(hunting for parts) eserver xSeries 335 (IBM x335)

[BigBrother]

I recently won this IBM x335 on eBay but it's missing the HDD bay door... things, so i was wondering if anyone on Geekhack can maybe look in their known sites for this part. I've tried google but this is an old, well known server and much like commonly named mangas... a search of this comes up with mainly irrelevant info.

(wish this forum had rep points to give)

[TexasFlood]

I recently won this IBM x335 on eBay but it's missing the HDD bay door... things, so i was wondering if anyone on Geekhack can maybe look in their known sites for this part. I've tried google but this is an old, well known server and much like commonly named mangas... a search of this comes up with mainly irrelevant info.

(wish this forum had rep points to give)

I probably threw some of these away last year, :sad:.  Are these functional or just cosmetic?  I was thinking it was cosmetic.  If so you could cover it with some black mesh or something and wouldn't be all that noticeable.  Is this what you need?

[EverythingIBM]

IBM should have the server rack on their website, along with the PDFs, drivers, and whatever else, AND these diagrams:
http://www-947.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-58045&brandind=5000004

If you could find that, but for your server rack, IBM should list the part number of the hard drive caddy, and I'm sure there are many places selling them. Places like ibmparts, or what have you.
EDIT: yeah, I could find somewhere selling every one of those part numbers (not always at the best prices). So, there ARE places selling extra parts.

[TexasFlood]

IBM should have the server rack on their website, along with the PDFs, drivers, and whatever else, AND these diagrams:
http://www-947.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-58045&brandind=5000004

If you could find that, but for your server rack, IBM should list the part number of the hard drive caddy, and I'm sure there are many places selling them. Places like ibmparts, or what have you.
EDIT: yeah, I could find somewhere selling every one of those part numbers (not always at the best prices). So, there ARE places selling extra parts.

I don't see the exact model/type number of the server on the ebay listing.  With that number you can look up all relevant documentation at the IBM support site linked to in EverythingIBMs post above.  Guessing it might be a 8676 series.  There are also a lot of good links at xseries.org.  If it's a 8676, look through the xSeries 335 Type 8676 Option Installation Guide, the xSeries 335 Type 8676 Installation Guide, and/or the xSeries 335 Type 8676, Type 8830 Hardware Maintenance Manual and Troubleshooting Guide for more info & you can probably identify the part required.

[BigBrother]

I probably threw some of these away last year, :sad:.  Are these functional or just cosmetic?  I was thinking it was cosmetic.  If so you could cover it with some black mesh or something and wouldn't be all that noticeable.  Is this what you need?

man, if i bought two of these, it would cost more than the rest of the server itself. xD
I'll see if i can bargain with the seller. thanks!

-looks for an SCSI to IDE adapter-

[EverythingIBM]

man, if i bought two of these, it would cost more than the rest of the server itself. xD
I'll see if i can bargain with the seller. thanks!

-looks for an SCSI to IDE adapter-

Yeah I was thinking that myself; as I noted above, some of the parts are really expensive.

Why not just use straight SCSI? It's better than IDE (and SATA).

[TexasFlood]

I'm not clear on what part is broken and if it's simply cosmetic or functional.  If it's functional, the seller should make it good since the posting indicated it worked.

[BigBrother]

Yeah I was thinking that myself; as I noted above, some of the parts are really expensive.

Why not just use straight SCSI? It's better than IDE (and SATA).

SCSI drives are retardedly (apologies for any offence) expensive in my opinion and IDE are rather cheap (given there's a space restriction).

I'm not clear on what part is broken and if  it's simply cosmetic or functional.  If it's functional, the seller  should make it good since the posting indicated it worked.

I tried to ask what exactly was broken... he said that the item (server)  had already been packed (i guess that's why i won and received it  within a week) so he couldn't tell me much about the specific item.

[EverythingIBM]

SCSI drives are retardedly (apologies for any offence) expensive in my opinion and IDE are rather cheap (given there's a space restriction).

No SCSI is a lot more expensive, they can often cost more than the computers themselves for the really high quality ones (I seen one for 10K).

Discount technology had some pretty good deals on SCSI hard drives:
http://discountechnology.com/Products/SCSI-Hard-Drives;jsessionid=0a010e431f43f366bd0153d64b968100cecca2b4a54e.e3iKaNePch4Re34Pa38Ta38Mchr0

Still in the $100 range, but better than 10K

I never ordered from there, but was planning to some day (assuming they ship to Canada).

