Dell C6100 XS23-TY3 2U 4-Node (8 CPU) Cloud Server

[s0lid]

I'll make new thread about turning C6100 node into workstation later tonight, just so it stays cleaner and on the track.
Ought to dig out the front panel connectors pinout somehow, it most likely tells the psu backplane to turn +12V on for invidual node, also power button would be nice even you've got one at the back.

 

[jared]

I am curious if anyone has figured out how to prevent the servers from starting up randomly throughout the day.

I understand the delayed start when applying power initially...but..I am referring to running one node...then anywhere from 6 to 9 hours later the other nodes start turning themselves on.

I go to bed with 1 node running, wake up with all 4 running.....no need to have these other nodes running all the time.

I didnt see anything in the BIOS...unless im blind, and I cant find anything on the remote management console either?

very Odd...

 

[dba]

I am curious if anyone has figured out how to prevent the servers from starting up randomly throughout the day.

I understand the delayed start when applying power initially...but..I am referring to running one node...then anywhere from 6 to 9 hours later the other nodes start turning themselves on.

I go to bed with 1 node running, wake up with all 4 running.....no need to have these other nodes running all the time.

I didnt see anything in the BIOS...unless im blind, and I cant find anything on the remote management console either?

very Odd...

Try this: In the BIOS, there is a setting that determines whether or not the MOBO boots when the power is turned on - I forget the exact name. Turn off the auto-boot and you problem may disappear.

 

[jared]

Try this: In the BIOS, there is a setting that determines whether or not the MOBO boots when the power is turned on - I forget the exact name. Turn off the auto-boot and you problem may disappear.

Good greif... i should have known better, I saw that, but I wasn't thinking straight.

I figured this was for the case of unintentional power offs....not constantly powering down a node manually only to have it turn back on 5 hours later .
Haha =)

Ill give that a shot.
Thanks dba
--
jared

 

[dba]

Good greif... i should have known better, I saw that, but I wasn't thinking straight.

I figured this was for the case of unintentional power offs....not constantly powering down a node manually only to have it turn back on 5 hours later .
Haha =)

Ill give that a shot.
Thanks dba
--
jared

That is it's purpose, but I found that my lab nodes had an unwanted auto-start behavior when it was turned on.

 

[jared]

Ok , seems I have the autostart turned off, Thank you dba.


Anyone ever see a 70h error before?
Right after I changed the bios in my unwanted nodes to not autostart, I seem to have produced "E/R Type Code : 70h - Asserted" from the bios event log in my running node some how?

Event ID Time Stamp Sensor Name Sensor Type Description
4 09/19/2013 13:06:37 Unknown OEM RESERVED E/R Type Code : 70h - Asserted

Been looking all over the web as well as Dell manuals, not seeing what would bring up the power light to flash orange and this error to show?

Once I closed all my hosts down, and power cycled the C6100, everything kind of cleared up. So i don't think its a major issue...I will respond later if it keeps popping up though.

I am sure it will be fine though.

Thanks
--
jared

 

[TheThirdMan]

Hey c6100 owners!

I'm thinking of getting one of these (with L5639s) for 3d rendering. I would just get 4 120gb SSDs and 4 win7pro licenses for them. Anything I need to be aware of if I'm setting them up like this?

 

[MiniKnight]

Hey c6100 owners!

I'm thinking of getting one of these (with L5639s) for 3d rendering. I would just get 4 120gb SSDs and 4 win7pro licenses for them. Anything I need to be aware of if I'm setting them up like this?

That will be fine. Only thing to consider is that if you have these pegged at 100% CPU as a render farm they are going to run noisy like any rackmount system will.

 

[TheThirdMan]

Thanks for the reply. Do you think an acoustic rack cabinet would help much?

 

[Clownius]

I can hear mine not even spun up much through a brick wall with a solid wood door...... All 4 servers are near idle.

 

[jlmcfarl1575]

Hello All,

This is a great forum. I am running a C6100 at home for my VM lab. I am trying to setup an unused node with FreeNAS. This installs just fine, but the bios nor FreeNAS can see the two 1Tb WD Red drives I purchased. Tried them in an old desktop with FreeNAS and it worked fine. The old desktop is not an option since I use it to test PXE boot images.

My C6100 is a standard setup that most are puchasing through Ebay with 12 3.5" drives. I updated all the BIOS and BMC firmware without issue. Any help is appreciated.

Jimbo

 

[MiniKnight]

What are you running the controller as (IDE)? Also, did you double-check the cabling to ensure you are connected to the right node/ drive slot?

 

[jlmcfarl1575]

I was running ACHI. And all the drive slots for that node(4) have been tested. Have same issue with another node(2) and the same drives, but other standard WD drives are identified just fine.

 

[Jeggs101]

Never seen this before. So it is just 2 WD Red drives? I think there are a lot of people that use the WD Red drives in Dell C6100's without issues.

 

[jlmcfarl1575]

Yeah, I didn't expect it. If I put them in my W2K8/ADDC node (hot) they pop right up in device manager with no issues, but booting with BIOS they are not there.

 

[jlmcfarl1575]

Yeah, I didn't expect it. If I put them in my W2K8/ADDC node (hot) they pop right up in device manager with no issues, but booting with BIOS they are not there.

Well, I fixed it. Had to take down my servers and pull the plug, but the WD Reds and NAS are up. Thanks.

 

[Fzdog2]

Has anybody tried ESXi 5.5 out yet?

One of my nodes is having trouble booting past the ipmi_si_drv module. At first, the install went fine but the third time booting after that it is stuck. And now even the 5.5 installer is stuck loading at this point.

 

[doofoo]

Has anybody tried ESXi 5.5 out yet?

One of my nodes is having trouble booting past the ipmi_si_drv module. At first, the install went fine but the third time booting after that it is stuck. And now even the 5.5 installer is stuck loading at this point.

I have installed on 2 of my nodes so far. 1 installed quickly, the other appeared to get hung during install but I left and came back and it had finished. Both boot into 5.5 fine, no issues running it so far.

 

[Fzdog2]

I have installed on 2 of my nodes so far. 1 installed quickly, the other appeared to get hung during install but I left and came back and it had finished. Both boot into 5.5 fine, no issues running it so far.

Yeah, my other 3 nodes are fine.

EDIT:
Guess I spoke too soon, now 2 nodes are having trouble.

 

[Fzdog2]

Just an update, I installed the 1.33 BMC update and the problem has gone away.