custom cluster cabinets (was Re: 1U P4 Systems)
Bari Ari
bari at onelabs.com
Wed May 23 09:40:28 PDT 2001
W Bauske wrote:
> Bari Ari wrote:
>
>> There is no reason that a 16 node cluster should take up anymore space
>> than a 2U and a 64 node box should fit under a desk. Single P-III and K7
>> nodes have been built as small as 3.5" x 5" x 1.25" with a 20GB 2.5" HD,
>> 256MB SDRAM and 10/100 Ethernet ... SiS 635s make it easy.
>>
>
>
> That pretty much excludes your solution for a P4 cluster doesn't it?
>
> Wes
>
I did a quick compute of the P4 thermal design and it would be possible
to put 8 P4s into a 1U if you could use the entire surface area of the
top of the enclosure as a heat sink along with forced air cooling in the
order of 400 - 800 LFM with a maximum ambient inlet air temp of 30 deg
C. You could mount all the P4's on the top of the mainboard contacting
the top of the CPU case via a low resistance thermal joint compound. The
top cover would need low profile extruded fins (maybe .5" h spaced 3/8"
apart to increase the cooling surface area) and then force air through a
1/2" gap (top of heatsink fins to bottom of the enclosure stacked on top
with 1" actual air/fin space) between the stacks of enclosures . You
would lose about 1/2 of the enclosures internal height so you'd have to
use 2.5" hard drives and mount memory DIMMS at angles or perpendicular
to the mainboard. So a 1U enclosure like this would only have a .75"
internal height plus a .5" heatsink (as a top cover) and allowing .5"
gap between enclosures. This would still allow for the standard 1.75"
per 1U requirement and you'd have a neat hair dryer at the same time.
Bari
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