Speed-Assembling Servers

Nieriko writes "The Planet is holding competitions to speed-assemble rack-mounted servers. It's like watching latter-day Marines field-strip and assemble their weapons. There is a video on YouTube about this incredible contest. Looks pretty challenging."

Major disappointment.

[wheeda]

Lame. I was hoping they were going to assemble a 40U rack. Maybe actually use tools. Maybe a stop watch that works the first time you try to stop it. Lame.

That's not a rack-mounted server

[pathological liar]

... and that's not speedy.

The youtube clip is some knob plugging in ram and an *IDE* disk cable in what appears to be a several-year-old desktop. If any of you can't match that, turn in your computer geek card now...

Just an idea...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps they should stop fucking about with stuff like this and get rid of the many spammers they have for customers?

Re:Uh yeah... very speedy.

[InsertWittyNameHere]

Exactly, you should have to screw the motherboard into the case, plop in the CPU, apply thermal, stick the heatsink on, put in the PSU, etc etc.

This is like buy a prebuilt Dell and upgraded the RAM.

Re:Uh yeah... very speedy.

[ranulf]

This task was just pointless. The CPU was already in there, the graphics card, disks, DVD drive etc... Make it a real challenge and actually get them to assemble the machine in order to win a speed-assembling prize.

Did it work?

[trippyd]

I would think that any contest for assembling a computer would involve actually turning the computer on to test if you did it right.

Re:That's not a rack-mounted server

[ircmaxell]

I wouldn't match it. Not because I couldn't reach that speed, but because I chose not to. I prefer to take the time to make sure every cable is secure, that each screw goes in straight, not stripped and tight. I take the time to apply thermal grease and make sure it's applied well before carefully placing the heat sink so as not to disturb the grease... I take the time to power the computer up while the case is still apart and on the bench, so that I can verify that all components are working properly before buttoning it up. Sure, doing it fast is nice. It may take twice the time to get it together, but I wonder how much longer it would take you to figure out what's wrong when something doesn't work (including removing the case, and possibly removing components that are blocking the issue)...

This is stupid

[jgreco]

We build servers here. First rule is that if you hurry, you're likely to screw something up and end up needing to fix something down the road. The hour of downtime and cost of replacement parts later is not worth any up-front savings in time.

Building a server starts with a bare metal chassis (not just plugging in a few snap-in components to a prebuilt). Integrate your power supply, install system board, from there of course it gets dependent on the specifics... but if you're not spending a fair bit of time trying to be neat, tying your cables down, thinking about how to route the cables for airflow, custom-building cables to fit odd needs, tightening screws with the right torque, and all of that, then you're not really doing a good job. Rack mount servers are especially sensitive to the skills of the designer and builder.

Your rack mount server will end up in a rack somewhere where it may not be pulled out for another five years. There may not be a "second chance" to fix it if you rush through building it - it becomes someone else's problem, perhaps, but they won't be thanking you for it.

Re:Jeebus.

[Hyppy]

It doesn't take much to impress you, does it?

Re:Uh yeah... very speedy.

[JWSmythe]

    Ya, severely misrepresented.

    The guy installed a CPU and memory into a desktop box, and hooked up a couple cables.

    We used to do real "speed assembling servers". You start out with organized piles of parts from the vendors. Memory, CPU, hard drives, rails, piles of sorted screws. We used a lot of SuperMicro machines, so the motherboards came mounted in their case. Well, originally, it was all from scratch. We just got lazy with the SuperMicro stuff. :) We were probably under 2 minutes, and then just around 5 minutes to get it complete with OS. It was more impressive with two people flowing 10 machines through simultaneously. While you have all your powered up positions full, keep the assembled hardware pool ready to start new installs on.

    All they did was complete the assembled hardware, which looks like they just pulled a little of it apart anyways. They didn't get the OS on the drive, which is kind of essential to call a computer a server. :)

Assembly is already the fast/easy part.

[RapmasterT]

fast server assembly? BFD. Servers come already assembled. If you want to wow me, show me a challenge where the guy racks, cables it per standards, labels the server properly, labels the cables, sets the switch port vlans, updates the CMDB, etc. You know, does the WHOLE thing, not just the easy part.

Re:Uh yeah... very speedy.

[NotBornYesterday]

Not if the faster one screws it up trying to be fast. Call me old-fashioned, but when jockeying hardware, I prefer taking my time, being careful, and wearing a static wrist strap. Not that I can't be fast, I just prefer not to.

Re:That's not a rack-mounted server

[BikeHelmet]

Hey, I take hours building my home PCs - and I enjoy every moment of it. Nothing wrong with that.

It does take an annoyingly long time to get that default thermal gunk off the heatsink, and replace it with your own. Looks like they skipped over that entirely.

Without trying, I'd probably do the same stuff this guy did in ~5 minutes. From scratch assembly in 10 mins would be more impressive to me, but I'd probably still do it in 1 or 2 hours, just so I can drool over each and every part as I assemble my new beast. :)

I'd like to see them assemble a gaming PC instead - but weight quality as well as speed.

• Aftermarket heatsink - clean that default gunk!
• Aftermarket GPU heatsinks - use isopropyl or eraser first or they may fall off!
• Proper cable management - it keeps a lot of dust from settling!
• etc.