5 ms·

Time to go super micro or Gigabyte for a cycle. Let the big brands feel the pain of not incorporating AMD.

jzwinck 7y ago
SuperMicro's ILO and rack mounting hardware were really poor a few years ago. Has that changed? Keep in mind the big brands have improved those parts since then, so unless SM made amazing progress, they're not a drop in replacement.
- sliken 7y ago
  Works for me. I just want to be able to turn on, turn off, reset, get a video console, and reinstall the OS from an ISO. Sure the software/tools could be nicer, but I've not been overly impressed with the competition. At least HTML5 has replaced the pain of ancient buggy java solutions that waste 5 minutes over a slow connections with sandbox permissions, java splash screens, and some awful client that's mostly VNC, but with a hacked up auth system.
- sithadmin 7y ago
  SuperMicro's rails and OOB management are still horrendous.
  - detaro 7y ago
    What's the problem with their OOB?
    - snuxoll 7y ago
      Same Avocent garbage as everyone else I assume, it’s not like any of the OEMs make their own.
      - detaro 7y ago
        More specific? That you think it's garbage doesn't really tell me what's garbage about it compared to others. I've only used supermicro's a little, and it seemed to do what it offered just fine.
        snuxoll 7y ago
        I haven’t used it, but I assume it’s really no better or worse. Virtually every OEM licenses their OOB management controllers from Avocent - HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. all use more or less the same platform with a custom skin and a couple addon features packed in. From what I’ve seen, Supermicro is no different - they use Avocent hardware like everyone else. Everything just depends on what generation of controller they ship. EDIT: as an example, the iDRAC on my Dell R210 II’s, the IMM on my Lenovo TD340, and iLO 3 on my HP ML10 are all the same generation of Avocent hardware with few differences. My Dell RX20’s have newer OOB modules and suck less to work with, but so does comparably new hardware from other OEM’s because they’re all made by the same damned company.
      - SteveNuts 7y ago
        iDrac is MILES ahead of SM ipmi, in my experience.
        greatpatton 7y ago
        Be more specific, because the basic stuff needed by 99% of setup has been covered for ages. We are managing hundreds of machine with just SP IPMI.
  - imroot 7y ago
    I keep on hearing a rumor about a new HTML5 based RSA/OOB: It's one of those things that I keep on hoping for when I unbox a new SuperMicro, but, I've got 12K+ of these in the field and I'm finally at a point where I can replace them with Dells. In about 5 years, maybe I'll replace the ones I have at home (admittedly, I really should just do a blade server at home -- it'd probably be less power draw!)
  - sliken 7y ago
    There's two kind of SM rails that I'm familiar with. The cheaper crappy ones, and the "tool less" ones. They are so nice I can mount rails from a single side of the rack with one hand.
sliken 7y ago
Dell and HP sell several solutions, I've not been tracking the others.
- justinclift 7y ago
  HP now put their BIOS/firmware downloads behind a paywall, which - from my point of view - excludes them from all future purchases. eg older gear that would generally be suitable for dev use can't even be updated any more. Screw that crowd. :(
  - JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
    Just when I thought HP couldn’t be more stupid, they surpass all expectations; that’s so crazy. They just sent my brother a $500 video card about eight months late after already replacing the whole computer that had a faulty video card. One hand doesn’t know what the other does in that corporation.
lazylizard 7y ago
And asus.
lhoff 7y ago
Supermicro is offering Epyc Server since the product launch of the first generation. We ordered a Server back in June 2017 and it bot delivered in November because the CPUs Werke sold out in the beginning. Now with Rome it gets even more wide spread. The Epyc CPUs are perfect for a Single CPU all Flash storage Server due to the 128 PCIe Lanes. Intel can't offer anything comparable at the same or similar proce point because you need to buy 2 CPUs
- sixothree 7y ago
  Is that why all dell intel servers seem to come in 2 cpu only configs?

SuperMicro's ILO and rack mounting hardware were really poor a few years ago. Has that changed? Keep in mind the big brands have improved those parts since then, so unless SM made amazing progress, they're not a drop in replacement.

sliken 7y ago
Works for me. I just want to be able to turn on, turn off, reset, get a video console, and reinstall the OS from an ISO. Sure the software/tools could be nicer, but I've not been overly impressed with the competition. At least HTML5 has replaced the pain of ancient buggy java solutions that waste 5 minutes over a slow connections with sandbox permissions, java splash screens, and some awful client that's mostly VNC, but with a hacked up auth system.
sithadmin 7y ago
SuperMicro's rails and OOB management are still horrendous.
- detaro 7y ago
  What's the problem with their OOB?
  - snuxoll 7y ago
    Same Avocent garbage as everyone else I assume, it’s not like any of the OEMs make their own.
    - detaro 7y ago
      More specific? That you think it's garbage doesn't really tell me what's garbage about it compared to others. I've only used supermicro's a little, and it seemed to do what it offered just fine.
      - snuxoll 7y ago
        I haven’t used it, but I assume it’s really no better or worse. Virtually every OEM licenses their OOB management controllers from Avocent - HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. all use more or less the same platform with a custom skin and a couple addon features packed in. From what I’ve seen, Supermicro is no different - they use Avocent hardware like everyone else. Everything just depends on what generation of controller they ship. EDIT: as an example, the iDRAC on my Dell R210 II’s, the IMM on my Lenovo TD340, and iLO 3 on my HP ML10 are all the same generation of Avocent hardware with few differences. My Dell RX20’s have newer OOB modules and suck less to work with, but so does comparably new hardware from other OEM’s because they’re all made by the same damned company.
    - SteveNuts 7y ago
      iDrac is MILES ahead of SM ipmi, in my experience.
      - greatpatton 7y ago
        Be more specific, because the basic stuff needed by 99% of setup has been covered for ages. We are managing hundreds of machine with just SP IPMI.
- imroot 7y ago
  I keep on hearing a rumor about a new HTML5 based RSA/OOB: It's one of those things that I keep on hoping for when I unbox a new SuperMicro, but, I've got 12K+ of these in the field and I'm finally at a point where I can replace them with Dells. In about 5 years, maybe I'll replace the ones I have at home (admittedly, I really should just do a blade server at home -- it'd probably be less power draw!)
- sliken 7y ago
  There's two kind of SM rails that I'm familiar with. The cheaper crappy ones, and the "tool less" ones. They are so nice I can mount rails from a single side of the rack with one hand.

sliken 7y ago

Dell and HP sell several solutions, I've not been tracking the others.

justinclift 7y ago
HP now put their BIOS/firmware downloads behind a paywall, which - from my point of view - excludes them from all future purchases. eg older gear that would generally be suitable for dev use can't even be updated any more. Screw that crowd. :(
- JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
  Just when I thought HP couldn’t be more stupid, they surpass all expectations; that’s so crazy. They just sent my brother a $500 video card about eight months late after already replacing the whole computer that had a faulty video card. One hand doesn’t know what the other does in that corporation.

lazylizard 7y ago

And asus.

lhoff 7y ago

Supermicro is offering Epyc Server since the product launch of the first generation. We ordered a Server back in June 2017 and it bot delivered in November because the CPUs Werke sold out in the beginning. Now with Rome it gets even more wide spread. The Epyc CPUs are perfect for a Single CPU all Flash storage Server due to the 128 PCIe Lanes. Intel can't offer anything comparable at the same or similar proce point because you need to buy 2 CPUs

sixothree 7y ago
Is that why all dell intel servers seem to come in 2 cpu only configs?