Recommend a server motherboard

[Maxxarcade]

I need a server motherboard for my NAS. Preferably a socket 370 era, and must have two 5V 64 bit PCI slots. Also must fit a standard 4U ATX case.

I just bought a 3ware 7500-8 RAID card and a 64 bit Intel Pro/1000 card, so now I just need a good motherboard. It does not have to be a dual CPU since NASLite doesn't support that anyway, but I may go with one just for future upgrades.

Right now I have two that I'm looking at on Ebay. An Asus TR-DLS, and an Intel G7ESZ. Any recommendations?

[dood]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Didn't know they ran 64bit PCI in the 370 era.... Guess you learn something new every day.

IF you can't find anything to your liking... 64bit is backwards compatible...

[Spacedye69]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

I've got an ASUS CUR-DLSR that I got for $10 off eBay. It's the 1u rack mount version, so only 1 64bit(made for a 1 or 2 slot riser). Its a good board, but requires registered( ) ECC SDRAM, and is picky on which ram sticks it likes. I only have 1 128mb stick that it likes, so it does nothing right now.

[shadow]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Yes that seems to be the case, server grade motherboards are very picky with their RAM. It does not matter whether it takes ECC or standard RAM, they are all damn picky!

I have a MSI MS-6321 motherboard. It runs great! That is after the Teapo caps were replaced . This motherboard is also picky with the RAM, however it does not require it to be ECC. I have heard that the ABIT VP6 is a gun server motherboard. These two motherboards are both dual cpu.

Edit: Sorry I did not read the post properly, these two motherboards are fine but they do not have 64bit PCI slots.

[Topcat]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Supermicro 370DLE or 370DL3, both have what you need, one has SCSI, one does not. Both are excellent boards.

[gg1978]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

I'd recommend an Intel STL2 or SDS2.. STL2 is Coppermine only, while SDS2 supports Tualitin I've got a spare STL2 on my parts pile at home.. I think i got it at geeks.com or something..

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

What is the top CPU speed of the Supermicro? From what I read it tops out at 1Ghz.

I know that the Asus TR-DLS supports up to 1.53Ghz, so I am mainly looking at that one so far.

With any of the boards I have looked at, I may not have enough room under the hard drive cage in the case (Codegen 4U-500) to clear the RAM.

[shadow]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

I was under the impression that Pentium 3 CPU's topped out at 1Ghz or 1.1Ghz and the Celeron went up to 1.5Ghz for these sockets. I would suggest to investigate this further on Intel's website and find out what were the fastest CPU's made available for these sockets.

I think I am getting confused with the Tualatin CPU's and the Coopermine CPU's.

[Spacedye69]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Correct. You must have Tualatin supported board to go over 1.1ghz (1.2 I think for Celeron.) If you ever see a 1.1ghz Coppermine, let me know. I don't know of any left out there.

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Pentium III goes up to 1266 I think.

[gdement]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Correct. You must have Tualatin supported board to go over 1.1ghz (1.2 I think for Celeron.)

Coppermine Celeron tops out at 1.1ghz
http://processorfinder.intel.com/Lis...Spec=&OrdCode=

If you ever see a 1.1ghz Coppermine, let me know. I don't know of any left out there.

I don't think they're especially hard to find if you're looking for them. I got a coppermine 1.1ghz celeron on ebay for about $10 a couple months ago. I figured it would make a great stress tester for P3 boards, especially those limited to 100fsb. From reading the datasheets, it has the highest Icccore of any coppermine. They give it the same rating as the 1.13GHz P3 which was recalled.

[gdement]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Pentium III goes up to 1266 I think.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/Lis...Spec=&OrdCode=

Tualatins go up to 1400, legitimate Coppermines go up to 1100/100 or 1000/133. The Coppermine 1133/133 was recalled due to instability.
I figured they must have made a 1066/133, but apparently not.

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

I am bidding on the Asus TR-DLS, which also comes with 2x PIII 1266 CPU's and 2GB of RAM. It was the only board I could find that was affordable, and had Tualatin support. Hopefully it fits in my case

Now I just have to find a good power supply, and buy $500 worth of hard drives, and pray that everything works

I hope it doesn't have bad caps... They look like the dreaded Nichicon HM

So if everything goes well, my new file server will be:

Asus TR-DLS w/ dual 1.26Ghz PIII
2GB PC133 ECC Registered RAM
3Ware 7500-8 64 bit RAID card
Intel Pro/1000 64 bit LAN card
8x 320GB hard drives in RAID 5 (2.2 TB Total )
Zippy or PC Power and cooling PSU
Codegen 4U-500 rackmount case
NASLite 2.06 (or other if I feel like playing around)

I can't wait to put this baby together

[gg1978]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Sure it's not a TUR-DLS?? Anyway, another board i've used was the Tyan S2518, which is intended for 1U rackmount usage, with the canted over DIMM slots.. Of course it only has two PCI slots, but at least both are 64 bit ones.. I had a irritating BIOS glitch with it, in that it refused to go into the BIOS setup for the RAID card, but if i set the RAID up on a different motherboard, then transferred the RAID card and drives to the S2518, it would boot up fine.. First i replaced it with an STL2 with a pair of Cumines, but then i got an Asus K8N-LR, with an Opteron 144 and 2G of Registered ECC DDR.. As for the RAID card, it's an Intel SRCS16, which is an OEM'd LSI Megaraid 150-6.. Tried like 6 different BIOS's on it, with the same result..

I think the TUR-DLS predated the bad Nichicon caps, as that's a 2001-2002 vintage board, and i don't think the bad Nichicons came around until late 2003 or 2004..

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

I've always wanted to try out an Opteron server. I've never even used a Xeon system before. All of my servers are last-generation crap

I would have gone with a newer setup, and SATA drives, but I already have 3x 320GB ATA100 drives that I wanted to integrate into the array.

I wonder if there is some way to put my 3 existing drives in the array, and still keep the data that is on them? I don't think I can though.

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

It is a TR-DLS, here's the manual.



Damn, 3.3v PCI-X slots... Hope they work with my old 3Ware 7500-8 RAID card I already bought the stuff, so I'm kinda screwed if it doesn't.

[gg1978]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

Hrm, that's interesting.. I was thinking of the CUV4X versus the TUV4x, of which i have both, and their dual CPU board for Cumine was the CUR-DLS.. the DLS stands for Dual CPU, Lan integrated, and SCSI integrated..

PCI-X slots will fall back to PCI-66 or 33 if a card of that speed is plugged in.. Hence why plugging a 33MHz card into a 66 or PCI-X slot is not a good thing, if speed is important..

My Intel RAID card is PCI-66, and i have it in a 133MHz PCI-X slot. No issues at all, except both PCI-X slots are at 66MHz..

[gg1978]

Re: Recommend a server motherboard

As for the Opteron on the S939 serverboard, it's nice.. I like the fact that S939 Opty's can use Registered DDR, just like their S940 brothers.. Of course AMD doesn't say they can do that.. Then again, a lowly Palermo core 1.6Ghz Sempron can use Registered DDR also, so i wasn't exactly surprised.. They don't like the "stacked chip" DIMM's though, i guess the onboard memory controller on the S754 and S939 can't address it properly. I've got a pair of 1G Registered DIMM's i can't use..