Date: Mon, 07 May 2007 20:02:09 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: Jean-Paul Natola <jnatola@familycareintl.org> Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: HARDWARE compatability Message-ID: <463F77B1.3020508@infracaninophile.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <3A85D7EF44E1C744BF6434691F5659E9702C18@www.fcimail.org> References: <3A85D7EF44E1C744BF6434691F5659E9702C18@www.fcimail.org>
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 Jean-Paul Natola wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I'm looking to retire my PIII freebsd box for something a little more of age- > being that I'm at a non-profit I do not have the largest of budgets- > > On that note I have never used and AMD before for a server so I was looking > at this box > http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=17 > 40107&CatId=1206 > > it seems pretty good in terms of hardware-cpu speed/ram/raid etc.. > > and for approx 600 bucks I cant really complain- I'm womdnering if there if > there are any compatibility issues I need to watch out for , here are the > specs; > > Form Factor 2U Rackmounted > Processor Class Athlon64 > Processor Number 3500+ > Processor Speed 2.20GHz > Processor Interface Socket AM2 > Processors Supported 1 > Additional Technologies HyperTransport > Memory Type DDR2 > Total Memory 1 GB > Memory Speed DDR2 667 (PC2-5400) > Compatible RAID Levels 0+1 0,1,5 > Number Of Hard Drives 2 > Hard Drive Size 160 GB > Hard Drive Interface SATA-II > Spindle Speed (RPM) 7200 > Buffer Memory 8 MB > Optical Drive Type 52x CD-ROM > Communications Description Integrated LAN > Data Transfer Rate 10 Mbps 100 Mbps 1000 Mbps Hmmm... unfortunately that site doesn't tell you exactly what you need to know. For this class of machine, there are really two fundamental parts of the system where you may run into trouble: the on-board network interfaces and the SATA controller. Server class machines like this tend to have lowest common denominator graphics which will just work in VESA mode, and who cares about sound if the box is in a machine room... In order to have a chance of predicting whether the system will support FreeBSD you're going to need to know the Motherboard manufacturer and model number -- or equivalently the chipsets used on the board. Then it's a case of hunting through documentation and mailing list archives to see what other people's experience has been. There's also this page on the FreeBSD site: http://www.freebsd.org/platforms/amd64/motherboards.html Best test of all is if you can boot up the amd64 installation media before deciding to buy or not -- looking through the boot-time dmesg output will tell you a great deal quickly. Cheers, Matthew - -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate Kent, CT11 9PW -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.3 (FreeBSD) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFGP3ex8Mjk52CukIwRCIqbAKCN5nVBqqyHGkPjs0osh4GV6L7IMQCeJCOG djobSsEm6PKdWCs6CvUdPp0= =Zrwm -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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