HPE EC200A Xeon D-1518 'hybrid server' on ebay ~$150

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tritron

Member
Jan 15, 2020
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How is experience with this ? Can this run esxi and pfsense and few other servers with 16gb of ram ?
 
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nev_neo

Active Member
Jul 31, 2013
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Its a pretty capable little machine. Can definitely run a small cluster of them. Would be even better if you can find the network card add-in for it.
 
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tn00364361

New Member
Mar 11, 2021
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Spelling mistake in first paragraph * unsure if they where ever deployed outside of

the disk extension thing is also maxed at 24TB but there was a trick to make it go higher. Also pins you see is some weird way HPE decided to make a pcie port ( yes that’s a pcie port with a completely different connector ) as there were many other things you could plug into it,graphics chips,usb extensions wifi modules network cards, only the network cards made it outside of zynstra

answer to someone else’s question about the Windows is that when the customer finished there contract and had ownership of the box we would supply them with the admin password for the bios and the crack to get windows on it, we would always hold on to these to ensure they didn’t use it for something else.
The software if you do get your hands on it needs to be firewalled off as it auto calls home the moment you boot and does a whole lotta other things, but you can get it with out my help ( pretty sure it got leaked a while ago )
Can anyone either confirm or disapprove the last part regarding calling home?
 
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chereszabor

New Member
Jul 3, 2020
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I've already made a few comments on this already. But I'll make more of a list of findings so far. In hopes others have ideas or ideas to add:

The fan is a Delta FFB0412UHN-SP4Z (FFB0412UHN-SP4Z) Which has the 4 pin wire info.
The connector on the board looks like a 4 pin JST connector. I did not want to bother trying to find the right one. So instead I cut the wires from the board to the fan and inserted normal PC fan headers.
The pin out is not the normal PC fan layout. The normal 12v PWM pin out is this: https://noctua.at/pub/media/wysiwyg/faqs/noctua_pin_configuration_12v_fans.png
Delta uses different colours. Which can be seen in the PDF for the fan or here: Pulse-Width Modulation - PWM - Technology
So I swapped the wires around to the normal PC Fan PWM pinout. And did the reverse on the original fan. So i could always just plug the old fan back in.

Wire swap to convert to a normal header:

EC200a - Fuction - Noctua colours
Black -> Ground -> Black
Yellow -> PWM Signal -> Blue
Blue -> PWM Tach -> Green
Red -> +12v Power -> Yellow

So with a bit of soldering and/or adding new headers. You get a normal PWM header coming off the board. But if you then plug in another fan. iLO will complain and say "No Fan is connected" preventing the system from booting.

My guess is iLO checks the PWM tach to get a RPM from the fan. And since the Delta fan spins a a lot higher RPM than any fan we would want to replace it with. iLO sees that low RPM as a fan simply not connected.

What I want to try to do, is sending a fake PWM tach back to iLO. Which I think can be done fairly simple with a PWM Signal Pulse Generator (This or similar: Amazon.com: Pulse Generator, DROK 2pcs LCD Display PWM Frequency 1Hz-150kHz Duty Ratio 0-100 Percent Adjustable Square Wave Rectangular Wave Signal Generator Board: Home Audio & Theater) From the pdf of the original fan it seems the PWM control signal runs at a preferred 25k hz. So setting that along with a duty cycle. Might trick iLO into thinking a fan is attached. Now how this will impact PWM usage on a replacement fan. I don't know. My plan was just to run the fans at full speed or a little less., turned down by normal fan controller.

I should also add. That I don't think a drop in replacement 40mm fan is enough to cool the chip on its own. I wanted to put in a Noctua NF-A4x20 40mm (Which is not as thick as the Delta. but does fit otherwise) And cut a hole in the lid of the case. Above the headsink the 40mm is on. To then have a Noctua NF-A8 80mm blowing in fresh air on both the heatsink and help cool the drives in the box out as well.
The default setup in the EC200a is just the single (loud) fan sucking in air from the other side of the server, across the drivebays and out the case. That is ask a lot of a 40mm fan. Which is likely why it can go to 23000 RPM and ~60db.
I tried doing the same rewiring job as you, attaching a standard 4-pin fan connector as a replacement for the default fan and tested a few different fan option.

