Motherboard Replacement for Same Model.

[pratman2]

I'm considering replacing my motherboard with an identical model board as I have been quite happy with it and it seems to be holding up fine with the latest update to 11.3. I'm wanting to replace because of a recent storm that took out one of the NIC's. I've read in other posts that it's a fairly easy swap, backup the config, swap the board, then boot. It seems the only "hangup" would be my server uses a static IP and the new NIC will have a different MAC than what's in the FreeNAS boot config. Upon reboot this could be fixed through the CLI, but could I avoid this if I set the NIC to DHCP before I swap the motherboard? I think I would get the new IP address from the Console Menu upon reboot and then I would just use it to get to the GUI from there. I'm sure the steps for changing manually in the CLI are probably not that complicated, but I'm just trying to make this as painless as possible. Thanks

 

[Inxsible]

If you are sure that only the NIC got destroyed then why not just add an Intel i350 dual or quad port card in the PCIe slot?

 

[pschatz100]

Intel gigabit NICs are inexpensive and would be a lot easier to change out than replacing an entire motherboard - if that's the only problem. However, to answer your question, assuming you have a monitor on the system you could boot with the new motherboard and what the console to see what IP address is assigned. If may or may not change. As you didn't say anything about your hardware setup - it is impossible to comment further.

If you are worried about it, then set the networking to DHCP and watch to see what IP address is assigned. This will definitely work, and you can do it all through the GUI.

 

[pratman2]

Thanks, I do have a monitor connected and what you described was my plan, I just wanted to see if anyone else had tried this or knew for sure the outcome. Adding a card isn't a bad idea, I'm just nervous about the integrity of the rest of the board at this point considering it was a storm that took out the NIC. For now all seems to be ok.

Is there a driver that would need to be installed with a 3rd party Intel NIC?



Build Specs:
SuperMicro X10SLM-F motherboard (using NIC 2 as NIC 1 is dead)
Crucial 16GB DDR3 ECC memory Intel
Core i3-4150
Rosewill Series 500W 80 Plus Gold PSU

 

[pschatz100]

If you use an Intel NIC, FreeNAS will recognize it and load the drivers automatically. You can pick up used ones for $20 or so on ebay. Stick with the Intel cards and you will be OK.

To be honest, I would also be concerned about the integrity of the rest of the board. But if the second NIC is working OK, then why bother buying a new one? I would either keep the board and watch things closely, or replace the board and be done with it. Of course, keep good backups of your data.

 

[pratman2]

Will do, thank you.

 

[Inxsible]

To be honest, I would also be concerned about the integrity of the rest of the board. But if the second NIC is working OK, then why bother buying a new one? I would either keep the board and watch things closely, or replace the board and be done with it. Of course, keep good backups of your data.

I agree with this.

Why are you only unsure about the integrity of the motherboard? Why not the CPU, the RAM and even the PSU. Were you intending to replace all those parts?

Just add a NIC card, and keep monitoring things. Might also be a good idea to take the system offline for a couple of days and run some memory tests, cpu tests etc to give you a bit of confidence in the system.

 

[pratman2]

Thanks for the tips