Supermicro X10 series

[Sir.Robin]

Anyone tested these with FreeNAS yet? :)

 

[jgreco]

I thought I saw someone who confirmed that the ethernets worked but the USB was kind of finicky. The ethernets are my biggest concern - newish chipsets.

 

[Sir.Robin]

Hm, but i need the USB too for boot and UPS... :|

 

[jgreco]

That's correct. As a result, not suggesting them yet until some clueful adventurer buys one and details the ins and outs.

 

[Sir.Robin]

Maybe i'll just go for the X9SCM-F... It's quite a bit cheaper... and the X9SCM-iiF is same price as the newer X10SLH.
Got the hots for IPMI and ECC monitoring capability now :D

 

[jgreco]

Different vendors have different types of remote management but they're all generally useful. Supermicro's has some minor quirks but works nicely.

The shop bench here is all outfitted for KVM (a 4x16 switch driving three display stations on the bench and an IP-KVM session) so there always used to be some contention for the one magic KVM session that could be remoted ... sitting in office hacking away is more fun than standing at the shop bench. But with the advent of KVM-over-IP on IPMI, it is easy to just hook up an ethernet and never have to worry about KVM session contention.

The main trick with all this stuff is basically just getting used to taking advantage of it and then you'll wonder why you bother hooking up a VGA port ever again. ;-)

 

[Sir.Robin]

I know... use iLo /iDRAC/KVM at work :)

Have you tried IPMI touch?

 

[jgreco]

Yeah, no, I don't actually use those sorts of things. IPMI shouldn't be used lightly. It is generally the wrench you go hitting things with when things have gone catastrophically.... or fun to have when you're setting up initially. Either way I've never actually needed to use an IPMI app from mobile.

 

[Sir.Robin]

IPMI touch seems like a nice app for monitoring your hardware remotely... in my case for home use. Power, temp an fan status straight into your mobile device :)

 

[leenux_tux]

Sir Robin,

Apologies for "butting in" on this and I know your asking about the X10 series.

I have recently moved from two separate freenas systems (one master, one backup) to a single system, based around the X9SCL+-F motherboard, and it's an excellent piece of kit, well worth a look if your in the market for a Supermicro MoBo.

Details....

• 3 NICS, 2 Intel and 1 Realtek reserved for IPMI
• Up to 32GB ECC RAM
• 6 X SATA
• 2 X (x8) PCI-E
• 1 X (x4) PCI-E
• USB connection directly on the motherboard so you don't have to bother with extra cables or having a USB drive sticking out the back or out the front.
• Around 6 "fan" power connections so cooling shouldn't be a problem.
• Supports the Xeon series of CPU's (needs a firmware update I think)

More details here
http://www.supermicro.co.uk/products/motherboard/xeon/c202_c204/x9scl_-f.cfm
Leenux_tux

 

[Sir.Robin]

Thanx for the tip, though i'm aware of the X9 series. :)

The X9SCM-F is my pick of those. A bit better spec than the X9SCL and even cheaper (atleast here. Dunno why...).

The X10 are the newest... with Haswell based Xeon and 6x SATA 3.0. Other than that... pretty much the same.
Offcourse, aside from wanting the newest for about the same price... it is nice to have things actually working too ;)

 

[NachoMan77]

Hello, a FreeNAS newbie here...

I just registered to let you know that I just received a X10SLM-F + E3-1230LV3. I just started testing with ESXi 5.1 and a virtualized FreeNAS 9.1.1 with a M1015 in passthrough (flashed in IR mode).

So far, everything is working in ESXi. Had to install VIBs for i210 and i217 NICs, and updated IPMI for proper health monitoring under ESXi. The E3-1230LV3 is amazing. It just sips power (25W TDP, 8 threads). I paired it with a Thermaltake Macho for passive cooling an even under heavy burn in load, it stays cold to the touch.

I will be testing with native FreeNAS (for contingency) during the following days. I'll let you know about NICs and USB 3.0 then.

If I where you, I'll stick with a Haswell board just for future proofing.

N.

 

[Sir.Robin]

Sweet! Looking forward to it!
Please test USB 2.0 ports also!

And thanx for letting me know :)

 

[Dan101]

Hello, a FreeNAS newbie here...

I just registered to let you know that I just received a X10SLM-F + E3-1230LV3. I just started testing with ESXi 5.1 and a virtualized FreeNAS 9.1.1 with a M1015 in passthrough (flashed in IR mode).

I will be testing with native FreeNAS (for contingency) during the following days. I'll let you know about NICs and USB 3.0 then.

If I where you, I'll stick with a Haswell board just for future proofing.

N.

Yes please keep us updated. I'm likely going to go for the same mobo and cpu and running native FreeNAS. Budget allowing, I'll get the 2 items next month.

 

[raidflex]

Hello, a FreeNAS newbie here...

I just registered to let you know that I just received a X10SLM-F + E3-1230LV3. I just started testing with ESXi 5.1 and a virtualized FreeNAS 9.1.1 with a M1015 in passthrough (flashed in IR mode).

So far, everything is working in ESXi. Had to install VIBs for i210 and i217 NICs, and updated IPMI for proper health monitoring under ESXi. The E3-1230LV3 is amazing. It just sips power (25W TDP, 8 threads). I paired it with a Thermaltake Macho for passive cooling an even under heavy burn in load, it stays cold to the touch.

I will be testing with native FreeNAS (for contingency) during the following days. I'll let you know about NICs and USB 3.0 then.

If I where you, I'll stick with a Haswell board just for future proofing.

N.

Which ECC memory did you use for this motherboard?

 

[NachoMan77]

Which ECC memory did you use for this motherboard?

Right now I have 13GB running on this motherboard, in 4 DIMMs as follows:

3 x Crucial CT51272BA1339 (4GB, PC3-10600, 1.5V)
1 x HP H36L Microserver original RAM (1GB, PC3-10600, 1.5V)

As you can imagine these are parts I had from other projects (dead Microserver anyone?)

Waiting on the mail for a 8GB DIMM from Crucial to replace the 1GB stick and get the total RAM (for now) to 20GB. Also this new stick is a 1.35v part. I hope it can coexist peacefully with the other sticks runing @1.5v. Of course the LV part is supposed to run @1.5v as well, but you never know until you try it.

N.

 

[cyberjock]

If it will run at 1.5v you should be okay. If not, you have a problem.. :P

 

[raidflex]

So if I stick with crucial I should be fine? I am looking to put in 2x8GB sticks.

 

[cyberjock]

What do you mean if you stick with crucial? Which crucials? You have several crucial DIMMs. I'm just saying that the voltage thing should be okay if the new stick is 1.35v and the others are 1.5v. It should default to 1.5v and as long as your new stick doesn't have errors and stuff at that voltage all will be good.

 

[raidflex]

I understand the voltage thing. I was referring in general to the purchase of 1.5v Crucial dimms. If any 1066/1333/1600 would be a good option for that particular motherboard. Or should I be looking for a specific crucial dimm matching the memory chips stated on Supermicro's website.