C2550 died, need to replace

TravisT

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So my C2550D4I mobo just died, and I'm once again contemplating upgrading my whole setup again. Here's what I currently have:

Mobo: C2550D4I
Case: Silverstone DS380B
RAM: 32GB ECC
PSU: 450W
Controller: IBM 1015 IT

The prices and selections of mini-ITX boards are not great although there are a couple to choose from. I love the form factor of this build when I don't have to open it up to do any maintenance, but as soon as I do, I really dislike it.

I currently have a half-rack that I'd love to be able to install a rackmount build with a little more room to work. I'm not very good on the server technology and terminology, so I don't want to get myself into something that won't work (or won't work well) with what I have. I'd also like something that will be as "future-proof" as possible. I don't want to keep rebuilding the entire server every couple years, but I'm ok with upgrading components.

I would really like the ability to expand up to 24 drives (hot-swappable), and not have it sound like a fighter jet at full afterburner. I'm ok with some noise, as well as modding to get the db level down. I'm also open to a JBOD enclosure, which may be able to give me a solid chassis/sas backplanes without being locked into vendor proprietary motherboards, etc.

Any recommendations on enterprise-class hardware that could be found for a fair price used that would meet these requirements? I've read a lot of posts, but most are older and I'll bet there are better options out there today. I'll be glad to provide any pertinent info that I may have left out.
 

Ericloewe

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You can probably get your motherboard replaced as part of the C2000 recall. Contact ASRock Rack and ask.
 

TravisT

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Just submitted the RMA request - we'll see what happens.

I'd still like to hear suggestions on a build - the fact that I may be able to ease into it will be great given Asrock will RMA my motherboard and I won't be rushed to throw something together.
 

Ericloewe

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If you want 24 bays, keep an eye out for Supermicro chassis or entire servers on eBay. That's really going to be the way to go.

Noise will depend on how old the thing is. You may need to replace the PSU with newer, quieter ones. System fan noise shouldn't be horrible if the fans are properly controlled.
 

TravisT

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So update, I had constant contact with Asrock support until the rma was submitted. It’s been radio silence since. No response to emails from the support department, rma department, or phone calls. No updates on the rma status page either. My plan if the board was rma’d Was to limp the replacement 2550 along in a new Norco 2442 case which would give me the option to move away from the miniITX board in the future without having to upgrade the whole system right now.

That plan changed. My NAS has been down for 2+ weeks now, so I made a quick decision which I hopefully won’t regret. I bought this system from eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMicro...-2Ghz-Sleds-/192950842364?txnId=1634380953009

My plan is to use this pretty much turnkey for now with a couple parts from my current FreeNAS box (RAM & IBM 1015). My background is in networking, so I’m not nearly as up to speed on the storage side of the house.

My current box is running 1 iSCSI 4-disk raidz10 (or a mirrored 2-disk stripe, I forget the proper syntax) and 1x 4 disk raid-z1 datasets. Since this was set up a long time ago, I know that raid-z2 is recommended as a minimum, but I’ve been out of slots for additional disks until now.

The iSCSI serves up space for an ESXi box running some really low-demand boxes (windows, Linux, and a Plex server). The other data store is for media that is accessed by both windows and apple hosts.

My goals are for this box to be as quiet, fast, and future proof as possible. It seems like a good foundation to work towards those.

Any recommendations welcomed.
 

Inxsible

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The iSCSI serves up space for an ESXi box running some really low-demand boxes (windows, Linux, and a Plex server).
Why spin a separate box for Plex when the FreeNAS plugin works flawlessly? You could even create a manual jail and install it if you like to control the updates etc for Plex.
 

TravisT

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Funny you say that - I actually set it up that way back in the day. My problem was that when I played media at a high bitrate, it would buffer a lot. Most of my media library is ripped from my blurays, so it's pretty high quality. I think this was largely due to my FreeNAS processor not being up to snuff to transcode the media while doing its thing as a NAS too. I think this problem presented itself while using my C2550. I offloaded the processing to the ESXi server which has more processing power and it worked great.

With this new server, I will have more than enough processing in my FreeNAS box so this would be an option. I will likely keep the ESXi box going for my other machines/lab, but I may very well move my Plex server back to the FreeNAS plugin.
 

TravisT

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Oh, I also ordered a LSI 9205-8i HBA with IT firmware to replace my IBM 1015. While the 1015 works fine and I don't think the 9205 offers anything the 1015 doesn't, I'm missing the mounting bracket for the 1015 and the connector location won't work with the cables currently installed in the CSE-845 case. The cost of the mounting bracket plus two sets of new connectors would cost more than the 9205 would, so I went that route since the 9205 and the current LSI 9266-8i card that came with the server.
 

colmconn

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So update, I had constant contact with Asrock support until the rma was submitted. It’s been radio silence since. No response to emails from the support department, rma department, or phone calls. No updates on the rma status page either. My plan if the board was rma’d Was to limp the replacement 2550 along in a new Norco 2442 case which would give me the option to move away from the miniITX board in the future without having to upgrade the whole system right now.

