antminer s1's on a rack

[infernoman]

i have seen pictures of antminers s1's sitting on racks but i have also seen them on full size server racks and am wonder how that is done. i have a server and 24 port switch that im using for my router lmfao so i will be getting a rack as i plan to continue doing this. the question is how the hell are the s1's mounted on a rack?

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[Mister S]

You can mount S1's on a rackmount 1u tray, or, if you have an enclosure, and not just a freestanding rack, you can bolt them together, 4 across. the endplates have screw holes in them, and those screw holes match up keenly to a 4u rackmount 'ear'.

Overclocked, in an enclosure, DO add fans to the back. and be sure the enclosure can evacuate hot air from the top. Unless it's a 18c server room, you can bump right up to the chip tolerances without a second thought

[infernoman]

You can mount S1's on a rackmount 1u tray, or, if you have an enclosure, and not just a freestanding rack, you can bolt them together, 4 across. the endplates have screw holes in them, and those screw holes match up keenly to a 4u rackmount 'ear'.

Overclocked, in an enclosure, DO add fans to the back. and be sure the enclosure can evacuate hot air from the top. Unless it's a 18c server room, you can bump right up to the chip tolerances without a second thought

okay thanks for the info i noticed they would screw together. but what about all of the cables. i recently saw a member that was selling antminers from a dedicated hosting centre which was in a rack. and every single shelf was full. how would they be doing something like that?especially with power supplies... any ideas?

[Mister S]

Power supplies are likely either in the middle, or there's a 12v transformer feeding them. There's clean and effective ways to cable up a rack like that.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817147105
Server cases on the back end, Custom 12v and 12v negative cables to the miners, Patch panel and/or Cisco router to handle your data transport.

It can be done nice and clean. A little expensive, but when you've got that many miners rolling, a little higher RoI in return for some server room geekporn eye candy is a good trade off.

[w3e30us]

I've designed a 4U case to house 8 Antminer S1 blades with 2 powers supplies, mounting for 6x120mm (3 front and 3 in the middle) and 6x80mm fans on back wall .

The order went to machine shop today to have a prototype made, should be done in about a week.

I'll post pictures in a little bit.

Prototype with some missing mounting holes etc was just over $500, if I do a run of about 20-30 units it should bring cost down to around $350 or so shipped.

[Pjones]

I've designed a 4U case to house 8 Antminer S1 blades with 2 powers supplies, mounting for 6x120mm (3 front and 3 in the middle) and 6x80mm fans on back wall .

The order went to machine shop today to have a prototype made, should be done in about a week.

I'll post pictures in a little bit.

Prototype with some missing mounting holes etc was just over $500, if I do a run of about 20-30 units it should bring cost down to around $350 or so shipped.

Got any pics?

[Powell]

Interested in pics as well.

[w3e30us]

Here are some pics from CAD.

Front:
(openings for 120 fans, stock fan guards will mount here; rack mounting holes, holes for handles if desired, mounting for RJ45 pass through connectors, some holes far cable management (zip ties for now:))

http://e30.us/4sale/4u8s1/4u8bs1front.jpg

Rear:
(mounts for 2 PSUs and 6 of 80mm fans)

http://e30.us/4sale/4u8s1/4u8bs1rear.jpg

Side:
(with air intake for PSU fan)

http://e30.us/4sale/4u8s1/4u8bs1side.jpg

Bottom:
(mounting holes for blade brackets and heatsinks)

http://e30.us/4sale/4u8s1/4u8bs1bottom.jpg

Top is similar to bottom except no mounting for heatsinks.

Blades' bracket:
(with mounting for 120mm fans and some holes for zip ties for cables management)

http://e30.us/4sale/4u8s1/4u8bs1bracket.jpg

[w3e30us]

If there's enough interest I could probably do side and front vents like this (although this would definitely compromise airflow):

(shape needs to be cleaned up, it's a bit uneven)

http://e30.us/4sale/4u8s1/4u8bs1sidebtc.jpg

[_Miracle]

If there's enough interest I could probably do side and front vents like this (although this would definitely compromise airflow):

(shape needs to be cleaned up, it's a bit uneven)

Very nice. EDM could do the delicate work of hollowing out the BTC.

Picturing it lit up with leds now... 

[klondike_bar]

Here are some pics from CAD.

Front:
(openings for 120 fans, stock fan guards will mount here; rack mounting holes, holes for handles if desired, mounting for RJ45 pass through connectors, some holes far cable management (zip ties for now:))

looks nice, two suggestions:

1) KISS. Make the front and rear identical, similar to this image. might not rack as nicely without bottom/top/sides, but allows clean 3-wide builds
2) Re-design it so that 3*120mm fans cool 8-10 blades packed more densely. This would be terrific for those underclocking to 150GH/210W.

[w3e30us]

Very nice. EDM could do the delicate work of hollowing out the BTC.

Picturing it lit up with leds now... 

