Asus RS700-E6/RS4 Rackmount Server Unboxing and Assembly

FIRST HARDWARE FAILURE

On February 4 2011, Linux had reported that the third hard drive on the first server had failed.

The faulty hard drive was pulled out of the server, replaced with an identical sized drive from the same manufacturer (in this case Hitachi), and the RAID array was rebuilt (a 12 hour operation).

The server remained in operation during the entire crisis, and the channel's live video stream was never interrupted.

Now because these servers use reasonably priced consumer hard drives instead of excessively priced enterprise grade hard drives, it's entirely possible there might be nothing wrong with the supposedly "failed" drive at all, and that it had simply taken too long to correct an internal error before the Linux software RAID controller had given up trying to access the drive.

The hard drive will be tested to confirm that it is actually defective, and the results will be added to the show notes.

I'll also see if I can get this drive replaced under warranty. While it was used in a RAID system, live video streaming is such an incredibly light storage task that the hard drive lights on the server only blink once every five to ten seconds. All of the real work is being performed by the processor, which is preoccupied with transcoding the video to a streamable format in real time. The workload subjected on these hard drives inside these servers is actually less than what you would normally see on a traditional desktop computer.

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ONE YEAR UPDATE

There have been no hardware issues whatsoever, not even a single failed hard drive.

Both servers have been upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, and have been operating under an average 50% CPU load. Hard drive usage was minimal as the servers are only used for broadcast purposes, with the hard drive data throughput so low that the drive lights only blink once every five seconds.

The only serious software issue encountered up to now involves a conflict between the server, the GNOME Desktop, VNC, and OpenVPN. If you attempt to reboot the computer via VNC on an OpenVPN connection, the server could refuse to reboot to the point where you'll need to pull the power cable to unjam it. Even the ASMB4-iKVM remote support module wasn't able to properly power cycle the server.

To avoid this problem, don't use VNC during the reboot, and reboot the server via SSH.

(Note: the GNOME Desktop is required for certain applications)

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CLARIFICATION

There has been some confusion on the Internet as to which components are included and which components are optional in the barebones package. What follows are the components that were already included in each server package.

- Four hard drive trays
- DVD-RW optical drive
- Heatsinks for both CPU sockets
- ASMB4-iKVM remote support module
- Main power supply
- Rackmount rails

Your configuration may vary.

Confirm the ABSENCE of each component BEFORE ordering them. I ordered an ASMB4-iKVM module without realizing it was already installed inside each server. Luckily, a new Asus server for the office supported the module, but in this case it wasn't included in the package.

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Unboxing and assembly of the Asus RS700-E6/RS4 rackmount server, including installation of Ubuntu 9.04 Server 64 Bits.

This is not an official review. Neither should it be considered as a HowTo video. It's just my experience in setting up the two rackmount servers that will most likely be critical in the success of my cable television channel.

For more information on The Canadian Public, please visit http://www.thecanadianpublic.com .

Watch it live now! http://www.thecanadianpublic.com/?page_id=214

Here are the basics. http://thecanadianpublic.com/?page_id=4

The Production page. http://thecanadianpublic.com/?page_id=6

The advertising page. http://thecanadianpublic.com/?page_id=7

The distribution page. http://thecanadianpublic.com/?page_id=10

None of this is written in stone. If conventional television is to survive in today's rapidly evolving world, it has to adapt. Not once, but constantly.

We intend to do that. Proactively. Not reactively as the movie and television industry has been doing for decades.

So don't be afraid to suggest or submit something crazy! If we want to rediscover our Canadian identity and transform the Canadian television industry into a viable business model for the first time in its history, crazy is our best chance to accomplish this.

So go ahead and contact us!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• asus
• rackmount
• server
• rs700
• e6
• rs4
• RS700-E6/RS4
• ubuntu
• 9.04
• 64
• bits
• unboxing
• installation
• configuration
• setup
• RAID-5
• software
• RAID
• mdadm
• arctic
• silver
• artic

[chad9137]

so is this just a computer beacuse i want to get one maybe even two or i could get a very nice pc what should i get i would perfer this like can you play games and stuff on it

[TheCanadianPublic]

@chad9137 Do NOT get a rackmount server for gaming! There's absolutely no room inside for a decent graphics card!

[music1simar]

Plz Tell me 1 thing that .........why server ????  why not desktop computer ???? i really dont know whats the difference between both . can any one explain . thankx .

[TheCanadianPublic]

@music1simar Servers are better adapted for areas where everything must be kept up and running for as long as possible i.e. mission critical applications. On these machines, I can swap out power supplies, system fans and hard drives without shutting down or rebooting the machine.

In fact, one of the hard drives had failed a couple of weeks ago. So I pulled it out, insterted a new one and told Linux to rebuild the RAID array. Everything else kept working as if nothing had happened.

[crack1q2]

awesomeness!!!!!!!!!! how much did ONE server cost? thanks!!!! :D

[TheCanadianPublic]

$2,500 which includes four 1 TB drives, a single 2 GHz Xeon quad-core processor, and 6 GB of memory.

[TheCanadianPublic]

Too expensive both on its own and on the total cost of ownership, too many potential driver issues, too high a risk of the operating system being shut down by a faulty licensing issue, too proprietary, too vulnerable to attacks from viruses and trojans, too complicated to manage...

Linux: install it, configure it, forget it.

[UltimateArco]

You could potentially destruct a CPU socket like that, always 'drop' it in with the notches aligned not to get any broken pins..

[TheCanadianPublic]

@cowmilkify Basically, each box is just a PC with up to 2 Quad core processors and a multiple hard drive array, all squeezed into a very long box only 1.75 inches high.

There's really nothing "Super" about these two machines, especially when each one is equipped with a single underpowered 2 GHz Core i5 equivalent processor and only 6 GB of memory! :)

[music1simar]

@ TheCanadianPublic >>>> thankx alot & good luck for your machine .

@ Dailybabble >>>>>>> dude no 1 is talking to u so keep out of this...........by the way i need a server because to wach your Girlfrnd naked .

[Dailybabble]

This guy probably needs a server for these three followings porn, movies, and games example Crysis 2, fuck yeah!! I want a server too.

[crack1q2]

@TheCanadianPublic wow, for that money you already have a lot of nice stuff :)

thankx! cool vid!