Price Drop! Server Cisco UCS C240-M3S servers, Dell Z9000, and other odds and ends

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May 8, 2015
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Nah I was just wondering, those seem like pretty rare servers is all. They're pretty sick.
They really are sick. The VIC card I put in each of these are especially awesome awesome. Can hand off 256+ unique pcie nics and HBAs from the single card. VMs and network think that they're hardware.
 

DavidRa

Infrastructure Architect
Aug 3, 2015
329
152
43
Central Coast of NSW
www.pdconsec.net
They really are sick. The VIC card I put in each of these are especially awesome awesome. Can hand off 256+ unique pcie nics and HBAs from the single card. VMs and network think that they're hardware.
Do you not need the Cisco fabric switches to make the VICs go? Where does UCS Manager run to do the config (for anyone considering, this may actually be fairly important - certainly the blades are powerful but correspondingly detailed to setup [Edit: I'm not familiar with the rack server setup though])? I'm SO interested but I'm in Australia and not rich! Plus I need to temper my desire for HW and actually get some stuff finished...
 
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May 8, 2015
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Do you not need the Cisco fabric switches to make the VICs go? Where does UCS Manager run to do the config (for anyone considering, this may actually be fairly important - certainly the blades are powerful but correspondingly detailed to setup)? I'm SO interested but I'm in Australia and not rich! Plus I need to temper my desire for HW and actually get some stuff finished...
I used a nexus switch. So to answer your question yes you need Cisco fabric. The nice thing is that the cards support reserve breakout from qsfp+ to 4 sfp+ so the cheaper 10gbe n5k and n3k series switches work just fine. I didn't use UCS manager as its expensive from what I understand and it isnt necessary. You can go into the remote management and set the card to be managed via remote management on the server. You can control everything straight from there. Other options are of course to run UCS or get the plugins from "other sources" (not what I did nor do I suggest it) and manage them directly from vCenter. As a side note... not sure if maybe its just a regional dialect thing or maybe you're misunderstanding what these are. These are 2u servers, not blades.
 

DavidRa

Infrastructure Architect
Aug 3, 2015
329
152
43
Central Coast of NSW
www.pdconsec.net
I used a nexus switch. So to answer your question yes you need Cisco fabric. The nice thing is that the cards support reserve breakout from qsfp+ to 4 sfp+ so the cheaper 10gbe n5k and n3k series switches work just fine. I didn't use UCS manager as its expensive from what I understand and it isnt necessary. You can go into the remote management and set the card to be managed via remote management on the server. You can control everything straight from there. Other options are of course to run UCS or get the plugins from "other sources" (not what I did nor do I suggest it) and manage them directly from vCenter. As a side note... not sure if maybe its just a regional dialect thing or maybe you're misunderstanding what these are. These are 2u servers, not blades.
Yes - my comment about blades was an indication that they're fiddly, not that I expect the C series to be blades - I am equally aware they are not. So are you saying these servers are set up to no longer require a Nexus, or that one is required no matter what? The latter would make them less desirable :(
 
May 8, 2015
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Yes - my comment about blades was an indication that they're fiddly, not that I expect the C series to be blades - I am equally sure they are not. So are you saying these servers are set up to no longer require a Nexus, or that one is required no matter what? The latter would make them less desirable :(
They still require a nexus switch as far as I know. I couldn't get them to work with the z9000 anyway. They don't require UCS manager though. And yes I realize it makes them less desirable if you don't have a nexus switch. That being said you could always sell the VIC's and pick up 3 mellanox connect-x 3 for the amount you'd get for a single VIC ;)
 

