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hansolo77

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hansolo77 last won the day on April 23 2017

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  1. Hey all! Just wanted to post an upgrade announcement. Nabbed myself a CyberPower OR1500LCDRT2U UPS! This is my first UPS I've ever owned. Damn thing is HEAVY. I had to remove the battery before installation just so I could screw it into the rack. Powered everything up and it looks good! Still have to install the software. Not sure what I need to get. Maybe @Christopher (Drashna) can provide me with some advice on that. The Business one looks really complex but should feature everything I"d need to access. The Personal version looks much easier to work with but must be lacking in some areas. I noticed the Business version has support for VM's and what not. I don't really have that, but I do have a LAN switch, as well as multiple devices (computers, TV, AVR, XBOX, etc) connected to it. Should I use the Business version for that feature? I spent a little more money and got the expansion card to have it function with the network, so that's a plus. Anyway, just saying hey. When things work right, I don't really need to spend much time here. But I'm sure some of the guys are still around and can provide me some insights.
  2. Thanks guys. Honestly, I'm not really concerned about the energy (at least not yet). It's more about the heat. As of right now, because I live with my parents still, the server is located in my bedroom closet to dampen the noise as much as possible. I leave the door open about an inch to help exhaust the heat. However, there have been quite a few days I come home from work and find my room exceedingly hot (as in 100+ degrees F). It's not necessarily the computer. In most cases, it's because Dad turned off the air conditioner and didn't open my windows. My bedroom faces East, and I have 2 HUGE 8 foot windows on that wall and it catches all of the morning sun. To make matters worse, the return-air vent doesn't go anywhere. After the fire, they rebuilt this building, and forgot to attach anything to the vent cover. A huge oversight that nobody knew about until I took the cover off to see why I never feel any air coming through it (or going into it, whatever). There's no duct work, just 2 studs on either side, and horizontal stud about 6 inches below the cover. Anyway, with the heat coming in from the windows, and then having nowhere else to go, my room is essentially a green house. I have really bad allergies too, so I keep my bedroom door shut to keep the cats and dog out. The server is warm, but not hot. And I've been monitoring the temps and they're averaging 40 degrees C all the time (occasionally it will peak a drive around 47c but that's the most). However, having the server on all the time certainly doesn't help. I will have a check though on my next day off and see if I can lower some of the settings stably to see if it helps a little. If anything, it should help increase the longevity of the components.
  3. Yeah I sent them a follow-up reply to see if there was anything they could do or recommend. I'm not using this in a business scenario, just a home file server. They said because of the way S3 works, it causes issues with the chips on their server boards. So it's not something I can do, it's a fundamental protection built into the server board itself. This has been very educational for me. When I built my first "server", it was just an old desktop computer, 4 drives, and Windows Home Server software. Again, using it just for file serving, it worked fine going into S3 and then waking up when I needed to access it. Now that I'm going for a more professional build (for stability, security, and expandability) I'm using server-grade boards, memory, and now processor. So the feature I was expecting isn't available in true server builds. That's cool. I was upset at first because I spent the money thinking it was a limitation of the single-core Celeron processor I had. I'm happy to know it's not because of something I was doing wrong or had misconfigured. It's just a fundamental safety built into the board. I'm glad it's there.
  4. I send them a support request email after posting here. And believe it or not, they replied 1 minute before you just did! They confirmed that it's an industry standard on server boards to not include S3 compatibility due to stability issues. Kinda bummed about that. I spent $400 on a new CPU thinking it would solve the problem. Oh well. I guess I should have researched it more before "pulling the trigger".
  5. Good (and troubling) News.. I got my new CPU in today. I went with that Xeon E3-1276 V3. I just got done installing it. It works great. Windows gave me no crap about it, and detected the proper details automatically. 4 Cores with all the Hyperthreading stuff so it appears like I have 8. The server is a lot faster now. The troubling thing is, it still won't do a proper simple S3 Standby. If I go into the BIOS, all of the C states are enabled (it actually has more than I knew of, including S6, etc). However, when I check my powercfg inside Windows, it shows this: Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600] (c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Windows\system32>powercfg /a The following sleep states are available on this system: Hibernate Fast Startup The following sleep states are not available on this system: Standby (S1) The system firmware does not support this standby state. Standby (S2) The system firmware does not support this standby state. Standby (S3) The system firmware does not support this standby state. Standby (Connected) The system firmware does not support this standby state. Hybrid Sleep Standby (S3) is not available. C:\Windows\system32> I'm not sure what gives here. This is the same readout I got with my Celeron processor. That's one of the biggest reasons I upgraded. It says the system firmware doesn't support it. But the BIOS clearly shows it does. Any ideas what I could do?
