Hardware Projects

  • UserId: 1
  • Title: Hardware Projects
  • Url: hardware-projects
  • Summary: Hardware Projects
  • Search:
  • DateCreated:
  • DateModified:
  • Published: 1
  • Pageable: 0

All of my past, present and future hardware projects - some created for my personal use, others for clients...

Webserver

Finished in September 2007 - webserver uses Microsoft Server 2003 and IIS to host various files. The hardware includes a mini-itx EPIA 5000 with 533MHz VIA C3 processor; 512MB RAM; 20GB HDD (with access to the 1TB of the fileserver); 60w external PSU - all housed within a small aluminium case, cooled with a 40mm fan. webserver The webserver is located in the roof of slickhouse - next to the fileserver: loft This has several benefits - there is a lot less dust in the loft; noise is kept to a minimum (they're inaudible throughout the house); and the temperature in the loft is a lot lower than in the house. Access to the servers is usually via Remote Desktop, from one of the client PCs - though there is also a KB/Mouse/Monitor setup for emergency/backup use.

Webserver Update

The Webserver is now a Virtual Server within Yeong Yang (along with a SQL server and Mailserver). However, the redundant hardware is now used with Smoothwall as the network's Firewall.

Yeong Yang

Project Yeong Yang is an update to my original Desktop PC, which became my Fileserver after purchasing a Laptop in 2005. The server's capacity of 400GB soon filled up and so a major upgrade took place, to give it a new lease of life. yy1 The Fileserver houses 8 PATA HDDs, consisting of 2 x 80GB Maxtor, 1 x 120GB Maxtor, 1 x 160GB Maxtor and 4 x 250GB Samsung Spinpoint drives - this gives a raw total of 1.44TB! 4 of the drives are housed in removable caddys and are inserted once a week for backup via batch files. yy2 Yeong Yang sits in the loft 24/7, running various tasks throughout the night, whilst serving Documents, Images, Music, Video etc. through the day. Hardware wise, it comprises of a modified Yeong Yang Server Cube case; 2 x PCI Raid cards; Athlon XP 2000; GeForce 4 Ti4200; 13 fans of various sizes - all at 7v; 1GB PC3200 and runs on Windows Server 2003.

Yeong Yang Update

I have since upped the capacity to 2TB storage + 80GB O/S - comprising of 8 x 250GB Samsung Spinpoint and 1 x 80GB Maxtor HDD.

Red Nineteen

Currently the most popular of my projects, as it has received over 23,000 hits within a couple of months and it consumed 25GB of slickhouse.com's monthly bandwidth in July 2006! It has been featured on bit-tech's front page and received many positive comments in the project log. red19a Red Nineteen, otherwise known as Red19, was originally going to be Blue and Gold - but ended up Black and Red after I purchased an Acer F-19 LCD/TV. This formed the basis for a Ferrari inspired mod, which took over 2 months of planning and modification to get it completed. Red19 features a rare AMD 4000 X2 (2 x 1MB L2 Cache) AM2 chip, along with a Foxconn 590SLi; Corsair 2 x 1GB DDR2 6400 C4; NEC DVD-RW; Tagan 530w EasyConnect; Acer F-19; 7800gt; 250GB Samsung SpinPoint SATAII; Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000; Saitek Eclipse Keyboard; Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro + Accelero X1; 2 x 80mm + 2 x 120mm AKASA Ambers and the heavily modified Enermax Twilight chassis. red19b You can read more about the project on the bit-tech forums project log.

Red Nineteen Update

Since posting this originally, Red19 has been featured in the UK Custom PC magazine - in issue 39, December 2006. You can download a .pdf (or .jpg) version of the scanned pages that Red19 featured in here. Red19 appeared on bit-tech's front page and a summary of my log was posted on a Russian modding website. Since featuring in the magazine, Red19 has also appeared on Custom PCs website too - a screenshot of which can also be found here. Both Red Nineteen and Pink PC are on the bit-tech deviantART. Also, a quick Google search for Red Nineteen and Pink PC returns both project logs at the top.

Pink PC

Undertaken in August 2005, this project involved building and modifying a small form factor PC for my partner. She was thrilled with it and the project inspired several others to create coloured SFF PCs. It features an Intel Celeron (2.6GHz); 1GB PC3200 DDR; 160GB Maxtor; AOpen X-Cube; Microsoft Wireless Keyboard/Mouse; Digimate 17" TFT; GeForce FX5200; Sony DVD-RW. pinkpc pinkpc You can read more about the project on the bit-tech forums project log.

