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Vehicular LCD for Server Monitoring

Posted by michael on from the small-form-factor dept.

Pete writes "The guys over at Extreme Overclocking have show how to put a car LCD inside a computer. The article shows how to install VNC remote computing software onto the server, how to manage the server from another computer, and how to use the color LCD to manage the server locally. They also included a video at the end which shows the setup process, and the LCD in action."

21 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. What is the point? by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "If you are running a server and do not want to waste money on buying a monitor that you will only use probably once a week then you will definitely see the value here."

    Yeah, $60 for a 15" CRT vs $130 for 12" LCD screen.

    That statement certainly makes sense.

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    1. Re:What is the point? by fubar1971 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually I would like something like this because of space restraints. All of my servers are crammed into a small corner of a small room. I do my best to keep it need and tidy, but I have to hook up a 15 inch monitor to a KVM switch. Even with the best cable managment system, it is a nightmare of KVM cables. If I could have these screens in the servers, then I could eliminate the cables, KVM switch, and monitor making a cleaner work environment. Not to mention by removing the monitor, KVM, and cables Now I have enough room to add another server. Right now I would have to start a second area of servers. Don't get me wrong I would love a new spcae that was large enough to house all of my servers and have room for expansion, but in these trying economic times the money to properly renovate a new space is non-existient. Remeber, by saving space you can save money.

  2. Of weather and viewing angle.. by stephenisu · · Score: 3, Informative

    With an operating temperature of 32 - 104 degrees Farenheit, make sure you park your car in the garage. Furthermore the viewing angle it 10 degrees from the top and 30 from the bottom. Mounting it upside down and running the signal appropriately might be a good idea.

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  3. Nice 'proof of concept' BUT by Lysol · · Score: 3, Insightful

    - this does not scale well for > 1 server.

    - only works if you have some sort of ATX type case

    - with any sort of non-gui mgmt tools, this becomes irrelavent

    that said, it's a neat idea for a web page article, but this would never fly for the typical mgmt of servers that i've seen. and, i prefer non-gui tools because gui tools tend to slow and a pain in the ass to deal with.

  4. Console Server? by turgid · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why not just connect up your machines to a console server via thier serial ports? If you need graphics, use X over the network.

    --
    Stick Men
  5. For servers? by IGnatius+T+Foobar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From the article:

    If you are running a server and do not want to waste money on buying a monitor that you will only use probably once a week then you will definitely see the value here. If it's coolness factor you're looking for, then by all means go ahead and install the 5-inch LCD. But if it's "value" that you're looking for, as the article suggests, there are cheaper ways of doing it.

    Headless comes to mind, of course. Nearly all new server hardware supports keyboardless/displayless operation. Or you can do "nearly headless" -- do a serial console. Again, nearly all new server hardware supports running the BIOS/POST to a serial port, and Linux supports a serial console with no trouble at all.

    Of course, if you're running a Windows server, then you'd better just pony up the $100-300 for a real monitor (or in a large multi-server environment, a big KVM switch) because you're going to be spending a lot of time sitting at the console fixing broken Microsoft crap.

    And before you mod me down as a zealot, please know that this is based on my experience at a mid-size managed hosting facility. Our sysadmins are constantly babysitting the Windows boxen, so we have to dedicate expensive KVM ports to each one. Linux just runs and runs without ever having a problem that requires console access, so we go serial, and we hook them up with really inexpensive used terminal servers.

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    1. Re:For servers? by milosoftware · · Score: 2, Interesting
      ...Windows server, then you'd better just pony up the $100-300 for a real monitor ... because you're going to be spending a lot of time sitting at the console fixing broken Microsoft crap.
      Actually, you will be going to notice that most configuration dialogs won't fit on the 234 pixel wide screen...
      --
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    2. Re:For servers? by bergeron76 · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's not exactly cheap, but the PCWeasel 2000 will let you even see your PC's BIOS (and allow you to get into it) over serial, so you can run almost completely headless over serial. There's a cool demo of it over there as well.

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  6. When in Japan... by NiteHaqr · · Score: 3, Informative

    or to be more exact Osaka 2 (count em 1,2) years ago I had a look round various tech-shops and PC parts places (drooling all the way), I saw just this, or something similar in an "non-modded" part.

    Basically it was a 800x600 LCD that slotted into a 5.25" bay.

    How it connected to the PC I dont know, but I expect some kind of loop-back cable.

    This is old news....

  7. LAN party? by milosoftware · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't mind dragging my 15 kg desktop to a LAN party, but I do mind carrying my 24 kg Iiyama around, i'm afraid i'll drop and break it.

