[WTB] Spare parts for Kunpeng 920 ARM-based server, Huawei TaiShan/Powerleader Baode/H3C UniServer/Fiberhome FitServer/etc.

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anything1233

Just a Member
Dec 29, 2020
41
18
8
It's a long shot, but does anyone have or know where I could buy new/used/spare/replacement/whatever parts for a Kunpeng 920-based (possibly Huawei TaiShan) server?

Specifically, looking for:
  • iBMC module (Huawei Hi1710)
  • Riser cards of a different variety (PCIe 4 x24/Slimline)
  • Heatsinks
  • TPM module
Tried Taobao/JD/Ali, didn't have much luck there, but maybe I'm just terrible at finding things. Don't know any other place.
So any information regarding where to buy them from is really really appreciated!

I scored a motherboard with dual Kunpeng 920 off ebay for less than $150. That's (possibly) 128 ARM cores. For a $150. Now, I know about all that Huawei security issues saga, but hey, I'm just experimenting here. Anyway, although the seller lists it as 'in a working condition', I do understand it's very much a gamble, could actually be an expensive paperweight in case it's faulty, but I think it's worth a try, I still can return it.

I'm fairly confident it's some kind of an engineering or even a retail version (if I'm lucky) of a Huawei TaiShan 2280/5280 motherboard. Looking at TaiShan's docs and a 3D model, the layout checks out! But afaik there are several manufacturers of Kunpeng 920-based servers besides Huawei, namely Powerleader, H3C, Fiberhome and other companies I don't know of. They all seem to have exactly the same rear layout as TaiShan, so they're either repackaging the Huawei motherboard or are at least using it as a reference, meaning the spare parts are likely to be compatible.

Anyway, there's a problem: the motherboard does not have any means of communication available. Like literally none. No serial, no USB header, and the BMC (iBMC) is a separate pluggable module, which I don't know where to get from! The latter is based off Huawei (HiSilicon) Hi1710. Some TaiShan non-Kunpeng versions have it built-in right into the motherboard, mine doesn't. It looks like this (clickable):
1653673780315.png 1653673825202.png 1653673873288.png

The motherboard does have a header for VGA+USB though, for the front right ear, but the docs, naturally, don't explain the pinout, so it's useless.

I could insert an external GPU to at least get a visual, but... that's suspiciously easy, right? Correct. The motherboard doesn't have any standard PCIe slots! The ones that it does have are... weird. There are 2 Slimline ports, but both of them are used for a riser board. Not sure if they are working separately at all. As for the big ones: their layout can be clearly seen on the riser cards, of which there are several, but all of them seem to be x24 (not x16!). Does anyone know if they are Huawei's proprietary? Found a similar-looking riser for a Colfax CX1265i-NVMe4-S12-X8, a 3rd Xeon Scalable-based server, but it seems to be x16 and I doubt it's freely available for sale anyway (the last picture) (clickable):
1653675755206.png 1653675802951.png 1653675859354.png 1653675948577.png 1653678781479.png

Also the motherboard also has FlexIO ports that are used for Huawei NICs, afaik. So they probably also are PCIe. The docs are very sparse, but the they really strike me as OCP 3.0, which would make sense. Just look at the resemblance (left: TaiShan connector, right: true OCP 3.0) (clickable):
1653676122891.png 1653676157802.png
Or maybe it's just a coincidence. I'd be surprised if they actually implemented the standard and went quiet about it. It's official, I'm terrible at finding things. These are OCP 3.0!

That said, at least the PSU is generic enough to be freely available on AliExpress!

So anyways, who has the spare parts?
 

Egon

New Member
May 30, 2022
29
15
3
hi,

I have complete working server, only TMP missing from your list.