My Own Server Part 1: DIY 1U Rack Servers

Power Supply, Mainboard, PCI-X

Even the power supply must be very compact for use in the 1U rack. The MSI model used provides a maximum of 250 W - enough for all configurations possible here.

The board is based on conventional technology and, unlike the rack servers commonly used, works on the new E7210 chipset from Intel. That makes servers with up to 4 GB dual-channel memory and a maximum of 3.4 GHz conceivable.

A lone PCI-X slot is available. To make this possible, MSI works with a riser module that rotates the slot by 90°.

Two 40 mm fans take care of heat dissipation. Because of the rather high frequency, the volume reached with the maximum rpm is on the same level of noise pollution as a vacuum cleaner. But MSI took precautions and equipped the mainboard with a temperature-dependent rpm control, which lowers the noise level considerably on startup of the operating system.