    But the screen is a bit small for my taste. How about recycling an old laptops TFT screen? I have a defunct laptop with a perfectly good working TFT screen. I'd love to stick its display to the case with doublesided tape. But I have no idea how to wire it, or what kind of video card I could use for this. Any comments/links on that?

    --
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    1. Re:LAN party? by Quixotic137 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I don't have any links off-hand, but I have looked into it and the short answer is that you don't want to do this. Basically, each model of screen has it's own interface (which is not VGA or even close) and the controller is generally built in to the laptop display system. It is possible (and there are standalone or VGA-compatible controllers out there), but it's going to be expensive. Check google for details.

  8. well of course. by twitter · · Score: 2, Interesting
    ... this would never fly for the typical mgmt of servers that i've seen. and, i prefer non-gui tools because gui tools tend to slow and a pain in the ass to deal with.

    The only useful thing in the article was that you can get a 5" screen from an auto parts dealer. Rigged to a normal VGA connector and put into a reasonable case with some batteries, this could replace the cart mounted CRT that is useful for diagnosing the box that won't respond remotely. Imagine one affixed to a light weight keyboard. When trouble comes, lug out this, a few other tools and a chair.

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  9. I was going to do this last year... by Hayzeus · · Score: 2, Funny
    .. but as it turned out, the price of the car made the whole project impractical.

    Once the price of cars drops, though, I'm sure we'll see a lot more of this kind of thing...

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  10. Really? Less power? by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 2, Interesting

    See that big button on the bottom right hand corner of the monitor in front of you?

    That's "The OFF button". It switches the monitor off and on. Revolutionary, I know, but it's been a standard feature of monitors for ooooh, a little while now.

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    Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
  11. Jumpers and tanktops by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 3, Funny

    I noticed that the Windows admins tended to wear jumpers and tanktops round the office. The Unix guys all just wear t-shirts.

    The air conditioning in the machine rooms is brutal.

    --
    Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
  12. Actually Been Done Before by vlad30 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.kentsalas.com/blueiceg4/gallery.asp

    http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,56086,00.ht ml

    Using a G4 and more effective use of Screen I believe as a status screen

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  13. Picture frame by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You have a good point, I just binned an old, dead laptop, the screen could have been pulled out and stuck in a picture frame. It'd just have needed a power supply and long vga cable.

    --
    Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
  14. Parts Info by richwmn · · Score: 2, Informative

    For those that are interested, the link in the article to find a price for the part is broken. This (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&User _ID=12265578&St=2441&St2=86138462&St3=-45726898&DS _ID=3&Product_ID=16106&DID=7)will get you to a store to sell the module at $128 ($119 qty 4).

  15. Re:Bad idea by Kadagan+AU · · Score: 3, Insightful

    He never claimed that this was a business solution. Everyone's talking about how he could never use this to manage multitudes of servers, and that's very true, but he never said he wanted to use it for managing any servers at all. He was using this so he can monitor CPU/Mem loads from his recliner across the room. If you read the article, and looked at the images, all his screen shots showed the WinXP System Monitor app in the task manager. It shows with, simple bar and line graphs, how much load the system has. He put VNC on to actually manage the beast.

    Read the article!

    ~Jon~

    P.S. I'm not saying that I agree with him running WinXP on a "server" though ;-)

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  16. Computer with horn: Ellen Feiss deaf? by GQuon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    From the article:All of us know that both the car and the PC have a 12V line

    But they neglect to tell us if this mod is for diesel or gas powered computers.

    Seriously though:
    Since cars typically use the car body as the return from the positive terminal (i.e. the car body is connected to negative), the fastenings for a car part could be designed to connect to the negative terminal. (A few cars are made the other way around. Look out.)
    A computer case is supposed to be connected to ground. So although connecting turn signals, cigarette lighters and horns (Ellen Feiss would go deaf) to your computer might sound tempting, you'd better check out how the car and the part is coupled.
    In other words: Tell Chewie to isolate the reverse power couplings.

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  17. Not new and others have done it better... by JackDeth · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here's a site that's more or less dedicated to showing PC/LCD mods.

    And here's a sweet mod that uses the exact same 5" LCD screen and puts it in a Lian-Li case.

    Pretty cool lookin case mod and useful if you don't have space for full dual-monitors but also want to have winamp/instant messenger/MB Monitor/etc... running and visible but not necessarily on your main monitor.

    The only way I could see this as usable for a server though is if you only have a one or two. After that it gets pretty expensive.