Intel RMM3: Error Opening Video Socket Fix

Intel has released an update for the RMM3 module that is supposed to fix the error when trying to establish a remote KVM session.

• MPECS Inc. Blog: Intel Remote Management Module 3 – Error Opening Video Socket

The downloads for the Intel Server Board S3420GP series can be found here:

• Intel Download Center: Intel Server Board S3420GP

Note that the Intel Server Board S3420GPRX has a different firmware set than the Intel Server Board S3420GPLX.

There is also a catch in the BMC installation procedure that should be noted at step 3 of the BMC firmware Release Notes.TXT file:

=====================================================================
            INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
=====================================================================

  1. Copy the BMC_0124.ima, fwpiaupd.efi, ipmi.efi, upd_BMC.nsh files
     to a USB key, hard disk drive or floppy drive.
     All of these files must reside in the same directory.

  2. Boot to EFI and then run the upd_BMC.nsh script file to update the BMC FW.

     Using fwpiaupd.efi with your own command line parameters is not supported
     and doing so is at your own risk!

     *** If you have an Intel Remote Management Module 3 plugged into the baseboard ***
     *** then proceed to the next step otherwise go to step #4 and proceed ***

  3. Power off the system and cycle AC power

  4. Install latest available FRU/SDR package.
=====================================================================
                           KNOWN ISSUES/WORKAROUNDS
=====================================================================
  - Users of the KVM feature will need to update their client Java JRE to version
    1.6 (JRE 6) or later otherwise the KVM redirection application will not launch.
    The latest Java Runtime Environment (JRE) update can be downloaded from here:
    http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp

  - The following features are not supported in BMC FW :
    ∙ IPMI serial channel, COM port MUX switching and the terminal mode feature.
=====================================================================
                           ISSUES FIXED
=====================================================================

01.24
  -  Issue with Win7/IE8/Java 6 Update 22 through RMM3 connection/remote access.

Essentially it looks as though we are visiting most of our clients with RMM3 and RMM3LITE modules installed to run these updates to power cycle those boxes. Fortunately some have their servers hooked into a UPS or PDU that allows us to power cycle the A/C remotely!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Server Board S3420GPRX At Full Capacity – 32GB RAM – A Great Virtualization Platform

After deliberating over which set of 8GB sticks of RAM to purchase to outfit our single socket virtualization platforms with a full 32GB compliment we decided to go with the following part:

• Kingston Value RAM: KVR1066D3Q8R7S/8Gi

There is also a 1333MHz version of the Intel certified RAM from Kingston but there were some questions around whether that particular model would back itself down to 800MHz which is where a memory channel will go speed wise when two quad ranked sticks of RAM are installed.

The screenshot above is via an Intel Remote Management Module.

• Intel Server Board S3420GPRX with I/O Shield (previous blog post)
• Intel Xeon Processor X3470 at 2.93GHz
• 32GB Kingston ECC 1066MHz
• Intel RS2BL080 RAID + Battery Backup
• 6x 300GB 15K Seagate SAS (5x RAID 5 + 1x Hot Spare)
• Intel Server Chassis SC5650DP with hot swap backplane.

The system is fairly quiet and is quite quick. We are expecting this configuration to more than meet our client’s needs.

One thing to note when setting up standalone virtualization boxes with the full GUI OS installed is to change the power settings to High Performance.

This particular configuration will be running:

• Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard.
• 2x vCPUs, 16GB RAM
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard in RDS/RemoteApp mode.
• 2x vCPUs, 4GB RAM
• Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard (P2V) running legacy LoB.
• 1x vCPU, 2GB RAM
• Windows 7 Enterprise x64 (one to four or five desktops).
• 2x vCPUs, 1.5GB-2GB RAM each.

Our client is a small non-profit with 8-11 seats depending on the time of year. We are quite confident that they will be happy with their new setup once we have migrated them from their current SBS 2003 R2 Premium.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel S3420GPRX I/O Shield Arrived Today

We finally managed to order and receive some I/O Shields for the Intel Server Board S3420GPRX today:

We can now move on to building our entry level virtualization servers that are based on this server board installed in an Intel Server Chassis SC5650 pedestal.

One thing to note when it comes to installing the Intel Server Board S3420GPRX into a pedestal chassis is that we lose the ability to use any external facing I/O modules such as the AXXSASIOMOD which would give us external Quad-port SAS connectors.

The one PCI-E slot on the server board will be used for a high performance RAID controller with battery or SSD Cache backup so that leaves iSCSI as the only real way of reaching a central storage unit for a Hyper-V cluster.

An alternative may be to use one of the add-in I/O Modules for entry level SAS RAID that connects directly to the server board and use that PCI-E slot for a SAS or RAID controller with an external Quad-port SAS connection. We lose storage path redundancy in this configuration though.

