New build, got some questions

[johnblanker]

Finally took the plunge. Got an x10sll-f mobo, with 8GB of ECC Crucial (exact spec from guide), and a G3420 Pentium. Both IPMI/BIOS came with latest version. Wish I had known, could have saved some $ on the CPU.
I will be using three 1TB green hdds in RAIDZ to just hold about 500MB of data.

I am trying to get an understanding of the IPMI. I went into my router and set a static IP for the machine at 192.168.1.51. This is for IPMI access. So after the Freenas install it says to access Freenas at 192.168.1.112. Where did it get the "112" from? The ethernet cable is connected to the top port of the mobo. I understand I can't access both the IPMI and freenas at 51, so is the 112 a static IP?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Where did it get the "112" from?

Presumably that's the address your router gave it via DHCP.

 

[johnblanker]

ah, yes, I see that. So I went back into the router and assigned the 112 to 52. I didn't realize that each lan port has it's own mac address. So, a different ip per mac address? But if the ethernet cable is plugged into the IPMI (top) port on the board, how is it accessing the second ip address/MAC?

 

[Jailer]

There should be one dedicated IPMI port and one LAN port that is a shared IPMI/LAN. If you only have a single network cable connected you are probably plugged into the shared LAN port.

 

[johnblanker]

the x10sll-f has 3 lan ports. I guess I am on the shared one, like you said. Ok. I don't really get it but I guess it doesn't matter. Thanks.

 

[Ericloewe]

Definitely DO NOT assign the same address to the server and its BMC.

In shared mode, the shared NIC is multiplexed between the host and the BMC and it presents itself as two NICs with two MACs. To a remote user, it's as if the motherboard had an ethernet switch (which is not the case in the slightest).
This setup requires explicit support from the NIC, which is present on the Intel I210.

 

[johnblanker]

ok, thanks. That makes sense. What is "BMC"? Before Freenas was installed, I was just checking out the IPMI interface. My router only saw one mac address, so I assigned it to 51. It wasn't until freenas was installed that the other mac appeared at 112, so I assigned that to 52. I assume this is all normal behavior.
I wonder why there are 3 lan ports on this board (x10sll-f). The top one is the IPMI, then it just say 2 other lan ports. The top is obviously shared since that is the only one I am using.

 

[Mirfster]

What is "BMC"?

BMC = Baseboard Management Controller; usually it is a dedicated NIC. Some motherboards (like Dell) have them. I don't run SuperMicro; but it may have it as well; but more than likely called an IPMI interface. I defer to those who do own/run SuperMicro to though.

 

[Ericloewe]

What is "BMC"?

BMC = Baseboard Management Controller;

^
The BMC is essentially a separate system running inside your server, with very deep hooks into the hardware and firmware. It's the basis of IPMI.

I wonder why there are 3 lan ports on this board (x10sll-f). The top one is the IPMI, then it just say 2 other lan ports. The top is obviously shared since that is the only one I am using.

One dedicated NIC for IPMI and two NICs available to the server. One of these two can be shared with IPMI (inluding for failover).

 

[johnblanker]

Ah. Thanks guys. Correction, i am using the middle lan port which gives me ipmi and freenas.