As we all know from the experience of server chassis assembly, the chassis has never been the most important position for the PC, but in the server, the position of the chassis is very high. It can be said that the quality of the chassis has a great influence to some extent. The stability of the server.

What are the most important indicators for purchasing a 1U rack server chassis?

The most important factor is heat dissipation. The quality of heat dissipation is the most important indicator for purchasing a 1U chassis. If the heat dissipation is not good, everything else is wasted. This problem is not obvious in the P3 era. Generally, 1U chassis only needs to be added. 2, 3 fans and a P3 ultra-thin radiator can solve the problem, but now it has entered the P4 high temperature era! My feeling is that after the main frequency of P4 crosses into 2.8G, the temperature has risen. If you don’t seriously consider the heat dissipation structure of the chassis and scientifically design the air path, it will be difficult to avoid crashes and burnout components, especially for the new Prescott core. For P4, such as P4-3.0E and P4-2.4A, the temperature can rise to 90 degrees at will! Now the popular dual-core quad-core, single CPU power consumption of 120W is not rare, so heat dissipation is even more problematic (Editor). With such a hot core running in such a small volume of 1U, where does the stability come from? Therefore, it is not enough to be careful about heat dissipation.

So how can we distinguish the heat dissipation of the 1U chassis? For most compatible chassis, it is impossible to make a heat dissipation hood for a specific type of motherboard like a brand server chassis.

Because if there is a windshield in the case that is particularly suitable for a certain kind of motherboard, then the compatibility of this case is definitely not good, and it cannot be suitable for more motherboard applications. Although the layout of the motherboard cannot be said to be ever-changing, there are many types. DIY chassis must have particularly good compatibility in order to meet the heat dissipation requirements of most motherboards. This is why 1U rack-mounted servers such as Dell and HP can do well in heat dissipation. Because the heat dissipation structure inside their case is specifically designed for a certain type of motherboard they use, there is no need to consider whether this air duct design can be compatible with the heat dissipation of other types of motherboards. In fact, this approach is used in some imports. It’s also reflected in the expensive 1U chassis. Many imported cases and so-called high-end 1U cases are actually designed for certain dual-Xeon high-end motherboards. If you change to a PC motherboard, many components will be blocked in the wind. Very poor, so buying a 1U server chassis is not the more expensive the better, but it depends on the compatibility of the 1U chassis in the heat dissipation design, whether it can adapt to the heat dissipation requirements of various motherboards, especially PC motherboards, because many friends want to assemble It is a 1U value server based on PC motherboard.

The amount of fans is the guarantee of the wind path design

Since you don't look at the windshield, look at the wind path carefully, that is, look at the chassis cooling fan, mainly depending on the number, layout, air volume, and quality of the fans. First of all, the number of fans is very important. Everything changes from quantitative to qualitative. There can be no qualitative change without quantity. Therefore, the air volume of the chassis is directly related to the number of fans. This is undeniable. There is now an argument. There are too many fans, as long as the layout of the air path is good. In fact, this is a stale concept. It is still fair in the P3 era, but it is now outdated. Now we are facing a CPU with dozens of watts and hundreds of watts. , It’s not enough to have a good air path layout. Don’t think about using any clever air path design to use one or two fans to solve the problem, and if there is a slight problem with the fan, your clever design may become a disaster . Therefore, we must first ensure that there are enough fans in order to discuss the layout. For example, a 1,000 square meter waiting hall needs to install 30 fans to meet the cooling needs of passengers, but only 5 fans are installed. The result is imaginable. But knowing that without the guarantee of quantity, no matter how reasonable the layout of the wind path is, the desired effect will not be achieved.

Adding fans will burden the power supply?