Fans Tested:
  • Delta FFB0412UHN - DB6R - Default fan for EC200a
  • Delta FFB0412SHN - 9C72 - Supermicro version
  • Delta FFB0412SHN - TYSA - From Aruba S2500 Switch
  • Noctua NF-a4x20
Observations
  • The delta fan used in HP and Aruba have swapped wire positions for the yellow and blue wires, i.e if the regular PWM wires use GND, +12, Sense, PWM Signal; The fans in HP and Aruba use GND, +12, Signal, Sense, (so the colors are messed up)
  • All Delta fans work in the HP, the -TYSA works Out of the box, while the -9C72 with the sense and signal wires swapped positions
  • The -TYSA and -9C72 ran at much higher speed (noise) then the original HP fan, while still reporting ~15% "Speed" in iLO, my guess is that the system doesn't really use the Tach to calculate the duty cycle of the fan
  • Noctua fan failed no matter what configuration I used
  • I also measured the resistance of all the wires in the fans, in my case, the fan in the HP had a resistance of 20kOhms between GND and PWM Signal, while the other fans were closer to 10 - 15 kOhms
  • There is also a different spin-up profile for the different fans, the default HP fan ramps up slowly, while the other fans kick on this high and then slow down

Questions: Is there a way to "recalibrate" the fan profile through IPMItools or other means? It looks like the system assumed the exact parameters of the fan which cause it to throw up errors with anything else installed.
 
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duckduck

Member
Aug 22, 2016
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I tried doing the same rewiring job as you, attaching a standard 4-pin fan connector as a replacement for the default fan and tested a few different fan option.

Fans Tested:
  • Delta FFB0412UHN - DB6R - Default fan for EC200a
  • Delta FFB0412SHN - 9C72 - Supermicro version
  • Delta FFB0412SHN - TYSA - From Aruba S2500 Switch
  • Noctua NF-a4x20
Observations
  • The delta fan used in HP and Aruba have swapped wire positions for the yellow and blue wires, i.e if the regular PWM wires use GND, +12, Sense, PWM Signal; The fans in HP and Aruba use GND, +12, Signal, Sense, (so the colors are messed up)
  • All Delta fans work in the HP, the -TYSA works Out of the box, while the -9C72 with the sense and signal wires swapped positions
  • The -TYSA and -9C72 ran at much higher speed (noise) then the original HP fan, while still reporting ~15% "Speed" in iLO, my guess is that the system doesn't really use the Tach to calculate the duty cycle of the fan
  • Noctua fan failed no matter what configuration I used
  • I also measured the resistance of all the wires in the fans, in my case, the fan in the HP had a resistance of 20kOhms between GND and PWM Signal, while the other fans were closer to 10 - 15 kOhms
  • There is also a different spin-up profile for the different fans, the default HP fan ramps up slowly, while the other fans kick on this high and then slow down

Questions: Is there a way to "recalibrate" the fan profile through IPMItools or other means? It looks like the system assumed the exact parameters of the fan which cause it to throw up errors with anything else installed.
Seems you got further with it than I did.

I only ever really wanted to use the Noctua NF-A4x20 on the CPU. And had that worked, Then cut a hole in the top cover and put another fan as intake to help both the CPU and give the drives some fresh air. But as I wrote in my post. I had no luck with the PWM Signal Generator and the Noctua Fan.

Since the use I had for the box, would be fairly low CPU usage. I hoped I could make it quieter. When that didn't work out. I put the original Delta Fan back in and didn't end up using the box.

I also don't personally think I'll go for such a custom server again. I did get this pretty cheap, like others in the thread did. So I don't mind too much having it just laying around right now. For me the space saved with this small of a foot print server. Isn't worth it for the hassle that can come with doing anything on it yourself. First HP server I had as well. So I didn't think something as simple as changing a fan, could have caused any issue at all. I would even happily have disabled all of the IPMI to get it working. But that doesn't seem like an option either.

In any case, best of luck figuring out a solution for your setup, that you're happy with.
 

maze

Active Member
Apr 27, 2013
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Did anyone find any of these in Europe by any chance? Seem like a nice setup for a 3 unit lab setup
 
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tn00364361

New Member
Mar 11, 2021
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In case if any is interested, here's the IOMMU group of EC200a:

Code:
IOMMU Group 0:
        ff:0b.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D R3 QPI Link 0/1 [8086:6f81] (rev 03)
        ff:0b.1 Performance counters [1101]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D R3 QPI Link 0/1 [8086:6f36] (rev 03)
        ff:0b.2 Performance counters [1101]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D R3 QPI Link 0/1 [8086:6f37] (rev 03)
        ff:0b.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D R3 QPI Link Debug [8086:6f76] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 1:
        ff:0c.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6fe0] (rev 03)
        ff:0c.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6fe1] (rev 03)
        ff:0c.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6fe2] (rev 03)
        ff:0c.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6fe3] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 2:
        ff:0f.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6ff8] (rev 03)
        ff:0f.4 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6ffc] (rev 03)
        ff:0f.5 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6ffd] (rev 03)
        ff:0f.6 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Caching Agent [8086:6ffe] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 3:
        ff:10.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D R2PCIe Agent [8086:6f1d] (rev 03)
        ff:10.1 Performance counters [1101]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D R2PCIe Agent [8086:6f34] (rev 03)
        ff:10.5 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Ubox [8086:6f1e] (rev 03)
        ff:10.6 Performance counters [1101]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Ubox [8086:6f7d] (rev 03)
        ff:10.7 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Ubox [8086:6f1f] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 4:
        ff:12.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Home Agent 0 [8086:6fa0] (rev 03)
        ff:12.1 Performance counters [1101]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Home Agent 0 [8086:6f30] (rev 03)
        ff:12.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Home Agent 0 Debug [8086:6f70] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 5:
        ff:13.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Target Address/Thermal/RAS [8086:6fa8] (rev 03)
        ff:13.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Target Address/Thermal/RAS [8086:6f71] (rev 03)
        ff:13.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel Target Address Decoder [8086:6faa] (rev 03)
        ff:13.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel Target Address Decoder [8086:6fab] (rev 03)
        ff:13.4 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel Target Address Decoder [8086:6fac] (rev 03)
        ff:13.5 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel Target Address Decoder [8086:6fad] (rev 03)
        ff:13.6 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DDRIO Channel 0/1 Broadcast [8086:6fae] (rev 03)
        ff:13.7 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DDRIO Global Broadcast [8086:6faf] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 6:
        ff:14.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 0 Thermal Control [8086:6fb0] (rev 03)
        ff:14.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 1 Thermal Control [8086:6fb1] (rev 03)
        ff:14.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 0 Error [8086:6fb2] (rev 03)
        ff:14.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 1 Error [8086:6fb3] (rev 03)
        ff:14.4 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DDRIO Channel 0/1 Interface [8086:6fbc] (rev 03)
        ff:14.5 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DDRIO Channel 0/1 Interface [8086:6fbd] (rev 03)
        ff:14.6 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DDRIO Channel 0/1 Interface [8086:6fbe] (rev 03)
        ff:14.7 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DDRIO Channel 0/1 Interface [8086:6fbf] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 7:
        ff:15.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 2 Thermal Control [8086:6fb4] (rev 03)
        ff:15.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 3 Thermal Control [8086:6fb5] (rev 03)
        ff:15.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 2 Error [8086:6fb6] (rev 03)
        ff:15.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Memory Controller 0 - Channel 3 Error [8086:6fb7] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 8:
        ff:1e.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Power Control Unit [8086:6f98] (rev 03)
        ff:1e.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Power Control Unit [8086:6f99] (rev 03)
        ff:1e.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Power Control Unit [8086:6f9a] (rev 03)
        ff:1e.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Power Control Unit [8086:6fc0] (rev 03)
        ff:1e.4 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Power Control Unit [8086:6f9c] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 9:
        ff:1f.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Power Control Unit [8086:6f88] (rev 03)
        ff:1f.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Power Control Unit [8086:6f8a] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 10:
        00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DMI2 [8086:6f00] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 11:
        00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:6f02] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 12:
        00:01.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:6f03] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 13:
        00:02.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:6f04] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 14:
        00:02.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:6f05] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 15:
        00:02.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:6f06] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 16:
        00:02.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:6f07] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 17:
        00:03.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:6f08] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 18:
        00:03.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:6f09] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 19:
        00:03.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:6f0a] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 20:
        00:03.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:6f0b] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 21:
        00:05.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Map/VTd_Misc/System Management [8086:6f28] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 22:
        00:05.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D IIO Hot Plug [8086:6f29] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 23:
        00:05.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D IIO RAS/Control Status/Global Errors [8086:6f2a] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 24:
        00:05.4 PIC [0800]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D I/O APIC [8086:6f2c] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 25:
        00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI [8086:8c31] (rev 05)
IOMMU Group 26:
        00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #1 [8086:8c10] (rev d5)
IOMMU Group 27:
        00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #3 [8086:8c14] (rev d5)
IOMMU Group 28:
        00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #5 [8086:8c18] (rev d5)
IOMMU Group 29:
        00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #1 [8086:8c26] (rev 05)
IOMMU Group 30:
        00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation C224 Series Chipset Family Server Standard SKU LPC Controller [8086:8c54] (rev 05)
        00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] [8086:8c02] (rev 05)
        00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller [8086:8c22] (rev 05)
        00:1f.6 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation 8 Series Chipset Family Thermal Management Controller [8086:8c24] (rev 05)
IOMMU Group 31:
        08:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection [8086:1521] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 32:
        08:00.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection [8086:1521] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 33:
        04:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon Processor D Family QuickData Technology Register DMA Channel 0 [8086:6f50]
        04:00.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon Processor D Family QuickData Technology Register DMA Channel 1 [8086:6f51]
        04:00.2 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon Processor D Family QuickData Technology Register DMA Channel 2 [8086:6f52]
        04:00.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon Processor D Family QuickData Technology Register DMA Channel 3 [8086:6f53]
IOMMU Group 34:
        01:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: Hewlett-Packard Company Integrated Lights-Out Standard Slave Instrumentation & System Support [103c:3306] (rev 06)
        01:00.1 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Matrox Electronics Systems Ltd. MGA G200EH [102b:0533] (rev 01)
        01:00.2 System peripheral [0880]: Hewlett-Packard Company Integrated Lights-Out Standard Management Processor Support and Messaging [103c:3307] (rev 06)
        01:00.4 USB controller [0c03]: Hewlett-Packard Company Integrated Lights-Out Standard Virtual USB Controller [103c:3300] (rev 03)
IOMMU Group 35:
        08:10.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 36:
        08:10.4 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 37:
        08:11.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 38:
        08:11.4 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 39:
        08:12.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 40:
        08:12.4 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 41:
        08:13.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 42:
        08:10.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 43:
        08:10.5 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 44:
        08:11.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 45:
        08:11.5 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 46:
        08:12.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 47:
        08:12.5 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
IOMMU Group 48:
        08:13.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function [8086:1520] (rev 01)
Note that the NICs are identified as Intel I350, and each of them can have at most 7 VFs.
 
