-(Xyphox)-
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2004
- Messages
- 6,518
another galaxy, man you must have the world's biggest porn collection to need that much space, LOL
Looks awesome so far
Looks awesome so far
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Project: Galaxy 5.0
- Thread starter Ockie
- Start date
I got the AOC-SIMSO part, about $65 and came with just the daughtercard and installation CD, but I think I'm going to return it because I just realized there's an AOC-SIMSO+ part that is $40 more but comes with a cable and PCI bracket with RJ45 port, which I have a hunch makes it true out-of-band in case motherboard crashes. With the AOC-SIMSO part I got, I'd assumed I'd just be using an unused ethernet port on the motherboard to do the KVM-over-LAN. I plugged the card in and it works fine but I haven't really messed with it. AOC-SIMSO+ pic and specs are here to show you what i'm talking about http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/SIM.cfm
We're talking mostly idle but occasional bursts of 50% usage with DVD Shrink across the 4 cores and it still only barely gets warm. The VID (voltage) is really low for this chip, like 1.118 and its at 2ghz so its not surprising given, besides the cooler nature of 45nm, its a chip engineered for much higher frequencies but being run slower and with less voltage than some of its wafer siblings that might end up in SKU's with higher multipliers and stock frequencies. In any case the stock fan is still silent with all 4 cores pegged at 100% for 20 min. I'm almost not sure why I need a second CPU on this board now.. oh that's right, "because I can".
another galaxy, man you must have the world's biggest porn collection to need that much space, LOL
Looks awesome so far
Hah - well I definitely got enthused with Ockie's past projects, and his hardware choices and ideas for Galaxy 5, so I took 'em and ran! I will have way more capacity than I need but mostly I was building it to begin ripping all my thousands of DVD's to Harddisk, followed by batch transcoding them to H.264 with a couple of overclocked Q6600-based systems running 5 DVD-R drives and 5 harddisks each. Had just been waiting for prices/Gb to come down below cost of optical media. Part of me thinks I should just *keep* waiting as prices on HD's fall, to the point HD's are so cheap that transcoding for space savings won't even matter anymore!
I agree, the "+" is a much better solution. I'm going to snap this up right now.
EDIT: On it's way.
i hope youre right on the pricedrop .... need a couple of those tb drives
swatbat
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2001
- Messages
- 13,085
Yea but how many different languages is it in?
1 - English
swatbat
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2001
- Messages
- 13,085
Impressive. My intel card didn't come with much of anything from what I remember.
Nice RAID controller! So did you be a good boy and follow instructions by reading that card first and not eat the silica gel packet?
Read Instructions? Pssshh. I usually put the Silica gel in water... because I'm that easily amused
Next step: To find a stick of DDR2 667 2GB memory that will work with that controller. With memory prices so dirt cheap, i'd be a fool not to max out the controller cache
Read Instructions? Pssshh. I usually put the Silica gel in water... because I'm that easily amused
Next step: To find a stick of DDR2 667 2GB memory that will work with that controller. With memory prices so dirt cheap, i'd be a fool not to max out the controller cache
LOL
I really like that controller, thinking about ordering one for myself today, any thoughts on it, now that you have it in person... Also, how well do you think it will fit in Plutonium 3???
Controller and box was much much much smaller than I ever expected, it should fit you fine. However, keep in mind, you have 36 bays, you would basically need two of these. Or you could get two 16's instead.
I haven't powered up the controller (no reason to do so), so I'm not sure how much I like it. I'm sure it's going to be nothing short of amazing, at least it better be for $1,200
I'd be curious to know how fast the controller handles an array expansion or raid level morphing (ie Raid5->Raid6). I've been testing my system with O/S installed on a test bench as I await the 24-bay Supermicro case. I tested my Adaptec 31605 16-port card with 15 x Hitachi 1Tb drives set up in Raid5 on this X7DWN+ mobo. The array build only took an hour, but when I added the 16th drive and told it to expand the array, it ended up taking 36 hours! I guess that's not the end of the world, though my next thought was to wonder if a failed drive array rebuild might take anywhere as long. I tested removing a drive from the array and plugging in a fresh-out-of-box drive, and array repair time was about the same as the array build (1 hr 10 min or so) so I'm opting for the extra space and sticking with raid 5 over extra parity with raid6. Read and write performance is amazing with this many drives in the array even though the controller only has 256mb memory.
For kicks I also installed 32Gb of ram on this mobo (running Win2003 Server Enterprise R2 x64), set up a 24gb ram drive, and did some testing. A gigabyte file took less than two seconds to copy with the ramdrive as both the source and destination. I ran a few other tests like 4 x dvdshrink sessions working off VIDEO_TS folders located on the ramdrive, and suddenly the absense of a second CPU was the bottleneck rather than a harddisk!
