On 18.07.2004, the third Version of the Hilfsdrache was finalized.

The CPU Cooler was replaced through an selfbuild Watercooling System.

The coolant radiator used was from an Ford or Opel Automobile. The other parts were an small 12 Volt pump, and selfbuild copper water cooling unit for the CPU, and an water tank (made out of an plastic tube with cover).

To get an better airflow through the main 120 mm fan, the back of the Server got 2 coverplates with holes and - for better optic - an lighted perspex plate like the one I made in large for the mousepad.

The parts of the watercooling - like radiator and water tank, were lighted with blue leds, too.

To switch the light on and off, the display holder got an additional switch.

What is not seen is the relais I build into the MiniATX Powersupply AFTER I made these pictures: From the moment the PSU starts delivering power (the Pc is powered on) - the pump also starts and therefore the waterciruculation and coolant of the CPU.

NOTE: The Server is disassembled at the moment, as it needs more work on the watercooling system (it worked one year flawlessly, but there are some weak points where it has to be redesigned).

Over 5 Months later, I did update the Design.

The Server worked flawlessly so far, but there was space for some additions.

First I did mod the MiniATX Powersupply and build in an Switch to put the Powersupply Fan into 12 Volt (Fast and Loud) or 7 Volt (Slow and Silent - but enough throughput) Mode. From that on, the server was a LOT more silent.

Also, the HDD Cage connection to the ground of the Case was damped by screwing it through a thumbsize layer of rubber. That helped.

But the biggest change in this revision was the attachement of an LCD Display.

It was connected through the LTP Port of the Mainboard and with an special piece of Software, it was able to display Live Data like CPU and Ram Load, Network Interface Load and a lot more.

The display holder was created out of metal and did not only hold the display, but also the display controlls (brightness, contrast and display on (backlight on), display off, display on (backlight off)) and an 12 Volt / 7 Volt Mode switch for the big 120 mm Fan.

And after that,.. there was silence 😉

Hilfsdrache01 should be my first standalone server for Lan Partys and such.

As for that reason, I decided to do a bit more than "only" build up the pc and get it running: I tried to built the pc into an big attache case. The benefits were clearly: An easily transportable pc with an solid and small case.

Because I didn't have much space, I used MiniATX components for this project.

An Intel Pentium II with 450 Mhz and 256 MB of Sdram Ram (100 Mhz FSB) and two 20 Gb HDDs, as well as an 10 Mbit and an 100 Mbit Networking Interface Card were the "startup". As the pc didn't boot up without an Graphics Card, I decided to use an old ATI Rage, as that AGP Card was quite solid, drained not much power and needed not even an heat sink on its GPU.

As for the overall cooling, I used an 120mm Fan in 7 Volt Mode (quite silent and much throughput).

The project started on 29.12.2003 and was completed on the morning of the 31.12.2003.

At the same night, it was already tested on an lan party with 4 clients, running an Freelancer, Counterstrike and Fileserver (for Patches). It worked.