylic. This piece will have the 2 holes that were originally meant to be in the server. So if I have to change the PSU I will have to unscrew the plate and then work with the plate . (Even with the plate on... I will have to remove all wires from the 24 PIN ATX connector to let the PSU loose . but at least this way I dont need to work with my head inside the server.)

I hope this explains why I am using a plate instead of drilling holes in the server itself.

Alright Time for some pics

This is the rectangle that I cut out .. Not perfect by any means but I will straighten it out using a hand file.

This is how the wire loom will look when stuck into the server.

Things that I will be doing next :

1. PSU Sleeving.
2. Cut out the front grill and sand.
3. Strip the existing paint on the server.

.. Oh just a word of caution... This is what happened when I used the cutting wheels that came with the dremel...

The wheel broke and flew across the room.. luckily I wasnt anywhere near it..

I am off for a 12 hour overnight shift

.. Hopefully I can get some work done on Sunday.

nategr8ns · 05-03-08

welcome to the world of cheap cutting disks

you can pick up some reinforced cutting wheels if you want, they don't brake at all (although mine have started slowly melting away on me since I started working with steel

)
So whats the PSU modding kit for?

wastedtime · 05-03-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by nategr8ns

welcome to the world of cheap cutting disks

you can pick up some reinforced cutting wheels if you want, they don't brake at all (although mine have started slowly melting away on me since I started working with steel

)
So whats the PSU modding kit for?

Ya I finally ended up getting some from my local hardware store. They work really well. I am going to sleeve the PSU completely

Thats why I got the sunbeam PSU modding kit.

I am at work now

... I am get home tomorrow morning get some sleep and then start on the mod

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[Complete] Azure [A Rack Server Mod]

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