There is also a saying that adding cooling fans will increase the burden on the power supply. In fact, it is wrong to say that if there are more fans, the air flow inside the chassis must increase accordingly. This is an objective fact. As for the increase in the power supply burden, you don’t need to worry too much. , As long as it is a high-quality server power supply with sufficient power and a few fans with a few watts, there should be absolutely no problem, and the internal temperature of the chassis is reduced, which is also very good for the life of the power supply. The power supply is also a big heat generator. At present, the mainstream 1U server chassis on the market has more than six internal cooling fans, which can generally support P4-2.X CPUs well. Faced with P4-3.X inevitably entering the mainstream market, domestic manufacturers and R&D Institutions are also taking active actions. For example, some domestic manufacturers have launched a ten-fan 1U server chassis with good heat dissipation effects. They use imported large motors with 40×28 copper core fans. The wind force is very amazing, which is not seen on ordinary PC cases. To that shocking feeling of wind.

There are also some unique designs designed specifically for PC motherboards, which not only support P4-3.0E but also support all AMDxp CPUs, which makes friends who like AMDxp2500+ really happy. Otherwise, it is really difficult to support high-heating CPUs. Now the power of high-frequency P4 has reached about 100 watts. Think about the temperature of a 100 watt light bulb? The newspaper can be baked.

A turbo fan must be good?

I would like to mention here that some friends are very superstitious about turbofans. They think it’s good to have turbofans in the case. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. Due to design problems, the air volume of turbofans is slightly stronger than that of direct blowing fans. The wind of the fan is too concentrated, so the heat dissipation inside the entire server is uneven, which easily causes too many dead spots for heat dissipation. Now some JS on the market is refurbished with old foreign turbofans for use. The price is very cheap, but it is used in The server is really worrying. The authenticity can be seen from the price. Not to mention the imported ones, they are the domestic high-quality turbofans (large caliber). They are ordered according to 10,000 pieces, and the ex-factory price is not less than tens of yuan. However, some low-quality cases only cost more than 300 yuan with fans. If you use high-quality fans, four fans only cost more than 200 yuan. What quality is the case? How does js make money? Hehe, you can see what's going on at a glance.

Secondly, it depends on the layout of the fan. A good and scientific fan layout can send heat away as soon as possible, and the cold air can be sent as soon as possible. This mainly depends on the following aspects:

First, there must be enough powerful fans near the motherboard to dissipate heat, mainly to blow the CPU, motherboard chipset, and preferably to the memory and motherboard power supply circuit to avoid the motherboard capacitors from bursting due to excessive temperature for a long time;

Second, it is best to have cold air enter the fan, that is, to add cold air from the outside of the chassis. It is particularly good for the heat dissipation of the chassis. It is the key to cooling the high-frequency CPU. This is not available in many high-end chassis, so the price High never means good performance;

Third, it is best to have a hard disk cooling fan. Nowadays, large-capacity high-speed hard disks are becoming more and more popular. You can try to touch the surface of the large-capacity IDE hard disk after the computer has been running for a period of time. You will find that the temperature is very high, even hot. , The server has been running for many years without shutting down. Continuously running at such a high temperature, the hard disk is prone to read and write errors and even component damage. Special reminder is that you must choose a structure that separates the cooling fan and the hard drive. Do not use the hard drive cooling fan that is directly screwed on the bottom of the hard drive on the market, because the vibration of the fan will be directly transmitted to the hard drive. The rotation speed is above 7000 rpm, and the slight vibration will have an adverse effect compared to the hard disk, and this kind of vibration is continuous, and the hard disk will be damaged after a long time. There are many examples of this now. Therefore, when we choose a 1U chassis, for the hard disk, it is best to choose a hard disk cooling fan assembled according to the principle of "zero vibration", which can not only heat the hard disk, but also enhance the heat dissipation of the motherboard and CPU.

Fourth, it is best to have a power supply auxiliary cooling fan. Now the main heat generators in 1U servers are the power supply, except for the CPU, hard disk, and motherboard. In a 1U space of only four centimeters in height, a power supply needs to burst out 300 watts. The heat output of the above power is amazing, and limited by space, the heat dissipation is often not very good. After a long time, the components of the power supply are prone to aging or even damage. Therefore, the inside of the chassis should provide a cooling fan for the power supply, preferably Blowing directly on the power supply, rather than drawing from the side or behind the power supply, the effect of direct blowing is indeed much better than the ventilation.