From 3DN

Contents 1 Central 3DN server 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Hardware Configuration 1.2.1 Motherboard 1.2.2 Case 1.2.3 Storage 1.3 Software 1.3.1 Applications 1.3.2 Moving into production

Central 3DN server

Introduction

For a few years now, 3DN has been looking into setting up a server that could be utilized for different purposes. Obviously, many servers are utilized for different purposes, running multiple programs at once, but the idea here is that we will be building a server that could run several operating systems at the same time and fully isolated from each other. That last phrase is the catch; virtualisation is already a pretty well worked out concept in the PC world, but to have the ability to run, for example, Windows with native graphics drivers on a server that also runs Linux has been problematic for a long time. With the arrival of Intel's VT-d technology it may now be possible to do so.

Hardware Configuration

Besides wanting good hardware, I also wanted to buy a system from one single vendor so I wouldn't get any issues when something breaks and having vendors finger pointing at each other. I also didn't want my vendor to be finger pointing at me for assembling things incorrectly so I wanted my vendor to assemble my custom system for me. I also wanted to have a local vendor so I could easily go there if I had a problem. On top of that I wanted to find a vendor that's not so large for customers to become mere statistics. Fortunately, I've found all of that in a computer shop called the [Hardware Outlet]. They're in Almere, which is where I live, they ordered custom hardware that wasn't on their price list for me, they even went so far as to make some pictures of the assembling of the server. Hats off to Hardware Outlet so far! I'm going to find out what their customer service is like today, as one of the fans they installed has an irritating hum to it and I would like to have that fan replaced.

Motherboard

One choice I had already made is that I wanted to have an Intel motherboard with an i7 CPU / x58 chip set. Hardware Outlet had a few boards like that in their pricelist, mostly the Foxconn brand. I asked them if they could also sell me a [Gigabyte EX58-UD5] motherboard for reasons I'll disclose later. They made no fuss at all and simply ordered this board for me. The Gigabyte board is one of the boards that comes with a VT-d BIOS setting. This was the most important criterium for me. The X58 chipset supports VT-d but in addition the BIOS needs to also be able to enable it for the OS to see it. Another important criterium for me was that the motherboard needs to have 6 memory slots. 4GB DDR3 memory modules are still at a premium and I didn't want to have to buy 3 x 2GB now, and later if I want to upgrade have to completely replace these modules simply because I ran out of space. The Foxconn boards Hardware Outlet sells have 3 memory slots and I could not find anywhere if the BIOS supports VT-d. Additionally, the server will also need to function as a firewall to my home/business system so it was desirable to have a motherboard that comes with two ethernet adaptors. The Gigabyte board has all of the above so I decided to buy this board. I will go into much more detail on utilizing the board under the OS of my choice here

Case

I asked Hardware Outlet to build this board inside a [Coolermaster CM690]. This is a well thought out case with sufficient space, sufficient fan locations and sufficient external connectors. On top of that it looks pretty good, even though this server will be hidden from view.

Storage

I had first asked Hardware Outlet to install a single 1.5TB SATA disk. After I got the server I also found out that the Gigabyte board has 'hardware RAID' support so I bought a second 1.5TB SATA disk and installed it, in order to set up a RAID 1 (mirror). It turns out that the advertised 'hardware RAID' isn't really hardware RAID but software RAID for which Microsoft Windows needs to be installed first. Either way, I simply set up Linux RAID 1 using the md driver.

Furthermore I had a blu ray writer installed so it would be possible for me to make offsite backups of the most important data on the server.

Software

The Operating System has it's own section. Here I will try to document what software is on the server, how it got on there and why.

I would first like to introduce a concept, the 'Home Server'. The Home Server will be a machine that's central to a household. This means it should be able to serve all sorts of computer activities most families will encounter. Even though I'm a Linux buff myself, I can freely admit that Linux is not for everybody, most definitely not for some, and cannot easily do certain things that some family members would like to do. So installing Linux on it and simply saying 'that's what you're going to use for task XYZ' is counterproductive. OTOH, I also don't want my Home Server to have Windows installed and rely on Windows' security to firewall my family's personal stuff from the outside world. So, the Home Server will need to be a fusion of at least some form of Linux and some form of Windows.

As this means I will need to set up virtualisation on the Home Server, it also means that I will need to research some of the virtualisation suites out there. Two good candidates seem to be Xen and KVM as they both run on Linux and are both relatively far in using VT-d technology. While VGA passthrough using VT-d may still be difficult for the time being, at the very least passthrough on USB ports for example may be doable.

Applications

I installed the following applications which need some commenting:

• Firefox
• Mysql Server
• Apache Server
• DHCP Server
• DNS Server
• Mail Server
• Firewall
• Flash Player
• GNOME
• Enlightenment
• Mplayer
• Vuurmuur
• UPNP
• Kernel Development

Moving into production

A lot more things needed to be done after all the preparation to make this as smooth as possible.