Supermicro X7SPA L/H/HF ATOM serverboards (Level 1 Tested)

[sosdk]

Yes - finally found it in the EU 

 

All German shops and I cant see if they have it in stock.

 

List

http://www.preisroboter.de/search.php?search=SUPERMICRO+X7SPA-HF&min=&max=&x=0&y=0

 

Shops

 

http://www.happyware.de/index.php?shp=1&cl=details&anid=SM-X7SPA-HF&tpl=&searchvendor=fca470a215b7c81c9.21815440〈=1&listtype=search

 

http://www.mini-tft.de/xtc-neu/product_info.php?info=p42232_Supermicro-X7SPA-HF--Mainboard--Mini-ITX--incl--In.html

 

http://21stmall.zdnet.de/Product/Details/2702/592010/supermicro-x7spa-hf-motherboard

 

http://www.rundumdieedv.de/mainboards/supermicro/mb-mitx/supermicro-x7spa-hf-o-mainboard-mitx-i-ich9r.html

 

[curious]

I have found this forum while looking for more information on X7SPA-HF and ended up spending few days exploring various home NAS building examples/considerations. Thank you all for these informative posts ! Currently I am on my way to building the first NAS for home.

 

While reading this thread I've got three questions:

 

1. Is it possible to send Supermicro X7SPA-HF in some kind of "stand-by" mode and wake it in a remote manner over LAN connection when necessary? What practical scenarios could you suggest?

 

2. What would be approximate time of getting  system in a fully operational state assuming it loads unRAID from USB flash memory? 

 

3. What would be approximate power savings in these "stand-by" modes?

 

Could you please help answering them?

[purko]

Welcome aboard!

 

1. Is it possible to send Supermicro X7SPA-HF in some kind of "stand-by" mode and wake it in a remote manner over LAN connection when necessary? What practical scenarios could you suggest?

3. What would be approximate power savings in these "stand-by" modes?

Yes, it is possible, and many are doing it.  One thread that comes to mind is:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=3657.0

 

2. What would be approximate time of getting  system in a fully operational state assuming it loads unRAID from USB flash memory?  

Don't assume that.  When coming out of "stand-by" it doesn't load anything from USB flash memory.

The system runs from RAM.  The USB flash memory is only used for the initial boot of the server.

 

[kricker]

Welcome aboard!

 

1. Is it possible to send Supermicro X7SPA-HF in some kind of "stand-by" mode and wake it in a remote manner over LAN connection when necessary? What practical scenarios could you suggest?

3. What would be approximate power savings in these "stand-by" modes?

Yes, it is possible, and many are doing it.  One thread that comes to mind is:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=3657.0

No one has verified standby modes in Unraid on this mobo yet have they?

[purko]

Welcome aboard!

 

1. Is it possible to send Supermicro X7SPA-HF in some kind of "stand-by" mode and wake it in a remote manner over LAN connection when necessary? What practical scenarios could you suggest?

3. What would be approximate power savings in these "stand-by" modes?

Yes, it is possible, and many are doing it.  One thread that comes to mind is:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=3657.0

No one has verified standby modes in Unraid on this mobo yet have they?

Not to my knowledge. But it's a new arrival.  Maybe Aiden will do a test on that.

I thought that Curious's question was more like in general. Sorry if I misunderstood it.

 

[curious]

Welcome aboard!

 

1. Is it possible to send Supermicro X7SPA-HF in some kind of "stand-by" mode and wake it in a remote manner over LAN connection when necessary? What practical scenarios could you suggest?

3. What would be approximate power savings in these "stand-by" modes?

Yes, it is possible, and many are doing it.  One thread that comes to mind is:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=3657.0

No one has verified standby modes in Unraid on this mobo yet have they?

Not to my knowledge. But it's a new arrival.  Maybe Aiden will do a test on that.

I thought that Curious's question was more like in general. Sorry if I misunderstood it.

 

 

Thanks! I find useful both the general answer (general tools/scenarios for unRaid and wake on LAN) and the specific one (ease of getting in power-saving modes and out with X7SPA-HF). Will wait when more specific info on X7SPA-HF power-saving modes becomes available.

 

Otherwise it looks as ideal match for my needs: low power consumption, no fan(no noise), 6 SATA ports, KVM-over-LAN, built for 24/7 operation, sufficient performance, being the most important.

 

Planning to build a fanless and a caseless NAS in-between two rackmount shelves that are fastened to a wall. Fanless PSU under consideration for the system is either (1) SilverStone Nightjar 400 W or (2) Fortron -FSP Zen 400 or (3)FSP FSP400-60TNF. All three seem rather similar and manufactured by the same manufacturer. It looks overkill power-wise though and not the most efficient choice for low power system, but may allow extra extension capability in the future.

