Avoton & Xeon E3, move away. Xeon D is here.

[Ericloewe]

Subscribed. I love this thread. I was going to post a request for assistance on finding (or waiting for) an mITX board with 4 DIMMs, IPMI, Xeon E3V3 capable, low TDP. It looks like I am waiting for boards that will accept the Xeon-D's.

They won't "take" Xeon-Ds, since they're BGA chips.

You can have what you want right now, but not quite in miniITX. The ASRock Rack E3C224D4I-14S.
It's extended miniITX, though, so you need something like the Lian-Li PC-Q26.

 

[marbus90]

and then there's the ASRock MT-C224 (2 slots high, so fits in almost all "ITX" chassis with 2 PCI slots).

And TDP doesn't matter.

 

[Tywin]

and then there's the ASRock MT-C224 (2 slots high, so fits in almost all "ITX" chassis with 2 PCI slots).

How have I not seen this!! This is exactly what I was calling for! Anyone have confirmation that it fits in a Node 304?

 

[jgreco]

How have I not seen this!! This is exactly what I was calling for! Anyone have confirmation that it fits in a Node 304?

Failure to waste sufficient time browsing {FreeNAS forums, random manufacturer web sites, etc}

 

[Zserver]

They won't "take" Xeon-Ds, since they're BGA chips.

You can have what you want right now, but not quite in miniITX. The ASRock Rack E3C224D4I-14S.
It's extended miniITX, though, so you need something like the Lian-Li PC-Q26.

Oh, I didn't know that the Xeon-D was BGA. Thumbs down on upgradeability I guess, not that I would do that as I would expect even my future needs would be met with any Xeon currently in production.

Yep, I reviewed the ASRock Rack E3C224D4I-14S but I want to use the DS380B case, so that one won't fit.

Strange, I have done multiple searches for "server motherboard ITX" or other iterations as well as visiting vendors specializing in server boards, but the MT-C224 never popped up. Thanks for pointing that one out.

 

[Ericloewe]

and then there's the ASRock MT-C224 (2 slots high, so fits in almost all "ITX" chassis with 2 PCI slots).

And TDP doesn't matter.

New addition?

In any case, it looks like ASRock is trying to carve out a niche in the miniITX server market.

 

[jgreco]

ASRock has been trying to carve out niches in several underserved markets. They're not doing too badly in terms of offerings, but I don't know if they're getting sales as a result of their efforts.

 

[Tywin]

and then there's the ASRock MT-C224 (2 slots high, so fits in almost all "ITX" chassis with 2 PCI slots).

And TDP doesn't matter.

Really odd power input setup though

 

[jgreco]

Really odd power input setup though

It appears to be intended for some specific application. Note also that the web site specs say no I/O shield is included with the board. A lot of miniature PC or appliance designs involve trying to create a small box, and one of the easy optimizations is to cheat by not including the power supply (as compared to something like Apple's Mac Mini where there's an incredibly clever power supply integrated in the chassis). In this case that translates to a requirement for an unusual external power supply.

I can't quite picture what the application for that board is, but I'm kinda guessing that it is intended for some sort of appliance. Or maybe it really is just a clever offering for mini-ITX fans, but then why wouldn't they offer a nicely packaged external power supply at least as an option?

 

[marbus90]

Adapters for standard ATX PSUs are included.

With the 12V input on the I/O panel it might be interesting for hosting companies like OVH, soyoustart et cetera. they don't use cases and could run bigger 12V PSUs for multiple nodes. also note that the 6 HDDs can be powered off the board as well, that cable is also included.

A node goes down? just unplug the 12V supply and LAN cable off the rear, swap in replacement board, done.

 

[Tywin]

It appears to be intended for some specific application. Note also that the web site specs say no I/O shield is included with the board.

Yeah, the spec page says that, but it also says the board is 8.8" x 6.7". The manual says the package contents include 1x I/O shield, and that the board is 7.8" x 6.7". So, I think I'd be giving them a call/email before actually buying one.

