Linux-based home server/NAS

You can but can't provide direct access to hardware, which can lead to less-than-optimal performance depending on what the VMs need to do.
 
balance101 said:
rimblock on overclockeruk forum seems to use the s1200kp for his client builds and they all have esxi

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18345246
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=20984614&postcount=10

can you install esxi without vt-d?

Intel DQ67EP supports VT-D and AMT but no ECC memory support and only one NIC
Click to expand...

Bit late to the party but here goes.

The S1200KP supports VT-X with an i3 or E3. The i3 supports ECC ram although Intel seem to be trying hard to hide the fact.

i3 processors do not support VT-d, you need an i5, i7 or E3. As the S1200KP can only take Pentiums (LGA1155 obviously), i3 and E3 cpus, VT-d availability would need to be tested with an E3 in the board.

I have not seen any such tests reported but would be very interested in the results. The build I did for a client was with ESXi 5 using VT-X but as the client wanted an i3 I could not test VT-d.

On a side note, the X9SCM mentioned earlier works with ESXi 5 even though it is not on the ESXi HCL. I have not done a deep dive with it but it booted fine using my ESXi 5 thumb drive.

The DQ67EP supports both VT-X and VT-d but needs an i5/i7 in it for the VT-d (as someone previously mentioned). I have mine paired with an i5-2400. Whilst it complains about the CPU being over spec'd for TDP it runs fine and I use the VT-d to pass through network ports on my Intel dual port ET network card to separate VMs.

The Intel S1200BTL also runs ESXi 5 fine (its on the ESXi HCL) with VT-X and VT-d. I have just built a 1U rack mount for a customer and tested this out. The S1200BTL is nice but beware trying to put it in a 1U case as the rear port placement will cause problems with trying to get an IO shield. I am having to get one custom made.

RB
 
RimBlock said:
Bit late to the party but here goes.

The S1200KP supports VT-X with an i3 or E3. The i3 supports ECC ram although Intel seem to be trying hard to hide the fact.

i3 processors do not support VT-d, you need an i5, i7 or E3. As the S1200KP can only take Pentiums (LGA1155 obviously), i3 and E3 cpus, VT-d availability would need to be tested with an E3 in the board.

I have not seen any such tests reported but would be very interested in the results. The build I did for a client was with ESXi 5 using VT-X but as the client wanted an i3 I could not test VT-d.

On a side note, the X9SCM mentioned earlier works with ESXi 5 even though it is not on the ESXi HCL. I have not done a deep dive with it but it booted fine using my ESXi 5 thumb drive.

The DQ67EP supports both VT-X and VT-d but needs an i5/i7 in it for the VT-d (as someone previously mentioned). I have mine paired with an i5-2400. Whilst it complains about the CPU being over spec'd for TDP it runs fine and I use the VT-d to pass through network ports on my Intel dual port ET network card to separate VMs.

The Intel S1200BTL also runs ESXi 5 fine (its on the ESXi HCL) with VT-X and VT-d. I have just built a 1U rack mount for a customer and tested this out. The S1200BTL is nice but beware trying to put it in a 1U case as the rear port placement will cause problems with trying to get an IO shield. I am having to get one custom made.

RB
Click to expand...

welcome to the forum RB!

try to pm you in overclock.uk but never could

another question i want you to answer is does the M1015 work with DQ67EP

i'm trying to decide between DQ67EP and supermicro X9SCV-Q

i'm still interested in the S1200KP but no vt-d, how much performance loss is it not having vt-d =/

thanks

edit ty RB read your post at overclock uk

its good that DQ67EP works with M1015 save money on the ram but single NIC oh well
 
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RimBlock said:
Bit late to the party but here goes.

The S1200KP supports VT-X with an i3 or E3. The i3 supports ECC ram although Intel seem to be trying hard to hide the fact.

i3 processors do not support VT-d, you need an i5, i7 or E3. As the S1200KP can only take Pentiums (LGA1155 obviously), i3 and E3 cpus, VT-d availability would need to be tested with an E3 in the board.

I have not seen any such tests reported but would be very interested in the results. The build I did for a client was with ESXi 5 using VT-X but as the client wanted an i3 I could not test VT-d.

On a side note, the X9SCM mentioned earlier works with ESXi 5 even though it is not on the ESXi HCL. I have not done a deep dive with it but it booted fine using my ESXi 5 thumb drive.

The DQ67EP supports both VT-X and VT-d but needs an i5/i7 in it for the VT-d (as someone previously mentioned). I have mine paired with an i5-2400. Whilst it complains about the CPU being over spec'd for TDP it runs fine and I use the VT-d to pass through network ports on my Intel dual port ET network card to separate VMs.

The Intel S1200BTL also runs ESXi 5 fine (its on the ESXi HCL) with VT-X and VT-d. I have just built a 1U rack mount for a customer and tested this out. The S1200BTL is nice but beware trying to put it in a 1U case as the rear port placement will cause problems with trying to get an IO shield. I am having to get one custom made.

RB
Click to expand...

