Howdy all.  

 

Been reading the board for a while now and am now planning a build.  I am going to virtualize unRaid on esxi and also run a few other VMs (DC, DNS, test and devel ...).  I don't expect too many services/VMs to be running at all times, just as needed.  So this should be an interesting balancing act between HP and power efficieny.

 

Motherboard: Supermicro H8SCM Opteron

CPU: Opteron 4122

PSU: Seasonic X-850 or Kingwin LZG-850 (both have 70 A on the single +12 V rail and are 90% rated at 80% load, but the Kingwin is about $60 less)

Case: Norco 4224

2x Scythe SY1225SL 120mm fans for Norco

Noctua NH-U9D2 CPU cooler

8 GB Hynix RECC memory (verified to work in Mobo)

 

Drives: initially 4x 750 GB drives that I have laying around.  Will grow once I get things stable.

 

I know the quad core Opteron is overpowered for unRaid, but there will be other VMs running.  Aside from being esxi compatible, I was reading that the Opteron 4122 is relatively low power when idle.  Can anyone confirm that?

 

Anyway, any thought on these parts?  I'm pricing things out at the moment.

 

Thanks much

 

edit: add urls for components

If you are getting the 120mm fan mod plate for the norco 4224 you will need 3 fans.

 

 

Josh

...just make sure that MoBo and CPU will support vmdirectpath for passing your controller to unRAID with ESXi.

The Board looks pricey ... if you have the CPU already, it will make sense...I'd look into an intel based solution otherwise.

hmmm interesting to see an amd server build. so rare..

 

agreeing with Ford..

I do not see that this board will allow you to pass your controllers through. you should verify that.

 

Also, while the CPU is inexpensive, it has no CPU cooler, once you add that on. you are up to an E3 XEON price almost.

 

the mobo itself seems overpriced. it does not even have IPMI.

 

In the end, a proven Intel solution will cost about the same. just something to  consider.

 

 

the norco uses 80mm fans. if you got the 120mm fanwall, you need 3 fans then. if you use only 2 fans the the air will back-flow. the chassis will not pressurize resulting in the drives not cooling at all.

you will need 3

Thanks all

 

I missed counted the # number of fans.  Wasn't planning on short counting.  I'll double check the IMPI.  That was one feature I was looking for in a Supermicro board.  ESXi was another.

 

Thanks again