[Cialug] Supermicro Build?

[Matthew Nuzum]

On Tue, May 8, 2012 at 12:14 PM, Prescott Kulow <scott.kulow at gmail.com>wrote:

> I haven't used a Supermicro server in while, so I can't speak about
> compatibility with any recent models, but in my experience Supermicro
> makes very well put together servers.  They are well organized inside,
> easy to work on, and I have never had any issues installing any OS on
> them in the past (whether Windows or Linux).  If you want a whitebox
> server you won't do much better than them.
>
>
+1, qualifier is "if you want a whitebox server"


> What are you using the server for?  I find it kind of odd that you are
> worried about the Matrox video as after the initial install all you
> really need is SSH.  Regardless of what is in there, Linux will surely
> provide at least some support with one of the generic drivers or at
> the very least with a text based install.
>
>
+1


> If the RAID controller isn't supported, you can always use Linux
> software RAID.  In my experience it is reliable and performs better
> than most of the dedicated RAID controllers, much less an integrated
> motherboard softraid setup.
>
>
Not only +1 but be careful with cheap raid controllers. You can't take the
drives out and recovery data from them unless you can find another machine
with the same controller. If you're not getting a high quality battery
backed caching raid controller I'd strongly urge you to consider software
raid. From what I hear (only one personal experience and it was bad), many
of the cheap onboard controllers are basically software raid controllers
anyway.

I've had two supermicro servers and they were good, simple, no-frills
servers that worked good for years.

-- 
Matthew Nuzum
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