Incidentally, I also now realize that while smaller than the E3C224D4I-14S, the 7.8" is still longer than standard mini-ITX, so I would want to see someone online with some success getting it in a Node 304 first.

A lot of miniature PC or appliance designs involve trying to create a small box, and one of the easy optimizations is to cheat by not including the power supply [...]. In this case that translates to a requirement for an unusual external power supply.

The part I find weird is that the internal connector is different than the rear-panel connector. The rear-panel connector is a 12 V 8-pin ATX connector, which many ATX power supplies have, but which would mean routing the motherboard power outside the chassis (in a home NAS application, not whatever their very specific application is). However, the internal connector is 12 V 18-pin, which I can't find anywhere, and has five 12 V contacts while the rear connector only has four.

Adapters for standard ATX PSUs are included.

Can you point me to where it says that? I can't see anything on the spec page or in the manual.

 

[jgreco]

Adapters for standard ATX PSUs are included.

With the 12V input on the I/O panel it might be interesting for hosting companies like OVH, soyoustart et cetera. they don't use cases and could run bigger 12V PSUs for multiple nodes. also note that the 6 HDDs can be powered off the board as well, that cable is also included.

A node goes down? just unplug the 12V supply and LAN cable off the rear, swap in replacement board, done.

Funny how history repeats itself. We were doing that kind of thing 20+ years ago.

 

[Bastian Büttner]

Some unpleasant news regarding the release or better availablility date for the Xeon-Ds.

"Just confirmed with both SYS and MBD Part Manager. ETA are all for MBD and SYS are all delayed by Intel until End of Oct. Xeon-D SOC processor will not be available prior to end of September for us to start building MBD for them. None will be released in April/May timeframe."

I was with the Intel folks yesterday talking about another matter. It is less of a "release date" issue and more of the fact that companies like Facebook/ HP are buying a lot of these for the big cloud installations. Demand > Supply right now so the biggest customers seem to be getting chips first. That is normal since these are the same companies likely already using Broadwell-EP too (which is unreleased.)

I think we will start seeing some more options come out in 3-4 weeks. Unknown what the availability will be like at this point.

I have a slide showing this practice at work but cannot share for about 5-6 weeks.

Source: https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/intel-xeon-d-1500-series-discussion.5036/page-9

 

[jgreco]

Well, I guess that's not shocking, the 32GB thing has been a chokepoint since like 2012. "Give us systems with lots of memory! ... and that don't cost a zillion dollars."

 

[Bastian Büttner]

Well, I guess that's not shocking, the 32GB thing has been a chokepoint since like 2012. "Give us systems with lots of memory! ... and that don't cost a zillion dollars."

I guess the level of shock depends on how close you are to build a new FreeNAS machine based on this new system.

 

[jgreco]

I guess the level of shock depends on how close you are to build a new FreeNAS machine based on this new system.

I note, depressingly, that all the >32GB Intel systems (Avoton, Xeon D, etc) still tend to be more expensive than a low end Xeon plus traditional E3 based X9 or X10 board. >:-(

 

[Ericloewe]

I note, depressingly, that all the >32GB Intel systems (Avoton, Xeon D, etc) still tend to be more expensive than a low end Xeon plus traditional E3 based X9 or X10 board. >:-(

More expensive than a Xeon E5, even, in Avoton's case.

 

[jgreco]

More expensive than a Xeon E5, even, in Avoton's case.

Only because 16GB DDR3 modules are manufactured by only one company, and there's not enough demand to get them manufactured in large quantity, so as a niche product we may never see reasonable prices on them.

There's still a price premium on the DDR4 16GB'ers, but I note with moderate excitement that the 32GB DDR4's have come down substantially in the last three months. Our hypervisors always seem to be tighter on RAM than CPU so this is kinda exciting.

 

[hugovsky]

http://www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-d-1540-performance-comparison/

 

[Jailer]

If they are getting this kind of performance out of Broadwell D will that likely scale up to Skylake?

I'm still running my veeery long in tooth overclocked C2D E8400 and if this is a sign of the performance to come in Skylake I'll hold out for that.