socket 1150 ecc buffered memory

[Raimondo]

Hi guys

 

I decide to renovate my actual setup (2x xeon l5420, supermicro x7dwn+, ecc buffered memory)

 

I choose as new cpu the intel i3 4330 (if you can suggest any good price similar tell me)

 

The problem comes with the board. In the principal pages cant make an advanced search selecting features i want..

 

Can you suggest some models at asus, asrock, supermicro that supports ecc buffered memory?

 

I want also to say that i will use a lsi 9261-8i card and a an intel2cv240 sas expander.

 

Number of sata ports arent a significant feature to choose a mobo or other

 

Thanks in advanced for your comments and help

[garycase]

There are no Socket 1150 boards boards that use buffered RAM.    You'll need to buy new memory.

You can, however, get a board that supports ECC, which I'd recommend doing.  Just not buffered.

 

[Raimondo]

Hi and thanks

 

What is very strong the difference between buffered ecc and unbuffered ecc?

 

If it isnt, cam you suggest some models please?

[garycase]

This is a very nice board for UnRAID with 14 SATA ports on the board and support for ECC memory:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182821

 

Any of SuperMicro's X10 series boards will work well -- if you don't want the 2nd SATA controller on-board, there are several less expensive options.    AsRock and Asus boards are nice too, but be sure you choose one that supports ECC memory.

 

As for the difference between buffered and unbuffered -- buffered is better, but is simply not available on boards that support socket 1150 CPUs.    With unbuffered RAM, it will be more reliable if you only install one module per channel ... but with modern 8GB modules you can still have 16GB with just two memory modules (one per channel).

 

 

 

 

[Raimondo]

Thanks garycase for your support.

Good and fast

 

And what about this cpu?

Intel xeon e3 1220 b3? Better than before mentioned? (4330?)

[garycase]

Assuming you're referring to the v3 (Haswell) version of the 1220, then Yes, the Xeon is a better choice.  Adds vt-d support, and is appreciably faster [PassMark 7022 vs. 5095 for the i3].

 

[Raimondo]

Yes... i wrong when posted but i refered to that cpu.

 

Ok perfect

The problem i see on supermicro, two things:

 

Difficult to get in europe

Few pci lan

 

What about this? P9d ws asus

 

In asrock i dont locate with ecc ram boards..

[garycase]

The Asus board is very nice -- the C226 is an excellent chipset.    That board with a Xeon E3-1220v3 would make a VERY nice system.

 

[Raimondo]

Thanks gary

 

And finally any brand and/or model ram ecc ddr3 that you can reccomend?

 

Also need some recommendation about quality-priced ratio 5 in 3 hdd cage. Im not sure at all about if supermicro, icy dock or other brands should be conteplated..

 

P.d. so in your opinion the change from my actual pc to that one worth it?

 

[garycase]

... any brand and/or model ram ecc ddr3 that you can reccomend?

 

I like Kingston, Crucial, and Corsair

 

 

Also need some recommendation about quality-priced ratio 5 in 3 hdd cage. Im not sure at all about if supermicro, icy dock or other brands should be conteplated..

 

Whichever one you prefer is fine.  I've used both the SuperMicro and IcyDock units, and both were fine.  Lately I've been using the 4-in-3 units from CoolerMaster [ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817993002&cm_re=CoolerMaster_cage-_-17-993-002-_-Product ].  Not hot-swap, but they have excellent cooling due to the large front-mounted fan the blows air directly over the drives.

 

 

...  in your opinion the change from my actual pc to that one worth it?

 

Only you can answer that.  Dual L5420's score 6627 on PassMark;  a single E3-1220v3 scores 7022.  So you'll get a modest performance gain;  more efficient and faster memory;  and lower power consumption -- not only from the processor, but also from the newer and more efficient chipset.

 

 

[Raimondo]

Many thanks.

 

And finally i want to ask..

 

Now i have a hardware raid but after doing a better search than i did at first time i want to change to software raid (unraid or zfs dont know yet). I dont remember where i saw it but.. i think i have to keep a proportion between number of hdd tb and gb ram memory. Is that correct?

 

But my question is.... in my setup i have a lot of hdd (like 20 hdd) and how lsi card i will pass to it mode ( i dont know if 9261-8i is able to pass to that mode)

 

And the asus only has 6 ports. What would be the solution?

 

Lsi 9261-8i to IT mode and connected to a sas expander?

 

Sorry if this question isnt in most properly place

[Ford Prefect]

Now i have a hardware raid but after doing a better search than i did at first time i want to change to software raid (unraid or zfs dont know yet). I dont remember where i saw it but.. i think i have to keep a proportion between number of hdd tb and gb ram memory. Is that correct?

