[HamWAN PSDR] Any suggestions for a good shallow-depth server?

[Bart Kus]

Hi Scott & Bryan,

The list of Supermicro model #s always makes my head spin.  :)  Not a 
bad suggestion though.  Perhaps I should study their tome of models.  
That RAID, BTW, is "fakeraid".  But I do like the integrated IPMI and 
support for more modern CPUs.  Then again, I suspect after it's fully 
stocked with hardware (CPU, RAM, HDs) I'm gonna be back to a $700 DL320e 
type of box.

After I wrote this email, I realized that the KVM with virtual media is 
actually more important than RAID.  If a drive fails, you can KVM in and 
configure the BIOS to disable the drive and re-install whatever you need 
at that site onto the next drive that's working. Still doesn't help when 
a single sector goes bad though.  You still lose/corrupt data then.

Thanks for the tips though,

--Bart


On 5/26/2015 12:17 AM, Scott Honaker wrote:
> SuperMicro has a series of small servers with RAID and IPMI support.  
> I have a couple of them running at DEM with solid state drives.  
> Here's an example.
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101384&cm_re=1u_barebones_server-_-16-101-384-_-Product 
>
>
> Scott N7SS
>
> On Mon, May 25, 2015 at 11:53 PM, Bart Kus <me at bartk.us 
> <mailto:me at bartk.us>> wrote:
>
>     Hi all,
>
>     I've been trying to get my grubby little hands on a server for
>     East Tiger.  The physical layout of that site demands we use a
>     shallow depth (1/2 depth) server.  There are surprisingly few
>     servers out there that are both shallow and offer some kind of
>     hardware RAID and KVM control with virtual media.  I've identified
>     a couple:
>
>      1. Dell R210 ii
>           * 1U
>           * 1CPU (E3-12##v2 series)
>           * Max 32GB RAM
>           * 2HD (non-hot-swap)
>           * Stock H200 RAID controller is poopy (no BBWC/FBWC, no
>             option to enable HD write cache), but it can take an H700
>             controller.
>           * KVM not typically installed, but inexpensive DRAC6 cards
>             available ($15)
>           * Kind of expensive for what it is
>      2. HP DL320e G8
>           * 1U
>           * 1CPU (E3-12##v2 series)
>           * Max 32GB RAM
>           * 2-4HD depending on chassis (hot-swap)
>           * Stock B210i RAID controller is poopy (no BBWC/FBWC), but
>             it can take a P222 controller.
>           * KVM via iLO4 integrated standard
>           * Expensive
>
>     Given the timing, I've gonna deploy a server I have in stock, but
>     it's really awful:
>
>      1. Rackable based on Intel S5000PSL motherboard
>           * 2U
>           * 2CPU (really old Xeon 5148)
>           * 16GB RAM installed (32GB max, FBDIMM required)
>           * 4HD (hot swap)
>           * NO RAID controller, and no room in the chassis to install
>             one either.
>           * NO KVM (there is an add-on, but it's $170.  It may or may
>             not fit the chassis.)
>           * "Free!" since it's in my inventory and I'm trying to
>             either sell the servers off or put them to good use.
>
>     Since this is going up on a mountain top inaccessible for 1/2 the
>     year, it's really nice to have the KVM ability in case something
>     goes wrong or you need to do troubleshooting (just had to use KVM
>     today to work on some of our ESXi hosts), and the RAID is nice in
>     case a drive dies or develops a bad sector.
>
>     Anyway, do any of you have any suggestions for any other small
>     servers I may not have considered yet?
>
>     --Bart
>
>
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