MBD-X9SCM-F-O vs MBD-X9SCL-F-O

[Christopher Ward]

Can someone tell me what one is better and the differences? i plan to use an Intel Xeon E3-1230V2.


Thanks,
Chris.

 

[marbus90]

The SCM has 1 PCIe2.0 x4 slot more. the different SATA speeds don't matter.

 

[Christopher Ward]

Ah ok, I think i will go for the MBD-X9SCL-F then because it's £46 cheaper. Do you know if it works with freenas, i only found the SCM in the hardware recommended list?

 

[marbus90]

If we'd list every model which is compatible, the list would never end :) Only difference is the chipset used and it's still a server chipset. You're good to go with that one.

 

[jgreco]

The X9SCL also came in an ESXi-friendly variant (X9SCL+) with dual 82574L's instead of the X9SCM's single 82574L plus 82579 which wasn't in the included ESXi driver set at the time. From a FreeBSD perspective it isn't particularly important, but it's nice to understand why they made the things they did.

 

[jgreco]

Oh and crap the point I intended to make, at least at the time, the 82574L's a slightly older chip and while it has slightly less oomph server-wise, you'd be unlikely to be able to see the difference. You can really get any of the X9SCM, X9SCL, or X9SCL+ and be really happy with it.

 

[danb35]

I've been running on an X9SCL for about a year. Works great, no problems. If I were buying today, though, I'd probably look at a comparable X10 board instead, unless the X9 boards were quite a bit cheaper.

 

[jgreco]

There's little practical difference except for the CPU's they take, and of course the X10SL7 is an awesome NAS board if you need ports.

I have been relatively unmotivated to move from X9SC to X10SC, though we're replacing X9SC with X10SR because ... more memory. But even that's happening slowly. A lot of stuff here is still running on Sandy very happily.

 

[danb35]

No, I wouldn't see any reason to move either. But if I were in the market for a new board, and the X10 + CPU didn't cost much more than the comparable X9 + CPU, I'd probably go for the newer board, on the assumption that support would likely be better for longer. "Much more" is subjective, of course--I'd probably pay a $20 delta, but probably not $50. I'm certainly not planning to replace my X9SCL with an X10SL7, though.

 

[Christopher Ward]

The only reason i asked was because the SCL dropped by ₤20 today on Amazon and looks like a good deal at ₤119 whereas the SCM is ₤167.

I do plan to start with 10 drives on a raidz2 so my next question was going to be which addon card should i get to allow me to connect all those drives, I have a norco 2040 case.

 

[jgreco]

Have you checked to see if you can find a nice Socket 1155 CPU inexpensively? The E3-1230 and E3-1230v2 are THE CPU's for this board and FreeNAS.

The IBM ServeRAID M1015 is probably the favored option for additional drives. Do note that it has to be crossflashed to IT mode.

 

[danb35]

...and once you buy the X9SCL and the M1015, you'll likely find (in the US, at least; I know prices vary elsewhere) that the X10SL7 would have cost less.

 

[jgreco]

Not if he can find a cheap Sandy or Ivy used. But, yeah, definitely do the math.

 

[Christopher Ward]

@jgreco I would like to run ECC memory and use plex occasionally and the best option i found was the E3-1230V2 which is around ₤195, i would like to get it cheaper so I could try find it second hand or wait for amazon to drop the price on it.

Is there any tutorials on how to flash the m1015 to IT mode as i wouldn't have a clue what I'm doing.

@danb35 excuse my ignorance but with the X10SL7 how many sata ports would i have? I only need 10 just now (and probably only 10 for the next year or two) but i have a 20 bay case and could probably see myself adding more drives in the future. Also the problem with that would be i would need an 1150 Xeon CPU =/

 

[jgreco]

Well the 1150's and the 1155's usually command similar prices, so the question is, would it be better to go 1150.

The X10SL7 basically has a built in HBA (like the M1015) so if you can get an E3-1230v3 plus X10SL7 for about the same price (or less than) an E3-1230{,v2} plus X9SCL plus M1015, then the newer gear is a better option.

The thing is that occasionally someone who doesn't know diddly squat goes selling their old Sandy or Ivy CPU at a stupid low price. That can be the dominant variable in the equation.

 

[marbus90]

Stop what you're doing and buy the Supermicro X10SL7 with a Xeon E3 v3. It's cheaper and newer.

 

[Christopher Ward]

Yep the xeons are practically the same price for v2 and v3 only ₤2 of a difference. The board is ₤80 more expensive though but if i don't need to buy the addon card i would save around ₤20 because the ,1015 cost ₤104 in the uk. I think it's smarter doing the X10SL7 then.

I would have 14 sata ports right if i went with the x10sl7 (looking from the diagram on the supermicro website) ?

http://www.supermicro.co.uk/a_images/products/X10/C220/X10SL7-F_spec_features.jpg

Also I can't remember, would it be sff8087 to forward or reverse sata cables i would need for connecting to the ports on the mobo?

 

[marbus90]

Well, hmm. It's definitively reverse breakout for SATA to SFF-8087.

Either get a 24port Intel expander card with 5 straight SFF-8087s and one reverse breakout, an additional HBA with straight SFF-8087 and 3 reverse breakout cables or an LSI 9201-16i with 4 straight + one reverse from onboard SATA, which in turn would allow for using any mobo without SAS HBA.

Intel Expander https://skinflint.co.uk/intel-res2sv240-raid-expander-a672505.html + one reverse breakout, 5 straight SFF-8087
LSI 9201-16I https://skinflint.co.uk/lsi-sas-9201-16i-lsi00244-a800984.html + one reverse breakout, 4 straight SFF-8087, but cheaper board and one cable less

alternatively the X10SL7 and one additional M1015... or just some standard board and two M1015s. maybe you'll find LSI 9211-8i boards in the same price range, I'd certainly prefer those.

 

[jgreco]

Wait, now, why is he needing a reverse SFF-8087 again? Does your chassis use SFF8087 or something?

 

[Christopher Ward]

Yeah i have a norco 4020 case (20 drive bays 5 rows of 4) that use the sff8087 connector. Also deciding on which xeon to get the e3-1220v3 is only 150 where as the e3-1230v3 is 200. Not sure if i will notice any differences. It's just going to be used as a media server with the usual sabnzbd/plex/sickbeard programs and light plex usage (2 clients at most). Any ideas which would be best suited to my needs?

Just to confirm (not to sound like a broken record) but can use all the 14 ports on the motherboard for my drives in freenas? I only need 10 for now but the sas/lsi connections there is only 8.