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(Article ID: 001148)

Before I start, there are some people I would like to recognize. I would like to thank Paul and Gary up in Networks for their advice on SCSI standards, technology and subsystems. I would also like to thank Jeanne McIntyre for her help scouring the Internet looking for information on this particular server design and model history.

This is a Snap! Server Pro. This page is an overview of what I know of the system to date. I will be updating this page as I learn more about the unit.

 

I found this server on eBay in late March of 2006. I had not seen a design like it before or since (and I have been looking). The system only had one drive, but it did include all of the drive trays. The seller said that the system powered on, but since they didn't know anything else about it they could not test it further. The price was a little more than I wanted to pay for something that was otherwise untested, but I figured that if it turned out to be useless I could make a pretty unique looking PC with the case.

The front of the server has the standard four lights (System, Link, Net, Disk) that one would find on pretty much any Snap! server. There is also a door on the front. Opening the door reveals a SCSI RAID array.

This server has six SCSI bays. Each drive has its own status light. The little hole near the top of the indicator panel is the server's reset button.

The drives that this system accepts are SCSI drives that are designed for use in a backplane.

The Ethernet and power ports are located on the back. The power switch is the same power switch present on the Snap! 2000 servers. It also functions the same (i.e. the system does not power off immediately when set to the OFF position). That is located on the left side of the server (lower rear corner).

Now I will talk a little about what I know about the system that can't be seen from the outside. The server is currently running SnapOS 2.0.245. I am not planning on upgrading the operating system. The major reason for not upgrading is because I have no way to roll back to the currently installed version if something goes wrong (i.e. I do not have SUP files for that OS version). The motherboard is almost identical to the motherboard used in the Snap! 2000 servers except that it has a SCSI controller installed. Since the system uses basically the same motherboard as the 2000, it has the ability to support IDE drives. Unfortunately there is no place to mount them in this server and there are no power taps for that drive type. I tested the maximum drive capacity supported by the server in its current state. The system supports a maximum drive size of approximately 36GB. There is a serial port hidden inside of the system that does function; don't get excited though. So far I can only get it to provide the same access and functionality as the debug page does on the web interface (http://servername/config/debug).

I have posted a disassembly guide for this server so you can get a look at the internal components. At the bottom of this article I have posted the information I was able to pull off of the motherboard and some of its components. If you have any more information or own a server of this (or a similar) configuration, please contact me so we can compare notes.

Here is the information I could read off of the chips, oscellators and capacitors on the server's motherboard. The motherboard his the following printed next to where the SCSI data connector is attached:

© 1998 MERIDIAN DATA, INC.
FAB #70715021 REV B
ASSY#70715028-001

Below I have the component information. I have also put each component's "address" on the motherboard so you can see where it would be attached on a similar motherboard. Some components are used more than once on the board so I have specified all of the addresses where that particular component is located.

---------------

C1:
(M)B
122K
2KV
00
---------------

U4:
Intel
SB82558B
L921EA22
SL2P4
(M)© 1996
---------------

OSC1:
Toyocom
711STH

60 000
348 Japan
---------------

C3, C4, C5, C6, C8, C9, C11, C12, C13, C14,
C17, C19, C22, C23, C24, C25, C26, C27:
10
16V
---------------

U3, U7, U9:
Dallas
DS2107AS
9748A6
---------------

F1:
X150
PT9R
---------------

D1:
S2
79
---------------

T1:
Pulse
H1012
9913 Philippines
---------------

U1:
85AF
93C14
9910
---------------

U35:
MAXIM
MAX241CAI
9910
---------------

U5, U8:
Winbond
W24257AJ-15
95391
---------------

U6:
qLogic Corp.
ISP1040B 2405101
MCL7LA4/N9708D
USPAT#5,276,807
---------------

U10:
intel
PCIset
FW82371AB
F731TC14
SL23P
INTEL(M)©'96

A7194066TB
G  731 KOREA
---------------

U11:
74HCT00D
C3712ME
Hnn9918G
Thailand
---------------

U12:
ADM123
ZAR
9907
---------------

U14:
ISSI
IS61LV256-15J
C4868500DJ 9905
---------------

U15:
intel
PCIset
FW82439TX
F827IE02
SL28T
INTEL(M)©'96

KOREA
---------------

Y3:
14.3C8
---------------

U16, U17:
ISSI
IS61S6432-6PQ
C3793500P6 9814
---------------

U18:
ICS
9169CJ-27
9914
CN830373-4
---------------

U20:
smsc
FDC37C669
K9918-B747
8H15125-6
---------------

U21:
P77AB
74F139
---------------

U23 (covered with manufacturer's sticker):
            W1
RT200VAL.HEX
---------------

U24:
intel
pentium
A80502133 SY028
ICOMP(M) 2 #=111
88480041-0863
INTEL(M)©'92'93
---------------

U25, U26:
74HCT2730
C3291ME
Hnn9914 K
Thailand
---------------

U27, U29, U31, U32:
907
FDS
6680
---------------

U28, U30:
CS5120
9811J
---------------

C29, C30, C31, C32, C33, C34, C35, C36, C37, C38,
C39, C40, C41, C42, C43, C44, C47, C48, C49, C50,
C51, C52:
100µ
10v
LG
---------------