Supermicro X7SPA L/H/HF ATOM serverboards (Level 1 Tested)


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Due to popular request, this thread is for discussions about the new Supermicro X7SPA series boards.  Brief specifications:

 

Intel® Atom™ D510 (Pineview-D) (DMI) (Also applicable to the newer D525)

Intel® ICH9R Chipset

Up to 4GB single channel unbuffered, non-ECC DDR2 667MHz SO-DIMM

2x Intel 82574L Gigabit LAN

6x SATA (3.0Gbps) Ports

1 (x4) PCI-E (in x16 slot)

2 rear USB ports + 3 headers (5 ports) + 1 Type A connector

Integrated Matrox G200eW Video

Integrated IPMI 2.0

 

Power Measurements (thanks Limetech)

Here are some preliminary numbers for the X7SPA/HF with 4GB DDR2-667 RAM (2 sticks of 2GB).

 

All measurements taken with Kill A Watt EZ.

 

Power supply is PC Power & Cooling Silencer 470 ATX - this is only a 73% efficient PSU, better numbers should be obtained using an 80+ PSU.

 

With only the motherboard connected to the PSU:

27W - During linux boot.

25W - At linux console

28-30W - Running memtest (reading bounces around depending on test).

 

With motherboard and Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 controller plugged in the PCI-E x4 slot:

36W - During linux boot.

34W - At linux console.

 

With above configuration & 12 hard drives (see below for hdd types):

137W - Idle (drives spinning but no I/O taking place)

160W - Parity sync in process

53W - All drives spun down

304W - Highest observed reading during spinup of all drives

 

Drive types (note: these are not "green" drives):

Hitachi HDS72101 x8

Seagate ST31500341AS x2

Seagate ST31000340AS x2

 

 

Update (4.16.2010)

I finally got around to doing a Level 1 test on the HF version.  I would think this drive combination covers the most common mechanical drive speeds for unRAID users.

 

  • Parity - Hitachi 7200 rpm 2TB SATA 3.0 (Model: HD32000 IDK/7K)
        Timing cached reads:   1666 MB in  2.00 seconds = 833.68 MB/sec
        Timing buffered disk reads:  390 MB in  3.01 seconds = 129.77 MB/sec
     
  • Disk 1 - Hitachi 7200 rpm 2TB SATA 3.0 (Model: HD32000 IDK/7K)
        Timing cached reads:   1688 MB in  2.00 seconds = 844.37 MB/sec
        Timing buffered disk reads:  366 MB in  3.01 seconds = 121.50 MB/sec
     
  • Disk 2 - Samsung 5400 rpm 2TB SATA 3.0 (Model: F3EG HD203WI)
        Timing cached reads:   1660 MB in  2.00 seconds = 830.31 MB/sec
        Timing buffered disk reads:  306 MB in  3.02 seconds = 101.49 MB/sec
     

 

    Parity Check Results

  • Time = 7:03:54
  • Rate = 76,807 K/sec

 

Update (2.25.2011)

Starcat has a 6 disk build thread based on this motherboard.  It includes fan control scripts for PWM fans and sleep/WOL scripts.

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=11310.msg107526

 

I have made some modifications to Starcat's script to include variable speed timing based on incremental temperature changes, and standby detection for sleeping drives:

fan_speed.sh

syslog-2010-04-16.txt

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That's a nice little package and the power consumption is going to be great.  That price is really salty for an Atom solution, though.  I'm guessing that they have given up what little power consumption benefit this board has over existing Atom 330 boards ($75) through the additional integrated devices.  Look forward to seeing your test results.

 

I think the price has to do with the fact it is a serverboard and not a normal ATOM board.  Headless boot, IPMI 2.0, Dual 2x Intel GigE, etc.  It's got everything _I_ am looking for in a board, down to the NICs.

 

Funny, I just thought, what you save on power over, you spend on engineering.

My LV(Low Voltage) XEONS and mobile CPU's had a premium price too.

 

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I think people forget you're getting the CPU with the board.  When you consider that fact, I don't think the price is outrageous.

 

I agree, I also find that some of the low power CPU's cost more.

Still with this particular board, you are getting CPU, 6 SATA's and IPMI

 

Wish they went with full sized RAM instead of the SO-DIMM's.

