Hardware Recommendations Guide

Hardware Recommendations Guide Discussion Thread Rev 2a) 2021-01-24

Whattteva

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I'm having a hard time picturing this problem, it doesn't match my experience at all. The only drawback of the HTML5 client is no virtual media support.
I suppose everyone has different experiences. In my experience, after a while, the browser main session gets invalidated and when that happens, the iKVM console also gets invalidated.This doesn't happen on the Java client and again, logging in is just a simple "login" button click because the profile is saved the first time you login.

EDIT: Worth noting that I do NOT use the web browser AT ALL. I only use the native Java app
 
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Whattteva

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I guess, to each their own. I don't know, maybe me being a Java developer in my past life also helps. *Shrugs*.

Also, that link mentions people mentioning their browsers. Well, that's one of the reasons why I like the Java console. There is ZERO need to open the browser at all. You just launch the native IPMIView20 client from the start, no fiddling around with browser and typing in your BMC IP address at all.
 

Davvo

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Ericloewe

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In my experience, after a while, the browser main session gets invalidated and when that happens, the iKVM console also gets invalidated.
Maybe that got fixed, because in my use, the HTML5 iKVM keeps the main session from timing out while it's open.
 

joeschmuck

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In my experience, after a while, the browser main session gets invalidated and when that happens, the iKVM console also gets invalidated.
I don't have that issue either, but then again I'm running ESXi hypervisor, not TrueNAS on bare metal, but I have no reason to think that would have anything to do with it. My HTML5 window stays open until I do something stupid like reboot the machine or I just close it myself. I did have to update my motherboard firmware because Java became a security risk and thus no longer supported and I was unable to open IPMI when that happened. A firmware update had me up and running again.
 

jgreco

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Why are you guys using the onboard web server for IPMI? Do yourself a favor and download IPMIview. Java from the ground up, so you don't get the security risks of handoffs between the web browser and the Java engine.
 

joeschmuck

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Why are you guys using the onboard web server for IPMI? Do yourself a favor and download IPMIview. Java from the ground up, so you don't get the security risks of handoffs between the web browser and the Java engine.
To be honest with you, I use to have that at one time and then I forgot all about it. I'm not a big IPMI user (I don't use it but maybe a few times a year). I have not installed in on my new desktop computer but maybe I will do that this week. Thanks!
 

danb35

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Do yourself a favor and download IPMIview.
It works with my Supermicro system (my NAS), but not with my Dell systems--at least, not for the KVM.
 

Whattteva

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Yes, definitely update your BMC firmware. Clear the browser cache when you're done.
It's interesting how I went from 1.x straight up to 3.88. Just goes to show you hold old (but reliable) this system is, lol.

It's also interesting what happens if you don't clear the browser cache. I get these new menu items appearing as "undefined" in some places.
 

Whattteva

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But you need Java on your system.
I don't really see the problem with this. Most of the Linux distros I run already have it installed by default anyway. I suppose, it'd be a bit extra work on my FreeBSD systems, but still not a big deal.
 

DanDU

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Hi,

i need some advice about what i need for my setup.

I'm in process of converting a Dell R730 with a 16x2.5 backplate into a Truenas Scale server to use in a virtulization environment as a shared storage.

Now from what i understand i need to change current PERC H730 mini mono into a a HBA card for things to work properly.

So I'm looking at buying a IT flashed HBA 330 Mini Mono card (or i can get the PCI card version, from what i understand they are identical), but the documentation says it has "8 internal ports, so it can support 8 SAS devices"

To makes things more confusing official documents also say that it "supports up to 32 disks".

What exactly would i need to get to get true HBA for my R730 with 16 SAS disks?
 

Davvo

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To makes things more confusing official documents also say that it "supports up to 32 disks".
Generally each plug splits into 4, so with 8 ports on the HBA you can plug up to 32 drives.
 

DanDU

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Generally each plug splits into 4, so with 8 ports on the HBA you can plug up to 32 drives.
Ahaa, they refering to actual physical ports then.

The backplane i have (dell 8TGM0, 16x2.5) on my server only has only 2 physical SFF-8643 ports, so i cannot even use a HBA card with 4 physical ports for what i can tell.

Is it then impossible for me to convert all 16 drives to HBA? Since i only have 2 physical ports on HDD backplane.

This is HBA controller stuff is so confusing for me...
 

danb35

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"8 internal ports, so it can support 8 SAS devices"
The Dell HBA330 has two physical ports, each of which has four lanes. With two simple breakout cables, you can therefore use it to connect up to eight disks. Using a SAS expander (whether the backplane in your server, or a separate device), it can control many more. I don't know if the R730 has a SAS expander backplane, though.
 

Ericloewe

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Outside of weird configurations, Dell Gen. 13 servers tend to include SAS expanders whenever more than eight front drive bays are provided.

Newer models are less deterministic when it comes to this, as NVMe provides a meaningful alternative so that not all drive bays need to support SATA/SAS.
 

DanDU

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Outside of weird configurations, Dell Gen. 13 servers tend to include SAS expanders whenever more than eight front drive bays are provided.

Newer models are less deterministic when it comes to this, as NVMe provides a meaningful alternative so that not all drive bays need to support SATA/SAS.
I did check the PN: 08TGM0 and it seems from what i can tell atleast, that it does not have built-in expander. Really hard to find info on these older systems.
 

Ericloewe

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I did check the PN: 08TGM0 and it seems from what i can tell atleast, that it does not have built-in expander. Really hard to find info on these older systems.
Doesn't seem right, from my reading of the manual:
1674682865262.png

The backplane has two SFF-8643 connectors (Position 5) and two other connectors for other signalling (iDRAC, LEDs, etc.). So it clearly needs an expander.
Now, if you somehow have two of the 8-disk backplanes (if they even fit together), you might have ended up without an expander, but that doesn't match my understanding of how these are typically configured by Dell.
 

DanDU

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I swear i read on some official dell forums that it did not have expander, but what you said makes sense.

So lets say it does have expander built in, i can just buy the DELL HBA330 Mini mono and even reuse H730 mini mono cable and start running ZFS the proper way right? :)
 

Ericloewe

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Yes, pretty much.
 

Cargeh

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I believe I just stepped into Xeon E3-1220 v6 not supporting 32GB DIMMs, details here.

Seeing how 2x32GB 3200MHz was almost 100 euros cheaper than 4x16GB 2666MHz - I went for it without a second thought, and I assume more people will do the same as RAM gets cheaper. I did read the motherboard manual and noticed there was no 2x32GB layout recommended, but I assumed that the board and the manual were old and such memory wasn't that accessible/common at the moment of writing, I didn't see any specific warnings about that.

So it would be extremely nice to mention that in the revised document, for dummies like me, whom the document is targeting :)
 
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