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(2013-02-09, 05:21)thethirdnut Wrote: [ -> ]@BLKMGK - agreed on the CPU, but it is the cheapest Xeon you can buy and it does ECC. I had planned to move my i3-540 to handle ECC, but ended up going with a diff Supermicro mobo that uses another socket. Also, I spent a lot of time and effort getting this build up to this point since first toe into FreeBSD. Virtualization might be something to consider down the road, but about the only reason I keep a Windows VM now is for AnyDVD + EMM.

@blueprint - I will definitely build a dedicated rack in the next house. This FreeBSD build could also be headless outside of initial setup too since I've done all the config and management over ssh once the USB key was unplugged.

Thanks both for you feedback, comments - enjoy the weekend.

Given a choice between an i3 and the Xeon I think you made the right choice although I'm not sure I'd have done it just for ECC. I too have spent a ton of time on my setup so I know what you mean. I like being able to setup stuff to play with and tear it down easily with no impact, it's very nice. FWIW I didn't do it for Windows and only have one Windows VM on it, the other 5 are various flavors or Linux including a Usenet Indexer and an appliance for SAB/Sick/etc., MYSQL, FreeNAS, blah blah. Eventually I'll spin up OSX to play with too. You have hardware enough to run plenty if you choose to do so and it's a nice way to setup and play with OS or software you want to get familiar with. As for going headless - did that Mobo come with IPMI by chance? I know some of the server oriented SuperMicro boards do and my Tyan did as well. IPMI is a dedicated NIC for remote management and allows for a server to be most anywhere while giving you access to the console as if you were there. You also get all sorts of sensor data and can power cycle the machine at will. BIOS screens etc. are also accessible so long as the machine has power - the software to access this is Java.

I swore I'd never have a rack in my home but I can certainly see some utility in it now - Craigslist is full of used ones BTW. My machine is sitting on a dedicated fixture now and will be setup for easier access one of these days. For now it's out of sight and sound so my office is waaaay quieter than it was with multiple NAS and other servers running!

Anyway, you chose wisely with the hardware and it looks good. One thing you might want to look into is the supposed issues with Norco backplanes killing HDD. There's a lengthy thread on the unRAID forums about it and elsewhere. Thus far I'm fine and run a decent number of 3TB drives without issue. I think these cases are great personally...
@BLKMGK - I had bad RAM Dec 2011 that ultimately resulted in a corrupted filesystem on my old RAID5 and loss of data - memtest lit up like an Xmas tree. Therefore, new build was going to have ECC.

I use several flavours of hypervisors at work, and may try them out on the homefront at some point as well, but for now I'll just stick with the simple setup.

I did have one bum backplane on my Norco RPC-4224. Things seem to have stabilized after that point and 2 of the 10 initial HDD's were RMA'd...those drives had bad / pending sectors that were caught on READ's, failed SMARTCTL tests brutally. I did actually run the unRAID preclear thrice on each of these 10 drives too, but it took until 300 hours for both drives to fail.
I looked up your mobo - it DOES have IPMI. I thought it might as it sounded familiar, some of the unRAID guys have been using it too. IPMI makes life really easy, stuff it in a closet and pretty much not have to touch it except for hardware maintenance or media replacement. :-)

I guess I've been lucky with RAM, I've never had any go bad (in about 25 years BTW), so ECC hasn't ever appealed to me. that said - yeah I've got it in my server as my Tyan board requires it. Damned RAM is quite expensive but I've maxxed out what ESX's free version will allow so I don't care. So far no data loss on my existing systems and wow I've gone through lots of drives over time too. Thankfully my drives seem pretty reliable and this case cools pretty well with the stock fans. A little noisy but in a closet it's not an issue. so far my backplanes have held up and I've tested nearly every slot. The stories of them popping are pretty scary though. I can't see spending more than this for something from SuperMicro though. Heh, the unRAID preclear test is indeed pretty brutal, I will admit I haven't run it on anything but I think it throws everything including the kitchen sink at drives to push them over the edge. With warranties as short as they are these days that's a good thing I guess!
Correct - on the IPMI, however, I haven't used it - did all but initial install over SSH. May take advantage of it as well time-permitting.

I actually attempted to buy the X9SCM (no -F) but no one seemed to stock it so went with the X9SCM-F.

For my next server build I *might* look into something like a Supermicro chassis, but this Norco definitely is most bang for the buck, albeit not as robust as some much more expensive brands. Shelling out $1600 for a Supermicro chassis + power supply is WAY overkill for a glorified NAS - the Norco will do just fine.

I intend to get several years of service out of this build so next server build hopefully won't be in the cards for awhile.
Biggest issue with IPMI I've found is finding decent software to access it - I'm on a Tyan board running an applet I found on the SuperMicro site - sheesh! It will eliminate having to use a monitor or keyboard though so it's worth a little pain I think. A few of the unRAID guys are using the SuperMicro boards with good success, I was a rebel and went Tyan but both are solid - sadly I don't think either allow for overclocking :-) I too expect my system to last me YEARS although I'm quite tempted to upgrade to an Ivy CPU despite the warnings I've been given about compatibility. My fingers are crossed that the Norco doesn't let me down - so far so good. No way in hell I'd spend what SuperMicro wants that's for sure. This thing isn't making me money and until it does SM can keep their hardware, it's too pricey for pure home use IMO. I do like their 5n1 cages for towers though!
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