Nice summary!

Just an update on this project. I've decided not to build an all-in-one box (supporting both virtualized environment and NAS) but rather to do two purpose-built boxes, with the NAS first. I have most of the pieces but still waiting on a couple of bits. I'll post a bill of materials, build log, and some pics after I get started. Late spring or early summer I'll build a small ESXi box... new CPUs and possibly motherboards will be coming out between now and then and I may have some better, more interesting choices.

More later...
 
let me know what board/cpu you decided balthazar

i still don't know which motherboard and cpu to go with

got my silver stone 500w PSU and cpu heatsink already just sitting there
 
balance101 said:
let me know what board/cpu you decided balthazar

i still don't know which motherboard and cpu to go with

got my silver stone 500w PSU and cpu heatsink already just sitting there
Click to expand...

Going with an Intel S1200KP and (for the time being) an i3-2120T, and some ECC RAM. All these make sense for a NAS of the scale I'm thinking of. I want dual Intel NICs and ECC in a mini-ITX form factor. Would be nice if the mainboard had VT-D but currently nothing out there is available in that combo.

I have the feeling I'm going to end up putting OI on the box which is probably the best choice for ZFS, although I'll mess around with some flavor of ZFS on Linux (probably Ubuntu) and perhaps FreeNAS as well. And other stuff as well before I do a final OS build.
 
I see bathazar, thanks for your respone

i wonder if s1200kp supports the M1015

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1636007 altano didn't get it to work but that was a while back

I even go a M1015 to work with my gigabyte x58 UD5 that i thought wasn't going to work because of all the post i read about gigabyte and LSI cards don't go well together

i3 2120T doesn't support ECC memory :/
 
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balance101 said:
I see bathazar, thanks for your respone

i wonder if s1200kp supports the M1015

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1636007 altano didn't get it to work but that was a while back

I even go a M1015 to work with my gigabyte x58 UD5 that i thought wasn't going to work because of all the post i read about gigabyte and LSI cards don't go well together

i3 2120T doesn't support ECC memory :/
Click to expand...

This thread suggests there's a good chance the i3-2120t may support ECC (based on experiences with other i3s with the proper Intel chipsets), and I'll know for certain when I try it out myself in a few days. Of course I'll update the thread with my findings. I wanted a low-TDP CPU and you can't beat the pricing on this. Now if it doesn't enable ECC I'll just upgrade to one of the Xeon E3v2 chips when they get released in a month or three.

I haven't looked into the M1015 specifically, but the same thread referenced above indicates a firmware upgrade might help but you'll have to flash the BIOS on a non LGA1155 mainboard. It's such a common HBA that I have to think others have tried using it with the S1200KP. This posting and subsequent comments make it seem promising at least, since it uses one of the most supported LSI chipsets.

Oh, and let me know how that Silverstone PSU works out. Some reports indicate it has a pretty loud fan, which would not fit with one of my requirements. Though it's not fully modular -- which is not ideal with the tiny case I'm using -- the fact that it has a short cable set option makes it interesting. If the fanless PSU I'm using doesn't work well, I'll re-use it in the ESXi box I'll build later and replace it with a high efficiency, quiet PSU with a fan.
 
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interesting 2120t supports ecc :D great value

i guess if the m1015 is flash to lsi IT mode it should work fine

waiting for this guy to put up his new video he use s1200kp and xeon 3 1260l with lsi 9240 8i, if he got it working then the m1015 should be no problem

http://youtu.be/DcdIfcr0q7o <- motherboard unboxing
http://youtu.be/GMrG9Q_Ozik <--- build

I tested out fan on the silverstone ST50FP (on the box it said v1.1) i dont know what the revision is for. You can hear it when you power on the PSU. like the fan starts to spin but after that its pretty hard to hear it. when its inside the case it wouldn't be noticeable. The price for the short cable is expensive $28~ =(

I only test it with a wire (jump start), don't know how it will sound under load

BTW the packaging sucks. The PSU is over by a thin bubble bag. I notice two small dens on the edge on the modular plug side. Hardly noticeable but still. There's like empty space in the box so the psu can be moving while in shipment. The only PSU i had is antec 850 and they use like a hard foam mole around the PSU so if the PSU does move it doesn't get damage =/
 
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has this picture changed at all? I'm in the process of building a server around the Q as well, running into the same ECC/VT-d brick wall. The Jetway board seems most likely at current, which of course does not have ECC support but includes everything else I need.
 
The big problem with the Jetway is the general low quality of Jetway motherboards and the pretty much non-existent Jetway customer support. Up to you if the Jetway's features outweighs those two issues.
 
I'd read that regarding Jetway support which is honestly what has given me pause, especially for a 180 dollar Mini-ITX board.
 
The ONLY thing I can add to your build is to replace the case with a Fractal Design "Array R2".

An EXCELLENT case indeed.
 
i wonder if the Intel i7 IV 3770T would be a better buy than the 1260L, I did a special order for the 1260L but its been a month still no ETA shipping date WTF. Only lose ECC
 
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