DIY 3node Server Guide (Dell R620-720)

#39

And what exactly do we have to consider now with RAM options in the BIOS? That the system, such as with Windows or NVIDIA, under performance mode, installed on safe electricity and under no circumstances energy-saving mode? So in general, set maximum performance for the RAMS in the BIOS?

As you know… we have 6x DELL R620 running. We didn’t adjust any RAM settings in BIOS. This should be done automatically unless anyone has done some weird settings manually.

And we have meters on the outlets and we’re very careful about the heat build-up on the servers, and the level is between 18-27°F°C per server, and the power draw varies between 94-144 WATTS. And are these normal values?

That’s pretty normal. power consumption is about +/- 100 Watt in idle. Temperatures inside (according to iDRAC) between 23-34 °C.

And I have another question about the node itself, how do I save it to an external USB stick? How can I read or access the data?

Take a look her: Farming FAQ Zero-OS v3 -> “Is there a way to backup my node ID in order to restore a 3node if the disk with the node ID gets corrupted or breaks down?”

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#40

Bought it on Piospart?

Jep! :wink:

#41

but wait… “upgraded the RAM”?? The maschines came with 320GB allready installed. Is this one of “our” servers?

#43

How are you Dany? And I’m the guy with the glasses (Andrej), the very thin and small guy, how cool is that that I meet you in the forum, I’ll update the whole BIOS in the coming days, and all the hard drives with the, Samsung Magician when the data leak is over and then I will also connect to the iDRAC and thank you very much my friends for providing us the machines so cheaply and smoothly and we really adore yours fault, and I only ask one thing, please give me your cell phone number so that I can contact you directly, because Maik is currently very overwhelmed with everything, he also has a child and a wife, and first has to take care of his company , and I’m the one who manages everything for us and takes care of everything for you, and keeps track of everything, and I ask you very much to order machines for us again, because we still need 5-10 of them, and it’s done really very simple everything like you it you also explained everything perfectly, and I thank you very much for that, and please write me a PM

#44

Hi all, i am now looking at purchasing a Dell R720. It does come with plenty of memory but unfortunately no hard drives or caddies. I do have several Sata HDD 2.5 and 3.5 inch drives. Will these be compatible and do i need the caddies?

Thank you

#45

Yes. Those drives are compatible. Only m.2 and u.2 are not natively compatible and need an adapter. The caveat is if it has 2.5" bays those 3.5" drives will not fit. There are adapter to put 2.5" drives in a 3.5" bay. Caddies are inexpensive. You should also reflash the raid controller to IT mode.

#46

Thanks, I have found a spare SATA power and data cable inside so i presume i can simply connect these to one of my HDD until i obtain a caddy.

#47

If you have no caddy to set it up, make sure it won’t move. HDD are sensitive to movement as they have moving parts in them.

#48

OK set up and all seems good. Next question then is what speed of internet do i require to get the most from my new server. I believe it is running 24 threads with 256 GB of RAM.

Thank you

#49

What is the bandwidth needed when it comes to running 3nodes on the Grid?

[This answer is temporary and serves solely as a general guideline. The community will soon have clearer and more official documentation.]

  1. A 3node Titan needs a minimum of 1mbps internet bandwidth.
  2. For many Titans (2 to 5) or a DIY 3node with up to 30 TB of storage/8 vcores/64GB ram, a high speed internet is sufficient. (Between 10 to 100 mbps).
  3. A connection of 1 gbps is necessary for farms with multiple high capacity 3nodes such as 16-or 32 vcores and 128 or 256 GB ram servers (from 1 to 20 servers) or multiple Titans (6 to 40).

NB: Notice the gray areas between the three propositions. This goes to show that precise numbers are not yet determined. Using those numbers as a guide will set you in the good direction.

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#50

Thank you. I did see that in the FAQ but I wasn’t sure if that means I need a 1gb connection. I have around 100MB

#51

Well for now it’s perfectly fine. Proof-of-cultivation will demand more bandwidth than proof-of-capacity.

But as it said in the text, the requirements are not official yet.

Perhaps the DAO will settle that 100 mbps bandwidth is OK for a server with 24 threads with 256 GB of RAM.

I’d say you’re fine with 100MB for now.

(Anyone correct me if you disagree!)

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#52

That’s good news. Thank you.

#53

What does flashing to IT mode do please. My server appears to be working correctly but I haven’t done this yet

#54

If its working then probably don’t fret it. It bypasses raid.

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#55

Hi all, next question form me i’m afraid. I have just added a second hard drive to my server Dell R720 but unfortunately it is not being detected either in the BIOS or Tf Chain Portal. Are there any setting i need to change in the BIOS. I have previously cleaned the drive as in accordance with the guide on here.

Thank you

#56

I would say step 1 would be to boot into a live linux and find out if you can see it there.

#57

Thanks, could you point me to a guide on how i do that. Can i do it whilst the system is up using the Zero os ?

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#58

Hey @gazgits,

let’s try to figure this out. As you mentioned here…

… you attached your first drive to a sata cable that you have “found” where the DVD-drive is normally connected. This cable bypasses the raid-controller and goes bare-metal to the board. So far so good as you stated yourself here.

Now you added another drive to the server. I guess you got yourself a caddy and attached the drive to the frontpanel backplane. That means that the drive is now connected to the raid-controller. By default the controller wants to handle the drives itself and they would never appear in bios unless you have created an array. But zero-os needs the drives bare-metal what means that you need the controller to bypass these drives directly to the board. Therefore you need to “unraid” / “non-raid” the controller by reflashing it to it-mode like @FLnelson replied.

Please take a look at this post…

Here is the link to the video mentioned there: Farming TFT on a Dell Server Running as Threefold 3Node - YouTube

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#59

Hi Dany, yes that is exactly what i have done so far. I will now look into flashing the raid controller to IT Mode as FLnelson suggested. Thank you

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