Haha:)

What's EDM by the way?

[_Miracle]

A form of machining (I was thinking of EDM wire) but it may be overkill if that's aluminum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining

[w3e30us]

looks nice, two suggestions:

1) KISS. Make the front and rear identical, similar to this image. might not rack as nicely without bottom/top/sides, but allows clean 3-wide builds
2) Re-design it so that 3*120mm fans cool 8-10 blades packed more densely. This would be terrific for those underclocking to 150GH/210W.

Completely agree on KISS principle.
However:

1) Where will the PSUs go? My goal is to have an "enclosure" to help with cooling of overclocked units.
If they are underclocked then we don't need all of those extra fans.
I have 3-wide (6 blades) design ready, although my goal was to increase density.

2) I can fit 2x120 fans on the rear wall with 2 PSUs or 6x80mm fans with same.
Unless some 60W 65 Db 120mm Delta fans are employed I can get more CFMs with 6x80mm fans than 2x120 with less noise and less power consumption
If only one PSU is used (lets say 8 underclocked S1 blades and 1 PSU there's still no space for 3 x 120mm fan in there.

As far as the number of blades, it is geometrically impossible to fit more than 9 blades in 19" wide space without modifying heatsinks or loosing side walls.
Not very clean as you mentioned
Now, if we go to 7U it is possible to mount 18 blades so that would give you 9 S1s in 7U space.

Also, the PSUs can be mounted with intake facing inside to help remove hot air.
That would simplify side wall.
However, I am concerned with PSU getting 45+ degree (C) air from the blades and getting too hot to maintain adequate output.
If the units are underclocked then this would work.

[w3e30us]

A form of machining (I was thinking of EDM wire) but it may be overkill if that's aluminum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining

Oh, I see.

Prototype is being made out of 6061.

[Pjones]

Looks good.  When will you have the prototypes done?

[w3e30us]

Looks good.  When will you have the prototypes done?

About 10 days

[Mister S]

As long as you're designing rack components, maybe think about adding a waterblock setup instead of air cooling them.
One large pump takes less electricity than 20 pwm fans, and you could pack more blades into the rack.
14mm water channels with a blade mounted on each side.
Aluminum is easy to mill, but you could also use steel with copper pipe.
If you do use steel, extra time will be needed for lapping the surface.


Cheers.

[klondike_bar]

As long as you're designing rack components, maybe think about adding a waterblock setup instead of air cooling them.
One large pump takes less electricity than 20 pwm fans, and you could pack more blades into the rack.
14mm water channels with a blade mounted on each side.
Aluminum is easy to mill, but you could also use steel with copper pipe.
If you do use steel, extra time will be needed for lapping the surface.


Cheers.

not worth it imo. its a lot of weight and added complications spent on 2w/GH (or even 1.3w/GH) hardware when 0.5w/GH hardware will be here in two months. You would spend about $40/antminer on a custom waterblock that would likely not be reusable (except for the unnannounced S3???) after the miners are liquidated/scrapped in a few months.

[klondike_bar]

looks nice, two suggestions:

1) KISS. Make the front and rear identical, similar to this image. might not rack as nicely without bottom/top/sides, but allows clean 3-wide builds
2) Re-design it so that 3*120mm fans cool 8-10 blades packed more densely. This would be terrific for those underclocking to 150GH/210W.

Completely agree on KISS principle.
However:

1) Where will the PSUs go? My goal is to have an "enclosure" to help with cooling of overclocked units.
If they are underclocked then we don't need all of those extra fans.
I have 3-wide (6 blades) design ready, although my goal was to increase density.

2) I can fit 2x120 fans on the rear wall with 2 PSUs or 6x80mm fans with same.
Unless some 60W 65 Db 120mm Delta fans are employed I can get more CFMs with 6x80mm fans than 2x120 with less noise and less power consumption
If only one PSU is used (lets say 8 underclocked S1 blades and 1 PSU there's still no space for 3 x 120mm fan in there.

As far as the number of blades, it is geometrically impossible to fit more than 9 blades in 19" wide space without modifying heatsinks or loosing side walls.
Not very clean as you mentioned
Now, if we go to 7U it is possible to mount 18 blades so that would give you 9 S1s in 7U space.

Also, the PSUs can be mounted with intake facing inside to help remove hot air.
That would simplify side wall.
However, I am concerned with PSU getting 45+ degree (C) air from the blades and getting too hot to maintain adequate output.
If the units are underclocked then this would work.

its also good to keep in mind that (from the KISS angle) a lot of S1 users that may be looking at undervolting for a higher density (such as 8 blades in a 19" space) and using server power supplies which can be operated on other shelves or have 2-4' leads (appropriate gauge for the length/amperage of course). The 1_1_1_1 photos in the pictures thread are a good example, where he has a crammed-looking setup of 3 S1 units jammed side by side in a 19" width. with 4 units undervolted slightly on a custom front/back plate it could be a slick and easy setup.