custom cluster cabinets (was Re: 1U P4 Systems)

[Bari Ari]

Kevin Facinelli wrote:

> If the entire top of the case was a heatsink many
> other variable come to mind....what happens when you
> stack or rack??? how thick will the lid be?  How would
> you get air across the lid in a racked configuration. 
> 
> Let's think about this??? why does it have to be
> 1U??...think a little bit outside the box...if the
> unit could be any shape would it be thin and narrow
> creating a terrible aspect ratio for air
> movement...NO.
> 
> Take a look at the ingenious approach of this product:
> 
> http://www.crystalpc.com/products/computers/cs300.asp
> 
> The cooling and space advantages are easy to see.
> 
> 
Take a look at the earlier post, it's all worked out.

The Crystal approach equates to only .87U per server, "the CS300 lets 
you fit up to 52 servers in a standard 7 ft. rack/cabinet", better but 
not dense enough. We were targeting 0.125U per node or 384 nodes per 7 
ft. rack. I'd probably never build a single board to fill a 1U with 
eight P4s on it, but the numbers do work out if you wanted to build some.

Bari