New box for server solution

[smarjan]

Hi!
Since putting together some hardware is found to be a part of DIY process (see: 'Building a quiet Mini-ITX Server') I figured out that some people here might use the following information.

MSI has just released AXIS 700 Lite barebone VIA package.

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=Axis_700_Lite&class=npc

It has a low power 1GHz VIA motherboard and I believe is able to accomodate THREE 3,5" HDDs which gives quite a storage space.
What's more, it retails for $200 only.

I am thinking of getting one for myself, when I only visit US in couple months.

[bergek]

It looks (or sounds) like one big benefit of this box is that it is completely silent - apart from any disks you might put into it. Using 3.5" drives will increase the noise level - in my mind too much. I would go for laptop drives - at least for the system drive.

But that's just me.

[florca]

Looks like a really good solution - pretty much the perfect Slimserver? My only worry is whether it has a multi-voltage PSU - no reference to voltage on the spec sheet so may be 100-110V only??

Think I'll wait until a UK version shows up before serious thought.

[mrfantasy]

It looks (or sounds) like one big benefit of this box is that it is completely silent - apart from any disks you might put into it. Using 3.5" drives will increase the noise level - in my mind too much. I would go for laptop drives - at least for the system drive.

But that's just me.

You might do okay with DVR drives or other rated quiet drives, with the acoustic management turned up all the way.

I keep my server away from my Squeezebox anyway--of course I've got a TiVo in the same cabinet, and it's noisier than the SB would be anyway--although with a Seagate DB35 drive it's reasonably quiet.

[Jitterbug]

I run a similiar box with a pair of Samsung Spinpoint 3.5" drives. These are very quiet indeed.

[smarjan]

PSU answer + HDD question

I have seen some specs stating, that PSU is multivoltage 110-240V which will serve you fine.

Fanless board will ensure rather quiet runnig. What is more important, VIA will ensure low power consumption.

There is one more thing that raises my concern, when considering low power consumption.

I have read somewhere that not all HDD's will go into sleep/standby (or whatever you call it); that included my favourite SpinPont by Samsung, which is a pity (I have 400GB SpinPoint and it is silent comparing to other 3,5" HDDs).
It has been stated that WD drives (I have one - awfull) will go standby though.

What I am after is some solution that would work 24/7 on one of the drives (for instance to be accessed remotely), while two other drives would not be spinning at that time. Those two other would only run when SlimServer needs them.

Has anyone tried such a thing?

[Schindler]

I guess running 8 Squeezeboxes at the same time is possible with this 1GHz CPU/Board???

Christian

@smarjan
Thanks for your next post... I maybe I should write in German, but you would not understand right - so please understand that English is not my everyday language!

Actually I would like to know if this box can handle 8 Squeezeboxes. Or "Ist es möglich an einem solchen Gerät überhaupt z.B. acht Squeezeboxen zu betreiben?"

[smarjan]

I guess running 8 Squeezeboxes at the same time is possible with this 1GHz CPU/Board...

Christian

Christian, does your post bring anything to SS community?

[tamanaco]

Im a bit confused about the size of the box... from the specs I found on that page: 8 Liters, 170mm X 170mm (millimeters)... did they meam cm?... I doubth it.

[nicketynick]

If I remember correctly, 170mm x 170mm is the dimension of the mini-itx motherboard. The chassis dimension in the spec is:
363mm (D) x 300mm (W) x 72mm (H), Ultra Slim, 7.9 liters

[tamanaco]

If I remember correctly, 170mm x 170mm is the dimension of the mini-itx motherboard. The chassis dimension in the spec is:
363mm (D) x 300mm (W) x 72mm (H), Ultra Slim, 7.9 liters

Thanks... I missed the first line of the specs... I guess I'm used to seeing the dimesion specs towards the end of list.

[AubreyCTurnerJr]

Just installed: Axis 700 Lite review and experiences

First, thanks are in order to smarjan for bringing this box to my attention. I'd been looking for something to use to replace my "backup" server and I was looking for something small and quiet and hadn't been satisfied with what I'd found so far.

I keep all my music and other files on a server in my home office, and I back up those files to a backup system using a nightly rsync process. Up until now I'd been using a full-size ATX system that was annoyingly loud (it has 6 fans in the case) and since I was out of room for computers in my office, it had been living in a corner of my living room (making it doubly annoying).

