The Dell PowerEdge C6220 Thread

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frogtech

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 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?
It's a combination I think? The bios for the I sleds don't have the option for the dynamic drive reassignment afaik. But I'm not sure if that necessarily means the I chassis wasn't technically capable on its launch.
 

nasomi

Member
Jan 11, 2016
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I was reading earlier that you could use a II bios on a I sled. I also read earlier that someone put a II sled in an I chassis and fans went to 100%. But I wonder if you could load an I bios on an II sled and put it in an I chassis without the fans going to 100%.
 

a.out

New Member
May 3, 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.
According to release notes for FCB firmware 1.21 (ReleaseNote_V0121.txt in ESM_Firmware_Dell_0121_NAA_6220II_FCB.zip), you can mix I and II nodes freely in a C6200 enclosure.

Whats important is that you use the correct fan table number, e.g. if you have four mixed nodes you should use fan table number 11 in fan table image version V04.02.

Also, when programming the FCB you should use node 4 (lower right node seen from front).

(Hum, realized that I haven't tried that myself to see if it works with C6320 nodes as well.)
 

nasomi

Member
Jan 11, 2016
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Has anyone tried a II sled in a I enclosure with the new FCB firmware? How do you change hte fan table number or see the table image version?
 

a.out

New Member
May 3, 2016
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Has anyone tried a II sled in a I enclosure with the new FCB firmware? How do you change hte fan table number or see the table image version?
If you install firmware v1.21 and fan table image v4.02, then my understanding is that the firmware should select the correct fan table number based on installed nodes, even if it's a mix of v1 and v2 nodes.

(My C6200 runs v1.21/v4.02, but all nodes are v1.)
 

nasomi

Member
Jan 11, 2016
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any idea if you can put other e5's in the II's than the 2600 series? I'd buy a II sled if i can do cheap e5 v2's and see if i can get it to work.
 

Muhozhuk

New Member
Sep 9, 2019
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Hello, All!
Is it possible to replace 2 2-unit nodes by 4 1-unit nodes?
I'm new with Dell and i just received Dell C6220 gen2 with 2 nodes (2 units each) with LSI cards with no drives attached.
I also have 4 1 unit nodes for C6220 and i'd like to replace this 2 nodes by 4 nodes and i was sure it's very easy.
Now i wounder how complicated everything in DELL world.
I can only start the system with exact nodes in exact node position. If i swap them or add one new they are all cannot start, no green LED.
If i connect via ipmi or web applitation to the node it is powered off but if i turn it on nothing happens, it is still off.
I cannot let it start, CPU are cold, no monitor output, no BIOS - nothing happens.
If i return everything back - 2 2unit nodes in their original positions - it boots notmaly, Green button, i can see bios and it tries to boot notmally.
How to start it with new nodes? I have no idea, please advice.
maybe there are some drive zoning still exists? How to clear it out to default?
Thank you!
 

nasomi

Member
Jan 11, 2016
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IIRC you cannot put 4 nodes in a system designed for 2 nodes. Power, backplane all different. If i remove a node from my 4 node while other nodes are running it throws a fit and all fans peg at 100%, so I'm guessing it has something to do with airflow not being optimal. Remember the cpu's are passive cooling, airflow messes up and you can get some warm cpu's very fast.
 

Muhozhuk

New Member
Sep 9, 2019
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IIRC you cannot put 4 nodes in a system designed for 2 nodes. Power, backplane all different. If i remove a node from my 4 node while other nodes are running it throws a fit and all fans peg at 100%, so I'm guessing it has something to do with airflow not being optimal. Remember the cpu's are passive cooling, airflow messes up and you can get some warm cpu's very fast.
Why not? Are you sure? I can see in docs that a few configurations are available 1,2,3 or 4 nodes. My chassis has 4 connectors, i can see all 4 nodes via ipmi but i cant power it up.
I can't power it up even if i replace one my node with another of even if i change both nodes in their places so i wonder why?
Does chassis remember the position of node my its serial number? Dell emploee told me there is a sas zoning and this could prevent the node from starting in a wrong position.
The question is if the chassis are the same for 2node configuration and 4 node configuration why i can replace my 2unit node with 4 nodes?

Page 8: Table 3. Technical Specifications. 2U rack mount chassis supporting 1 to 4 independent server nodes 1U or 2U PowerEdge C6220 II sleds Sled types Maximum of 4 1U or 2 2U PowerEdge C6220 II sleds in a chassis Processors Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v2 product family...
 

paulis

New Member
Oct 15, 2019
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I just picked up a used 4 node C6220 (3.5" bay config) and was looking to connect six drives to a single node and then single drives to each of the other three. Would anyone have a picture/wiring diagram on how to set that up?
 

jfoor

Member
Feb 4, 2017
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I think this type of setup has been discussed previously in this thread many times. Don't remember where/when or what the results were but I know this is a common question with the 4-in-1 style systems. I also know it's talked about outside of STH.
 

igoresz

New Member
Dec 16, 2017
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Moscow
hello.

Regarding how to set up BOOT with NVME Disk. Any idea?
-UEFI+CSM?
-Dell Ultra Speed 80G5N TX9JH PHR9G 6N9RH 80G5N ?
-pcie-achi & pcie-nvme ?


Board has EFI Specification Revision: 2.31
Boot Option Menu
EFI Internal Shell
Enter SETUP
Shell: ver
EFI Specification Revision: 2.31
EFI Vendor: INSYDE Corp.
EFI Revision: 4096.1
EFI Build Version: Release8_6_1
 

Kiev

New Member
Oct 30, 2019
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I have two C6220's in the Houston area that I'm looking to sell, but they're not II's just two I's...
 

josh

Active Member
Oct 21, 2013
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Hi guys,

Anyone managed to get the HDD Zoning tool to work on the C6220 II? I'm running it on Ubuntu 18.04 but I get "SAS Expander does not found". Google turns up empty result for this. Very sure it's a C6220 II as the boot screen confirms it.

Suggestions appreciated!

Thanks
 

schammy

New Member
Jan 2, 2016
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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.
Yes, this was my experience. My company runs c6220's exclusively, all version 2 but we ended up with one version 1 by accident. It's not in production, but for testing purposes I tried putting v2 sleds in v1 chassis, and vice versa - and mix/match as well for one full chassis - and it all worked. But the fans in the v1 chassis did go full blast when there were v2 sleds in there. If I recall right, after I swapped everything back to normal, the v1 fans continued to go full blast (even after full power off, etc) - I may not be remembering that correctly though. We're not planning to use it, only keeping it around as an emergency spare.
 
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aarcane

Member
Feb 16, 2016
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I'm looking at buying one of these, and I noticed something strange while searching that I can't clear up, but that matters for my use case. Some C6220 motherboards/Nodes seem to have two mezzanine card slots, implying the possibility to have both 40GBE/Infiniband as well as the Internal SAS controller. Others seem to have only one internal Mezzanine card slots, implying that you must choose. Can anybody clarify this point?
 

tiernano

New Member
Dec 14, 2016
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Not sure if there are 2 mezzanine slots on some, but mine has 2 cards... one dual 10Gb as a mezz card, and the SAS controller in a PCI-E slot... could that be what you are seeing?
 

sevlor

New Member
Aug 2, 2019
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Just purchased a C6220 to replace my C6100 in my homelab, but I am finding some oddities with the one that I purchased. The person who listed it for sale, listed it as a C6220 II, and there is a sticker on the top of the chassis that states DCS C6220 II, but yet the service tag shows that it is a C6220. Also in the attached image, the bios screen says C6220 II but yet it has a v1 CPU, any idea what is going on here?
 

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