So I got some new hardware, Overkill ?

[32dave]

I have been running my sdr box on a 4th gen Intel i5 and found a Dell R360 for sale $50. Specs are 2X Xeon E5-2620 v3 cpus, 65 gigs of ram also had 2 Broadcom Quad port nics and a LSI sas card. One broadcom card was removed as well as the LSI card. It has 8 2.5 inch slots of which only one is in use (OS). Big problem is lack of usb ports I have ordered a USB 3.0 card. Next is a sound card (currently a usb sound card) and maybe a USB 3.2 card in the future.

What I had to do. Unless you are installing a server os it won't let you, Installed Win11IoT on intel gen 4 i5 drop ssd into server point the boot and thats it . As I said usb is at a premium. It has two in the front two in the back all 2.0 and one usb3.0 internal. I have run an extension from the usb 3.0 to a hub which has 2 rtlsdr plugged in and the two Airspys are plugged into the two back ports any other config and they won't work , Hopefully that will change when the card gets here

Some stats
Intel i5 4690k 16 GB ram, first board MSI Guard Pro Z97 ( fried it overclocking) second board Asus Q87M-E ( cant really overclock)
3 RTL-SDR 1 AirspyR2 average cpu 85% receiving 95-100% scanning 6 channels (TS included as channel) 3 analog 2 DMR 1 P25p2

Intel Xeon E5-2620 v3 64 GB ram Dell r360 board
2 RTL-SDR (1 died after 4.8 years 24/7) 2 AirspyR2 21 channels average cpu 28% mem 18% no change when receiving. I have shut off the paging file as its not needed


Has anybody else done this if so what was your experience like any advice etc and if you have not done this what do you think?
P.S The software is SDRTrunk v61

 

[W8WCA]

So are you saying you installed Windows 11loT on a SSD in the i5 computer then moved the SSD to the Dual CPU Xeon Computer?
That could cause a lot of strange things to happen if that is what you did.
And: I do not know much of Windows 11loT but I think it is limited compared to Windows 11
I would be tempted to just install Windows 10.
Or
Make it a Linux box and install VMWare Workstation on it then make a Windows 11 Virtual Machine on it.

 

[32dave]

No issues with the switch just 91 drivers to install ever since Win10 you could just drop drives into different machines I stream to Zello and there is no Linux app for it . From what I have read about 11Iot most of the telemetry is not in it, Don't need a Microsoft account and it doesn't have cpu restrictions. If I could find a version that had enough for internet protection, Zello and the SDRs and software I would use it lol

The server has exsi ( I think thats its name ) installed but its above my knowledge but I have 20 PDFs I have downloaded from Dell and just have to sit down and read them and may go that route

 

[saioke]

Windows 11 is finicky with old hardware but I think it'll be fine, as long as it and the rest of your hardware works. Stress test it for a few hours to see if there's any signs of instability. I'd guess that the USB ports you speak of don't work because the chipset made for that thing was never meant to be a consumer machine so there's a lack of chipset drivers on Windows.

I would definitely call it overkill too, can't imagine how much power it would draw if you decide to run it 24/7. If it were me, I'd take out a majority of that RAM because you're never going to use that much, and it'll reduce power consumption on the machine a bit. But that's just me lol.

As for running Zello on Linux, it can be done using WINE. But if you aren't familiar with Linux, I'd advise against using it unless you wanted to learn a new OS.

 

[BinaryMode]

No issues with the switch just 91 drivers to install ever since Win10 you could just drop drives into different machines...

Heck , I did this with Windows 7 using sysprep.

 

[merlin]

Dual zeon is not i5. I have an HP Z840, dual zeon, 3.1 GHz, 128 GB ram, 1Tb SSD C drive, 4Tb SSD D drive and open slots for 6 more.
USB hubs have 6 ports on rear, (2 usb2) 4, USB 3 high speed on front with another hub on the mother board.
Graphics Nvidia Quadro K6000
Now I run Windows 10, but Windows 11 doesnt like this machine.
I have 1 RTL-SDR going to a rear USB3, an Airspy running to a rear USB3, I can run both simultaneously, zero problems.
Last time I transplanted a drive the OS simly said nope.

