[OpenIndiana-discuss] Another [OT] Hardware Post

[Frank Middleton]

On 02/21/11 08:19, WK wrote:
> Yes, I noticed a lot of Asus boards support ECC, and I have started
> using Asus boards. No remote management capability on them, but for
> my application, I don't need it.

Coincidentally I just built 2 machines, one using an ASUS M4A78T-E, the
other with a Supermicro H8SGL-F-O Mobo, both of which can use ECC
memory, and in fact work well with the same Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB)
240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ECC Unbuffered Server Memory Model
KVR1333D3E9SK2/4G (Newegg Item #: N82E16820139040 $56.99).

With the addition of an 1068E based 8 port (SASUC8I) controller, the
H8SGL box has 14 direct SAS/SATA ports and is the basis for a pretty
decent ZFS server, development machine and VBox manager  with room
for 10 3.5" drives, 8 hot swap, in a Supermicro 743TQ case.

> Another thread on this liast reported some problems with Asus boards
> and SAS/SATA HBAs. In a week or so I will receive a SuperMicro HBA,
> and learn for myself if there is a problem.

Other than SATA SSD boot disk, the ASUS box is basically diskless, so I
can't speak for ability of either of the X16 slots to handle an HBA.

The SuperMicro stuff is beautifully made and worked right out of the
box. The first ASUS mobo had no video and ASUS tech support said
to RMA it. Unfortunately removing the CPU to do so damaged the
CPU, so it too had to be replaced. The replacement Mobo+CPU work
fine, but added an extra $100 to the overall cost and actually makes
the H8SGL seem like a better deal - it is sold as a "server" mobo, after
all. FWIW the G34 socket is much better to work with than the AM3.

HTH -- Frank