Hi Solar-Guppy,

I have heard that you are using the Mini-ITX system to run this BBS.
I am looking into building a system with the Mini-ITX form-factor, and have some questions if you don't mind...

Which motherboard type did you use, and how old is it.
How much memory did you install?
What Operating system are you using?
Are you using the riser card and a PCI card for anything?
Does your system have a fan?
Are you using DC as the power for the system, or AC?

I am trying to design a system that I can use RE to power (at a DC input), leave on 24x7, run MS Win 2003 server, and is QUIET.

Looking forward to your reply

Hi Glen,

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR> Which motherboard type did you use, and how old is it.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am using the 533 mhz version , which is the original mini-itx ... you can probably still find them around , but the replacement would be 600 mhz mini-itx fanless

A bit fastest with every connection type you could ever need !

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

256 MB which is cheap these days

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR> What Operating system are you using?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

XP , stable as a rock , never had a crash

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR> Are you using the riser card and a PCI card for anything?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not on the http server. The Ftp server has a firewire card , but that wouldn't be needed with the current generation of motherboards

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

The case came with a fan , the motherboard had none and doesn't need one. I disconnected the case fan and have never had a problem. Keep in mind though , I use laptop hard drives which don't need a fan ... standard 3.5" disks do need the case fan. The unit is totally silent and if you use the case fan , its still quite compared to a ATX tower


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

AC , the wallwart it comes with outputs 12 volts though , and the case has a switching power supply , so feeding it nominal 12 volts (14-17 volts) from a battery/solar panel shouldn't be an issue

my case for all 4 of my itx systems is my mini-itx case

The MEASURED draw of the server , running disk bench-marks was 11 watts .. these computers are plenty fast for anything except gaming ...

Hope this helps ! [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

Henry

[ 01-26-2004: Message edited by: Solar Guppy ]

Thanks Henry,

I ordered a CL-10000, and other parts on Friday. The case is a Casetronic 2699R - looks like a VCR from what I can tell. I've perused the mini-ITX.com website & think I got the right combo of parts to work with it... Seems that the height of the RAM is an issue in this case, time will tell!
512M RAM, 60GB HDD, DVD/CDRW for OK prices.
Not quite clear if I am going to need a fan for the Via CPU, not mentioned on the mini-itx site, but is mentioned in the Via website - unfortunately, no recommendations that I could see...

I chose the CL series because of its 2 LAN ports. I want this to replace a Toshiba Magnia SG-10 I am currently using as a NAS device, and want to use the replacement as a firewall among other things.

So you are using XP to host your website? Is it behind a router/NAT firewall or are you running it in software? I guess it also means you are using some kind of static IP or a 3rd party dynamic DNS application?

There was a time when I used one of those with good results - until my broadband provider blocked incomming port 80 traffic, and the service went to a fee based design.

Interested in trading thoughts!
-Glenn


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Solar Guppy:
Hi Glen,

AC , the wallwart it comes with outputs 12 volts though , and the case has a switching power supply , so feeding it nominal 12 volts (14-17 volts) from a battery/solar panel shouldn't be an issue

my case for all 4 of my itx systems is my mini-itx case

The MEASURED draw of the server , running disk bench-marks was 11 watts .. these computers are plenty fast for anything except gaming ...

Hope this helps ! [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

Henry

[ 01-26-2004: Message edited by: Solar Guppy ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Dual lan is a nice feature , though I don't need it as I use a Linksys router which is a good firewall.

On the cpu fan , it's included on the motherboard. On my two new 1Ghz systems I just built , I put a 100 ohm resistor in series with the red lead (cut red wire , soldered in resistor in series) which cuts the fan speed in half and is now very quite but still has enough flow to keep the heat sink luke warm to the touch. Same on the dual case fans , pulls air thru , but without the 5,000 rpm whine

My old ISP was road runner , and used TZO for the dymanic IP issues , now I am on DSL and the IP is fixed , but still have TZO as they are my domain name lookup. Road runner became unusable when the gen-x folks came home from school. DSL rocks speed-wise and has no port blocking , but the service I selected is expensive (nice to have 880K down/100k up speeds though !)