 

Any other obvious fanless PSU choice for Supermicro X7SPA-HF + 6 SATA drive system?

[tractng]

Hello,

 

Just browsing the net for information and ran into this thread (great one too).

 

 

I have a few questions regarding this board.

1) For the pci-e x4 slot, can you place a raid card (such as 3ware 9650 se) in it?  I heard a lot pci-e slots only take a graphic card.  I just want to make sure.

 

2) I assumed this board was made for a 1U case? I saw a link at supermicro for a suggested case.

I already ordered the chenbro ES34069 case which isn’t a 1U case but has very limited height from the pictures.  I am doing comparison just to get an idea.

 

3) I will need a riser card for the case mentioned on #2.  Do I need to get a standard pci-e x16 riser card (passive)?

 

http://www.supermicro.com/support/resources/Riser/riser.aspx?CFID=4863184&CFTOKEN=69926359&jsessionid=843062a07870f20f8cb3447f174971225925

              RSC-RR1U-E16

              CSE-RR1U-E16

 

If somebody can answer these questions, I would appreciate it since I have a day or two left to return my zotac ZOTAC GF9300-G-E LGA

Looking to build a nas for 24/7 duty

 

Thanks,

tnt

 

[aiden]

1) I can't answer this first hand because I haven't tested.  But since the board has a beefed up integrated video chipset as it is, I can't believe SM would have made the only expansion port video only.  A quick call to SM would confirm this.

 

2) This board will fit in almost any case you can find because it's so incredibly small.  It's designed for nettop implementations, which is why the ram slots are SO-DIMMS on their side to lower the profile.

 

3) Someone with experience using x16 cards in x4 slots should answer this.

 

Let us know how it turns out.

[tractng]

I already emailed sm about the pci-e slot question.  I am going to call them tomorrow.

 

Edit:  I called them and they told me it was fine to use a raid card in the pci-e slot.

 

They also told me any riser x16 will work as long as the case fits .

 

tony

[tractng]

 

For IPMI, can you install the OS without needing to attach the keyboard, monitor, mouse from the initial startup?

 

Just curious.

 

tnt

[aiden]

IPMI is implemented at the BIOS level, so as long as that is working you can do everything else without the normal KVM setup.  However, IPMI will default to DHCP for IP address, so you will either need to scan for what IP address it picks up using SuperMicro's IPMI app, or manually enter it into the BIOS ahead of time.  I did the former, and it worked just fine.  Remember only one port is IPMI enabled, so make sure you have it plugged in.

[tractng]

http://www.buy.com/prod/1u-pci-e-x16-to-pci-e-x16-for-left-slot/q/loc/101/10409107.html

 

Does this riser look to meet the spec for this motherboard.

 

I am going to use a chenbro case.  Might need to custom install .

 

 

I will be placing a x4 raid card (3ware9650se)

tnt

[WeeboTech]

http://www.buy.com/prod/1u-pci-e-x16-to-pci-e-x16-for-left-slot/q/loc/101/10409107.html

 

Does this riser look to meet the spec for this motherboard.

 

I am going to use a chenbro case.  Might need to custom install .

 

I will be placing a x4 raid card (3ware9650se)

tnt

 

I don't know if that riser will work correctly.

The chenbro case does not have support in the back for these type of risers.

The other riser card required me to take off the back braket of the promise controller.

 

Besides there are two points to consider.

 

1. The X7SPA has 6 internal SATA connectors, 4 for drives, 1 for a 2.5" cache drive, 1 for a slim DVD drive.

 

2. I have not seen that the 3ware 9650se works in unRAID. The motherboard ports do.

[Guest wolfdv]

my x7spa-H seems to be doa , i'm going to rma it shortly

 

it doesnt post at all, no vga output, no keyboard lights, nothing

 

it just beeps once and thats it, no other activity.

[limetech]

my x7spa-H seems to be doa , i'm going to rma it shortly

 

it doesnt post at all, no vga output, no keyboard lights, nothing

 

it just beeps once and thats it, no other activity.

 

Try this.  Look on page 2-29 of manual, there is a jumper called "Power Force On Enable/Disable".  Install the jumper and see if the board will start up.

[tractng]

my x7spa-H seems to be doa , i'm going to rma it shortly

 

it doesnt post at all, no vga output, no keyboard lights, nothing

 

it just beeps once and thats it, no other activity.