Community Learning Centre

This project was undertaken at CG Partnership, where I used to be employed as an ICT Technician/Tutor. The original PCs used in the Community Learning Centre were over 4 years old and it showed - applications took minutes to load, they crashed often and were unreliable. Many learners who used the centre would complain about the speed of the computers too. Something had to be done about it, as formatting and reinstalling all the necessary software didn't improve them by much. I researched and drew up several costings for 3 replacement computers for the centre. These were eventually approved and I purchased and built them soon after. The original PCs used Microsoft Windows 2000, but the updated machines are able to run XP flawlessley and are capable of running Vista too, if required in the future. They feature Intel Celerons with 512MB PC3200 DDR and GeForce FX5200 GPUs, along with 17" TFT screens for more desk-space. clc

Dell

This project involved getting a retired man a computer, to enable him to access the Internet and improve on his basic computer skills. I helped spec a Dell laptop, with a relatively high specification so that it would last a good few years and prove to be a worthwhile investment - Intel Centrino, 1GB Memory, 80GB Storage. I then setup the laptop, along with a broadband connection and HP Colour Inkjet printer. dell

Boatshed Training Centre

For this project, I was given a budget of around £2500, with which I had to purchase several laptops, a networking solution and a printer. I opted for Dell's cheapest model at the time - the Inspiron 1200 as they seemed to be great value. I also setup a wireless network within the training centre, along with a broadband connection and Epson Printer/Scanner/Copier all-in-one. laptops1 laptops2

Internet Cafe

A similar situation to the Community Learning Centre - in that the current PCs were too slow for many of the users. I decided to build two new computers to replace the original ones and to save desk-space and give the Internet Cafe users more room - I opted for Small Form Factor cases. sff1 sff2

Video Editing

Another project for work - I needed to come up with a solution for editing the video from work's Sony DV Camera. The video was originally downloaded and edited using the Server (see below), but due to an operating system change, the software would no longer run. So I was given a budget of £800 to come up with a solution. I opted for a completely new PC, along with a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements 2. It comprises of an Athlon 64 3200 processor, with 1GB of Memory and 120GB of Storage. The peripherals are identical to the Community Learning Centre PCs, so that it fits in well. It also features a Digital tuner, for recording Freeview channels - especially the learning programmes on BBC2 and Channel 4. These can then be edited using Adobe Premiere Elements and burnt to a DVD for archiving. video_edit

Fileserver

This project involved planning and upgrading, along with testing work's Fileserver. Staff and students were complaining about the speed of the server and also the limited functionality of it. The hardware itself was fine - plenty of storage and a 2.8GHz Pentium 4, with 1GB Memory. The operating system however, was Microsoft Windows XP, not ideal for a server that needs to communicate with 30+ clients on a daily basis. I decided to upgrade it to Microsoft Windows Server 2003, which wouldn't limit the connections to 10, as it allows for unlimited connections. The whole project took a few weeks to plan and schedule, so that the minimum amount of users would be affected by the downtime. Following the upgrade, I tested the server for the maximum connections, along with reliability, stability and also the users and shares. The Fileserver has now been running for over 9 months stable, powered on 24/7.

Fileserver Update

I have recently upgraded the storage capacity of the Fileserver, from a mere 120GB/120GB/160GB Data/Internal Backup/External Backup to a more spacious 250GB/250GB/250GB setup. This required the addition of a PCI Raid card and took a few hours to achieve, with minimal downtime.

Interactive Whiteboard

October 2006, I installed a new interactive whiteboard system - which included a SMART board; an Epson projector; seperates for CD/Audio playback; speakers; PC and a Gyroscopic mouse and wireless keyboard. whiteboard

ICT Suite

Whilst working at CG Partnership, I also put together a full brand-new ICT suite, consisting of 5 Laptops; 5 PCs; 1 Server; networking equipment and another Interactive Whiteboard/Projector setup. The Laptops are all Dell pre-built affairs, but the PCs and Server were built by myself. Sims

Duplicator

During summer 2006, I helped out as technical support at a huge international campsite. We took pictures of all the participants and burnt them to a CD. In order to give all 1500 people a copy of the CD, I purchased a duplicator for the camp. It recorded CDs and DVDs from 1 master to 7 copies within a couple of minutes. It took me a little over 12 hours to produce enough copies! duplicator

Categories that this Post has been filed under

  • General - General posts that don’t fit anywhere else!

Tags that this Post has been tagged with

Comments

[...] Hardware [...]


[...] Hardware [...]


[...] Hardware [...]

uTorrent | slickhouse.com


Add a Comment