The Mini Server
The Mini Server-A compact server, based on a 3.5" format single board computer running Windows 98.
Server with PSU and External HDD
As a server it does just what I want. It's reliable, small, doesn't consume much power and when the hard disks go to sleep, it's almost completely silent.
Case - Die-cast metal box, modified to allow access to the computer ports and painted in dark blue 2 pack paint. External dimensions are 275x175x70mm (10 3/4 x 6 3/4 x 2 3/4"). There is plenty of room inside the box for everything and if truth be told, it would be physically be possible to fit everything into a box of half the length, -still, an over-size box helps cooling and makes it easier to work on the bits inside. The little internal hard disk sits on top of pillars of soft foam, which help to reduce noise transmitted to the case and offer some extra protection to the disk if the case gets knocked.
Power Conditioning - Martek 4000HN 40Watt DC to DC converter from Amplicon. The input range is 9 to 18v DC and there are 5 and 12v outputs. (Actually, the PCM-5822 mobo only needs a 5v supply.) This power converter is not strictly necessary but is useful for cleaning up nasty vehicle electrical supplies and provides short-circuit, over-voltage, under-voltage and thermal shutdown protection. I later discovered that the PCM-5822 computer board has some clever power supply circuitry too and only connects the power supply when all is well.
Cooling - The diecast box has no ventilation holes or fans, but does get quite warm in use on hot summer days when the room temperature rises to 30 deg.C (86 deg.F). The motherboard never consumes more than 8W of power and the internal notebook hard disk consumes around 0.1W in sleep mode and a maximum of 2.5W during write operations.
Security in Windows 98 is weak but this is not a problem for my simple file serving and backup needs.
If you are wondering what makes this server so reliable, I can offer several possible reasons, but I won't hold any particular one up as the key thing.
I also, set the DoubleBuffer parameter in MSDOS.SYS to zero. Modern hard disks use their own caching algorithms and there is no need for Windows to add an extra level doing the same thing.
Once I set the network shares, I reboot the computer but don't log in. Dispite this, the network shares are still available and the power saving features still work. If Windows crashes due to a powercut, it just bounces back when power resumes and I don't even get the 'slap on the wrist' from Scandisk for not shutting Windows down properly, since it never really started in the first place.
If cost is a big problem then consider using a Micro ATX (MATX) motherboard with onboard network and VGA. Don't use a processor that is any faster than you need to do the job, it will only waste electricity and cause cooling problems if you are trying to keep noise down too.
If a little more money is available then go for one of the smaller ITX format motherboards (170x170mm). The VIA Epia ITX boards are popular and some models don't have a CPU fan. (see my 'glass server' article for more info on these boards). Also www.amplicon.co.uk (among many other companies) sell a range of single board computers which are designed to slot into a passive PCI, or (in some cases) ISA backplane. If these boards happen to have all the features you want on board then you won't need a backplane. I mention Amplicon specifically because their EBC-563R low power 800 MHz single board computer is good value at 205 UKP (370 EUR/USD) and has triple ethernet sockets. (-See their Embedded computers section (under Industrial computers) for more details). For a good range of small format computers and other associated hardware, take a look at www.dpie.com -I just wish they'd put prices on their website ... Still, there are plenty of pictures and data sheets.
One exciting future development is the announcement of the Nano ITX format motherboards. These are not yet available but they will be soon. Like the (170x170mm) ITX boards, the Nano ITX boards will come with a CPU and many onboard features, but at 120x120mm the Nano ITX boards are almost as small as the PC104 format industrial single board computers. -For my part, I hope this board will run from a single 5v supply. I don't like ATX connectors with all their wires and don't think they are an appropriate way of supplying power to small format boards. A computer board that just needs 5 volts opens up new options for the powersupply, helping in mobile and low noise applications.
If you use a motherboard which takes an ATX power connector but you don't want to use a power supply with a fan then consider using a 'power brick' and a DC to ATX converter board. There are lots of people selling these converters now but you might want to have a look at the power supply sections of www.linitx.com or www.mini-itx.com for starters.
If you want to run your server on Windows but want to put Windows on a diet first then visit www.litepc.com and see their amazing software which allows you to whittle Windows down to a fraction of its normal size by removing the bits you don't need, (you can choose which bits). They have versions for Windows 98, 2000 and XP. This software could be very useful if you want to run Windows from a CF card or USB memory stick.
You might want to go further and make a server that is even smaller, if so then visit www.advantech.com and look at their Embedded Computing section. The PC104 boards are about as small as single board computers get whilst still being easy to connect things to them, as they come with a bundle of special cables which allow you to connect peripherals like keyboard, mouse, screen HDD etc. to the board. Better still (in terms of size) are the SOM-144 boards at 68x100mm, though I must add that you will need to do lots of fine soldering to connect these boards up to any peripherals (nice project there for someone with the patience, money, time and skills -heh heh.)
Concentrating just on affordable, compact, low power network attached storage brings me to www.ximeta.com This company sells an external hard disk with built in USB 2 *and* ethernet connections. I have been wondering for a while why these sort of devices aren't more abundant. I have never tried one but they sound good from the specs. Extra disk space that can be attached to a network, remotely configured, doesn't need a PC to support it and costs less than a proper NAS server can't be a bad thing. Remote shares can be set up with passwords and the status of the disk space can be monitored. The software to use this unit is primarily for Windows XP and 2000, though support has been added for Mac OS X and a Beta driver for Redhat Linux ver. 8 and 9 has become available. The review on www.tomshardware.com was quite hard on this product but they had high expectations. I don't doubt that this product would be ideal as a file server or backup device for home or small office use. The manufacturers claim that you can use their software to mirror data across two units and that several units can be configured so they appear as one device to the network. If this sounds like just the thing for you then I would advise you to first read all the info on the Ximeta homepage, including the FAQ in the Technical Documentation Section of their 'Download Center' -just to make sure it is what you want.
www.advantech.com/ -Advantech ... One of many suppliers of single board computers.
www.amplicon.co.uk/ -Amplicon Liveline ... Supplier of DC to DC converters and single board computers.
www.dpie.com/ -Diamond Point International ... Single board computers of many sorts and other related hardware.
www.linitx.com/ -LinITX ... ITX computer boards, compact peripherals and Linux software.
www.litepc.com/ -LitePC ... Software which lets you strip out the bits of Windows you don't want.
www.mini-itx.com/ -Mini-ITX ... ITX computer boards, small cases and other suitable hardware.
www.ximeta.com/ -Ximeta ... External hard disk drives with built USB 2 and ethernet connectivity.
