Mobo: SuperMicro X8SIL-F (micro-ATX)
Processor: Xeon L3426 or X3450 ???
Memory: Kingston KVR1333D3Q8R9S/4G (two sticks for 8 GB total)
Graphics: Nvidia GFX 460 (many choices & only needed for LINUX/WIN desktop configuration, but not server config)
Monitor: NEC 27" PA271W-BK (2560x1440 pixels)
HD OS storage: Two 60 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSDs & One 2TB WD Black (trayless SATA for two 2.5" SDDs JBOD & one 3.5" bay for 2TB HD OS drives)
HD Data storage: 4-5 2TB drives: WD Green 2TB and/or Samsung F4/F3 (in RAID 5 I plan to use 4 identical drives)
RAID controller card: HighPoint RocketRAID 2720 (as needed in JBOD or RAID or not used at all, with VAIL DE gone RAID 5 may be best choice but unclear)
Enclosure: Antec P180 (micro/mini-itx); unclear on the number of fans I will turn on or undervolt.
PS: Seasonic X series 400W SS-400FL (fanless)
CPU Cooler: Noctua U12P SE2 (fanless or undervolted - to be determined)
OS of Interest: FreeNAS, Ubuntu Server/Desktop, WHS VAIL, Nextensa, FreeBSD, WIN 7...SnowLeopard?
Already Purchased Components: Seasonic PS, NEC Monitor, HighPoint RAID card, Antex P180 enclosure, Samsung/WD 2TB drives, (Intel mini-ITX DH57JG mobo as an alternative to X8SIL for now).
I am considering a SuperMicro X8SIL-F build as Patrick has given it high marks and as the 8 or so OSs he tested installed without a hitch. The main purpose of the sytem will be to store ~8TB of multimedia (movies, audio, books, pics...) as well as serve as a test rig to experiment with different server OS such as FreeNAS, Ubuntu Server, Nextensa, as well as Linux Ubuntu desktop (web browing, movie editing/conversion, file copying to QNAP 459 Pro+ NAS). I will make use of trayless SATA to swap-in different drives containg differnent OSs as I am not a great fan of installing different OS on the same drive.
I have several questions regarding obsoleteness, graphics and processor choice of my build.
1) OBSOLETENSS: With Sandy Bridge processors now becoming available (for comsumer PCs) and new 8-core Xeons on the horizon in the 2nd half of '11, how quickly will my build become obsolete within the next 6-8 months as I will be traveling a lot in the next 6 months and won't have much time to experiment with different OS until mid summer? I currenlty have an Intel DH57JG mini-itx that I could use for the above puprose but the integrated Intel NIC controller seems non-standard as neither VAIL nor FreeNAS recognized it, but I found work arounds through forums. Am I better off waiting 6-8 months & just continue going with my DH57JG for the next 6 months or purchase the X8SIL now?
2) GRAPHICS: The X8SIL-F only has X8 PCIe slots while todays's graphics cards such as NVIDIA GXF 460 are X12 based. I believe, the X8SIL has open X8 slots so an X12 graphics card can fit & work in X8 mode. I am not into gaming but will be using an NEC 27" 2560x1440 LCD and video editing may be in the cards. Will the X8 slot significantly degrade performance? I only saw an AMD CrossFire review with one card in X16 and the other in X8 and there was no measurable performance hit in gaming mode. If I had to guess the X8 slot will be good enough of what I want to accomplish, but any comments are welcome as I am not that sure.
3) PROCESSOR CHOICE: Also, one of the build objectives is to minimize power consumption and noise. I am not sure whether the L3426 at 45 W is a good choise compared the Xeon X3425 (95W) as idle power is really the main metric for an NAS server and not TDP. Any advice would be appreciated as the L3426 seems pretty expensive and I have yet to find a review on the "L" processor. Also, is undervolting the Xeon X3425 to conserve power an option with that MoBo?
The final goal is to retire the X8SIL system as an NAS sever for the next 3-4 years (within the next 8-10 months -- with the sever OS still to be determined) and graphics card & perhaps RAID RocketRAID card? removed as it consumes power & a graphics card serving no purpose in the server configuraton.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kurt
Processor: Xeon L3426 or X3450 ???