 

I'm probably going to switch my firewall/proxy over to this board.

Specifically for the IPMI integrated functionality.

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Wish they went with full sized RAM instead of the SO-DIMM's.

I absolutely agree.  I just happen to have 2 GB of SO-DIMMs laying around, so I didn't have to buy any, but most ppl have tons of normal RAM on their benches, not laptop memory.  Not really sure what Supermicro was doing there, as it looks like there is room on the board for normal DIMMS.  Oh well.  :)

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Wish they went with full sized RAM instead of the SO-DIMM's.

I absolutely agree.  I just happen to have 2 GB of SO-DIMMs laying around, so I didn't have to buy any, but most ppl have tons of normal RAM on their benches, not laptop memory.  Not really sure what Supermicro was doing there, as it looks like there is room on the board for normal DIMMS.  Oh well.  :)

 

A number of the smaller atom boards are using the laptop memory these days.

My ASROCK uses it also. The only reason I bought that unit was because of it's very compact size and embedded IR receiver. Fortunate for me it came all in one with everything in it for a decent price.

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So, I got the board today, installed it, and LOVE it.  I didn't realize it has an onboard USB port right next to the SATA ports, so I just slapped my unRAID thumbdrive right on the board.  Everything booted just fine on the first try.  Below is the CPU Info and Ethernet Info. Syslog is attached.  I want to do a Level 1 test on it, but I only have 2 drives.  :(  Parity rebuild is running ~58MB/sec.

 

CPU Info (from /proc/cpuinfo)

processor	: 0
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 28
model name	: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D510   @ 1.66GHz
stepping	: 10
cpu MHz		: 1666.581
cache size	: 512 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 0
initial apicid	: 0
fdiv_bug	: no
hlt_bug		: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm
bogomips	: 3333.16
clflush size	: 64
power management:

processor	: 1
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 28
model name	: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D510   @ 1.66GHz
stepping	: 10
cpu MHz		: 1666.581
cache size	: 512 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 1
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 2
initial apicid	: 2
fdiv_bug	: no
hlt_bug		: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm
bogomips	: 3333.36
clflush size	: 64
power management:

processor	: 2
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 28
model name	: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D510   @ 1.66GHz
stepping	: 10
cpu MHz		: 1666.581
cache size	: 512 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 1
initial apicid	: 1
fdiv_bug	: no
hlt_bug		: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm
bogomips	: 3333.34
clflush size	: 64
power management:

processor	: 3
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 28
model name	: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D510   @ 1.66GHz
stepping	: 10
cpu MHz		: 1666.581
cache size	: 512 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 4
core id		: 1
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 3
initial apicid	: 3
fdiv_bug	: no
hlt_bug		: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm
bogomips	: 3333.36
clflush size	: 64
power management:


Sensor info (from /usr/bin/sensors)

w83627dhg-isa-0ca0
Adapter: ISA adapter
VCore:       +1.11 V  (min =  +0.72 V, max =  +1.39 V)   
in1:         +6.86 V  (min =  +6.23 V, max =  +7.66 V)   
AVCC:        +3.34 V  (min =  +2.96 V, max =  +3.63 V)   
3VCC:        +3.34 V  (min =  +3.15 V, max =  +0.26 V)   ALARM
in4:         +1.83 V  (min =  +1.62 V, max =  +1.98 V)   
in5:         +1.25 V  (min =  +1.13 V, max =  +1.38 V)   
in6:         +2.38 V  (min =  +2.15 V, max =  +2.66 V)   
VSB:         +3.31 V  (min =  +2.96 V, max =  +3.63 V)   
VBAT:        +3.02 V  (min =  +2.96 V, max =  +3.63 V)   
Case Fan:      0 RPM  (min =  715 RPM, div = 32)  ALARM
CPU Fan:       0 RPM  (min =  715 RPM, div = 32)  ALARM
Aux Fan:       0 RPM  (min =  715 RPM, div = 32)  ALARM
fan4:          0 RPM  (min =  715 RPM, div = 32)  ALARM
fan5:          0 RPM  (min =  715 RPM, div = 32)  ALARM
Sys Temp:    +34.0 C  (high = +75.0 C, hyst = +70.0 C)  sensor = thermistor
CPU Temp:    +12.5 C  (high = +90.0 C, hyst = +87.0 C)  sensor = diode
AUX Temp:    +15.0 C  (high = +80.0 C, hyst = +75.0 C)  sensor = diode
cpu0_vid:   +0.000 V