NetWise

Active Member
Jun 29, 2012
596
133
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Edmonton, AB, Canada
I used a nexus switch. So to answer your question yes you need Cisco fabric. The nice thing is that the cards support reserve breakout from qsfp+ to 4 sfp+ so the cheaper 10gbe n5k and n3k series switches work just fine. I didn't use UCS manager as its expensive from what I understand and it isnt necessary. You can go into the remote management and set the card to be managed via remote management on the server. You can control everything straight from there. Other options are of course to run UCS or get the plugins from "other sources" (not what I did nor do I suggest it) and manage them directly from vCenter. As a side note... not sure if maybe its just a regional dialect thing or maybe you're misunderstanding what these are. These are 2u servers, not blades.
Look into the n6k's as well. My Cisco SE colleague a while back suggested them. They're basically n5k's and run UCS Manager in them and they're part of what your UCS or FlexPod setup would come with as your ToR/Primary switches. Because no one knows this, they tend to be fairly cheap.

That said, when I found a pair of N6020 2u's for $450 each CAD locally - I did not buy them ;(. So I'm going on heresay and speculation. But I'm viciously curious if it would work....
 
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May 8, 2015
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Look into the n6k's as well. My Cisco SE colleague a while back suggested them. They're basically n5k's and run UCS Manager in them and they're part of what your UCS or FlexPod setup would come with as your ToR/Primary switches. Because no one knows this, they tend to be fairly cheap.

That said, when I found a pair of N6020 2u's for $450 each CAD locally - I did not buy them ;(. So I'm going on heresay and speculation. But I'm viciously curious if it would work....
I've been on the lookout for those as well. In my experience (YMMV) the N5k 5010 and 5020 are far cheaper and do the job fine for an environment where have you have 3 or 4 hosts. On the VIC's for instance you can save the configuration to your management workstation and upload it to the other cards in about a minute (or even better save it to your nas to keep backups as well.) I haven't (in my limited use) ever had a reason to individually config each device.
 
May 8, 2015
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Cisco UCS-6120XP Fabric Interconnect N10-S6100 w/ 2x N10-PAC1-550W Power Supply

Like the bloody N10-PAC1-550W is selling for like $400+ each. You could part them out and make money I bet.

Dammit. Now I want some.

6120XP and 6140XP. Leave some for me for later. I'm sure there some license restrictions or needs though...


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Cisco Nexus N10-S6200 UCS 6140XP Fabric Interconnect 1YearWarranty 2+Available

Think this would be a better deal.

Edit: FWIW, this would be the exact port count you needed to populate all 3 vic's in the hosts I have for sale. I'm going to low ball and see what happens for giggles.
 
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May 8, 2015
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Bump. Also a little update on those 6140xp switches that I threw some lowball offers at. $350.00 was the lowest I could get any of the sellers to go. The seller that came back at 350 had multiple with both power supplies all ports licensed and an additional fc module. Actually seems like a great deal... but I have no experience with these variety of switches.
 

NetWise

Active Member
Jun 29, 2012
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Edmonton, AB, Canada
$350 each? Dammit, I have to get something out of the rack. I have a 'must fit in 42u' rule to follow from the wife (which, is pretty fracking generous...).

Sigh. Need a couple of servers to sell. Then I'll get them ;)


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May 8, 2015
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$350 each? Dammit, I have to get something out of the rack. I have a 'must fit in 42u' rule to follow from the wife (which, is pretty fracking generous...).

Sigh. Need a couple of servers to sell. Then I'll get them ;)


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Haha that really is generous! I'm trying to go to 12u which shouldn't be too hard on Xeon-d but definitely going to require some planning. What are you trying to get rid of?
 
May 8, 2015
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$350 each? Dammit, I have to get something out of the rack. I have a 'must fit in 42u' rule to follow from the wife (which, is pretty fracking generous...).

Sigh. Need a couple of servers to sell. Then I'll get them ;)


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So I picked up the 6140XP. I've always been curious about UCS Manager so it was worth it to me at 400 bucks. I'll prolly throw it up for sale after I play with it for a while along with the UCS Servers for people that want a complete package.
 
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xnoodle

Active Member
Jan 4, 2011
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Don't mean to hijack the thread, but can you connect non-UCS gear to the UCS switches?