If I was just going to use the backup system for storing data, I'd probably have just used something like the NSLU2. But my backup system also does some other duties. It runs an icecast2 server to stream the audio from a police/fire scanner and it also has a modem attached so that I get Caller ID info on my Squeezeboxes. So this little system appeared to be just what I needed. It had room for multiple drives (although I only ended up with one), it had two serial ports (for the scanner and modem) and it's small and quiet.

I ordered the unit along with 512MB of RAM from NewEgg ($225 without shipping) late last week and it arrived on Tuesday. I already had a hard drive (320GB Maxtor) and I decided to pull the wireless card from the old backup system to use in the new one.

Opening the case wasn't too difficult, and the instructions were sufficient to the task, although it's obvious that the authors of the manual were not native English speakers. I was pleasantly surprised to find all of the cables already in place inside: two SATA (with locking connectors) and one IDE. The IDE cable was very short and lined up directly with the 5.25" optical drive bay. Since I had a 3.5" IDE HD, I decided to go ahead and use the 3.5" bay. The IDE cable supplied was almost too short for this purpose, but I managed to make it fit. If I were to build one of these again, I'd probably go ahead and use an SATA drive (I only chose IDE because I already had a drive so there was no additional cost).

I decided not to install a CD or DVD drive, since I wouldn't be using one except potentially for OS installation.

I chose to use Debian Etch on this system in an attempt to get a minimum installation (i.e. it was going to be run headless and didn't need Gnome, KDE, etc). I first attempted to install from a USB flash drive, but the system wouldn't boot from it. The boot options in the BIOS allow for USB devices, but don't list USB flash (the options were USB HDD, USB CD, or USB Floppy). So I burned the Debian Netinst ISO to a CD and used an external USB DVD drive.

Installation was fast and painless, with Debian correctly detecting and using all of the hardware. After getting it installed and configured using the built-in ethernet adapter, I shut it down and installed the wireless card (Netgear WG311 PCI) in the one supplied PCI slot. The riser card/assembly has to be taken out to install the card, but it's simple (involves only one screw) and it actually makes installing the card easier (you can install the card in the riser and then put the riser back in; so there's less fumbling with the screw that holds the card than with most "standard" cases I've used).

The new system is up and running and the old one has been relegated to the spare bedroom until I've run the new one for a day or two. The Axis 700 isn't completely silent. It has a fan on the power supply and the hard drive makes a little noise. But it's far, far better than the old system and I wouldn't have a problem with the Axis 700 in my bedroom at night (it's only slightly louder than the Motorola DVR that Verizon supplies). If anything, the big, bright, blue power light on the front would probably bother me more than the sound (it's surprisingly bright).

System performance has been quite good, although I don't think I'm particularly taxing the processor. Just running icecast2 and ices2 the load average stays at about 0.29. I'll probably install Slimserver on it at some point just out of curiosity to see how it performs (my main server is where I run Slimserver right now). But I don't expect any performance problems, given the 1GHz processor and 512MB of memory.

Power usage is as good as I'd expected. The UPS that's attached is capable of 450 Watts and it's currently showing only 3% of load capacity (which is approximately 13.5 Watts).

For those who were interested in the physical size of the unit, I've attached a picture of the Axis 700 next to a paperback book that was conveniently nearby, along with a picture of my old system (with the same book).

[smarjan]

Thanx Aubrey for that great first test! I am happy that my post has been useful to someone!
You seem to be happy with it.
I guess I will too :-) Probably will order one as soon as opportunty comes.

How loud do you find the psu fan in the box? Is it kind of regular psu noise (from any no-name psu or computer case) or some more quiet solution?

[byKnight]

Thanks for the report. I'm almost ready to order one myself. Going to test it with WHS beta as a backup solution and Slimserver host.

[AubreyCTurnerJr]

The sound shares some similarity to that of a standard PSU. There's the sound of moving air (what you might call the "whoosh" noise) that's typical of any kind of fan, and underneath that is a slight whine.

Still, though, it's far quieter than any of the regular PSU's I've had.

Just before I got the Axis 700 Lite, I'd also replaced my main server with a MiniATX model that I was hoping would be quieter. It's not as quiet as I'd hoped, but better than the old one. However, all of these changes got me curious as to the relative measurements, so about a week ago I ordered an (inexpensive) SPL meter on eBay. When it arrives I'll try to get a reading to determine the actual dB output.