I guess that's not the end of the world, though my next thought was to wonder if a failed drive array rebuild might take anywhere as long. I tested removing a drive from the array and plugging in a fresh-out-of-box drive, and array repair time was about the same as the array build (1 hr 10 min or so) so I'm opting for the extra space and sticking with raid 5 over extra parity with raid6. Read and write performance is amazing with this many drives in the array even though the controller only has 256mb memory.For kicks I also installed 32Gb of ram on this mobo (running Win2003 Server Enterprise R2 x64), set up a 24gb ram drive, and did some testing. A gigabyte file took less than two seconds to copy with the ramdrive as both the source and destination. I ran a few other tests like 4 x dvdshrink sessions working off VIDEO_TS folders located on the ramdrive, and suddenly the absense of a second CPU was the bottleneck rather than a harddisk!
Just wanted to give an update on the IPMI card:
The card I got is a slightly different model (AOC-SIM1U+), but I'm guessing all the same features:
full remote java-based console
virtual drives (floppy, CD, etc)
full sensor readings (temps, volts, RPM's, everything)
remote power on/off/reset
it even supports dyndns to update your external IP
you can set IP access rules and force HTTPS/"KVM" encryption
setup user/group access with different access levels
even sync the time with a NTP server
Basically everything I could ever want in a remote access card and much more.
The card I got is a slightly different model (AOC-SIM1U+), but I'm guessing all the same features:
full remote java-based console
virtual drives (floppy, CD, etc)
full sensor readings (temps, volts, RPM's, everything)
remote power on/off/reset
it even supports dyndns to update your external IP
you can set IP access rules and force HTTPS/"KVM" encryption
setup user/group access with different access levels
even sync the time with a NTP server
Basically everything I could ever want in a remote access card and much more.
I'd be curious to know how fast the controller handles an array expansion or raid level morphing (ie Raid5->Raid6). I've been testing my system with O/S installed on a test bench as I await the 24-bay Supermicro case. I tested my Adaptec 31605 16-port card with 15 x Hitachi 1Tb drives set up in Raid5 on this X7DWN+ mobo. The array build only took an hour, but when I added the 16th drive and told it to expand the array, it ended up taking 36 hours!
For kicks I also installed 32Gb of ram on this mobo (running Win2003 Server Enterprise R2 x64), set up a 24gb ram drive, and did some testing. A gigabyte file took less than two seconds to copy with the ramdrive as both the source and destination. I ran a few other tests like 4 x dvdshrink sessions working off VIDEO_TS folders located on the ramdrive, and suddenly the absense of a second CPU was the bottleneck rather than a harddisk!
Sounds like we are going to have much of the same setup
This sounds great. I look forward to playing with my card.
-(Xyphox)-
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2004
- Messages
- 6,518
Very nice card, Glad it finally came in.
Cant wait to see more updates
Cant wait to see more updates
Read Instructions? Pssshh. I usually put the Silica gel in water... because I'm that easily amused
Next step: To find a stick of DDR2 667 2GB memory that will work with that controller. With memory prices so dirt cheap, i'd be a fool not to max out the controller cache
Oooh, drop it in water, an even better idea.
Wow, 2 GB of memory for a friggin controller. People are still buying PCs today that don't have that much RAM. That'll be a killer RAID controller.
Oooh, drop it in water, an even better idea.
Wow, 2 GB of memory for a friggin controller. People are still buying PCs today that don't have that much RAM. That'll be a killer RAID controller.
With that much cache memory, if write-caching is enabled that card better either have its own battery for backup, or else the system should be run on a good UPS. Because of the amount of data I'm depending on my own new system to maintain, I invested in an online UPS and demoted my other UPS (line-interactive based) to non-essential equipment. As you may know, a true online UPS is more expensive than line-interactive UPS's, and with good reason: it uses a double-conversion process whereby the AC power gets converted to DC and charges the battery, then the DC power from the battery is converted back to AC and is output as a pure sine wave. Think of it as reverse osmosis for electrical power. Since in effect the equipment is running off a battery all the time, this double-conversion process totally isolates the output power from the input power. Any nasty surprises and irregularities coming from the wall outlet affect only the battery charger, and not the output load. There's also zero transfer time in the event of a power outage (unlike line interactive UPS's), since the equipment is already running off the battery. With an online UPS you are effectively increasing the MTBF on the computer's power supply(s) since they never get stressed by dirty power/anomalies. So you might ask, what if the battery in an online UPS fails? Well most if not all online UPS's have MULTIPLE batteries (mine has 8, in a 2U rackspace) so if one or more batteries fail you simply have a little less battery runtime because they're all load sharing. Further, some people/companies go as far as plugging a server/computer with dual power supplies into two separate UPS's for even more redundancy.
