Workstation Recommendation

[ghat]

hi

I am planing to upgrade by current rig for 2013. The current rig has served me since 2009 and is AMD based.

I have to fit in the following gear which I already own...
- PCIe-X8: SAS2008 PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS-2 (for a 2nd 8-disk RAID (future))
- PCIe-x1: USB 3.0 Host Controller
- PCI: Tiger3XX Modem/ISDN (voip card for asterix)
- existing 4disk RAID (on mother board SATAII based) 4x2TB
- A system disk (SATA 2.5/SSD may be) (have lots of spare 2.5HDD's)
- A optical drive (SATA DVDRW)

System will sit in garrage, so graphics is not really needed, but if it can provide any acceleration for ffmpeg based encoding on debian/ubuntu 64 then it would be a plus.

System will be ON 24/7, will run 2-4 KVM's on a dom0. The dom0 will also be used as a
file server and a video compression/encoding device occasionally. never installed asterix, but plan to run it over KVM if possible, else on dom0.

Has to be very reliable, and rock solid in stability, and low power consumtion when not doing video compression.

An online review suggesst the Ivy-Bridge Xeons to be a good value for performance+efficiency
E3-1265LV2 is especially good due to low power, dont know what motherboard I should go for...
Supermicro seems to have lots of gotcha's with bios updates etc...

Any recomendations for a unix/linux friendly mobo for above jobs...

G

 

[omniscence]

You may consider a non-L CPU like the E3-1230V2. The CPU you quoted may have a lower TDP, but unless you have a very special cooling solution in mind that should not bother you. In idle and low-load states the CPUs will have almost the same power usage with the non-L version having much more performance headroom. The L version is more for tight rack spaces that have to be designed around their cooling solution.

As main board I personally recommend the X9SCM-iiF from Supermicro. No useless onboard hardware, low power consumption. No problems under Linux as long as I compile recent Intel network drivers.

For Asterisk your plan may not be the optimal solution. PBX software for VOIP routing usually requires nearly realtime-like behaviour for glitch-less audio. KVM cannot guarantee that (no virtualization software can do that reliably). A separate Atom based system may be better, but you should still try the virtualized solution, maybe it works. You can also consider running Asterisk on the virtualization host directly.

 

[ghat]

thanks..

Is there any place where the supermicro suffixes or naming conventions are explained...

Whats the difference between X9SCM, X9SCM-F, X9SCM-iiF
or X9XCA X9SCA-F
or X9SAE X9SAE-F

I need at least one PCI slot, and one or more PCIex8 slots, so not much available on supermicro

G

 

[omniscence]

The F in the suffix indicates IPMI capability, allowing to completely manage the system remotely. It contains a KVM over IP solution. Once you finish the hardware setup you will not have to touch the machine again even for complete reinstalls.

The -iiF version of the board uses two Intel 82574L ethernet controllers, while the -F version includes one 82574L and one 82579LM controller. For servers the 82574L is arguably the better version. The latter controller is required for Intel AMT remote management, which no X9SCM version supports anyway.

If you absolutely need a PCI slot, you will have to get a X9SCA/-F or a X9SAE/-V. The main purpose of the latter boards is to use the integrated processor graphics. It does not support IPMI, but AMT is available as a replacement. I personally prefer IPMI, but I have no personal experience with one of these boards. There is also a thread regarding the X9SAE on this board.

 

[ghat]

hi

I have 99% decided on the X9SCM-iiF. The next question is the CPU cooler...
I see that the Noctua NH-D14 is a good cooler, but is that a over kill for this board ?

I am planing to assemble this in a mid tower case with about 13 HDDs eventually.
The Server build looks like this

X9SCM-iiF
E3-1240V2
M391B1G73BH0-CK0 16GB
Seasonic P1000
Noctua NH-D14
Antec 902v3

Norco 500 X2
Norco 300 X1
BDRE drive X1

Any other/better recomendations...
G
PS: The only thing I dont like in the A 902v3 is the glass panel...

 

[Nathan_P]

Overkill for the cooler, either use a stock cooler or get a coolermaster 212

 

[ghat]

Overkill for the cooler, either use a stock cooler or get a coolermaster 212

I can see that after looking at the size of the cooler... however with about 13HDD's in the system it would be pretty hot in there already... also the summers here in texas are pretty hot in the garage....

I am looking at the air balance in the case...
I have reduced intake with
2x80mm @31CFM (fixed) on the noc500's
1x80mm @24CFM (fixed) on the noc300
1x120mm (side case fan) 20-75 PWM
(total 106-161 CFM)

and then there is the huge lanboy on top (exhaust)
83 OR 108 OR 134 CFM (switchable)
1x120mm Power Supply fan ? dont know CFM? may be 0-20<>75
(83CFM min to 200CFM max)

the intake would be reduced due to air filters, so I clearly need another intake 120mm fan somewhere.. (the default case is good as there are 2 front 120mm fans which I loose due to the norcos... )

I am thinking about making the rear exaust as an intake if I can direct the CPU fans out from the top..... Are there any 120mm fan ducts available so I can redirect that air to the bottom of the case instead of just letting it flow in.. or are there any better ideas...

G

coolermaster 212

coolermaster 212 EVO... is the current model...

Update:-
- Norco 300 has problem fitting on the top shelf with the motherboard, the Fan Housing interferes...
- The 212EVO with the "pushing" fan does not work with the side case fan..., need to move it across in a pull mode..