 

NIC info (from ethtool)

Settings for eth0:
Supported ports: [ TP ]
Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 
                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 
                        1000baseT/Full 
Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 
                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 
                        1000baseT/Full 
Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Speed: 1000Mb/s
Duplex: Full
Port: Twisted Pair
PHYAD: 1
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
Supports Wake-on: pumbag
Wake-on: g
Current message level: 0x00000001 (1)
Link detected: yes

NIC driver info (from ethtool -i)

driver: e1000e
version: 1.0.2-k2
firmware-version: 1.9-0
bus-info: 0000:02:00.0

Ethernet config info (from ifconfig)

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:11:11:c0:d2:0c  
         inet addr:192.168.10.10  Bcast:192.168.10.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
         UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
         RX packets:787 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
         TX packets:351 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
         collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
         RX bytes:120632 (117.8 KiB)  TX bytes:169781 (165.8 KiB)
         Memory:fe9e0000-fea00000 

syslog.txt

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So, I got the board today, installed it, and LOVE it.  I didn't realize it has an onboard USB port right next to the SATA ports, so I just slapped my unRAID thumbdrive right on the board.  Everything booted just fine on the first try.  Below is the CPU Info and Ethernet Info. Syslog is attached.  I want to do a Level 1 test on it, but I only have 2 drives.  :(  Parity rebuild is running ~58MB/sec.

What case are you using?
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A case that has no business housing a micro-ATX board.  ;D  I bought an AZZA Solano 1000R mainly because of it's impressive drive capacity, and because I wanted to get something a little different from the Antec.  With all the bays filled, I can get 12 drives in this mid-tower.  All the drives are cooled with 120mm fans, and it just looks gorgeous.  I bought this Atom board because I want to minimize power consumption for a 24/7 server, and a 4 core Atom is plenty.

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Just read about the ZOTAC NM10-DTX which also has 6*SATA but also has

PCI Express x16 (single lane) expansion

PCI Express x1 expansion

Mini PCI Express x1

 

Which could use 2 8 Port SATA controller which would be cheaper than 1 16 port controller

 

That's a nice board, but I have not seen a x1 8 port sata adapter that works reliably with unRAID at the moment.

I think the most expansion you can get out of this board would be another 8-10 ports total (with the right hardware).  Still that's respectable because there are 6 internal SATA ports and 1 eSATA port.

 

I don't see the reason to build a mini-itx unRAID array if you are going for that many drives.

Housing 9 drives alone requires a fairly sized case and power supply.

 

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Just read about the ZOTAC NM10-DTX which also has 6*SATA but also has

PCI Express x16 (single lane) expansion

PCI Express x1 expansion

Mini PCI Express x1

 

Which could use 2 8 Port SATA controller which would be cheaper than 1 16 port controller

My mission requires a server class motherboard manufactured by a company who specializes in such applications.  I have to have IPMI, headless boot, and reliability.  None of the gaming/desktop board manufacturers meet those criteria.  

 

If I wanted to do a 24 drive system, I wouldn't be using an atom board, because frankly, power consumption is out the window.  My case will hold 12 drives, and that's what I designed the system around.  An 8 port board running on the x4 PCI-E slot nets me about 125 MB/s throughput if I used all the ports, but since I won't go past 12 drives, I will actually get something like 166MB/s available.  Sometimes, the x16 port is "reserved" for a video card, and the BIOS doesn't allow for a different type of card.  I have seen those unpublished limitations in the past.  And shoving 8 drives onto a x1 250 MB/s port is a bad idea, because each disk would only get about 31 MB/s maximum throughput.

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I was very interested in the Zotac but the IPMI in the Supermicro is the deciding factor. I like Atom for the "all onbaord and small footprint". The concept of buying a case, board, ram and PSU and i have essential an entire server is attractive. Also 14 drive limit means that approx 100W usage at idle with Eco Greens and potentially a super cheap 80+ 350W will do.

 

I am deep in research but its looking promising EXCEPT Supermicro boards are rare as hens teeth in the EU

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