The Dell PowerEdge C6220 Thread

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revyve

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Jun 11, 2016
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I think the backplane is 6G max, so any raid card beyond that value will be useless. Maybe some other member will say the opposite.

However a 4 note VSAN would consume too much power as those machine are power hungry.
I'm aware of the power requirements, and thankfully I've co-located my "Home" lab in my companies generous offer of utilizing their rack at a co-lo. So power isn't an issue. (I also utilize NSX for connectivity and networking so only consume a single public IP... it's an awesome little side deal I worked out)
I also realize the backplane may or may not limit the speeds to 6gbs... but I'm still trying to get a Raid HBA that is on the current VSAN HCL as supported and still allows for the c6220ii to boot. My SAS ssd's are only 6gbs anyways (and on the HCL)... so yes while the 12GB sas card I had was overkill it still should have worked other than whatever the BIOS is doing to lock it out, and it's what I had in my older C6100 that worked just fine... sigh.

So anyway I'm basically curious what if any cards people may or may not have tried that allow bios to fully post and I'll try and cross reference with current VSAN HCL.


Thanks,
 

revyve

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Jun 11, 2016
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I'm aware of the power requirements, and thankfully I've co-located my "Home" lab in my companies generous offer of utilizing their rack at a co-lo. So power isn't an issue. (I also utilize NSX for connectivity and networking so only consume a single public IP... it's an awesome little side deal I worked out)
I also realize the backplane may or may not limit the speeds to 6gbs... but I'm still trying to get a Raid HBA that is on the current VSAN HCL as supported and still allows for the c6220ii to boot. My SAS ssd's are only 6gbs anyways (and on the HCL)... so yes while the 12GB sas card I had was overkill it still should have worked other than whatever the BIOS is doing to lock it out, and it's what I had in my older C6100 that worked just fine... sigh.

So anyway I'm basically curious what if any cards people may or may not have tried that allow bios to fully post and I'll try and cross reference with current VSAN HCL.


Thanks,
So for anyone else curious, that yes the dell C6220ii will post and boot with a LSI-9300 8-I in it. Still waiting on my 8643 cable for the cards, at which point I’ll borrow a friends 12gb SAS drive and see if back plane limits it to 6 or not.
 

a.out

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May 3, 2016
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I stumbled on a deal for C6320 nodes (no enclosure) which was too good to pass.
While reading the users guide I noticed that the C6300 enclosure was remarkably similar to the C6200 enclosure, so I got curious and swapped one of the installed nodes with a C6320 node.
Was kind of surprised since it actually worked (front panel buttons, backplane) with the exception of wailing fans.
Digging through FCB firmware for both enclosures reveals they apparently use the same hardware, so does anyone know if this is the case?
(Currently contemplating if I should try to update the FCB with the C6300 firmware, but would hate to brick my only C6200 enclosure.)
 

jfoor

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Feb 4, 2017
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Noticed something similar too. I have a C6220 II enclosure (got it on eBay, came refurbished from dell and the thing was spotless, ZERO dust). It's not listed by Dell but the C6220 I gen and II gen sleds are compatible. Little less interesting than your finding as the C6320 vs. C6200 seems more like a "major revision" than just Gen 1 and 2 differences.

Let me know if you need help with the 100% fan problem..these things are super picky about certain things...but as a prev. C6200 owner I'm sure you're already aware of that. I love these boxes..IDK why but for 2U having independent sleds, CPU, RAM, drive, OSes etc. just makes me feel good haha.

Good find sir! (or ma'am, it's 2019 after all)
 

jfoor

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You mean quieted down the fans running 100% 24/7 or once the system has booted but the fans are still running too loud but not 100%?
 

a.out

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May 3, 2016
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Noticed something similar too. I have a C6220 II enclosure (got it on eBay, came refurbished from dell and the thing was spotless, ZERO dust). It's not listed by Dell but the C6220 I gen and II gen sleds are compatible. Little less interesting than your finding as the C6320 vs. C6200 seems more like a "major revision" than just Gen 1 and 2 differences.

Let me know if you need help with the 100% fan problem..these things are super picky about certain things...but as a prev. C6200 owner I'm sure you're already aware of that. I love these boxes..IDK why but for 2U having independent sleds, CPU, RAM, drive, OSes etc. just makes me feel good haha.

Good find sir! (or ma'am, it's 2019 after all)
Thank you!

It was your piece of information from a previous post in addition to the fact that the nodes was sold sans enclosure that triggered my curiosity. What if DELL went for a "rack enclosure once; upgrade nodes when needed" approach?

I will investigate and see if it's possible to get C6320 and C6220 nodes to coexist without driving the FCB mad, since that would make for a very nice upgrade path for existing homelab users. Will gladly take you up on your offer on help, should I get stuck.

(Must admit that I'm also quite fond of these boxes, idiosyncrasies and all.)
 

frogtech

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Jan 4, 2016
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You mean quieted down the fans running 100% 24/7 or once the system has booted but the fans are still running too loud but not 100%?
Yeah, once the systems have booted and stabilized. Just curious if anyone's done fan swaps or any mods. It is a rack server obviously but there were some attempts to quiet down C6100s so wondered if anyone made similar attempts for this chassis.
 

jfoor

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Feb 4, 2017
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Yeah, once the systems have booted and stabilized. Just curious if anyone's done fan swaps or any mods. It is a rack server obviously but there were some attempts to quiet down C6100s so wondered if anyone made similar attempts for this chassis.
(Assuming you have IPMI access..) What are your fans' RPMs and temps? (Found under Sensor Info but you probably already know this)

My fans are sitting at low 8000ish RPMs

Temps (All Celsius)

CPU: 61
DIMM: 40
PCH: 66
MEZZ: 55
Inlet: 28

So my server rack is in my laundry room (best place I have to put it in my current home, unfortunately creates a lot of dust and shit from the dryer) and that's the only room in the house w/o AC. So my 28C inlet is 82F which is far from ideal.