 

[merlin]

I'd guess that the USB ports you speak of don't work because the chipset made for that thing was never meant to be a consumer machine so there's a lack of chipset drivers on Windows.

I'd think you could just install the drivers for the Dell. My drivers are mix and match, some HP, some Microsoft, some Nvidea.

 

[32dave]

A little update once I got iDRAC installed updated bios and iDRAC its smooth changed one of the front usb from iDRAC to usb. It has three sff slots. I ordered a usb card but the wrong one showed up, already have a replacement coming then a sound card also going to swap out the integrated nic for a t4 2x10 GBe 2x1GBe then maybe another usb 3.1 card, Don't need to put a GPU in it as its just displaying SDRTrunk grid. Uses less power then the i5 running at 90% 24/7 Still running 2 airspy and 1rtl-sdr.comv3 and 1 cheap rtl-sdr the CPU sits at 23% MEM 14% fans @19% I am quite happy with it. This is my 3rd Server(board) but first rack, I have a ASUS p9d with 12 hdds (file server) and a Supermicro X9SCL/X9SCM running the internet (3rd party firmware) all with Xeons. I included a screenshot of the power stats. Most of the parts for this thing are in the $15-$40 range so that works

 

[merlin]

Have you looked at external powered USB 3 hubs ?
I know I overloaded a USB port with my VR headset.

 

[32dave]

I have but it was usb 2.0 didn't work well. I currently have a 3.0 hub hooked up to the internal usb 3.0 with the two RTLs and the Airspys are plugged in the back with an USB audio card in the front and one open usb. The plan is once the USB 3.0 card gets here to put the Airspys on it and leave the RTLs where they are but we shall see how it works out

 

[W8WCA]

Dual zeon is not i5. I have an HP Z840, dual zeon, 3.1 GHz, 128 GB ram, 1Tb SSD C drive, 4Tb SSD D drive and open slots for 6 more.
USB hubs have 6 ports on rear, (2 usb2) 4, USB 3 high speed on front with another hub on the mother board.
Graphics Nvidia Quadro K6000
Now I run Windows 10, but Windows 11 doesnt like this machine.
I have 1 RTL-SDR going to a rear USB3, an Airspy running to a rear USB3, I can run both simultaneously, zero problems.
Last time I transplanted a drive the OS simly said nope.

Those old HP Workstations are great (Although they weigh a LOT)
I have an Old HP Z400 and it just keeps running and running and I bought it used apx 8 years ago!

 

[BinaryMode]

A little update once I got iDRAC installed updated bios and iDRAC its smooth changed one of the front usb from iDRAC to usb. It has three sff slots. I ordered a usb card but the wrong one showed up, already have a replacement coming then a sound card also going to swap out the integrated nic for a t4 2x10 GBe 2x1GBe then maybe another usb 3.1 card, Don't need to put a GPU in it as its just displaying SDRTrunk grid. Uses less power then the i5 running at 90% 24/7 Still running 2 airspy and 1rtl-sdr.comv3 and 1 cheap rtl-sdr the CPU sits at 23% MEM 14% fans @19% I am quite happy with it. This is my 3rd Server(board) but first rack, I have a ASUS p9d with 12 hdds (file server) and a Supermicro X9SCL/X9SCM running the internet (3rd party firmware) all with Xeons. I included a screenshot of the power stats. Most of the parts for this thing are in the $15-$40 range so that works

I'm curious what your wattage use is with an AC line splitter and an Amp clamp meter. Do that and multiply the Amp reading by 120. That'll give you the watts.

 

[32dave]

Not sure what a AC line splitter is, But I do know what a amp loop is I don't have one but I know somebody that does unfortunately he is gone for 3 weeks. So the watts usage it shows is wrong or only for output?

 

[BinaryMode]

I'm just wondering if that's JUST the system board and not the CPU and all the rest.

An AC line splitter can be bought on Amazon, or you can do what I did and build one. Then you clamp around hot or neutral and measure the amperage. Multiply that number by 120 (volts) and you have wattage.

 

[32dave]

I'm just wondering if that's JUST the system board and not the CPU and all the rest.

An AC line splitter can be bought on Amazon, or you can do what I did and build one. Then you clamp around hot or neutral and measure the amperage. Multiply that number by 120 (volts) and you have wattage.

I get it now