Lost Another MotherBoard and PSU

[PhilB]

I am getting tired of rebuilding every few years. I lost my 2nd MB (Asus) and PSU (Antec) in 5 years last night. PSU smells really burnt out and the backup I have proved the MB went with it. I am starting to think I need to get a more bulletproof server going here as I run it 16 hours a day.

Anyone running inustrial or server grade hardware for their setup?

Comments/ideas are welcome.

[samgreco]

Phil,

Do you have any kind of quality power protection in front of that system? Usually when I see electronics fail seemingly often, it's dirty power.

[PhilB]

Dirty power....that sounds wrong....

Yes, I have an APC 1500 in front of the server and DSL connections.

[BaddaBing]

I agree at looking at the power supply. How old is the APC and when were the batteries last changed? They wear out as well.
I'm not familiar with the APC 1500, does it offer line conditioning or is it just a power fail over?
It is not blackouts but "brown-outs" where the voltage drops below 100 volts and the voltage spikes that follow them that do the most damage to electronics.
I have a PC built of inexpensive parts that is still running after 7 years, 24X7 and IMHO it is because of a voltage regulator, battery backup and spike protector trio that feed it.

[PhilB]

I have another MB and PSU in the mail now but this thing will not see the juice till I have a solid power solution in place. The APC alone is not enough. Yeah, the batteries are probably stale by now.

[samgreco]

BaddaBing is right about the surges being the real killer. And unfortunately surge suppressors don't always protect stuff.

A good power conditioner is great if you can afford it. I was amazed many years ago when the place I worked tested one of the first conditioners for the pro audio market. It had a meter on the front panel that gave you the input voltage. And in an old city like Chicago, the power infrastructure can be really horrid. We had swings of voltage from 85 to 140 a lot. That was in the mid 80s when digital was really just hitting and the stuff was very sensitive. Man we did a lot of repairs

I am lucky now that I live in a place that's a bit more stable.

[vaporhat]

I too keep both of my computers that are running Xl on 24/7, however I just blew out a PS (however it was 5 years old w/ heavy use), and just fried my video card (<1 year old).

I do not have a power conditioner although I am sitting on a good surge protector and on a dedicated feed hospital grade outlet to my main panel (whatever all that is worth).

I am not sure if my problem is heat or electrical.

Everything I have is mounted on a 42U rack in a closet which is vented with 3 120mm fans. Which believe is under vented at the moment so I have been keeping the half way open until I get more fans or vent the door. Temps in the winter are 75F-80F, the summer they can reach 95F.

I have not been excessively going though any other electrical components yet.. but I am worried about it.

[PhilB]

I would be worried at those temps. Better get some airflow going. What is your CPU temp when the air temp is 95? It can't be good.

[dhcf23]

Seems like most would concur that good power protection is a must for any system and even more so for one that runs all the time. I built a system for my parents probably 5 years back and it does not run all that often but it went through 3 motherboards in a couple years...everytime I replaced one it would run at my house for a couple days straight with no issues. As soon as my mom tried it at home it would be flaky...constant reboots, etc. When I put the last board in it I brought it back to her with a small APC UPS and my dad rewired the outlet it was on. That was close to 3 years ago and it has not had one issue since. From my perspective those UPS's are worth their weight in gold...ok maybe not that much since they are pretty heavy but close!!

[PhilB]

Well we shall see. I have the system up and running and I have replaced the batteries in my UPS.

I also replaced the PS in the server with a really nice one from BFG. Reduced the cable clutter quite a bit.

PB

[samsonlov]

Any pics?

[PhilB]

My skin is posted on YouTube although I am thinking about revising that and adding audio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azBaRogRBQ8

Is it the hardware you are interested in seeing?

PB

[samsonlov]

Yes, I meant pics of the "hardware"/machine setup.