Supermicro X10 systems getting cheap!

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BackupProphet

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Jul 2, 2014
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Stavanger, Norway
olavgg.com
Came over this:
2U Chassis + motherboard
SuperMicro 6028U-TRTP+ 2U BareBone Server w/ X10DRU-i+ 2x 1000W PWS With Rails | eBay

There are also some great deals on motherboard only.
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10DRL-I ATX Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011 R3 Intel C612 | eBay

SUPERMICRO MBD-X10DAI E-ATX Xeon Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011-3 Intel C612 | eBay

Intel Xeon E5-2678V3 230 USD
Tested Intel Xeon E5-2678V3 SR20Z 2.5GHz 12 Core 30MB 6.4GT/s 120W Processor CPU | eBay

RAM 80 USD per module
1x16gb Samsung M393A2G40DB0-CPB DDR4 16GB 17000R 2133 2rx4 ECC SERVER Memory Ram 801040832510 | eBay

You still get more bang for your buck with a X9 system, but Haswell comes with slightly better power efficiency, performance(especially improved branch prediction) and AVX2.
 

svtkobra7

Active Member
Jan 2, 2017
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Thanks!
  • Image 2 - top half / right 3rd of pic - clearly a fan header ...
  • Image 3 - cable to mobo evident ...
  • What for? Is this chassis designed to accept an external fan of some sort?
    • I spent 5 min googling the subject, but came up short. Same with a quick perusal of the manual.
    • Don't get me wrong, well aware of fans similar to the ones depicted here, but don't think these work in this application.
    • Curiosity = piqued ...
  • In a similar vein, I've always wondered how much more efficient SMCI 2U backplanes with 4 x fans are vs. 3 x fans ...
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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I think thats custom rigged ... would enable to have an external cooling system being controlled by internal fan header (as in an exterior fan to vent a compartment or rack/cabinet)
 

svtkobra7

Active Member
Jan 2, 2017
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I think thats custom rigged ...
  • If so, they did a very nice job, but take a look at the fitment - that 1U in height perforated insert, which the header attaches to, looks purpose made to hold that jobber.
would enable to have an external cooling system being controlled by internal fan header (as in an exterior fan to vent a compartment or rack/cabinet)
  • So the mobo is going to wind that external fan up based upon internal system temps, thinking it is going to cool the system (and indeed an enclosure exhaust would assist indirectly), but that seems like a less than efficient way to control an enclosure exhaust?
  • And either the sample doesn't represent the lot (of 5) or each server was controlling its own enclosure airflow, presumably colocated with other servers. Where is the redundancy should that server fail or need to be taken off line? Do the other servers just have to deal with a hot day at the DC? ;)
(I would like it to be a evidence of a hereto undiscovered external fan which can be positioned on the rear of existing PCIe slots to cool Optane AIC cards - I don't doubt you are right :))
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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well custom rigged must not mean hand made; wanted to say that's no SM default part;)
and without knowing the actual rack/cabinet/ styrofoam box these boxes were places in I think its difficult to speak about it... ;)
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Yeah prices are going down but these have been sitting because they're not GREAT deals, I mean there's many deals I just saw quick that were CHEAPER than the RAM linked.

No IPMI on the bigger motherboard, smaller one only has 4x DIMM per-CPU.

Moved to Chat as we're clearly already headed in this direction :D :D
 
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T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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well custom rigged must not mean hand made; wanted to say that's no SM default part;)
and without knowing the actual rack/cabinet/ styrofoam box these boxes were places in I think its difficult to speak about it... ;)
It is an interesting little piece that is there (tiny metal piece) on their OEM pics. But no hole.
I wonder if someone was using a fan directly behind the server like some of them come with ???
 

kapone

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May 23, 2015
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I think...I could be wrong...but...

That external fan connector enables you to control the fans in a disk shelf (of some kind) via the motherboard. A disk shelf could have a PWM splitter inside that takes this fan input.
 

T_Minus

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Feb 15, 2015
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I think...I could be wrong...but...

That external fan connector enables you to control the fans in a disk shelf (of some kind) via the motherboard. A disk shelf could have a PWM splitter inside that takes this fan input.
Hmmm, that sounds viable :D
 

james23

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Nov 18, 2014
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I agree these are normal/ok deals, but thanks for the post/info as i did check out each one (and they are def lower prices than we would have seen several months ago).

i will say this, some of the low $ , x10 DP deals out on ebay, may SEEM like a great deal, but are not as good as they look (some! not all).

i thought i got a great/amazing deal on a x10 DP based system (2u, 12bay w 4x NVME bays + x10dru-i+ propritary MB/chassis - all bare bones). later on when i put in just 1x v3 cpu and 4 sticks of ram, its idles at ~ 120w !

(for comparison, the same ram and chip, over in a x10SRL 2u 12bay system, idles at ~55-60w). i know DP MBs are known to be not the most efficient, but still, that is not a HUGE power savings over x9 DP (or even x8 DP systems), vs if you compare a x8 vs a x10 SP system (which is a nice power savings).

by the same token, i did get an actual steal on a x10 SRL based system. (2u , 8 bay, 2x psu, x10srl-F w 2620v3 + 4x 16g d4 ecc ram (64g!) @ $290) - and that sys does idle ~ 50w).

So sometimes there are reasons items dont sell (even if they appear to be a good deal). and ofcourse there are good deals that you are just lucky to come across too!
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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I agree these are normal/ok deals, but thanks for the post/info as i did check out each one (and they are def lower prices than we would have seen several months ago).

i will say this, some of the low $ , x10 DP deals out on ebay, may SEEM like a great deal, but are not as good as they look (some! not all).

i thought i got a great/amazing deal on a x10 DP based system (2u, 12bay w 4x NVME bays + x10dru-i+ propritary MB/chassis - all bare bones). later on when i put in just 1x v3 cpu and 4 sticks of ram, its idles at ~ 120w !

(for comparison, the same ram and chip, over in a x10SRL 2u 12bay system, idles at ~55-60w). i know DP MBs are known to be not the most efficient, but still, that is not a HUGE power savings over x9 DP (or even x8 DP systems), vs if you compare a x8 vs a x10 SP system (which is a nice power savings).

by the same token, i did get an actual steal on a x10 SRL based system. (2u , 8 bay, 2x psu, x10srl-F w 2620v3 + 4x 16g d4 ecc ram (64g!) @ $290) - and that sys does idle ~ 50w).

So sometimes there are reasons items dont sell (even if they appear to be a good deal). and ofcourse there are good deals that you are just lucky to come across too!
When you add features to a DP motherboard or even a single the power usage goes up dramatically relative to a low 50w idle, for instance my single Xeon E5 V3 motherboard with built-in SAS3, and some other goodies idles 70-90w depending which SSD, NVME and fans are going.

Those SuperMicro chassis with 4+ fans use a significant amount of power from the fans alone, load up with 16 DIMMS and even more, NVME AIC, SAS2\3 card, and you're easily pushing 100w from 1 cpu now.