 

...1GB of RAM per 1TB of storage, yes...that is a common *myth" for zfs based arrays....this only applies when using the de-duplication feature.

However zfs will use all "free" memory as a read cache...so some extra GB can help, but aren't technically necessary.

[Raimondo]

Ford Prefect thankx for destroying the myth

 

Only one questiom what are the alternatives to get more number sata ports?

 

9261-8i to It mode + sas expander or there are other alternatives?

 

Thank you

[Ford Prefect]

...there are some options.

 

As already pointed out, some motherboards offer a LSI card/HBA on-board...this combo usually has a smaller pricetag than buying the parts separately.

Based on the mobo PCIe slots (you'll need/want/count x8 speed slots) you can add as many HBAs as required.

The "standard" models come with 8 ports, but there are some with more, like 16, 24 or even 28+ ports on a single card.

Combining a HBA with an expander usually works...I run a M1015/9211-8i together with an intel RESCV240 very successfully with my ZFS array.(24 disks total).

 

The 9261-8i is a MEGARaid model..not a HBA..don't know if IT-Mode FW is provided or if it can be cross-flashed.

I'd go for a real HBA or a M1015 (which can be cross-flashed quite safely.

[Raimondo]

Ok. I gonna take a look in ebay. 9211 is an extended model

 

And what about the 71605h adaptec? It looks like pretty well item

 

Thank you for the support

[Raimondo]

Anybody knows about a Hba with 16-24 ports compatible with zfs and wasnt a luxury article?

 

Because the only alternative i have is

 

9211-8i (60 euro moreless)

+

Chenbro ck23601 (270 euro)

Or

Intel res2cv240 (280euro)

(Less ports but i dont need a pci )

 

My principal worry is about 9211, if there is any limitation with its port, a bottle neck.

[Raimondo]

The highpoint rocketraid 2760a could be a good choice?

 

As i see at its features i think yes

[garycase]

The Highpoint 2760a is indeed a very nice card and works well with UnRAID.  See Pauven's posts about his "Ultra Low Power" server that uses this controller for a lot of details on that card.

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=27460.0

 

[Ford Prefect]

...since the OP is also looking into building a ZFS based array, this card should work under any major linux distro, but I am unsure if (open)-solaris or FreeNAS/BSD will support it.

 

Besides, I recall users having some heat-problems with these massively packed cards....don't know if this applies to that specific one though.

[Raimondo]

Gary or anyone can be able to answer this diubt..

 

9211-8i + intel sas expander 24 ports, could have bottleneck?

That is why i was considered to mount directly a hba adapter highpoint

 

 

Because as i was talking with Ford. My server isnt running 24/7. Only power on it to see a movie or pass downloaded files from another pc i have

 

Thanks

[Ford Prefect]

Yes, technically an expander has a bottleneck...you can do the maths yourself based on the PCIe bandwidth of the card and no. of drives which results in a different bandwidth per disk, based

on a set-up with or without expander respectively.

 

In unRAID you can notice a speed decrease when recalculating parity or clearing disks.

In ZFS you can see this when doing a scrub.

 

In normal day-to-day usage (read/write to the array), IMHO,  you won't see a difference in a home-use scenario (<5-10 concurrent clients).

My ZFS array (raidz3 with 16x3TB 7.2k disks) totally saturates the GB-Link (I get constant 112MBytes/sec read + write speeds) over the net and still approx 600+MByte/sec scrub performance.

See also this thread: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=33461.0

 

When using the Server mostly in standby or on/off scenario and not 24x7, I simply doubt that a new mobo+CPU+RAm combo will pay off by the electricity-bill savings.

Your Dual-CPU setup has plenty of horsepower...more than most NAS boxes I know.

I'd just invest in a HBA (or expander combo) suitable for software raid NAS (unRAID, ZFS or else).

[garycase]

My server isnt running 24/7. Only power on it to see a movie or pass downloaded files from another pc i have

 

Earlier, you asked:

 

the change from my actual pc to that one worth it?

 

At the time I said only you could answer that;  but with this additional bit of information, I'd say the answer is clearly no -- you're not going to see any tangible benefits from upgrading everything to the newer technology.    Yes, it would use less power; run cooler; take up less space; and be a "nicer" system -- but for a system you only turn on infrequently it's very questionable whether or not it's worth the cost.    It really depends on how much you want to have the newer technology ... but from a pure cost-effectiveness standpoint it's pretty clear that it's not worth it.