SuperMicro X8 Upgrade Path

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leezer3

New Member
Jan 16, 2022
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My home server currently runs off a SuperMicro X8ST3-F, which has been in use for about the last 5 years.

Basic specs:
X8ST3-F
Xeon E5640
24gb DDR3
30tb worth of drives (9 disks plus a hotswap bay which occasionally gets used)

For various reasons, I'm currently looking into a board upgrade.
The biggest issue I've currently got is that the integrated LSI controller doesn't support over 2tb drives, along with the odd random freeze, which I suspect to be board / LSI controller related. The Java IPMI isn't too clever either, although that rarely gets used.

Essentially speaking, other than the LSI controller issues, the current board / chip is just fine for my needs.
A little more speed would be nice sure, but other than that nothing really stands out to me as being a must-have feature from newer generations.

All of this leaves me wondering exactly which path to take in replacing this.
Board size is no issue, and power consumption is relatively low on the list of things I care about.

As I see it, these are the options which immediately jump out at me:
1. SuperMicro X10SL7-F (or similar) - Cheaper option, solves the SATA issue, but still rather elderly.
2. Current Ryzen desktop board- Looses IPMI, no dual NIC
3. AsRock Rack Ryzen board, something like the X470D4U- Not enough onboard SATA ports, so would have to add a HBA

At the minute, none of the options I can see are especially appealing, which is why I'm looking to see if anyone has any better ideas / thoughts....
I suppose an obvious 'easy' help would be to reduce the number of disks, but half of the reason for the upgrade is so I can stuff 6 / 8 tb drives in place of some of the smaller ones, and in doing so I'd end up with not much more storage unless adding a HBA.....
 

techtoys

Active Member
Feb 25, 2016
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I am still running multiple X10SL7-F at home. These were down around $50 for a while and made for cheap servers.
There is a weird X10SLH-LN6TF kicking around which is cheap. I bought one from a local vendor in bay area.
You can get it in a 1U but that only has 4 drives. I would go with SAS. Last I remember its cheaper for used drives.
 

nk215

Active Member
Oct 6, 2015
412
143
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My home server currently runs off a SuperMicro X8ST3-F, which has been in use for about the last 5 years.

Basic specs:
X8ST3-F
Xeon E5640
24gb DDR3
30tb worth of drives (9 disks plus a hotswap bay which occasionally gets used)

For various reasons, I'm currently looking into a board upgrade.
The biggest issue I've currently got is that the integrated LSI controller doesn't support over 2tb drives, along with the odd random freeze, which I suspect to be board / LSI controller related. The Java IPMI isn't too clever either, although that rarely gets used.

Essentially speaking, other than the LSI controller issues, the current board / chip is just fine for my needs.
A little more speed would be nice sure, but other than that nothing really stands out to me as being a must-have feature from newer generations.

All of this leaves me wondering exactly which path to take in replacing this.
Board size is no issue, and power consumption is relatively low on the list of things I care about.

As I see it, these are the options which immediately jump out at me:
1. SuperMicro X10SL7-F (or similar) - Cheaper option, solves the SATA issue, but still rather elderly.
2. Current Ryzen desktop board- Looses IPMI, no dual NIC
3. AsRock Rack Ryzen board, something like the X470D4U- Not enough onboard SATA ports, so would have to add a HBA

At the minute, none of the options I can see are especially appealing, which is why I'm looking to see if anyone has any better ideas / thoughts....
I suppose an obvious 'easy' help would be to reduce the number of disks, but half of the reason for the upgrade is so I can stuff 6 / 8 tb drives in place of some of the smaller ones, and in doing so I'd end up with not much more storage unless adding a HBA.....
If your only issue is the LSI, why not just get a PCI LSI card? If speed and power usage are not an issue and you have an upgrade itch, A x9 (e5-2600 v1/2) board and CPU/memory can be had for way less than $200. Something like a x9Dri-LN4F+ is less than $90 and has tons of memory slots for future upgrade and can handle 10 SATA drives.
 

techtoys

Active Member
Feb 25, 2016
189
50
28
58
I agree but for cheap you should be able to reuse your existing memory and just buy a new board with LSI SAS on board but then you need to spring for the processors. 2670 should be cheap but a bit power hungry. As nk215 said, cheapest is just to buy an LSI SAS card and save your money for the drives. I used to get them used for $10/TB up to about 8TB. There is a current deal for 10TB for $115 in another thread.
 

leezer3

New Member
Jan 16, 2022
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0
1
PCI-E HBA in the current board isn't something I've considered majorly at the minute, so that's definitely something else to think about, thanks :)

I know it's a little fussy with consumer PCI-E stuff, but haven't tried a HBA in there.

Trouble with the X9 option is just like the X10, they're all well out of anything resembling warranty / support.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, but if I'm going to spend relatively decent money on replacing stuff, that's appealing.