In this lab, my partner and I took apart  a server. This device is a computer whose sole purpose is to run software that provides certain services and functionalities to other computers (“clients”).

 Assembled, the server looks like an incredibly unaesthetic computer. The reason it has such an irregular shape is that it is designed to be put on a server rack, where it is stacked sideways with several other similar servers.

 

The first step to taking apart the server was to remove all external screws. This allows up to open the metal casing and take a look inside. The server was designed with the intent that it could be opened up, so that an experienced technician could would be able to go in and replace/upgrade hardware (such as RAM, fans, etc.). Many of these parts are labeled in the image to the right.

The next step was to remove these electronics one by one. Most of them were attached with screws of various shapes and sizes, which implies that they were designed to be able to be removed. First went the heat sink, then the power supply, fans, and CD drive. This eventually gave us access to the motherboard and hard drive, which were the most interesting parts to look at. We individually attempted to take apart each of these individual components as well, and had mixed success.

For example, the power supply unit (PSU), which provides steady power to the entire computer, was very difficult to take apart. The outer casing was riveted on and also had some screws. Even after removing the screws, the only way to open it up was to use some violence. Once inside, all of the electronics were held together with some kind of hardened adhesive, which made it impossible to get to the fun inner parts. Presumably the difficulty to mess with the power supply is intentional, as a malfunction in this part could cause dangers like a power surge that would fry all of the computer’s electronics or even a fire.

Next, we tried the CD drive. We were able to open it up by unscrewing some screws. on the outer casing. The rest of the drive was held together with screws that we weren’t able to unscrew for lack of finding a small enough screwdriver. It had some moving parts for reading the optical disc, and indeed there was a disc inside the CD drive when we opened it up. This piece does not seem like it was designed to be taken apart.

Next we tackled the motherboard, which had many modular electronic pieces. The RAM cards were able to be removed using a built-in latch. This is intentional, as it is quite common for technicians to replace or update their RAM. We were also able to remove several different heat sinks. We found that the pieces under the heat sinks were the processors, which tend to generate heat in the mother boards. These boards are all printed circuit boards (PCBs), which make the manufacturing process efficient. The boards were connected to each other with ribbon wires. The disassembles electronics are in the picture to the right.

Finally, we got to the hard drive. This was by far the most interesting piece. We were able to open it up using a very small torx screwdriver. Inside were some magnets, a needle that reads the hard drive disk, and a perfectly reflective metallic disk (in the picture to the left, you can actually see the reflection of the photographer). This disk contains billions of 0-1 switches that hold all of the computer’s data. The disk rotates extremely fast and the tip of the needle is able to read whether each of the switches is on or off. This piece was certainly not meant to be opened, as even tiny specs of dust on the disk can cause it to malfunction.

It was really interesting to see the modular design of the server. Even though individual components could be difficult to take apart, it would be easy to replace each of them. This also leads me to believe that these components were not manufactured specifically for this server. This means that the machine could be fixed should one of the components fail. This also means that if a component is upgraded, that same modular component could be recycled as an upgrade or replacement. This modular design is useful for its flexibility and also because it makes the entire system more durable (i.e. the hard drive could be salvages in the case of a RAM failure, etc.).

In all, this was a very interesting project that taught me a lot about how the internals of computers work. I had heard of a lot of these parts theoretically, but had never had the chance to actually go inside and see how they work for myself.