SHAWSHANK has finally been redeemed!!!

Finally, after only a month + my DIY WHS project (codename SHAWSHANK) has finally come to a close. The big delay was due to hardware problems that I experienced with the Chenbro HDD Cages. 2 out of the 3 cages I purchased were DOA. I returned the 2 faulty cages to only have 2 cages sent to me that were DOA as well. Finally, the replacements to the replacements came in last week and worked as expected. I really hope this was just bad luck I ran in to and not a sign of things to come. The next big hurdle I ran in to was doing a server recovery so I could move my data drives from my MSS to SHAWSHANK. Unfortunately this took nearly 4 days due to some complications with the Controller Card settings and some other fun stuff.

I had a chance to document the Server Restore process so hopefully if anyone goes through this process they can avoid a lot of the problems I ran in to

I also updated my original blog post to reflect some changes I had made to the original build.

Finally with SHAWSHANK up and running I can now put my attention back to all things Media Center related and get some good posts up, but for now check out some pics of my build below.

An Update To My DIY WHS Build

A few weeks ago I started a DIY WHS build, codenamed SHAWSHANK, to replace my current WHS setup (MediaSmart Server w/ Sans Digital TR4M, 8.5TB). I have been documenting my experience over on the MediaSmartServer.net DIY Server forum. As expected whenever doing a PC build I have run into a few bumps in the road (nothing as serious as having smoke pump out of one of my HTPCs when building!!!). The first issue I ran in to was one of the temperature sensors in the Chenbro SR109 case. The case comes equipped with three temperature sensors. These sensors will sound off an alarm when the temperature threshold is breached (you can set to sound off at either 55 degrees or 65 degree’s Celsius). Well, I had the main components installed and it was the moment of truth, hit the power button and see what happens. I turned on the power and within 10 seconds a blaring alarm went off, followed by hurricane force winds. I looked around thinking there was a possible air strike taking place when I realized is was the server. The LCD screen on the case had signaled there was an issue with temp. sensor #2, which prompted the alarm to sound and the case fans to operate at Mach 10. Fortunately there is a mute button on the case, so I was able to mute out the sound and proceed with setting up the WHS. I loaded the O/S and during setup got an error message that no hard drive was found. Turns out the WD Caviar Black drive I had ordered from Newegg.com was DOA….

I just RMA’d the HDD back to Newegg, so I am waiting for a replacement. In the meantime I had a spare 80GB HDD lying around, so I threw that in and loaded up WHS so I can do some testing.

As for the temperature sensor, I spoke with tech support who suggested that the sensor was bad. I just filled out an RMA so hopefully I should get a new sensor soon. The cool thing about the case (ok, can I sound any more geeky) is that the fans/sensors have a small DIP switch in the case. I can shut on or off each sensor, so I just shut off Temp Sensor 2 for now, the alarm sound went away and the fans backed down from Mach 10.

Below is a pic of SHAWSHANK (installed WHS using a USB drive failed, so I ended up having to yank a rom drive out of my HTPC to do the install)

My New PC Build – A DIY WHS

The main guts of my home network is my HP MediaSmart Server with attached Sans Digital TR4M Esata, running WHS. I decided recently that I wanted to upgrade my setup to a server that could handle more storage space and be a little more powerful. I finally took the plunge and parts started arriving yesterday. My build is going to be comprised of the following:

• Case – Chenbro SR109 – $230.77 / $250.67 w/ Tax
• Motherboard – GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H – $89.99
• CPU – AMD Athlon II X2 245 – $67.99
• PSU – CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W – $99.99 after rebate
• Memory – CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 – $42.99 after rebate
• O/S HDD – Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB – $69.99
• HDD Cages – Chenbro 5 in 3 Hotswap HDD Cage – $371.94 ($123.98 each x 3)
• SATA Controller Cards:SATA Controller Cards – SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 8-port and SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-port. Price goes for $99.99 / $96.66
• Cables – 3WARE Cable, 1 Unit Of 1 Meter Multi-lane Internal (SFF-8087) Serial Ata Breakout Cable and 3WARE Cable, 1 Unit Of .5 Meter Multi-lane Internal (SFF-8087) Serial Ata Breakout Cable – $19.40 / $18.60
• NIC Card – Intel Gigabit Ct Desktop Adapter – $39.75
• Case Fan Replacements – GELID Solutions FN-PX12-15 120mm Case Fan with Intelligent PWM control – $44.45 ($8.89 each x 5)

Additional Components Added That I Already Owned:

• Storage Pool HDDs – 8 1TB drives and 2 1.5TB drives
• Internal 3.5″ Floppy Drive
• Xbox 360 HD DVD Rom Drive
• 2-Port eSATA PCI-Express (x1) Host Adapter

Over the next few days I should hopefully start getting everything together. I will be updating my build over on MediaSmartServer.net, so if interested you can follow along here.