Memory: Kingston KVR1333D3Q8R9S/4G (two sticks for 8 GB total)
Graphics: Nvidia GFX 460 (many choices & only needed for LINUX/WIN desktop configuration, but not server config)
Monitor: NEC 27" PA271W-BK (2560x1440 pixels)
HD OS storage: Two 60 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSDs & One 2TB WD Black (trayless SATA for two 2.5" SDDs JBOD & one 3.5" bay for 2TB HD OS drives)
HD Data storage: 4-5 2TB drives: WD Green 2TB and/or Samsung F4/F3 (in RAID 5 I plan to use 4 identical drives)
RAID controller card: HighPoint RocketRAID 2720 (as needed in JBOD or RAID or not used at all, with VAIL DE gone RAID 5 may be best choice but unclear)
Enclosure: Antec P180 (micro/mini-itx); unclear on the number of fans I will turn on or undervolt.
PS: Seasonic X series 400W SS-400FL (fanless)
CPU Cooler: Noctua U12P SE2 (fanless or undervolted - to be determined)
OS of Interest: FreeNAS, Ubuntu Server/Desktop, WHS VAIL, Nextensa, FreeBSD, WIN 7...SnowLeopard?
Already Purchased Components: Seasonic PS, NEC Monitor, HighPoint RAID card, Antex P180 enclosure, Samsung/WD 2TB drives, (Intel mini-ITX DH57JG mobo as an alternative to X8SIL for now).
I am considering a SuperMicro X8SIL-F build as Patrick has given it high marks and as the 8 or so OSs he tested installed without a hitch. The main purpose of the sytem will be to store ~8TB of multimedia (movies, audio, books, pics...) as well as serve as a test rig to experiment with different server OS such as FreeNAS, Ubuntu Server, Nextensa, as well as Linux Ubuntu desktop (web browing, movie editing/conversion, file copying to QNAP 459 Pro+ NAS). I will make use of trayless SATA to swap-in different drives containg differnent OSs as I am not a great fan of installing different OS on the same drive.
I have several questions regarding obsoleteness, graphics and processor choice of my build.
1) OBSOLETENSS: With Sandy Bridge processors now becoming available (for comsumer PCs) and new 8-core Xeons on the horizon in the 2nd half of '11, how quickly will my build become obsolete within the next 6-8 months as I will be traveling a lot in the next 6 months and won't have much time to experiment with different OS until mid summer? I currenlty have an Intel DH57JG mini-itx that I could use for the above puprose but the integrated Intel NIC controller seems non-standard as neither VAIL nor FreeNAS recognized it, but I found work arounds through forums. Am I better off waiting 6-8 months & just continue going with my DH57JG for the next 6 months or purchase the X8SIL now?
2) GRAPHICS: The X8SIL-F only has X8 PCIe slots while todays's graphics cards such as NVIDIA GXF 460 are X12 based. I believe, the X8SIL has open X8 slots so an X12 graphics card can fit & work in X8 mode. I am not into gaming but will be using an NEC 27" 2560x1440 LCD and video editing may be in the cards. Will the X8 slot significantly degrade performance? I only saw an AMD CrossFire review with one card in X16 and the other in X8 and there was no measurable performance hit in gaming mode. If I had to guess the X8 slot will be good enough of what I want to accomplish, but any comments are welcome as I am not that sure.
3) PROCESSOR CHOICE: Also, one of the build objectives is to minimize power consumption and noise. I am not sure whether the L3426 at 45 W is a good choise compared the Xeon X3425 (95W) as idle power is really the main metric for an NAS server and not TDP. Any advice would be appreciated as the L3426 seems pretty expensive and I have yet to find a review on the "L" processor. Also, is undervolting the Xeon X3425 to conserve power an option with that MoBo?
The final goal is to retire the X8SIL system as an NAS sever for the next 3-4 years (within the next 8-10 months -- with the sever OS still to be determined) and graphics card & perhaps RAID RocketRAID card? removed as it consumes power & a graphics card serving no purpose in the server configuraton.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kurt