Reason I bring this up is, while we're all talking about best-of-breed components and such, to point out diffs in UPS's that I didn't pay much attention to until recently, and I thought there may be others that didn't know or never paid attention. I realized the extra expense of an online UPS is far outweighed by the value of the data being protected.
Years ago I lost a "redundant" *cough* array of 6 x 300GB harddrives in Raid5 after a power surge. Even though they were plugged into a "surge protector", when the power came back on all six drives were doing the "click of death" and I had no backup (though mostly movie data, so not a huge deal). Since then I ONLY use a UPS (and more recently, a true online UPS).
I'm looking to put my entire home on a UPS system with standby backup.
Hate to snap you out of your dream
but if you're looking for a good, solid UPS that is currently on sale, check out this thread and scroll down to SJetski71's Fry's/Outpost link. $129 + ship isn't bad for 1500VA by APC. (Granted, it's not the $50 deal I got last year. )
R
ring.of.steel
Guest
Ockie when are you gonna start building this thing?
Whenever the stuff actually comes in stock
I'm also not in a rush right now, I have other things to take care off, just moved in my new home this weekend, so I'm still doing a lot of other things. Tasks today includes putting up blinds for all the rooms, finishing the watersoftner install, and installing the garage door opener. I got a laundry list of things still left to do at home, so galaxy build isn't a priority at this moment, I'm just waiting patiently as the parts come in stock then I snap them up I should be recieving the mobo and IPMI card today (I think).Oh and my new computer room (aka basement) isn't up to speed yet, everything is still in boxes. Need to unbox and set all that stuff up too... It's going to be insane, it's the first time in my life I will have enough room for all my computer stuff.
R
ring.of.steel
Guest
Ahh i didnt realise you were moving house good luck!
good luck!Well good news, the SuperMicro 24 bay case just came into stock at a distributor so SuperMicro stuck to their ETA commitment - yowza! They also have a silver edition besides the black one, I noticed. I'll have my filthy mitts on the black one tomorrow.
So, keep your eyes peeled on the e-tailer sites since it should be any day that they show up into stock!
So, keep your eyes peeled on the e-tailer sites since it should be any day that they show up into stock!
Let's hope I can get my filthy mitts on one too. A silver one would be kinda cool too.
You know, I was just going to run a couple of Adaptec 16-port raid controllers since I got them for 75% off - except that 24-port Areca is starting to eat at me, since it seems ideal for this server case given the match to the drive bays.
Question is, and I haven't been able to find the answer even in the 1280ML's PDF manual, is there any reason the controller would NOT support a 24-drive Raid5 or Raid6 array? I know, i know - losing a 23Tb raid array in one shot due to controller failure or something would not be fun.. but my data is nearline anyway and i'd have backups for important stuff.
I never really took Areca seriously because I just thought it was (foreign)-made junk and the thought of trusting my data to a controller that has english misspellings in its BIOS menu not to mention the silly and misspelled product packaging had me worried about quality control (or lack of). However, after realizing that Tekram is the company behind the Areca cards, it was "say no more". I've been using Tekram cache controllers and products since the early 90's - they know what they're doing.
Question is, and I haven't been able to find the answer even in the 1280ML's PDF manual, is there any reason the controller would NOT support a 24-drive Raid5 or Raid6 array? I know, i know - losing a 23Tb raid array in one shot due to controller failure or something would not be fun.. but my data is nearline anyway and i'd have backups for important stuff.
I never really took Areca seriously because I just thought it was (foreign)-made junk and the thought of trusting my data to a controller that has english misspellings in its BIOS menu not to mention the silly and misspelled product packaging had me worried about quality control (or lack of). However, after realizing that Tekram is the company behind the Areca cards, it was "say no more". I've been using Tekram cache controllers and products since the early 90's - they know what they're doing.
I didn't know it was Tekram either until I opened the package. I feel much better now too
Update: My case should be in Friday or Monday. Time to get these house things moving quick so I can start the build!
Many thanks goes out to odditory who dropped shipped me this case... all the vendors for this case are backordered or out of stock... so this is great!!!!
Many thanks goes out to odditory who dropped shipped me this case... all the vendors for this case are backordered or out of stock... so this is great!!!!
Finally, after all the chores for the new house (water softner, humidifier, blinds, fixtures, network, sattelite, etc), I had time to open the boxes of the new toys.
Supermicro Motherboard X7DWN+
Supermicro IPMI AOC-SIM1U+ Remote Management Lights Out Card
Supermicro Motherboard X7DWN+
Supermicro IPMI AOC-SIM1U+ Remote Management Lights Out Card
unhappy_mage
[H]ard|DCer of the Month - October 2005
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2004
- Messages
- 11,455
Sweet! Please post pics of the management card interface when you get it going.
