Low power, quiet motherboard/cpu for domain controller

[cthulolz]

I'm looking for motherboard and CPU to base a low power, quiet, and hopefully cheapish, AD domain controller around for my home lab. Known compatibility with Windows 2012 R2 would be icing on the cake. I've been looking at Celeron J1900 based boards, but I'm not sure I like the Realtek NICs they are usually paired with, although I could solve that with an add-in card. Any feedback or alternatives would be appreciated.

 

[mrrensing]

I've been running mine on an old OptiOplex FX160 (dual core Atom 330). I maxed out the RAM to 4GB and added an old 80GB Intel SSD, but other than that it runs Server 2012 R2 DC Core just fine...

I'll have to double check on the NIC, but I think it's Broadcom based.

 

[scobar]

I have an ECS Liva I was going to use for this just to see, then realized I have 3 servers on around the clock and stuck with virtual.

The storage on the Liva is limited at 32 or 64gb. Some google hits suggest you could dump the wifi and pop in an msata, but nothing 100% I would hang my hat on. For a DC doing DNS/DHCP should be plenty for a small lan, especially for a lab.

 

[Biren78]

C2558 or C2758.

$250 New Supermicro A1SRM 2558F uATX Motherboard Intel Atom C2558 DDR3 SATA3 | eBay
Here's an open box C2758 at $310 - that's a steal. Sure it costs more, but way more performance like you can virtualize stuff on this one. You get IPMI and quad NICs. Supermicro A1SRI 2758F O Intel Atom C2758 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 0 V 4GBE MB Openbox | eBay --- I'll bet someone on here will grab that if you don't.

 

[Chuckleb]

I tried to get Win2K12 on the Liva a dozen times, no luck. Not sure root cause, just wouldn't boot after successful install.

 

[CreoleLakerFan]

C2558 or C2758.

$250 New Supermicro A1SRM 2558F uATX Motherboard Intel Atom C2558 DDR3 SATA3 | eBay
Here's an open box C2758 at $310 - that's a steal. Sure it costs more, but way more performance like you can virtualize stuff on this one. You get IPMI and quad NICs. Supermicro A1SRI 2758F O Intel Atom C2758 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 0 V 4GBE MB Openbox | eBay --- I'll bet someone on here will grab that if you don't.

2550 or 2750 would be a better choice. No quick assist, but turbo boost. They are also cheaper than their 2x78 counterparts, good deals not withstanding.

 

[Patrick]

They are also cheaper than their 2x78 counterparts, good deals not withstanding.

For some reason I have seen the C2758 cost less than the C2750. For example:
C2750 $384: Free SHIP Supermicro A1SAI 2750F B Intel Atom C2750 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 0 | eBay
C2758 $345: Free SHIP Supermicro A1SRI 2758F B Intel Atom C2758 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 0 | eBay

Both of those are from the same seller and you can see it across sellers. It is counter-intuitive for me but the QA part is seemingly always around $40 less.

BTW - for applications like this, the C2000 series is still awesome, even with the Xeon D coming out. Xeon D allows for more consolidation, Atom C2000 series is lower power.

Also @Biren78 really nice find on the C2758 one!

 

[scobar]

I tried to get Win2K12 on the Liva a dozen times, no luck. Not sure root cause, just wouldn't boot after successful install.

Weird. I might pull this out of the drawer and see whats what.

 

[cthulolz]

2550 or 2750 would be a better choice. No quick assist, but turbo boost. They are also cheaper than their 2x78 counterparts, good deals not withstanding.

I'm liking the A1SAM-2550F, I think it will fit my requirements nicely. Intel NICs, low power, quiet, IPMI and Windows 2012 R2 compatibility. It's a bit more than I was hoping to spend, but more than reasonable given it's capabilities.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[CreoleLakerFan]

I'm liking the A1SAM-2550F, I think it will fit my requirements nicely. Intel NICs, low power, quiet, IPMI and Windows 2012 R2 compatibility. It's a bit more than I was hoping to spend, but more than reasonable given it's capabilities.

Thanks for the feedback!

The "M" (MicroATX) model is even cheaper than the "F" (MiniITX). They're great boards in all form factors ...

 

[MiniKnight]

It's a bit more than I was hoping to spend, but more than reasonable given it's capabilities.

I have one of these with the C2750. Low power and I've gotten to the point I'm willing to pay a bit more for hardware management. How much is not having to hook up a KVM + DVDROM worth, ever? One trick is you can actually make a nice little storage server off of these. PCIe HBA for HDD and SSD. PCIe x4 SSD for cache. Or you can easily add 2x quad port NICs for $180 total and have 12 gigabit Ethernet ports.

That Open box one is pretty hot. Should put it in great deals.

 

[ealvar]

Shuttle DS47 Slim Barebone with 4GB RAM | eBay

Even comes with RAM. Just need a little hard drive.

I use two of the older Shuttle X27d for my primary domain controller and 2k12 R2 Essentials role for cloud sharing, rdp gateway, and VPN.

 

[cthulolz]

Shuttle DS47 Slim Barebone with 4GB RAM | eBay

Even comes with RAM. Just need a little hard drive.

I use two of the older Shuttle X27d for my primary domain controller and 2k12 R2 Essentials role for cloud sharing, rdp gateway, and VPN.

Nice. My friend suggested a similar unit - currently comes with RAM but no CPU or HD.

 

[ehorn]

If it's a lab, have you considered a vm?

 

[5teve]

Dont forget the HP microservers too.. they are cheap as chips here in aus, are very quiet and will run 2012 r2, they may not be the most powerful thing around though. I picked my N40L up for $229aud a while back ( I run freenas with 5x 3tb drives installed), I know they have more recent versions too.

Given that for this kind of stuff the US gets much better pricing you should be able to pick these up cheap, if available. HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8

Steve

 

[CreoleLakerFan]

Shameless plug - I've got a SuperMicro miniITX c2750 and 32gb compatible RAM up in the for sale forum. I can do a package discount if you're interested.