how would you use older workstation today (dell T7500)

[agrasyuk]

So, over a weekend I helped a friend cleaning out his space for the move and as "thank you" note received a dell T7500 workstation. Big and heavy box! Around 4 years old, Has Xeon E5503 single CPU installed (dual core, 2Ghz , 45nm tech), 3gb of ram and some firepro vidcard.

Now I'm wondering how and if at all to put this to use (DCS obviously will not be installed here) as I never delt with server grade hardware before.

Web/File server. Plenty of space for hdd's but probably not the best power efficiency to run 24/7.

Virtual machine host. Seems light on ram and CPU cores although there is room for second CPU and even more ram.

Net browser, CAD/CAM workstation in garage. Probably plenty sufficient for that.

 

I almost impulse purchased 2nd CPU riser for it but then cooled off. I guess the main question is if this 4YO platform is still relevant. Your take on this?

Thanks!

[Rhinox]

E5503 is "pre-Sandy", probably "Core" (IIRC), 2 cores + HT. Not sure what mobo you have, but if you can stick more RAM in it, you could still use it. I'd try to get some cheap 2nd hand CPU on eBay (you said there is 2nd socket) and as much ram as possible.

 

I have similar small xeon-based box as multi-purpose server with ESXi and ~10 VMs (linux/bsd/windows) for web, ftp, teamspeak, mail, etc. In one VM I'm running Win7 with DCS-server. Disabled sound/gfx and it works like charm. Not even one core is up to 100%.

 

Concerning power: my xeon has TDP 80W, but most of the time the whole server takes ~70W. It simply reduces cpu-frequency when not needed.

[Kuky]

by a CNC and hook it up to it :)

[agrasyuk]

Thank you.

MB has 6 slots with 3 of them filled, 2nd cpu riser card holds 6 more so potensially it can be loaded up.

Looking at eBay I see CPU riser card for 100$, another E5503 for 40$ plus some $ for ram.

I guess Garage CNC station is indeed the perfect use for this without an upgrade.

[BitMaster]

The slower the CPU and boards is, the better it will find harmony with any CNC operated machine.

 

I am no CNC guy myself, but I service a company that does EXACTLY this with 30x 60 feet CNC machines for millions of bucks... they still use industrial boards with Pentium I 166MHz and the newer boards ( they have a LARGE stockpile of those ) run with PII-233MHz. The one guy programming the Siemens SPS told me that the faster your CPU and Bus gets, the more complicated will be the timing for the motors etc... I trust this guy despite I cannot judge his saying,, but he's a real guru in SPS, almost 70 years old and lots of expertise.

 

they also run DOS on those machines, yeah I know, told them long ago that was OUTDATED but he also told me why they run DOS and not windows or linux... I forgot why but it#s got to do with security mechanisms and EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON regulations.

 

You could control 100 CNC's with that CPU you have, a real overdose for CNC control.

 

And always favor a Serial CON over any USB... that I learned from helping a friend hooking a Garage CNC ( couple thousand bucks ) to a new Dell WS I sold him.

We had a long phone call with the manufacturer and he prefers Serial RS232 over USB for many reasons....just if you happen to have to make the decision USB yes or no.

 

Bit

Edited August 17, 2014 by BitMaster