SFF Windows server OS certified?

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spyrule

Active Member
mods: Feel free to move this if I'm in the wrong thread...

I'm in the hunt for a decent quality SFF (read: as small as possible), server that is either Windows server 2012 R2/2016 certified (ie: there is server drivers supported), or vmware esxi certified. It does NOT have to be super powerful, as these will only be used as remote office AD/backup dhcp servers for remote offices if vpn links fail.

optimal would be 4 quad core, 16gb of ram, and 250GB SSD is all I really need, budget is $4k CDN for 2 of them.

Thanks in advance!
 

Deslok

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2015
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Stats like that my first suggestion would be something like a lenovo thinkstation P330 tiny since I have a hunch that a 1u server is too big, it doesn't come with any certifications but S2012/2016 will run on it without a hitch. HPE has the HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 but the configuration options kind of suck, dell doesn't really have anything either that small i'm aware of as far as the major vendors go
 

Deslok

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Jul 15, 2015
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the smallest possible box with such hardware I think would be Intel NUC. It's also not certified by VMware/Microsoft. But William Lam who's Sr VMWare Architect does provide somewhat unofficial (but very detailed and useful) support for Intel NUCs:
Intel NUC
specifically here:
Update on running ESXi on Intel NUC Hades Canyon (NUC8i7HNK & NUC8i7HVK)
You'd take a NUC over a P330? I'd think that the quadros would play nicer with typical server installs than RXvega M
 

BoredSysadmin

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Mar 2, 2019
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You'd take a NUC over a P330? I'd think that the quadros would play nicer with typical server installs than RXvega M
P330 is a more or less real server. Installing ESXi on NUC is more of a lab project, but my point is it could work. If it works for Lam, it would work for OP. As for video card drivers for server, I'm not terribly concerned, you could even pass-throu it to guest-vm (win10 or 2019)
https://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2019/01/gpu-passthrough-of-radeon-rx-vega-m-in-intel-hades-canyon.html
 

Deslok

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Jul 15, 2015
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P330 is a more or less real server. Installing ESXi on NUC is more of a lab project, but my point is it could work. If it works for Lam, it would work for OP. As for video card drivers for server, I'm not terribly concerned, you could even pass-throu it to guest-vm (win10 or 2019)
https://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2019/01/gpu-passthrough-of-radeon-rx-vega-m-in-intel-hades-canyon.html
Huh, looks like it's fussy to say the least. Keep in mind I suggested the P330 tiny, I still can't believe they cram as much as they do into it(nvme raid as an option) I do wish it supported ecc memory though
 

BoredSysadmin

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Mar 2, 2019
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Huh, looks like it's fussy to say the least. Keep in mind I suggested the P330 tiny, I still can't believe they cram as much as they do into it(nvme raid as an option) I do wish it supported ecc memory though
hmm, ok, so I've missed the tiny part (pun intended), but looking over the Tiny specs I see a regular desktop spec with low power desktop CPU. Yes, it's small per OP suggestions, but what makes a better candidate than nuc?
P330 SFF on the other hand with Xeon CPU, ECC RAM, and more budget-friendly SATA raid, I350-t2 or 5g NICs is much closer to server/workstation class
 

Deslok

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Jul 15, 2015
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hmm, ok, so I've missed the tiny part (pun intended), but looking over the Tiny specs I see a regular desktop spec with low power desktop CPU. Yes, it's small per OP suggestions, but what makes a better candidate than nuc?
P330 SFF on the other hand with Xeon CPU, ECC RAM, and more budget-friendly SATA raid, I350-t2 or 5g NICs is much closer to server/workstation class
You're right the SFF would be "better" in a more traditional sense and still not huge along with the option to add some network cards fairly easily even up to 10G for cheap if you hit ebay for a connectx 3. Another option that just saw go past in an ad is that HP has is the Z2 mini G4 although i'm not a huge fan of HP myself.
 

Netwerkz101

Active Member
Dec 27, 2015
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These Supermicro Systems:

X11
===
SYS-5019D-4C-FN8TP
(or smaller = E300-9D-4CN8TP)


Older generation - still capable

X10
===
SYS-5018D-FN8T
(or smaller = E300-8D)
 
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spyrule

Active Member
So in the end, I ended up buy a set of SuperMicro SYS-5019S-L servers with E3-1225v6 CPUs. I should have baught the 5019S-ML for having m.2 on the motherboard, but the cost difference wasn't worth it. I puchased 2 $15 pcie to M.2 cards (these are super low profile, don't even have a bracket, but fit nicely in the supermicro 1U half case).