From owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Sep 13 08:04:13 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: hardware@freebsd.org 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 8232216A403; Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:04:13 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rb@gid.co.uk) Received: from gidgate.gid.co.uk (gid.co.uk [194.32.164.225]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9508B43D53; Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:04:12 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from rb@gid.co.uk) Received: from prune.gid.co.uk (host-84-9-12-193.bulldogdsl.com [84.9.12.193]) by gidgate.gid.co.uk (8.11.7/8.11.6) with ESMTP id k8D7wvR49263; Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:58:57 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from rb@gid.co.uk) Message-Id: <7.0.1.0.2.20060913083432.07ce6ee0@gid.co.uk> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.0.1.0 Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:58:38 +0100 To: hackers@freebsd.org, hardware@freebsd.org From: Bob Bishop Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Cc: Subject: Intel SR1500/S5000PAL/Xeon 5050 X-BeenThere: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion of FreeBSD hardware List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:04:13 -0000 Hi, Further to my question a couple of weeks ago, I've now had a chance to play with these beasts. Pretty impressive. Some points to note: 6.1R doesn't grok the onboard SATA controller (sysinstall hangs), RELENG_6 as of last week is OK although in RAID1 mode I had to do an 'atacontrol create' before sysinstall would recognise it as a RAID1. Even in a diskless box, you have to include the passive (SATA) backplane because that also carries fan power and the interface for the front control panel. Also that 600W PSU is not a joke, a diskless unit pulls over 500W. The optional Remote Management Module works pretty well, basically it gives a web interface to the IPMI functionality in the BMC. Some frobbing may be required if your LAN is not /24 or you want to access it over an SSH tunnel. I haven't had a chance yet to investigate the IPMI/serial-over-LAN overlaid on to the main NICs. -- Bob Bishop +44 (0)118 940 1243 rb@gid.co.uk fax +44 (0)118 940 1295