Silent Server

A few months ago I set up a home server using an old box. Unfortunately that old box died shortly afterwards. Furthermore, it was quite noisy as it had been originally spec'ed as a high end workstation. So I went in search of a replacement, with a view to have a server that would be as silent and energy efficient at possible.

In this quest, I came across VIA, a Taiwanese company that specialises in low power x86 compatible processors and motherboards. You can get most of their hardware in the UK from mini-itx.com. But I'm not good at building a box from scratch so I really needed something already assembled. I found that at Tranquil PC, a small company based in Manchester. Here is the configuration I ordered from them:

• An entry T2e chassis with DVD-R drive, colour black.
• A VIA EN15000 motherboard. I choose this one as it is the only one that they offer that comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port and the new 1.5GHz VIA C7 processor, which is one of the most power-efficient.
• 1GB RAM. Experience tells me that this is more than I need but having extra RAM should enable the machine to take on more tasks in the future.
• A 100GB 2.5" HDD. I could have gone for a larger 3.5" HDD but I don't currently need the extra space and laptop drives are significantly more energy efficient and silent than desktop ones.

I received my T2e a week or so later. Unfortunately, it had been damaged in transit and the DVD drive was not working properly anymore. The support people at Tranquil PC were very nice and very efficient and arranged for the machine to be collected and sent back to them. It came back a week later in full working order.

I replicated the original install that I had done on the old server. Having done it once, it went very smoothly, everything working first time. The obvious difference from the start was how little noise the T2e makes. In fact, the only audible noise came from the DVD drive spinning the installation CD. Otherwise, it's as if the machine was switched off. Impressive! And it looks really cool with the blue glow coming out of the front panel. As I have a plug-in energy meter, I decided to check how much power this machine drew. So, once the installation was finished and the machine was up and running, I restarted everything with the meter in between the wall socket and the PC's plug. Results:

• Max power consumption when starting up: 30 Watts.
• Standard power consumption once in operation: 25 Watts.

In other words, this machine consumes about the same as a small standard light bulb without ACPI enabled. Once I've enabled ACPI and tweaked it somewhat, I should manage to make it consume even less.

This proves that a server doesn't have to be a big power hungry and noisy box, it can be a small machine that is so silent you forget it's switched on. There are currently few suppliers for that sort of hardware but my guess is that it will become more common. In the meantime, head to Tranquil PC to find one of those.

Cryptic Codes and Canon Lenses

As I have enough camera gear that a standard travel insurance will not cover it, I bought a special insurance just for the camera and associated bits and pieces. They require that I provide serial numbers for every item that is worth more than £200. So when I recently acquired a new EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, I decided to add it to the insurance policy and went in search of the serial number. On the box, there is a sticker that specifies a serial number but, at first sight, it looks nothing like any of the codes on the lens itself. To start with, the lens has two codes: a numeric one and an alphanumeric one. Which one is the right one? After some digging on the net, I had the answer, so here's an illustration of it, with a couple of my lenses.

The numeric code is the actual serial number. On the EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, it is located on the barrel, near the camera mount. On the EF24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens, it is located on the bayonet flange.

Serial number on the EF15mm f/2.8 Fisheye and the EF24-105mm f/4 L IS USM

That same number is also available on the box the lens came in. On that box, there is a sticker with a bar code and a couple of numeric codes, with the title Lens No. At first sight, none of the codes on the sticker seem to really match what's on the lens. But looking closer, it appears that the serial number is the end part of the bottom code. It all makes sense now! What the other codes mean, I don't have the faintest idea.

Lens No sticker with circled serial number

I also found an explanation for the alphanumeric code that can be found on the lens. This is a manufacturing code. My fish-eye lens has a code that says UV0509.

• The first letter, U, identifies the factory that produced the lens: Utsunomiya, in Japan.
• The second letter, V identifies the year the lens was manufactured: 2007.
• The following two digits identify the month the lens was manufactured: May.
• The last two digits are an internal Canon batch number.

This manufacturing code enables Canon to identify a batch of lenses. For example, the first batches of the EF24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens had an optical defect that produced serious flares. This code on the lens enabled owners to identify whether their lenses were part of any defective batch so that they could return it to Canon.

Manufacturing code on the EF15mm f/2.8 Fisheye

So there you go, that's what all those numbers mean on Canon lenses. I can now fill in my insurance policy properly.