The Supermicro X9DR7-LN4F is a dual socket LGA 2011 motherboard for Sandy Bridge-EP processors that has outstanding features, lots of onboard drive connectivity. A quick preview, the Supermicro X9DR7-LN4F motherboard ended up with a 9.4/10 overall rating and a coveted "Recommended Buy" for reasons below. Jeff is working on an in-depth storage piece with the X9DR7-LN4F. I see the Supermicro...
We watch SSD pricing fairly regularly at ServeTheHome. When SSDs were newer technology, a 60GB to 64GB SSD was enough to install an operating system and a few programs, making it a lower cost boot drive option when prices were $1.50 to $2/ GB. These days, larger capacity drives are well under $1/GB so we are something similar to...
In this follow up article on the LSI HBA features comparison we take a look at the power consumption of LSI's SAS2008 and SAS2308 based HBA controllers. Whether you are building a small business server, colocated server or a simple home server, power consumption is a major focus these days and it helps to know how much an add-in...
Today we are looking at the Intel Core i5-3450, which is a fairly fast Ivy Bridge CPU. Recently we looked at the Intel Core i7-3770 and found it to be an able performer. For those looking to save a few dollars, the Core i5-3450 sells for under $200 and is plenty fast for most workloads today. The Core i5-3450...
After finding some PDFs with various bit of info on LSI's range of host bus adapters (HBAs) I thought I would bring them here to help anyone looking at using one. LSI HBA cards are great way to add fast storage beyond the motherboard supplied SAS and SATA ports. A LSI HBA is a simple disk controller and is great...
One of the most requested features we have on this site is for a RAID reliability calculator. Over the past few years, one of the big questions is how can a user get a rough ballpark estimate about which RAID levels are the most risky to implement. About two years ago I published the RAID Reliability Anthology primer which...
The Supermicro X9SCL+-F is a a Intel Xeon E3-1200 (and V2) series, LGA 1155 server motherboard that is designed to be a solid, low-cost entrant in the marketplace. Before we continue, let's address the obvious question, what is the difference between the Supermicro X9SCL-F and X9SCL+-F? Simple, the X9SCL-F utilizes the platform's Intel 82579LM gigabit NIC alongside a 82574L...
You may remember back in May Patrick did a review on the ASUS P8Z77 WS workstation motherboard. Since he tests a lot of hardware, this board made it my way to replace an old ASRock P55 Deluxe3 and try it out long term. Below is a write up on my experiences setting up the ASUS P8Z77 WS motherboard, getting it...
We recently received word that LSI is busy at VMworld this week releasing a new LSI Nytro MegaRAID in 100GB, 200GB and 800GB capacities. This is a product where we really see the fruit of the LSI SandForce acquisition. The product basically combines a LSI MegaRAID controller and caching technology with SandForce solid state drives.
I actually think this is...
Where in the world is the AMD Operon 3200 series? Back on 20 May 2012 I did a quick news piece about the AMD Opteorn 3200 series launch, something I was super excited about at the time. Here's the thing, Intel is completely dominant in the single CPU server space and the market needs competition. Sure, the ARM based...