[TexasFlood]

I tried to ask what exactly was broken... he said that the item (server)  had already been packed (i guess that's why i won and received it  within a week) so he couldn't tell me much about the specific item.

Take a look at "Chapter 4. Customer replaceable units" of the xSeries 335 Type 8676, Type 8830 Hardware Maintenance Manual and Troubleshooting Guide, like page 38, maybe you can identify the broken part from the exploded view.  If, for example, it's the bezel, think that's just cosmetic and should still work fine.  But take a look and see if you can identify the busted part.

[BigBrother]

No SCSI is a lot more expensive, they can often cost more than the computers themselves for the really high quality ones (I seen one for 10K).

Discount technology had some pretty good deals on SCSI hard drives:
http://discountechnology.com/Products/SCSI-Hard-Drives;jsessionid=0a010e431f43f366bd0153d64b968100cecca2b4a54e.e3iKaNePch4Re34Pa38Ta38Mchr0

Still in the $100 range, but better than 10K

I never ordered from there, but was planning to some day (assuming they ship to Canada).

well, the thing is... even if it's just an 80GB drive, SCSI exceeds my budget (of 150$) for a single drive. 2x 250GB IDE/PATA drives would run me about 110$ or so.

[EverythingIBM]

well, the thing is... even if it's just an 80GB drive, SCSI exceeds my budget (of 150$) for a single drive. 2x 250GB IDE/PATA drives would run me about 110$ or so.

They have some brand new 73GB 80-pinners for $120
http://discountechnology.com/Hitachi-08K0372-SCSI-Hard-Drive?sc=2&category=85
The 68-pin ones are ironically more expensive. They have cheap refurbished ones, but, you don't want to buy a refurb hard drive.

[TexasFlood]

well, the thing is... even if it's just an 80GB drive, SCSI exceeds my budget (of 150$) for a single drive. 2x 250GB IDE/PATA drives would run me about 110$ or so.

If you're saying the drive doesn't work, then hit the seller up to resolve it, as the item condition was listed as "USED, Very Good condition. Works great. Some minor scratches".  Clearly if it has only one hard drive and it isn't working, this description is not accurate.  Guess I still am not clear on what's broken or missing.

[EverythingIBM]

If you're saying the drive doesn't work, then hit the seller up to resolve it, as the item condition was listed as "USED, Very Good condition. Works great. Some minor scratches".  Clearly if it has only one hard drive and it isn't working, this description is not accurate.

Doesn't eBay have seller protection against those things?

[ch_123]

Why not just use straight SCSI? It's better than IDE (and SATA).

Modern SCSI is SATA with some additional features that the average person isn't ever going to use.

SCSI drives are expensive and low capacity... just like SSDs, except SSDs won't kill your ears in the process. If reliability is a pressing concern, set up RAID of SATA driver. Still cheaper and probably faster if you set it up right.

@OP: I'm pretty sure I took one of those servers out of a skip, gutted it, and tossed it back a few months ago...

[ricercar]

Modern SCSI is SATA with some additional features that the average person isn't ever going to use.

Uh, no. SATA Protocols are not SCSI. RTFSPEC.

[ch_123]

Well... You can use SATA drives in SAS controllers... I assumed that SAS was an extension of SATA?

Either way my overall point stands - no advantage to the home user for using SCSI. In the 90s? Yeah, sure. Not today.

[TexasFlood]

man, if i bought two of these, it would cost more than the rest of the server itself. xD
I'll see if i can bargain with the seller. thanks!

-looks for an SCSI to IDE adapter-

If you're a bit ambitious, you could try something like this.

[BigBrother]

Doesn't eBay have seller protection against those things?

No, I was suggesting that even an 80GB would cost significantly less than most/any SCSI drive-- and most likely out-perform it even it was IDE (imo).

If you're saying the drive doesn't work, then  hit the seller up to resolve it, as the item condition was listed as  "USED, Very Good condition. Works great. Some minor scratches".  Clearly  if it has only one hard drive and it isn't working, this description is  not accurate.  Guess I still am not clear on what's broken or  missing.

the only things missing are the HDD caddies, and someone linked me a  couple which i'll use a guide to a cheaper place with the same caddies.