Hi all!

I have a question..... but first what I am trying to achieve. I have have built a linux cluster (debian openssi) from 8 machines I aquired when work where throwing them out and updating with new (we should all recycle) anyway I dont have much room so I was thinking of building a case to house all the motherboards, probubly in a fashion like a rack cabinet shelved but with only 1 mb and 1 powersupply per shelf (they are diskless remote boot so these are the only componants needed) and the shelving and casing being made of perspex plexi....

my question is regarding grounding, i know the main ground comes from the power supply but with all these units inside one case should i run a wire to touch each motherboard & powersupply to ground them?

also should I be looking for a particlar type or grade of perspex and can I mod a power supply to supply power to more than one motherboard so that I dont have to have one per shelf?

thanks in advance!

Damo

This can be done but i would not recomend it. Depending on how many watts the ps is(prolly not much cause of them being old). You would do this in parallel. do not series them. If you series them then you would not have the right amount of volts to your second mb. when you place them in parallel you will have the same amount of volts going to each mb.

here is a diagram on what i am talking about

I think fueler combined 4 or 5 PSUs one time to make a very powerful single PSU...my reccomendation would be to do that only if you have multiple PSUs lying around, otherwise I would buy a nice commercial PSU since it does not need to fit in a standard case.

For 8 mobos and CPUs I would say that you could probably get away with around 1200-1500w. You may just want to get a decent 200-250w mini-PSU for each mobo if you don't already have a mass of spare PSUs laying around.

Yes you can do this - I have done it and currently have two folding rigs running off one power supply. Granted, they're socket A mATX boards w/ on-board video. I just have them sitting on a shelf no extra grounding wires. I spliced together my own split cable but I think you can actually buy them - but what's the fun in that?.

But I agree with shadow that running 2 PCs off the same power supply may not be the best idea esp. if your're using the cluster for any serious work.

plexi = static. find another material that's not "static cling in a sheet"

I would recommend you use wood, although it absorbs heat it is VERY easy to work with and should be a very inexpensive project...
Chances are you'll be using it in an "open" design anyways, so as long as you maintain a constant air flow through the "case" it should be fine.

I wouldnt waste time on shelves...unless you are gong to dislay this. i would get a big board and just screw up each mobo with 2 screws. good airflow, easy administration, looks cool look at the "wall pc" link in my sig...

IIRC there was someone who used a bedside cabinet (or similar) to house 4 motherboards mounted onto partical board in a multi level shelving arrangement, PSUs were on the bottom... such a set up would certainly save on space