  6. Hey guys! I'm finally getting into some money from my job. I've been there long enough at full time to get the top out pay! My server is becoming quite large now, at 56tb. I know, that's not a lot comparatively among some of you guys. But still, I'm sitting now at 22 out of 24 drives in my case. I got all my backplane issues sorted out too. I'm looking to upgrade. The CPU is just a Celeron, the lowest chip I could get at the time that was compatible to make the system work. It's served it's purpose, but the system is very slow. I have the OS installed on an SDD too. I have plenty of RAM (16gb ECC). I'm thinking a CPU upgrade is in order. I have the server set to go into standby after 10 minutes of inactivity, and can wake it via WOL. HOWEVER, the CPU doesn't support S3 or Hibernation (not sure which one it was). So when it resumes, it takes almost 5 minutes to be fully back up and running. A fresh reboot takes less time. So I'd like to get a CPU that supports that, as well as buff up the cores and speeds. I looked, and can afford a chip that's around $450 or so. The best chips on the mobo's CPU charts is still around $899. I'm not spending that on a file server. But since I do a lot of media streaming with it, and transcoding, and TV Recording, I think a better CPU is just the ticket. For reminders, here's the mobo with it's CPU support list: http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224-4L#CPU I'm looking at the Intel Xeon E3-1276 v3. Should I pull the trigger on this or would I be ahead to get one of the other chips further down the list, like a Core i7? I've not bought any computer hardware in YEARS other than the hard drives. I thought Xeon was supposed to be the top of the "best-of-the-best" lists, but the more I look around, everybody is using these "Core i-?" processors. I don't want to buy the wrong thing, because a CPU purchase at this price range is a big investment. I realize the socket (1150) is outdated, and somebody may suggest I replace the whole mobo. But I need this particular one (or one like it) because it supports PCI slots for my TV Tuner cards. Anyway, whenever it's all said and done, I had another question.. Do I need to do anything special to my server as far as the Stablebit software? Like, will it still recognize everything, or do I have to re-register the license with the new CPU? If I need to do anything, is there documentation on the process? I don't want to go and do this and end up screwing up the whole system. Also, has Server 2016 dropped yet? I'm still using Server 2012 R2 Essentials.
  7. I totally get that. Depression is my angst. It's all good though. Projects like this keep me on the level. I got the drive cloned to a new SSD, so far no issues. A UPS will be next on my list before another drive. Maybe I can find a good deal on Amazon with free Prime shipping.
  8. I was all set and ready to buy a UPS when I posted about it a month or so ago but never did. I've been in a massive depression with my home life as of late and have dedicated a lot of time to working and saving money for a car so I can move out. Then all of a sudden my Essentials Dashboard has been throwing up glaring CRITICAL warnings about services (like Active Directory Certification Service) not running or being able to start. Databases are corrupted, and the computer just can't boot off the OS drive in a warm reset but rather only from a cold start. It's almost like my build is against me. Bad backplanes, a SAS Expander dies (probably related to the poor power conditions), various drive failures. LOL maybe I should just give up. But naw, this is too much fun, albeit expensive.
  9. Ah! Thanks! I'll install that latest and see if it fixes anything. I really still think its the drive and not the software. If I set the computer to just always be on, I never have any issues. And rebooting from a complete power off always seems to make it work. It's only if I try to resume from standby, or if the power was cut (we have a LOT of momentary split second power outages around here (that's why I still need to buy a UPS)) that I have this problem of the drive not working.
  10. The only version I can find to download is 2.1.1.561 or 2.2.0.651 Beta. I went ahead and ordered a new drive for the OS.. gonna try that.
  11. 2.2.0.659 BETA... Is there a newer version? I will try running through the troubleshooter. Do you have any advice on how to duplicate the OS drive when I get a new one?