Curious what % your fans are running at and the temps.

I feel like I have seen some IPMI command line hackery around somewhere attempting to lower fan speeds by adjusting the lower and upper critical values but I haven't attempted anything like that in the past 3 years.

EDIT: Also I think they make tiny physical fan speed adjusters (I'm sure that's the technical name lol) that would sit between the fan plug and the fan pin header on the mobo but I've not seen those used on servers, just desktops.
 

frogtech

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Jan 4, 2016
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I don't actually have one, I was just kind of toying with the idea of one as an alternative my VRTX since PCIe cards bring up the noise levels a bit more than I would like, at least when it's in the same room as me. I may just move it out to the dining room.
 

jfoor

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Feb 4, 2017
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I don't actually have one, I was just kind of toying with the idea of one as an alternative my VRTX since PCIe cards bring up the noise levels a bit more than I would like, at least when it's in the same room as me. I may just move it out to the dining room.
Oh, well now I feel like an asshat typing out all this detailed info LOL.

I would't want any server sitting in the room with me, nor a switch for that matter but sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do.
 

frogtech

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Jan 4, 2016
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Oh, well now I feel like an asshat typing out all this detailed info LOL.

I would't want any server sitting in the room with me, nor a switch for that matter but sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do.
Nah man it's cool, it's always interesting to see what other people are willing to run their gear at. Really my only issue actually is that on the lowest fan/blower settings for this chassis I can't seem to get the add in cards cooled, most likely because the HDDs at the front are warming the air and just passing it into the back. Just speculating, tho.
 

jfoor

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Do you mind listing the specs of your VRTX or are they listed somewhere else you can link me to? I've heard of them but there seem to be a lot of different config options for them.
 

frogtech

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Jan 4, 2016
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Do you mind listing the specs of your VRTX or are they listed somewhere else you can link me to? I've heard of them but there seem to be a lot of different config options for them.
It's nothing fancy, I have 2 actually, 1 is LFF and 1 is SFF, the SFF was intended to be a purely cluster FS based box with all flash in the front, the LFF is intended to use the storage in the front for just some random bulk storage but use Oracle F80 flash accelerators (8 total, 2 per blade) for the storage back end of vSAN, with each blade having 2 2.5" PCIe SSDs for caching tier.

So 1 is 4 M620s, a 1 gig switch module, 25 SAS SSDs, the other I don't have nodes for I just swap them back and forth, it's 12 LFF SAS HDDs, 8 Oracle F80s, 10 gig switch module.

The M620s are config'd with 128GB ram and 2x2660v2 procs.
 

jfoor

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Feb 4, 2017
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Well it sure sounds fancy but I guess that's all relative. Looks like you've got a lot of nice gear to play around with which is always nice :)
 

nasomi

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Jan 11, 2016
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Can you put II sleds in an I chassis? I have a c6220 I but a sled with v2 e5's would be pretty nice. Also I could upgrade gradually, so I wouldn't be paying the full cost all at once.
 

jfoor

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Feb 4, 2017
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I would think so if they're able to go the other way II chassis w/ I sleds. But I would definitely see if more info is available online before I pulled the trigger or at least found a place or eBay seller w/ free return shipping.

I know there were very minor revisions between I and II but can't remember what those were at this time. Maybe just a bump to the V2 cpus instead of the V1s from the prev. sleds.

Here's the two spec PDFs if you want to look through them:

I: https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocument...s_Documents/en/uk/PowerEdgeC6220SpecSheet.pdf

II: https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent...n/Documents/PowerEdge_C6220_II_Spec_Sheet.pdf
 

frogtech

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From what I recall reading from other users, the II nodes in a I chassis will work but may possibly cause the fans to scream (with no fix) and the UIDs on the front also blink orange perpetually. Presumably from HW ID mismatches. That's probably the main differences between all of these preventing them from just being interchangeable with minor FW mods.
 

frogtech

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I would think so if they're able to go the other way II chassis w/ I sleds. But I would definitely see if more info is available online before I pulled the trigger or at least found a place or eBay seller w/ free return shipping.

I know there were very minor revisions between I and II but can't remember what those were at this time. Maybe just a bump to the V2 cpus instead of the V1s from the prev. sleds.

Here's the two spec PDFs if you want to look through them:

I: https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocument...s_Documents/en/uk/PowerEdgeC6220SpecSheet.pdf

II: https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent...n/Documents/PowerEdge_C6220_II_Spec_Sheet.pdf
The II actually has one major difference on the board that I feel is important and it's the sata ports towards front of the node (where it slots into the inside of the chassis). This means the II is actually capable of 6 Gbps speeds on all the ports whereas the I is limited to 3 Gbps on 4 of the 6 slots I believe?

The I has some weird implementation on how it's cabled up. For the II they went back to the old way of doing things similar to how the C6100 nodes have interposers with the SATA ports on them.
 

nasomi

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Jan 11, 2016
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The chassis for II lets you dynamically asign bays for each node, where the I you just get your 6 or 3 per node. Any idea if that is a function of the chassis or a function of the node?

I read above the c6320 sleds work on the 6200 chassis with the 100% fans, i didn't see anything about a II sled in a I chassis though. A II bare sled is $100, $12 for a pair of E5 2609v2's, I could swap ram/heatsyncs from my I sleds. I think i may take the plunge, worst case I'm out $112.

Edit: Are the c6220's locked to ONLY E5 2600 series? Or can you put any v1 or v2 in the respective sled?