'May'

[GoofyHSK]

Build’s Name: May
Operating System/ Storage Platform: Solaris Express 11 w/ VBox Server 2008R2
CPU: Xeon x3430
Motherboard: Intel S3420GPLC (Grr at no KVM IPMI)
Chassis: Norco RPC-4224
Drives: 160Gb Seagate 7200.4 2.5", 500Gb Seagate 7200.4 2.5", 24x 2Tb Hitachi 5K3000
RAM: 2x 2Gb Kingston 1333MHz DDR3 ECC CL9 DIMM Unbuffered w/TS Intel (Wasn't sure if going with Xeon or not when RAM purchased)
Add-in Cards: 3x IBM M1015 (w/ latest LSI fw)
Power Supply: Corsair HX850
Other Bits: 3x 120mm Noctua, 2x 80mm Noctua, Noctua U9 HSF

Usage Profile: Intended
SickBeard, SABnzbd and CouchPotato
Media storage for rest of house (My desktop = Clarkson, Laptop = Hammond, Family PC, Mums Laptop)
IRC Bouncer
Nagios or similar for Server monitoring and modem/router smtp logging.

Other information…
Still nowhere near configured, haven't even sorted a spot to put it in my room .
Unsure currently whether to continue setting up SE11 w/ 2008r2 guest, or move to SE11 only, or ESXi w/ both OS.
Temporarily set up with 10 drives in z3 - to copy contents from desktop raid for expansion.

 

[unclerunkle]

This sounds similar to where I am at - "still nowhere near configured, haven't even sorted a spot to put it in my room" lol

 

[GoofyHSK]

The other day I half-assed a wooden cradle w/ wheels for the Norco, and shoved it under my bed (after finally getting rid of a spare mattress).
I also got 2x 2x4Gb Crucial 1333 Unbuffered ECC kits for it, since I stole the Kingston for my new HP box.

Decided I'd like to try ESXi setup, likely SE11 + 2008r2 + Ubuntu.

Also, since its under bed and not easily accessible, I've just ordered a Supermicro X8SIA-F to replace the Intel board - pretty much just for KVM over IP facility..
I happen to have a spare x3430 ('free' after a Paypal/Post/Ebay stuff up), so selling that plus the Intel Board should easily pay for the Supermicro with a bit left over

 

[GoofyHSK]

After ordering said X8SIA-F, I thought I'd prep myself for it a do a few searches etc - finding out it wasn't what I needed.
Managed to cancel it (Good seller on ebay).

Thought about the X8SIL-F

But now looking at the X9SCM-F and hopefully a E3-123x
Want to get 4c/8t if I can, really should have gotten that spec in 1156.

 

[ChiefAJ]

...But now looking at the X9SCM-F and hopefully a E3-123x...

Another board to consider is the Tyan S5510GM3NR - much the same as the X9SCM-F except with three well supported Intel 82574L ports. Can't fault the X9SCM-F though, it has worked well for me.

I am also nowhere near finished setting up mine. Completely underestimated how long learning SE11/ESXi would take.

 

[GoofyHSK]

How many SAS cards are you running with it? EDIT: read the consolidated thread
Also whats the 82579LM issue? - just the esxi needing a custom config? or is there a SE issue as well

 

[GoofyHSK]

I assume you sourced your mobo from US as well?

 

[jbraband]

here's the [H] thread regarding the 82579LM NIC on some of the supermicro X9 boards: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1607992

my X9SCM-F, E3-1230 and ESXi 4.1 U1 are all working swimmingly with Chilly's oem.tgz for 82579LM NIC recognition.

my understanding is that its an unsupported NIC by virtue of it being new and therefore it's ID was not included it the default U1 oem.tgz package. Chilly's oem.tgz just tells ESXi to also use driver X for that NIC as well. i.e. it has less to do about being supported and more to do with not being recognized. in terms of the HCL, it is unsupported by virtue of not being recognized.

 

[Patrick]

I was actually very surprised that Windows 7 SP1 did not have the correct Intel 82578LM driver loaded since it, in theory, has the potential to be found on every Sandy Bridge platform.

 

[ChiefAJ]

I assume you sourced your mobo from US as well?

Yes, bought it from Newegg using PriceUSA.

Although I have 3 x BR10i cards plugged in, I am only really using one (only have 6 x HDDs). All passed through to SE11.

I haven't got around to customising ESXi with Chilly's oem.tgz. Process looks complicated.

 

[jbraband]

the only tricky part is getting access to the ESXi hypervisor partitions outside the ESXi environment. I have mine installed on a USB key and all i had to do was use a linux LIVE boot disk, mount the usb drive, copy the modified oem.tgz over, and reboot. i was able to do it remotely with the virtual cdrom and IPMI. i love me some IPMI

if you have it installed to a hard disk, the process should be similar. I understand your statement about it looking complicated, i thought so too when i first saw it. but it was ridiculously easy once i understood it. I can help out if you are still stuck, although i'd have to revisit that forum post to get the details correct

 

[GoofyHSK]

OK,
Fine with non vid cpu,
Custom nic driver for esxi
Performance reduction having a M1015 in the x4 slot?

Guess that's the only thing I need to know before I purchase scm-f

 

[Patrick]

Depends on what you need. I think those x4 slots are PCIe 2.0 which means 500MB/s x4. Unless you are doing huge data analysis or are using 10GbE/ Fibre/ Infiniband that is more data than you can pull from the server.

 

[GoofyHSK]

Teamed 2x Gbe at the most,

Looks like I could order soon , not having love selling the x3430 though

X9SCM-F, < soon
E3-1230 < after interstate trip
2x 2x4Gb Crucial 1333 Unbuffered ECC kits
3x M1015
500Gb OS'
160Gb ZFS OS
Esxi latest > SE11, Ubuntu, 2008r2

 

[ChiefAJ]

...if you have it installed to a hard disk, the process should be similar. I understand your statement about it looking complicated, i thought so too when i first saw it. but it was ridiculously easy once i understood it. I can help out if you are still stuck, although i'd have to revisit that forum post to get the details correct

Thanks for the offer of help. It was pretty easy in the end.

Found a guide and script to do the lifting here. Now I can see both NICs in ESXi.

 

[GoofyHSK]

X9scm-f arrived from HK,
CPU on order , another week at least.

 

[GoofyHSK]

CPU arrived,
1 Noctua U9 HSF Fan clip hits the x16 card, have to sort another mount/ use only one fan/ move cards a slot over,

Decided to swap HX850 for HX650 - so I dont have to buy new psu for desktop

 

[Patrick]

I am only a medium fan of the Noctua coolers. They look nice, and work reasonably well, but in server environments they do make clearance an issue on many boards.

 

[GoofyHSK]

What temps did you see in your e3-1230 review? And which cooler?

 

[GoofyHSK]

Have everything needed to finish this build, except motivation.
Just power cables and a fan cable to do.