Xeon question

Should I get the E3-1230 or 1235 on the X9SCM-F-O MB?

do not get the E2-1xx5 E3-1xx5's for unraid. those are workstation chips. they have the video chipset that the X9's cant use.

I wanna stick with the E3, so either the 1230 or 1240. Only difference is speed I think. So the xxx5 all have a video-chip inside?

Typo. i meant E3

Yes you are correct.

The E5's just came out but the boards are still untested in unraid.

I wanna stick with the E3, so either the 1230 or 1240. Only difference is speed I think. So the xxx5 all have a video-chip inside?

http://ark.intel.com/products/series/53495

stick the 1220 in there to see no HT...

Would this be good hardware for running esix and unraid?

Supermicro motherboard X9SCM-F - Single Xeon E3/Core i3, 6xSATA

Intel Xeon Quad-Core E3-1240 3.3GHz 8MB, 80W, LGA1155

SM 8GB DDR3 1333MHz ECC/Unbuffered

Edit: Would it also be possible to passthrough certain SATA ports to unraid with this setup or will i need a HBA card from the start?

- Robert

Would this be good hardware for running esix and unraid?

 

Supermicro motherboard X9SCM-F - Single Xeon E3/Core i3, 6xSATA

Intel Xeon Quad-Core E3-1240 3.3GHz 8MB, 80W, LGA1155

SM 8GB DDR3 1333MHz ECC/Unbuffered

 

Edit: Would it also be possible to passthrough certain SATA ports to unraid with this setup or will i need a HBA card from the start?

 

- Robert

May want to start your own thread   But in answer to your queries - that sort of hardware is only really necessary if you're intending to run more than just unRaid (i.e. a virtualisation hypervisor, a la ESXi, with other VM's etc.)

unRaid will run nicely on much less - have a look over at greenleaf-technology.com for some ideas.

Yeah will run other VMs on it. Have a box with unraid now, so the the plan is to migrate everything over to the new hardware.

Think i can follow Johnm's great guide for the most part.

Just wondering what the best way to get the disks im already using for unraid to show up in the VM when that time comes?

- Robert

It's likely you'll need a HBA card to passthrough if that's your goal - VMware passthrough does entire controllers, not individual SATA ports

Would this be good hardware for running esix and unraid?

Edit: Would it also be possible to passthrough certain SATA ports to unraid with this setup or will i need a HBA card from the start?

 

- Robert

You will need an HBA. The onboard SATA controller will be used by host and to get the drives directly to unRAID you'll need to put a controller in a slot.

Thanks for the replys.

Would it be possible to use "Raw Device Mapping" for the 3 disks i currently have until i get a HBA card?

Thanks for the replys.

 

Would it be possible to use "Raw Device Mapping" for the 3 disks i currently have until i get a HBA card?

yes you should be able to. It will be a bit of work. you might just want to wait on ESXi until you get an HBA.

I did do that with my WHS2011 drives. they are just "RDM".

Yeah seems like the easiest will be waiting for the IBM ServeRAID M1015 card to arrive. Might go with parity and cach drive RDM then.

Thanks for you reply.

I would go ahead and put the cache and parity on the M1015.

There is more bandwidth on that card then you can use with 8 mechanical drives.

It will also make swapping out a drive a 1000 times easier.

I have 14 drives on a single M1015 and my parity checks are still running at full drive speeds.

I also have a SATAIII SSD cache drive on the same m1015 and it tests at 480ish MB/s

Just make sure you stick it into an 8X PCIe2 slot (or better)

I would go ahead and put the cache and parity on the M1015.

There is more bandwidth on that card then you can use with 8 mechanical drives.

 

I have 14 drives on a single M1015 and my parity checks are still running at full drive speeds.

I also have a SATAIII SSD cache drive on the same m1015 and it tests at 480ish MB/s

 

Just make sure you stick it into an 8X PCIe2 slot (or better)

How do you get 14 drives on a single M1015? I thought it is limited to 2x4=8 disk3?

I have an Intel RES2SV240 SAS Expander on my M1015.

see here http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=16769.msg153296#msg153296

here http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=14695.msg159803#msg159803

here http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=13272.msg125786#msg125786

There are also a few more builds on the forums with this combo.

I am betting that when you hit 24 drives, it will slow down a bit. but not enough to worry about.

Edit:

Ack, I was just looking at the prices. the RES2SV240 has gone up like $50-$70 in price... sheesh. I think I got mine for $190 each.

I forgot that upper limit on the M1015 I want to say 32 drives off the top of my head.

32 drives on the M1015 is right

Are the MBD-X9SCM-F-O and the MBD-X9SCM-F (without O) the same MB? What does the O at the end mean?

Same board.

O = Retail package. usually this includes Driver/software CD, 2-4 SATA cables and the I/O plate.

All in a supermicro box (that ironically almost never matches what board is actually in the box).

F = it has IPMI or some form of management.

B  = Bulk. it is potluck what your get with it. usually just the I/O shield. (this could be the same as the non O model).

There are also "system pulls" (removed from a full server) these can be an issue because there is a supermicro heatsink plate glued to the bottom of the server board. this prevents you from using a factory heatsink. these also usually have no accessories. not even an IO shield most of the time.

About the processors: Are E3-1230 up to 1280 all the same processor with just a higher clock?

I want to start with EXSi. Is it the same as Hypervisor? Is there somewhere a guide on what I need and how to build it?

ESXi is a "bare metal" hypervisor -- it needs no OS, hence "bare metal."

About the processors: Are E3-1230 up to 1280 all the same processor with just a higher clock?

Yes.. lower than 1230's don't have hyperthreading, and stay away frmo the 12x5 series (i.e. 1235/1245 etc) as they have on board graphics (workstation chips.)

Re: ESXi - check out Johnm's Atlas thread in the UCD forum.  Nice guide there for the uninitiated.