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  1. #1
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    Recommended motherboard for dual 771 (Harpertown L5420) with CentOS 5?

    I plan to upgrade my server to a dual socket 771 (using L5420 quad core harpertown processors) with CentOS 5.
    My preference is Super Micro boards, but I will consider any suggestions. My main concern is for CentOS 5 stock kernel to be compatible with the board as well as having an overall good/stable board.
    Thanks in advance for any advice

  2. #2
    X7DVL-E if you're looking to use DDR2FB or X7DCA-L if you want to use DDR2 Reg.
    Both are great boards and work flawlessly with CentOS 5.





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  3. #3
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    I will recommend X7DCL-I board (PCB version 1.1A) which supports 6x 4G ECC registered DDR2 (much much lower power consumption than FBDIMM) dual-rank modules as well as IPMI w/KVM-over-LAN (AOC-SIM1U+).
    we found that the defect/DOA rate on X7DCA-L boards (no IPMI support) is much higher than other server boards from supermicro.
    X7DCL-I board fits supermicro's SC811TQ (2-bay) and SC813MTQ (4-bay) 1U chassis just dandy!





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  4. #4
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    Quote:



    Originally Posted by cwl@apaqdigital


    I will recommend X7DCL-I board (PCB version 1.1A) which supports 6x 4G ECC registered DDR2 (much much lower power consumption than FBDIMM) dual-rank modules as well as IPMI w/KVM-over-LAN (AOC-SIM1U+).


    I wound up going with the X7DCL-3 version of that same board which also has the SAS ports. Thanks for the recommendation.
    But I do have some questions about IPMI with it. The documentation on Super Micro's website is a bit unclear as to which SIM card to use for all IPMI 2.0 functionality, which SIM is compatible with which motherboard, which SIM enables KVM-over-LAN for the X7DCL, etc.
    The X7DCL-3 manual mentions compatibility with SIMLC, but the Super Micro webpage for the X7DCL-3 mentions both the AOC-SIMLC and the AOC-SIM1U+ for KVM-over-LAN.
    That seems to imply KVM-over-LAN on this motherboard works with the AOC-SIM1U+ but not with the AOC-SIMLC.
    I sent in a question to Super Micro about the AOC-SIM1U+ and they mentioned that the SIM1U+ required the third LAN for KVM-over-LAN with this SIM. Although, I thought I read somewhere that SIM1U+ would default to using the LAN1 NIC - however, that was not the reply from Super Micro. It seems that KVM-over-LAN only works with the AOC-SIM1U+ when used via the dedicated NIC port that comes with it?
    The SIMLC manual mentions that KVM-over-LAN is available, but only with the AOC-SIMLC+. But, the X7DCL-3 webpage does not mention the "+" version of the SIMLC as being compatible with the motherboard.
    To top it off, Super Micro's SIM page does not list the X7DCL-3 (or -I version) as a compatible motherboard for any of the SIM cards: http://www.supermicro.com/products/a.../addon/SIM.cfm
    Ultimately, what I would like is to use the IPMI 2.0 features with the X7DCL-3 - specifically the KVM-over-LAN and the virtual media support as well. I'd prefer to be able to use IPMI over the motherboard LAN1 NIC in order to avoid needing two network connections for this functionality.
    At this point it seems my options are either the AOC-SIM1U+ with a second dedicated IPMI network connection directly to the SIM1U+ or the AOC-SIMLC+ (if it's compatible with the X7DCL-3) with the IPMI features sharing the LAN1 motherboard NIC.
    Hopefully Super Micro tech support will be able to respond to my follow-up questions about this tomorrow (Monday). Any further assistance here at WHT would be greatly appreciated as well.





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  5. #5
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    Quote:



    Originally Posted by cwl@apaqdigital


    I will recommend X7DCL-I board (PCB version 1.1A) which supports 6x 4G ECC registered DDR2 (much much lower power consumption than FBDIMM) dual-rank modules as well as IPMI w/KVM-over-LAN (AOC-SIM1U+).
    we found that the defect/DOA rate on X7DCA-L boards (no IPMI support) is much higher than other server boards from supermicro.
    X7DCL-I board fits supermicro's SC811TQ (2-bay) and SC813MTQ (4-bay) 1U chassis just dandy!


    What is PCB version 1.1A? Because it looks like the AOC-SIM1U+ is only supported with that option. Does that need to be enabled in the board BIOS?
    And by the way, if 2xquad core harpertown procs would be used, does the SC813MTQ 300W version chassis should be used or the 520W?





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    Last edited by HNLV : 12-22-2008 at 09:04 AM.

  6. #6
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    X7DCL-3 supports only software RAID or non-RAID on SAS drives! if you need hardware RAID, then you still need to install a standalone hardware RAID card, and your cost will be much higher than just using X7DCL-I board (no on-board SAS ports) to start with.
    we installed AOC-SIM1U+ (KVM w/dedicated LAN port) many times on X7DCL-I board. DO make sure you get PCB version 1.1A or higher, regardless X7DCL-I or X7DCL-3, otherwise it won't supports IPMI plus version nor dual-rank DDR2 modules.





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  7. #7
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    My X7DCL-3 shows REV 1.1A on the motherboard. Thanks for pointing that out about the IPMI+ requiring that.
    When you used the AOC-SIM1U+, did you ever use it via the out-of-band option on the LAN1 NIC instead of the dedicated NIC?





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  8. #8
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    AFAIK, the KVM over LAN feature does not work when you use it with the onboard lan. You can only view the server stats, reboot, and other non KVM features.





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  9. #9
    I got two 2.0 ghz last december when they came out and bought a barebones box/board from supermicro.
    I wish I had gotten a different one since the IPMI did not do kvmoverIP, only remote reboot and some functions. ALthough the card I bought was capable of it.
    It all depends what you want to do. I got this one with the X7DVL-i board.http://www.supermicro.com/products/s...S-6015V-MT.cfm
    My 1U dual quadcore system has been rocking for me quite nicely. I do software raid as I use it as a webserver.
    really depends on what you want. You will love the harpertowns...zoom.

  10. #10
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    Super Micro tech support helped me pin down the definitive answer to this. The X7DCL-3 motherboard (and -i) can ONLY use KVM-over-LAN using the AOC-SIM1U+ and only using the dedicated LAN option of the SIM1U+.
    It was a bit confusing because the AOC-SIM1U+ can default to running IPMI over the LAN1 NIC if the dedicated LAN cable was removed from it, but that does not work on the X7DCL-3/-i motherboard. This is because of the LAN chip on this motherboard which does not support KVM-over-LAN1 with the XGI Z9 integrated graphics (but it does support KVM-over-LAN1 with the ATI ES1000 integrated graphics).
    Just wanted to post that info for anyone who stumbles upon this thread with the same questions that I had.
    Hosttoast, I think you're right that I'll be loving the harpertowns. Can't wait to get my sites running from this new server...





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