ClariorHincHonos
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2007
- Messages
- 1,972
IPMI kicks ass. Trust me, you'll like it.
jmroberts70
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2002
- Messages
- 2,953
My God... It's full of RAM slots!!
-(Xyphox)-
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2004
- Messages
- 6,518
Looks great, cant wait for more!
Ockie - glad I took your recommendation for a Supermicro branded motherboard over the Intel branded 5400-based one I was eyeing: the case and the motherboard were made for each other. The motherboard has fan headers in perfect locations for the 2 rear fans and the 3 middle fans, so that all case fans will be motherboard controlled instead of being in "dumb mode" plugged into the power supply's 12V rail.
No manual comes with the case, but not an issue because everything's clearly marked. They do have a PDF diagram of their SAS backplane online at their website for this case, but you won't need it once you read the markings on the back of the backplane. A sophisticated case, but a snap for anyone experienced.
Lastly, heads up before you start plugging in drives: there's a specific order of the SATA and sideband connectors on the SAS backplane: you can't just install the drives in any old configuration (unless you don't want activity and fault LED's corresponding to the correct drives - which you do ofcourse). Starting from the bottom left, it goes drive #1 thru #4 from left to right, and then drive #5 thru #8 is the second row from the bottom, again going from left to right. You'll see what I mean if you look closely at the backplane - you'll have to take all the fans out to see.
In fact remove all the fans and the fan shroud before you begin the build and it will go easier. I love this case.
PS: I installed a 40mm x 25mm fan onto the Areca's XOR chip heatsink - now its 25C cooler (35C instead of 60C). I don't care if Areca has rated the chip to run without a fan at higher temperatures - a $4 fan gives me a little piece of mind, because in summer if temps shoot up and the controller dies, I'd be a fool not to have installed that fan.
....waiting for your pics!
No manual comes with the case, but not an issue because everything's clearly marked. They do have a PDF diagram of their SAS backplane online at their website for this case, but you won't need it once you read the markings on the back of the backplane. A sophisticated case, but a snap for anyone experienced.
Lastly, heads up before you start plugging in drives: there's a specific order of the SATA and sideband connectors on the SAS backplane: you can't just install the drives in any old configuration (unless you don't want activity and fault LED's corresponding to the correct drives - which you do ofcourse). Starting from the bottom left, it goes drive #1 thru #4 from left to right, and then drive #5 thru #8 is the second row from the bottom, again going from left to right. You'll see what I mean if you look closely at the backplane - you'll have to take all the fans out to see.
In fact remove all the fans and the fan shroud before you begin the build and it will go easier. I love this case.
PS: I installed a 40mm x 25mm fan onto the Areca's XOR chip heatsink - now its 25C cooler (35C instead of 60C). I don't care if Areca has rated the chip to run without a fan at higher temperatures - a $4 fan gives me a little piece of mind, because in summer if temps shoot up and the controller dies, I'd be a fool not to have installed that fan.
....waiting for your pics!
This Areca controller is really growing on me. I'm learning all the ins and outs before trusting data to it, including some time tests for raid expansion (moving from 15 to 16 drives), timing an array rebuild after failing a drive, etc. - all vital stats to know ahead of time rather than when disaster strikes. Performance in HDTach and HDTune is staggering (screenshots at some later point).
Once you enable S.M.A.R.T. polling (disabled by default, strangely), you get individual drive temps and can set an email notify if any temp gets too high (among other alert features). One of my favorite features is the controller's ability to spin down the array after x minutes of inactivity. It's these extra little features that make the high cost easier to swallow. At first, all the broken english in the product manual was worrying me a bit, as far as the idea of trusting all my data to it, and Areca seems lazy with driver and firmware update frequency, but all in all its growing on me.
Note that the temps are "all over the map" because I've got the drives sitting on a test bench with no fan, waiting for case installation. At some later point Ockie or myself can post a screenshot of drive temps once installed in the case. Alright Ockie, get your build underway - its your show after all!
Once you enable S.M.A.R.T. polling (disabled by default, strangely), you get individual drive temps and can set an email notify if any temp gets too high (among other alert features). One of my favorite features is the controller's ability to spin down the array after x minutes of inactivity. It's these extra little features that make the high cost easier to swallow. At first, all the broken english in the product manual was worrying me a bit, as far as the idea of trusting all my data to it, and Areca seems lazy with driver and firmware update frequency, but all in all its growing on me.
Note that the temps are "all over the map" because I've got the drives sitting on a test bench with no fan, waiting for case installation. At some later point Ockie or myself can post a screenshot of drive temps once installed in the case. Alright Ockie, get your build underway - its your show after all!