This post continues my migration into my new rack.
As more and more parts arrived, it became time to migrate my Supermicro 5028D-TN4T. This tiny little server packs quite the punch, with an 8c16t Supermicro D1541 and plays a role of one of my ESXi servers.
Again, as before with my Whiteboxing a 1U series, I knew pretty much all the parts that I needed to get, except this time I got the rear I/O version of the 1U short depth case.
The parts list is pretty extensive. Fortunately, because Supermicro sells a server like this, I can use the parts list for the Supermicro 5018D-FN4T.
The short list:
- The case
- Riser card bracket
- x16 Riser card
- some fans and brackets
- an I/O shield
- an 2.5″ SSD/HDD Bracket
Sheesh. It’s a long list, some of the parts were a bit hard to find, so it took a few weeks for everything to arrive.
The build
Once everything arrived, I dug the old bird out of the corner, and started disassembly. It was VERY dusty:
And a terrible picture of the inside:
And the board is extricated:
The new home
The new case is SOOOO much better than the rear I/O version. There’s actually room for all the cables from the PSU.
On the front I/O version, you usually just end up with an ugly bulge in the front:
The top-left corner of the following image definitely demonstrates what I’m talking about with front vs rear I/O:
vs the mess in the front I/O version:
Everything installed. I reused the fan brackets from my old SYS-E300-8D, and tracked down an internal USB header that fit. The pictured one was too tall:
I installed two fans as eventually this board will be receiving a 40Gb upgrade. As with the D1521 build, it was LOUD. I installed a pair low-noise adapters, and the problem was fixed, and the server stays nice and cool:
All things considered, this build went very smoothly.
The case looks nice all racked up and is basically dead silent. I might even consider replacing the D1521 build with the rear I/O version if they weren’t so expensive.
Continued in the X10SRH migration.
