April 17, 20188 yr (This is a cross-post from another part of the forum, just to increase visibility to solicit feedback. I just want to avoid problems with the planned build. Apologies for the spam - this is quite a major upgrade for me) TLDR: I've stopped going around in circles and just about ready to commit to a major upgrade. Please do comment as you see fit! CPU1: E5-2630 v4 (the price for these is just too low to ignore) CPU2: empty (I'm going single CPU for now - if my VM needs prove to be significant then buy/install a second CPU then) CPU Cooler: Noctuna NH-9DL (I'm wary of the cooler overlapping the RAM sockets or getting in the way of the 2nd CPU/cooler at a future date. This cooler should remove that problem) RAM: 16GB ECC Registered (again, if the VM requirements take off then adding more RAM is easy) Motherboard: Asus Z10PE-D16 WS (I've just picked this up with over 60% off retail, so a right bargain!!) Link: https://www.asus.com/uk/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/Z10PED16_WS/ Seasonic FOCUS Plus Gold 750W (this should handle almost anything I'll throw at it) Link: https://seasonic.com/focus-plus-gold Chassis: 4U 16-hotswap case (the hot swap backplate is an SFF-8087. I'm not spotting any major issues here(?). It's also allows for a standard ATX PSU) Link: https://www.servercase.co.uk/shop/server-cases/rackmount/4u-chassis/4u-server-case-w-16-x-35-hot-swappable-satasas-drive-bays-6gbs-minisas-+-2-x-525-bays-sc-4316/ Update: I've just changed this to a 4U 14 bay non-hot-swap. Sure, hot swap would be nice but I've never had it before - and I'm saving around 60% on the chassis Erm...that's about it! Assuming there no major gotchas in here then I'll be taking lots of pictures to try and pimp out my new baby!!
April 20, 20188 yr Looks like a nice pile of shiny bits, should be a fun build. Nothing pop-out as, "Oh dear god, Why?! Why use XYZ!?" For RAM, you can't go wrong with Kingston --IMO. Really, seems like you've done your homework, certainly for pricing.
April 21, 20188 yr Great system. Love the gold accents on the board. Please forgive me if I’m stating the obvious. Take note that you might lose use of some of your ram slots (make sure you install the ram in the right slots for the corresponding CPU socket) and pcie connections with only one cpu installed. Eg: watch where you will install any GPUs or expansion cards.Other than this, nice system.
April 21, 20188 yr Author Thanks both. I ended up with Cruical memory in the end - I just seemed to find it easier to find ram that the MB stated it supported - but Crucial are just as good. Also the Platinum PSU (it was £8 more expensive...and it was in stock!) Insert shiny picture of goodies (chassis turns up on Monday)...wish me luck!
April 22, 20188 yr Author Cost basically. I managed to get that mobo at £210 (was £440). The cheapest dual-Xeon server board I found was around £310-320. Its worth mentioning here (this may help others planning their own builds) that pcpartpicker.com assumes that you’re building a workstation and not a server. So it’s fine to pick out the right matching components - and I made good use of it - but it doesn’t show server component options (including cases).
April 22, 20188 yr On 4/20/2018 at 2:45 PM, Jcloud said: For RAM, you can't go wrong with Kingston --IMO. I see Crucial in your picture, also good pick for RAM.
April 22, 20188 yr Author 1 hour ago, Jcloud said: I see Crucial in your picture, also good pick for RAM. Yeah both are excellent. I looked up the specific ram models that were compatible for the board and found more options for Crucial. No other reason Edited April 22, 20188 yr by MrLeek
April 22, 20188 yr Author In fact, the only thing I’d love to find other options is the case it’s all going to go in. There’s just not that many options when the mobo is an EEB (not helped that if I did find a good looking tower case I’d want it to be in silver)
April 22, 20188 yr Author ....and dumb question of the day: If i'm running this mobo with just one CPU, do I keep the CPU slot cap on the unused socket? I assume I do, but sods law says I'll blow the 2nd CPU socket! Edited April 22, 20188 yr by MrLeek
April 22, 20188 yr 29 minutes ago, MrLeek said: If i'm running this mobo with just one CPU, do I keep the CPU slot cap on the unused socket? Yes, definitely! Those pins are extremely delicate, and should be protected either by a CPU or the cover that came with the board. The motherboard manual should have a warning about leaving it open.
April 23, 20188 yr Author That's what I expected as well. Instead there's a clear 'keep the protective socket caps (in case of RMA)' message and the fact that the motherboard can indeed run using just one CPU. But no specific instruction on what to do with the unused socket - so thanks for the response @jonathanm Other news - the chassis from Server Case turned up today. Really impressive looking thing in the flesh.....I just have to figure out how to connect the hot-swap drives up to the rest of the server. Looks like one bank of 4 drives has 4-pin Molex power connections and the next block of 4 has what (at first glance) appear to be SATA connections. But, unless I'm blind, there's no other connections....let me take a good look at this thing...... edit: a picture is worth a thousand words so they say.... Edit 2: It looks like this is a SAS - SATA connection thing (never encountered it before). Looks like these cables will fit: https://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812117624&cm_re=mini_sas_to_sata-_-12-117-624-_-Product Question - are SAS <> SATA cables into the motherboard likely to cause me a headache or three? Edited April 23, 20188 yr by MrLeek
April 23, 20188 yr Author 99% certain that I need a REVERSE SATA/SAS breakout cable (since i'm going from motherboard SATA ports to a SFF-0807 backplate). Wrting this partly so that i can get corrected as needed....and also to keep on track whilst I search for the right cable - the number of times I've ended up looking at the wrong type of cable because Google/Amazon is trying to 'help' me....grrr!!
April 23, 20188 yr See this post: https://lime-technology.com/forums/topic/6723-sas-to-sata-cables-forward-or-reverse-which-where-why/
April 23, 20188 yr Author cheers for the link - unless i'm going mad this is the key sentence for me: If The Motherboard/host-Controller side are SATA connectors and the backplane is a SAS connector then you must always use a SAS to SATA Reverse Breakout Cable. " That is right......right?
April 23, 20188 yr sata --> sas = reverse breakout. sas --> sata = forward breakout. ...but wait with ordering till some else also confirms. To be sure.
April 23, 20188 yr Author It would be the more expensive cable (and one that seems to be harder to get hold of!) - cheers both, much appreciated!
April 23, 20188 yr 2 minutes ago, uldise said: Yes, that's correct, if you look from MB/SAS Card side. Yes I did! Thanks for confirming.
April 23, 20188 yr Just now, uldise said: Yes, that's correct, if you look from MB/SAS Card side. Yes, it's clearer to use controller - drive terminology. single controller connection -> multiple sata drives = forward breakout multiple controller connections -> drive backplane single connection = reverse breakout
April 23, 20188 yr 3 minutes ago, MrLeek said: It would be the more expensive cable see here just for example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Norco-Discrete-SATA-to-SFF-8087-Mini-SAS-Reverse-breakout-cable-C-SFF8087-4S-NEW/111402848253?hash=item19f0208ffd:g:W6QAAOSwFAZTu5ED
April 23, 20188 yr Author 1 minute ago, jonathanm said: Yes, it's clearer to use controller - drive terminology. single controller connection -> multiple sata drives = forward breakout multiple controller connections -> drive backplane single connection = reverse breakout Also consider which 'end' is doing the work. If the motherboard is where the controller is, then it has to be a reverse connection into the backplate
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.