  12. So I'm sending out another "Call for help!" @Chris Can you help me friend? I've started having a lot of intermittent crashes with my server. I'm not sure what's causing in. I've got it set to go into standby when I'm not at home to save electricity. Sometimes when I get home from work, I send it a remote wake "magic packet" so my Kodi box I built out of a Raspberry Pi can stream a TV show or something from it. Most of the time it works fine. However there have been a few occasions (lots more recently) where I'm sitting here for 5 minutes and it never wakes up. Then I go and turn on the monitor hooked up to it and find the system had somehow crashed and is at the Windows install screen (thanks to the USB drive I have plugged into the mobo with the installer software on it). I've found that if I power off the computer, wait, then turn it back on after a few minutes, everything comes up fine. This is a separate issue. When the system is finally up and running, a window prompts for input as to the cause of the unexpected system shut down. I'm not sure what causes it. I've checked my logs, and honestly there is just a massive amount of errors all over the place. It looks like a cascading failure, where it will be fine for hours and hours, then all of a sudden some random thing stops working right, which causes a chain reaction failure ultimately causing the system to crash and reboot. I actually witnessed the system do this while I was in a remote desktop session. My mouse became unresponsive, and looked like things had locked up. Then a window appeared saying the system was being halted to protect system resources or something. I've never seen that window before, and it wasn't a BSOD crash either. Needless to say, everything rebooted and came up with the Windows Installer again. So I did a whole bunch of generic "simple user" fixes. Ran a chkdsk on the C: drive (came back clean). Did a Windows Memory Diagnostic (during reboot, came back clean). I then tried to do a "sfc /scannow". This ran through 100% then said it finished but was unable to repair some files. This has me concerned. I've ran the sfc multiple times now, and each time it finishes it says it fixed some things but not all. I'm kind of at a loss here and don't know what it's failing on or how to fix it. I think there is a critical problem with a major system file that needs to be working right for the system to run, and since it's running it can't fix it. Is there an alternative tool or process I should take to further investigate this? Here is a link to my Dropbox where I've uploaded the log if you'd like to look at it: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuxujpho2us43xh/CBS.log?dl=0 Lastly, what I think may be the root cause of the problem, is in the rebooting. It doesn't want to reboot into the SSD drive that contains the OS. Rather, it's booting to the USB drive as a 2nd boot device. This means the BIOS doesn't detect the SSD. I've had this aching suspicion in the back of my head that this SSD is crap. I bought it through Amazon when it was on sale for like $50 I think. At the time, that was a great deal for the capacity (120gb). I'm sure there are much larger capacity drives for cheaper than that now, as tech pricing is always doing that. What I suspect is happening, the drive fails and shuts down while Windows is still running. Then Windows' built in safety measures kick in and reboot the system. Since the drive is still "off", the BIOS doesn't detect it, and thus Windows is never able to start. By powering off the computer and turning it back on, I'm resetting some capacitor or something in the SSD drive, and it starts working again. The only other thing it might be would be a faulty power supply. I did buy this as a manufacturer guaranteed refurbish.. And my BIOS system logs have a bunch of "lower non-critical" errors, but I've just been ignoring them because word is this specific model mobo has the sensors miscalibrated. I'd really like to just replace this drive altogether. But the drive is my OS, and holds all my Drivepool information, etc.. If I were to go buy a similar capacity drive, is there an easy utility to just duplicate the drive over, without having to start from scratch and reinstall Windows? Thanks for all your help. I know I pretty much alienate this forum except for when I'm struggling and need help. I'm glad you're here for that, and have helped to hook me up with hardware in the past when I've needed it. You're a true friend. Hope to hear back soon!
  13. Ok cool, I'll consider that when I'm at the store next time. Thanks again!
  14. I never considered getting a shelf for the rack (other than the one I have the server case sitting on. When I get some extra money together I'll consider that as an option. This is the power supply I'm using my server http://www.corsair.com/en-us/ax760i-digital-atx-power-supply-760-watt-80-plus-platinum-certified-fully-modular-psu So it says PFC in the details on their website. I guess that means that's what I"m looking for. Have any suggestions for something I should look for?
  15. So here's a question... About UPS. I was at the (only) computer store the other day and was looking at what they had to offer. The prices are fair, around $200 for the high end stuff. 480 minutes, 10 outlets, etc. But my question is.. are these compatible with rack mounting? All I had to go by was the photo on the box, and they all look like they just sit on the floor. I thought I remembered seeing examples online that were designed to go into a rack or cabinet. Am I just remembering wrong, or do they come mounting kits? Also, I remember Chris saying something about the Sine wave being important. There were lots of different options to chose from in that regard, and I want to make sure I ultimately get the right thing. To be honest, I don't even know what a sine wave is, other than a wave on a graphing calculator from algebra math class in high school. They had some that were true, some that are simulated, some that weren't even listed. I just want to make sure that what I get is going to be what I need. I've never bought a UPS before and want to make sure I don't screw it up. I had this in my Newegg wishlist from 09/2017: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102224 The price is considerably higher that what I saw at the store, by a good $140 bucks. And it has less outlets. Am I paying more for the mounting hardware? Or is it because of the brand? At the store they had a lot of APC and Cyberpower. But the mostly all looked like the kind here: https://goo.gl/DALv9U Any help?
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