 

How long have you owned this board?  I just ordered the HF version from wiredzone.

 

Anybody with first had experience with SM?  Just curious. Gigabyte was a joke .

 

Tnt

[kricker]

 

How long have you owned this board?  I just ordered the HF version from wiredzone.

 

Anybody with first had experience with SM?  Just curious. Gigabyte was a joke .

 

Tnt

I have had several SM mobos in the past and they were all bullet proof. I currently have two SM servers used in a rendering farm with many hours of heavy use and they are the most reliable ones. With that said even the best manufacturer is bound to have a few bad boards go out.

[kricker]

my x7spa-H seems to be doa , i'm going to rma it shortly

 

it doesnt post at all, no vga output, no keyboard lights, nothing

 

it just beeps once and thats it, no other activity.

 

Try this.  Look on page 2-29 of manual, there is a jumper called "Power Force On Enable/Disable".  Install the jumper and see if the board will start up.

Is somebody building a new smaller silent server to sell?

[NAS]

SO disappointed. Its several weeks later and this board is still virtualy impossible to buy in the EU unless you are prepared to mail from Germany. I would have thought the board would be popular but by definition it cannot be due to lack of shop availability.

 

I am still keen to get one but not if i have to jump though hoops to source.

 

Will try again in another couple of weeks.

 

People in the USA are lucky

[GaryMaster]

Has anyone been able to get accurate power readings on this system yet?  Kill-o-Watt meter readings would be great.  

 

I am getting 36W with disks spun down and 44W with 2 disks spun up on the i3-530 system I just built.  I was really pleasantly surprised with these results and am still curious how this supermicro pinetrail stacks up.

[Guest wolfdv]

my x7spa-H seems to be doa , i'm going to rma it shortly

 

it doesnt post at all, no vga output, no keyboard lights, nothing

 

it just beeps once and thats it, no other activity.

 

Try this.  Look on page 2-29 of manual, there is a jumper called "Power Force On Enable/Disable".  Install the jumper and see if the board will start up.

 

ya i did that, i also spent nearly 2hrs with supermicro tech support trying to figure out the issue.  they also conclude its likely the rare bad board.

 

i too have used many supermicro boards, and they are bulletproof overall. 

 

oh well, sent it off, now just the waiting game until i get a replacement.

[GaryMaster]

2) I assumed this board was made for a 1U case? I saw a link at supermicro for a suggested case.

I already ordered the chenbro ES34069 case which isn’t a 1U case but has very limited height from the pictures.  I am doing comparison just to get an idea.

 

Have you attempted to put the Supermicro X7SPA HF together with the Chenbro ES34069 yet?

 

I was reading the documentation for the Supermicro and Chenbro and it appears this Supermicro board requires a 4 pin CPU power connection and there is no mention of the Chenbro power supply having one. 

 

[limetech]

my x7spa-H seems to be doa , i'm going to rma it shortly

 

it doesnt post at all, no vga output, no keyboard lights, nothing

 

it just beeps once and thats it, no other activity.

 

Try this.  Look on page 2-29 of manual, there is a jumper called "Power Force On Enable/Disable".  Install the jumper and see if the board will start up.

 

ya i did that, i also spent nearly 2hrs with supermicro tech support trying to figure out the issue.  they also conclude its likely the rare bad board.

 

i too have used many supermicro boards, and they are bulletproof overall. 

 

oh well, sent it off, now just the waiting game until i get a replacement.

 

Too late since you sent it back, but something else is that the jumper block diagram is "upside down" in the manual - don't know if you noticed that.

[limetech]

2) I assumed this board was made for a 1U case? I saw a link at supermicro for a suggested case.

I already ordered the chenbro ES34069 case which isn’t a 1U case but has very limited height from the pictures.  I am doing comparison just to get an idea.

 

Have you attempted to put the Supermicro X7SPA HF together with the Chenbro ES34069 yet?

 

I was reading the documentation for the Supermicro and Chenbro and it appears this Supermicro board requires a 4 pin CPU power connection and there is no mention of the Chenbro power supply having one. 

 

 

No version of the X7SPA require the aux power connector; the connector is not even present on the board.

[limetech]

my x7spa-H seems to be doa , i'm going to rma it shortly

 

it doesnt post at all, no vga output, no keyboard lights, nothing

 

it just beeps once and thats it, no other activity.

 

Try this.  Look on page 2-29 of manual, there is a jumper called "Power Force On Enable/Disable".  Install the jumper and see if the board will start up.

Is somebody building a new smaller silent server to sell?

 

No, a big one