Which Motherboards for Headless Unix Servers?

nettdata asks: "So I'm a 'Sun' guy who's looking to build a Linux server. I've got everything picked out except the motherboard, and I need help. I've gone through some hardware sites (Tom's, etc.) but I can't seem to find a 'top 10' list for what I need, so I was hoping some experienced people in the Slashdot forum can help me cut to the chase. This will be my home server, so I want it to be as inexpensive as possible while still being something that will perform well. (Champagne taste on a beer budget). It will be a headless box, so more than anything I want the ability to do command line boot/BIOS control via the serial port to a VT100 session like I can with my Sun boxes. (This will be done via my handy dandy PortMaster). Lights Out Management (LOM) would be an added bonus. Google, Slashdot, and ExtremeTech searches haven't turned up anything usefull. Any thoughts or sites?"

Comments

Supermicro

[legend]

I use Supermicro servers, and along with great linux support, they are able to be run headless. You can purchase motherboards only, or, a barebones server from them. I have seen some Intel based designs (Dells, Compaqs) that support serial console as well.

SuperServer 6010

Re:Supermicro

[legend]

Yup, you set COM1 in the bios to whatever baud rate you want, connect a terminal server, or a modem, and EVERYTHING is redirected out the serial port. The bios can be accessed, and you can watch the boot process.

Re:Supermicro

[OmegaDan]

Im going to agree whole heartidly with this ... I own a supermicro p6dls motherboard (dual P2, LX chipset, onboard scsi) and the thing is an absoulte trooper. Its run 24/7 since late 97 (been turned on, not uptime:) ... Its never thrown a kernel panic, and only once a blue screen.

I wish supermicro would bite the bullet and make AMD boards...

have you been to ArsTechnica?

[imac.usr]

I've found the Linux forum as well as the CPU/Motherboard one to be full of valuable info about building your own inexpensive Linux/x86 machine.

PC weasel

[ghostis]

try out PC weasel with any motherboard. I just got mine so I can't say too much about it.

http://www.realweasel.com/

Intel ISP1100

[mmontour]

Intel ISP1100 - a nice 1U chassis+motherboard, designed to run headless (with serial-console support). I don't remember exactly how much you can control over the serial port (e.g. I don't remember if you can power it on/off or reset it, like you can on some of the HP kit), but it does give you access to the BIOS.

Note that it's a bit noisy, so if it's going to be a "home server" you probably want to put it in the basement.

Or you could just slap a "PC Weasel" card into a regular server, and get console redirection over RS-232. [Note: despite the name, this is a real company and product AFAIK. No relation to www.realhamster.com.]

Re:Intel ISP1100

[mmontour]

A Quote about the Intel Server Motherboards (from post by a RealWeasel Designer)
"The bottom line with the console redirection, is that it's really BIOS redirection. It's only possible to see what's going on until the OS takes over from the BIOS"

Well, that's not really a problem because it's only the early boot stuff (BIOS, SCSI card setup, etc) that needs hardware support. Once your bootloader activates, it can just talk directly to the serial port without needing the "redirection" layer.

OpenBSD is particularly good at this. If you take a standard installation boot-floppy and create one file "/etc/boot.conf" with the line "set tty com0", it's possible to do a complete network-install of the OS onto a new server without ever attaching a keyboard or monitor.

Tyan S2510 (Thunder LE)

[shrike]

We've got several servers sporting a dual CPU Thunder LE mobo at work and they work marvelously, including serial console. Available with or without dual channel U160 SCSI. We're running FreeBSD on them, btw. The biggest downside is the price.

Serial BIOS is the hard part to find..

[Faldgan]

I've use some boards that have it (Intel G440LX series) and it's great.
The problem is (of course) finding a board that has that feature. I'm afraid that most boards in the 'budget' range will not do this.

If you have a bunch of them at a colo, you can daisy-chain the serial ports, (So the console from A is going into B, the console from B is going into C, and so on until the console from X is going into A) The only way to totally lose a machine is to lose ALL of them.

Re:You can't find it . . .

[pete-classic]

Acutally, I used to be a Dell server support tech, so am am very familiar with the DRAC.

But we're talking beer budget, remember. Sure, you could buy a PowerEdge with a DRAC, or a high-end SuperO setup, but that isn't really on topic is it?

I mean, I know I said you can't find it. Like every infatic statemnet (including this one) it is fundamentally false. If you are going to point out "answers" to questions that don't meet the original premise of the question you have a never-ending task ahead of you. And if I try to preemtively point out every possible situation like this my posts would never end.

To summarize, I stand behind my statements within the given problem domain.

Anyway, if this guy really "needs" all these features I really think he is best off with a used Sun box.

-Peter

Re:Isn't this obvious?

[stilwebm]

Probably for two reasons - one the Suns are pretty expensive, and he is probably looking for commodity hardware. Also, RedHat stopped supporting SPARC with the 6.2 release. I like the 6.2 release on SPARC, but there are more current distros supporting SPARC that will be easier to update.

Re:Get what I have

[PD]

Now see? THAT'S how to moderate. The post above was a flamebait, and it was moderated properly.

GOOD JOB! Here's a gold star for you.