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cathrine484

New Member
Feb 28, 2021
5
5
1
Anyone know of a better way to cool these things? I keep 2 in my closet and they are a little loud. I repasted and am looking at replacement fans but all the ones I've found seem to be louder with more airflow. I am also looking at potential heatsink replacements but am not really sure where to start. Any ideas?
 
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nev_neo

Active Member
Jul 31, 2013
157
44
28
Anyone know of a better way to cool these things? I keep 2 in my closet and they are a little loud. I repasted and am looking at replacement fans but all the ones I've found seem to be louder with more airflow. I am also looking at potential heatsink replacements but am not really sure where to start. Any ideas?
I dont think these heatsinks can be replaced - the formfactor is too niche to be able to make one. You could try taking it apart and making a custom water cooling loop. I've found that its a whole lot quieter if they arent loaded with 3.5" drives, as those will impede airflow.
 
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cathrine484

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Feb 28, 2021
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The fan goes full jet engine at max speed. So I'm trying to swap in another fan. But since that won't be enough by itself then. I'll cut open the cover to have a big fan blowing fresh air in from the top. But first I need to fool iLO's PWM tach reading I believe. Otherwise just says no fan connected.
Did you ever end up doing this? Trying to make mine as quiet as possible as it is quite close to my desk.
 
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Rubenel

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Nov 30, 2020
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Not sure if I should post this so early in the stages. But here is it anyways.
40mm Noctua Fan at heat sink.
Off brand 40mm fans blowing into case.
Original fan outside of the server, which will be placed on rubber mounts to minimize vibrations.
Initial testing show all heat map Temps within range of original fan.
(2) 2.5" 5TB drives - Costco Specials.
Still in work in progress.
 

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cathrine484

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Feb 28, 2021
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Not sure if I should post this so early in the stages. But here is it anyways.
40mm Noctua Fan at heat sink.
Off brand 40mm fans blowing into case.
Original fan outside of the server, which will be placed on rubber mounts to minimize vibrations.
Initial testing show all heat map Temps within range of original fan.
(2) 2.5" 5TB drives - Costco Specials.
Still in work in progress.
Which noctua fan did you go for for the heatsink fan. I've only found a 40x20mm version which seems like it would be fine with another fan jammed in there. Also are you just powering these by usb and just having them on 100% or do you have some way of using pwm for them? Appreciate the reply!
 
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Rubenel

New Member
Nov 30, 2020
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Which noctua fan did you go for for the heatsink fan. I've only found a 40x20mm version which seems like it would be fine with another fan jammed in there. Also are you just powering these by usb and just having them on 100% or do you have some way of using pwm for them? Appreciate the reply!
Noctua NF-A4X20 FLX
I cut the existing shroud of the fan to make up for the space as the Noctua isn't to size.
Also, the speed is fixed at 100% fan speed on the Noctua and generic black fans at 32dB.
The original fan is still in circuit as I need the system to boot, but it's very well balanced and silent once the plastic fan is removed and only the metal drum is remaining.
Under light load, ESXi, with one VM, the heat thermals remained the same as with the original fan.
 
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cathrine484

New Member
Feb 28, 2021
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Noctua NF-A4X20 FLX
I cut the existing shroud of the fan to make up for the space as the Noctua isn't to size.
Also, the speed is fixed at 100% fan speed on the Noctua and generic black fans at 32dB.
The original fan is still in circuit as I need the system to boot, but it's very well balanced and silent once the plastic fan is removed and only the metal drum is remaining.
Under light load, ESXi, with one VM, the heat thermals remained the same as with the original fan.
Settled on this cooling system. Works well so far.
 

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3xplicit

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Mar 18, 2021
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Just picked up this guy...seems to be running okay. Would anyone be kind enough to share the latest BIOS firmware update if they have the access to it?
 
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