Please Identify what type of server box this is

nester9

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I put 3 pictures of the server box on photobuckets website to look at what im talking about

serverbox pictures by ess818 - Photobucket

I have come accrost a old server case that is very unique it looks like it would mount to a rack I guess and only has on the front a small read out display that is proboly 3in by 1.5 in and two switches on there for semething and another switch for power.

I looked inside on the back of the readout panel has a ribbon cable that is detachable from the lcd(or whatever it is) but this small ribbon cable that has a small 4 pin plug and the other side has a serial connection connected to a serial connection on the motherboard can one buy another ribbon cable for this with something that will work with a modern server setup

on the back of the box in the picture that plate is removable to expose the rest of the plugins for the comtpuer(atx I think its called) so you could buy another plate to do what you need

the inside can accomidate any normal modern motherboard

and the thing is the box is very thick and expensive looking no doubt for its day.
is something like this sellable maybee and what is it called how would I find the specs for it on the internet ther isnt much but sn's and pn's
 
there was only a nt server authentication sticker floating inside the box

lots of stickers with pn and sn's I looked all the numbers on the internet(excpept for the nt sticker)

did you look at the pictures link can you tell me if you recognize it is it still usefull for todays world

oh there is a number on the lcd screen on the back you can clearly see it in the picture I have on photo bucket
 
Could just be normal hardware that somebody built into a rackmount case? Why not see if you can see any model numbers on the motherboard as well? then we can sort of get an idea about what its capable of?

The serial port was probably for UPS software.... and two NIC's... maybe it was used as a gateway or firewall/router....
 
yes thats what I needed to know rackmount case this had a old 300mhz motherboard in it(throwing dat away(recycle))

1. now the next question is I want to sell this on ebay the front lcd has a serial connection on it. do modern servers or close to modern have serial connections

if not, the cable is completely detachable with a 5 pin plug on the circuitboard(lcd) the cable looks like standard ide like ribbon cable (but only 4or 5 strands)

2. can the 5 pin plug be connected to a motherboard plug(im not familure with this) or how would this type of lcd be modernized the model number of the lcd screen is az displays acm2004d (rohs)(I understand the rohs is just means something compatable)

3.also what is something like this worth I looked on ebay and the lowest computer rackmount case typcally was about 70 dollers there BUT they dont have a lcd read out like mine does that mean mine might be worth more

thanks
 
I think that the case looks custom built, (or at least the front panel does).
with a ordinary ATX PSU from a home computer on it (Can tell by screw positions).
with a home computer motherboard in it (Can tell by the colour of the parallel port).

the serial number in the pictures is TBC000029?

the display in the from is a 2x20 (might be 4x20?) these cost only a few pounds off ebay. this is probably a max-orbital spec one, the board on the back of this is a serial LCD driver. driven by a PIC chip, (Which are programmable micro-controllers). anyway these controllers are only a few quid on ebay too...

you won't find a manufacturer, (I suspect the manufacturer is written on that case sticker actually. (Universal computer services).

(i'm guessing that the other stickers are electrical testing pass stickers?).

I think that you could probably remove the blanking plate that covers the rest of the ports and use a standard plate (that comes with most motherboards) to attach a cover to the back and allow access to the ports.

your best bet is to turn it on. see if it's any good, and scrap most of it if it's not.
assuming that the hardware is ancient, then you may be able to salvage, a HDD, the power supply and the LCD display (that you can use in a customer case mod to display internal temperature or the current song playing when you listen to music, RSS News feeds etc...) using something like LCDSmartie (google it).

rohs is restriction of hazardous substances, it's recycling information and means that there is no lead of heavy metals used in the solder or components.

most modern computers can, still have Serial ports, the actual port can sometimes be missing and just pin headers available now. and if a computer doesn't have a serial port USB -> Serial adapters are dirt cheap.

don't worry about the number on the LCD board, it's the daughter board where the plug is that you're interested in.
I've got one like this.

you can see on the board that the potentiometer is used for adjusting contrast and there are switches for adjusting baud rate and the size of the display this is attached to, (there are jumpers on my serial-lcd driver board, but the principal is the same).


there is some text by the red plug that I can't quite make out, it's a product name -searching for this might let you know which pin is what.

or you could use a continuity tested to look at what pin is what using the existing cable,
the big red and big black leads are positive and negative all they do is drive the backlight

the remaining three wires should be RX/GND (pin 2 and pin 5 of the serial connection) (might be pin 3 and 5) 5 is definitly ground, 2 and 3 are rx and tx though I forget the order.
I suspect that there must be a pin for getting power to the device, and guess this is where the other large red cable comes into play.
is there a set of plugs on the end of the leads anywhere to attach it to the power supply?


As for the last question...
Rack mounted servers tend (though not always) be decent spec machine made by higher end manufactures, they'd tend to have SCSI hdd's in them for a start, (i'm guessing that yours ha IDE).
they'd tend to have dual power supplies, yours doesn't

and without meaning offence, the specs you've listed mean that... well it's never going to be worth that much...

does the case have rack mount rails to go with it? or does this case have to sit on shelf in a rack?

your box also looks like it's 4u high, that's rather a lot for a case. rack space is expensive, and I could get 4 higher speced 1 u servers into that same space....

also... rack cases for custom PC's are easier to buy Buy 4u 19" Rackmount cases online at X-Case uk. and look nicer than the case you've got...

I wouldn't be holding out for a whole heap of money for that case. -especially given that there is no space for CD drives/removable Media front mount USB etc. and the back panel (where that prallel port is) I can't quite decide if that's standard size and would fit an ordinary blanking plate.

I wouldn't be hoping for too much money for the LCD either-given that a brand new set-up costs about £10
or the parts inside. given that they are old.
 
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