From owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Nov 19 13:19:16 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DD9F416A4CF for ; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 13:19:16 -0800 (PST) Received: from atlasta.net (wow.atlasta.net [12.129.13.20]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with SMTP id B74C443FEA for ; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 13:19:15 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from drais@wow.atlasta.net) Received: (qmail 24956 invoked by uid 1068); 19 Nov 2003 21:19:14 -0000 Received: from localhost (sendmail-bs@127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 19 Nov 2003 21:19:14 -0000 Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 13:19:14 -0800 (PST) From: David Raistrick To: Michael Moss In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII cc: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Server Hardware Recommendations X-BeenThere: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion of FreeBSD hardware List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 21:19:17 -0000 On Wed, 19 Nov 2003, Michael Moss wrote: > 1. Would like to run BSD 4.9 Release > 2. Minimal Tweaking (do not want to tweak drivers etc) > 3. RAID 2 or 5, sought in this order (greatest to least) SATA, SCSI, > IDE > 4. Dual processor a plus but not necessary After a bum-motherboard issue, and some patches that /are/ now in 4.9-R, my SuperMicro 6023P-8R server runs like a champ. I haven't used the zero-slot raid controller, but installed an Adaptec 2200s instead. http://www.supermicro.com/PRODUCT/SUPERServer/SuperServer6023P-8R.htm Dual Xeon processors, SCA disks, Ultra320, RAID, and no tweaking outside of enabling SMP. Everything else works with a GENERIC kernel. I've now got 8 SM 5013G servers on the way, but none of'm will be using any RAID, and only 3 of'm will run FreeBSD. (ick. windows. sigh.) I HAVE encountered a problem with the 2200s when I tried to move my disk array from the 2100s. I haven't had time to readdress the issue, or contact Adaptec support yet. In a nutshell: When the disks are powered up, I get: Adaptec SCSI RAID BIOS V4.0-0 [Build 6003] (c) 1998-2002 Adaptec, Inc. All Rights Reserved. <<< Press for Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility! >>> Booting the Controller Kernel...... Fatal Error: Controller monitor failedController not started << Press any key to continue ... >> With a /very/ long wait while it tries to boot the kernel. When the disks are powered down or unpluged, it boots find and quickly. --- david raistrick drais@atlasta.net http://www.expita.com/nomime.html