Becareful of overloading the the little 55 watt supply in the case you bought. The CDRW-DVD and bigger hardrive as going to use some watts

Yes , I use XP , behind a Linksys with port forwarding. Its bullet proof , since only the forwarded ports I select can get to the PC's. I also use Zone-Alarm , but its really for outbound protection.

Henry,

Well I got most of the stuff by now for the computer, and luckily the RAM is not too tall for the case (I am told some are too high & interfere with the optical drive).

Are you using an optical drive? Is it a slimline laptop model? That is what I have & I expected it to come with the special 50 to 40 adapter needed, but alas, it is not so.

Where did you get your adapter? I see I can get one in UK, but I'd like it faster & less shipping cost. I'm unable to come up with a description to search on at teh online stores I frequent. I'm sure they carry them, but I cant locate them.

Thanks for your help!
-Glenn

The adapter came with the case I beleive , if you bought from the same place I did it should be somewhere in the box. It's a little pcb adapter that screws on to the slim CD/DVD

only one of my four systems has one ... no need for the others

I got a PCI riser adapter & bracket with the case, but not this adapter. I know what it looks like, I've seen it on the mini-itx website, and in other places too. The problem is that it must be named something weird as any search I do for it comes up empty.

How did you get an O/S on your other machines if they had no optical drive? Did you image them in the one that did, or does the mini-ITX support PXE network?

I have roadrunner too & here they just upped the upload/download bandwidth. I have a Linksys router that has done a good job as a firewall too, but I still run various firewalls on my computers too - ZoneAlarm, Outpost and Tiny to be exact - also more for outgoing protection.

My intent is to connect this server directly to the cable modem, in parallel with the Linksys. I know that MS systems are great targets, and in fact the last time I tried this with W2K Adv Server I was hacked into an FTP file server... I'm hoping W2K3 will be better.

So anyway, I'm trying to come up with this little adapter part - it is the last item before I can power up...

Call the place you got the case from , should have been included

I just hookup a standard CD drive off the Disk cable , power it from another system or use a power spliter

only one device can be off the WAN on the cable modem unless you pay two have more than one IP and then you still will have issues with the dynamic IP assignment.

All my comuters (5 of them) are behind the linksys. I run http , ftp , pop3 , smpt all from different computers behind the linksys without issue

Well, I finally got the little adapter board in the mail today. It was not part of the case accessories, nor the DVD. But it was only $8 more...

So I began installing the Windows 2003 SBS about 4 hours ago... Still grinding away!

Here RR allows you to connect multiple computers to their connection, recommending the following:

LANs on Road Runner
The standard Road Runner Residential Service is designed for single-computer configurations. However, you are able to connect multiple computers to a single cable modem with the use of a hub. Such local area network (LAN) configurations are your responsibility to install and support.

Note: LAN configurations and hubs could decrease the performance of your Road Runner service, especially if multiple computers/users are using the service simultaneously.

So if they recommend that you connect multiple computers via a hub, each computer's MAC address will be seen by RR, and assigned a unique IP... Seems like this means it is OK to connect multiple computers to their net with out NAT.

They upgraded their customer bandwidth to 3Mdownstream & ~250k upstream. This was so they could say 'double basic DSL speeds'. I have performed some tests & I find these numbers are about correct for me. I have not tested them at many different times during the day however...

Wow, finding manufacturers specifications on power consumption is tough! I found them for the HDD, but not for the RAM, or the DVD/CDRW. I'll measure the power when I get the O/S loaded - I have a Kill-A-Watt meter around here somewhere & post back.

[ 02-13-2004: Message edited by: Glenn Burt ]

Glenn,

You can't just use a hub to the cable modem without paying rr for each IP address you use. The modem will only dhcp one address , you'll find out soon enough !

This is why routers are so popular , single IP on the ISP , as many as you want on your local network.

I had RR for 5 years , when I moved recently to my new home RR was horrible , all the kiddys came home from school and bam , worse than dial-up. Its all on how your local node is loaded

I'm on DSL now , 7100 down , 768 up is the spec , but the modem is synced at 8086 (forgot up) and I get over 800Kb down , and can push close to 100Kb up ... and no sharded bandwidth on the local loop

Like to know your watt numbers , via has a spec somewhere on there web-site on all the different variants