That plan changed. My NAS has been down for 2+ weeks now, so I made a quick decision which I hopefully won’t regret. I bought this system from eBay:

Who did you contact at ASRock for support? Did you email william@asrock?
My board (as 2750) failed last Jan (2019) and I contacted him. He was very helpful. Once I ruled out PSU issues he was happy to forward me the the RMA dept. I heard back from the RMA dept within about 24 hours. I mailed the board back the same day and new board was fedexed about a week later. In all I was without my machine working for about a month. However, I also took the opportunity to change my case, double the number of HDDs I have and add a HBA to the system as well.
 

colmconn

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Funny you say that - I actually set it up that way back in the day. My problem was that when I played media at a high bitrate, it would buffer a lot. Most of my media library is ripped from my blurays, so it's pretty high quality. I think this was largely due to my FreeNAS processor not being up to snuff to transcode the media while doing its thing as a NAS too. I think this problem presented itself while using my C2550. I offloaded the processing to the ESXi server which has more processing power and it worked great.

With this new server, I will have more than enough processing in my FreeNAS box so this would be an option. I will likely keep the ESXi box going for my other machines/lab, but I may very well move my Plex server back to the FreeNAS plugin.

What device are you using for playback? I've used Plex on an Apple TV, Xbox One S, and a Nvidia Shield. The only time transcoding is required is when the audio track is something like DTS or TRUEHD which neither the Apple TV or Xbox can play directly and neither support pass-through of audio to a receiver. The same cannot be said of the Shield. It will pass through audio to a receiver and supports just about every video codec going. (My 2750 seems to be quite capable of transcoding DTS to AC3 audio and x264 1080 to 720 for remote viewing.) I would never try to transocde 4K with it though. I don't need to transcode 4K anyway since the Xbox and shield will direct play the x265 with the shield capable for passing through the HD audio formats. I only got the shield last week and hadn't expected the abilty fo pass through the audio the the receiver to make such as difference in terms of audio quality.

Bottom line, if you're having trouble transcoding, I'd investigate changing the playback device to something capable rather than changing the board (assuming you get it RMAed). It will likely be the cheaper option.
 

TravisT

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Sorry, didn’t get an email alert when you replied...

I use several different devices for playback, but will have to check into the Shield. It sounds like a good option.

Still no word on the RMA, but I did receive my Supermicro server, and so far am very happy with it and the ability I now have to expand easily. Now I want to start looking for bottlenecks and get as much as I can out of it.
 

TravisT

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Who did you contact at ASRock for support? Did you email william@asrock?
My board (as 2750) failed last Jan (2019) and I contacted him. He was very helpful. Once I ruled out PSU issues he was happy to forward me the the RMA dept. I heard back from the RMA dept within about 24 hours. I mailed the board back the same day and new board was fedexed about a week later. In all I was without my machine working for about a month. However, I also took the opportunity to change my case, double the number of HDDs I have and add a HBA to the system as well.
William is the one I worked with. He was very responsive until I submitted my RMA. After that point, I couldn’t get a reply from anyone. Still no RMA authorization, update, denial...nothing
 

TravisT

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Funny, out of nowhere I get an email today saying my RMA was approved, but the board is out of warranty and will cost $130 for replacement.

Too bad, I may have considered it if it would have been a couple of days after I submitted the RMA. No way now that I've replaced the board with the CSE-846 setup. I'm so glad I switched!
 

Bhoot

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While Norco might seem like a very good (and economical) option, a lot of members will swear on never buying another of those cases. some people have had no calamity but heating issues and faulty backpanes have left many users in tears.
While I'm not here to promote any brand, any of the experienced FreeNAS builders will tell you exactly what Ericloewe said. Buy a decent box. Supermicro is generally preferred around here, Chenbro is also decent.
When you're planning to spend thousands of $$$ why cheap out by a few 100s and risk the entire investment go down the drain.
 

TravisT

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While Norco might seem like a very good (and economical) option, a lot of members will swear on never buying another of those cases. some people have had no calamity but heating issues and faulty backpanes have left many users in tears.
While I'm not here to promote any brand, any of the experienced FreeNAS builders will tell you exactly what Ericloewe said. Buy a decent box. Supermicro is generally preferred around here, Chenbro is also decent.
When you're planning to spend thousands of $$$ why cheap out by a few 100s and risk the entire investment go down the drain.
For sure. This is why I went with the SuperMicro box. I feel that the supermicro boxes are pretty close to enterprise grade - more-so than the Norco.
 
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