On another note, we are just getting ready to configure a couple of Intel Server Systems SR1695GPRX2AC 1U 1P servers with dual Quad-port external SAS ports connected to a Promise VTrak E610sD RAID Subsystem to see if we can stand up a full two node Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 cluster in this configuration. More to come on this hopefully later!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

UPDATE: Stock on Intel Server Board S3420GPRX I/O Shield

We have found out that D&H USA has stock on the Intel Server Board S3420GPRX I/O shield (AGPRXIO).

Unfortunately D&H Canada is not allowed to sell Intel product into Canada at this time, so we were not able to get stock through their Canadian distribution point while the US distribution point will not drop-ship into Canada.

Fellow MVP Russ Grover suggested we talk to Applied Computer Online Services (Link to the I/O Shield part). They show available stock in their online ordering system.

But, because we are in Canada we ended up needing to call in to work out the product cost and the cost to ship up to Canada. In the end they were very helpful and their price was reasonable for each unit including shipping.

Our previous blog post:

• MPECS Inc. Blog: Setting Up an Intel S3420GPRX Entry Level Server Board In An Intel Pedestal Chassis

Note that we specifically requested FedEx as the courier since UPS charges an arm and a leg for their customs clearing services (we subsequently contracted the FedEx folks due to ongoing problems with UPS).

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Setting Up an Intel S3420GPRX Entry Level Server Board In An Intel Pedestal Chassis

We are building out a number of pedestal based servers over the next couple of months that will be standalone Hyper-V hosts for SBS 2011 Standard, at least a Remote Desktop Services server, at least one Windows Desktop OS, and in a few cases a dedicated BlackBerry (BESx) server.

The perfect platform for this setup is the Intel Server Board S3420GPRX (Intel Ark Site) as it has four Intel Virtualization Technology accelerated Gigabit NICs that can be teamed together along with a fifth Gigabit NIC that can be bound to an Intel Remote Management Module 3 (Intel Product Site) for external Web based console access.

The catch with this setup though is that the S3420GPRX is designed to be installed in a 1U form factor chassis. So, the retail box comes with _no_ I/O shield for the back of the pedestal chassis.

However, we are able to order them . . . hopefully:

• Intel S3420GPRX I/O Shield: AGPRXIO

We will see what our distribution channels say as we have put out inquiries to all of them and we have a request into our Intel sales representative.

So far, no one has indicated the what/where/when with regards to the parts. But, we remain hopeful.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

8GB Intel Validated Kingston Memory For S3420GP(RX) – Finally!

When it comes to supporting Intel’s server products, one of the first questions we get from the support technician when we start troubleshooting a problem is, “What type of memory is in the system?”

If that memory is not on the tested memory products list for that particular server board then we will be asked to install Intel Validated memory products.

Up to now there have been two 8GB sticks available for the Intel Server Board S3420GP(RX), one by Hynix and the other by Samsung (though not listed now), listed as validated for this series of server boards and the server systems based on them.

That has finally changed!

We now have two new Intel Validated Kingston parts:

• KVR1333D3D4R9S/8Gi
  • Cost: ~$350/Stick
• KVR1066D3Q8R7S/8Gi
  • Cost: ~$200/Stick

The catch for us here in Canada is that there is lots of stock for the 1333 MHz part while the 1066 MHz parts are in short supply at the moment. There are also kits of 2 (16GB) for each part number as well.

• Kingston’s site for the Intel Server Board S3420GPRX
• Intel’s Server Configurator
  • Start with Server Boards –> 3000 Series.

Why is this so important?

Because the Hynix and Micron parts have only been available via resellers in the US. So, any warranty issues were questionable since that list of resellers is very small and they are relatively unknown to us. RMA processes can be painful with some manufacturers and their resellers so we are cautious when it comes to new points of product supply.

We have had a lot of success with Kingston’s memory parts and when there have been times where we have needed to call them they have always been very helpful.

So, this news is a definite plus for us!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Server Board S3420GP Board Mount Hole And CPU Cooling Fan Conflict

One of the mounting holes for the server board is located quite close to the CPU:

A quick look at the two holes for the CPU heatsink assembly leads one to observe that the hole where the screw goes may be hidden . . . or, at least it does after the fact:

This particular board has the various sockets and slots arranged quite differently than previous uniprocessor server boards.

Now, it is our preference to install the heatsink before the board is installed into the chassis. We have one half of a large Styrofoam 30 hard drive carrier tray that we use for the board to sit on while installing the heatsink.

We do this because there is a significant amount of down force required to seat the heatsink mounts which caused most boards to flex _a lot_ while sitting in the chassis.

It looks like we will not be able to do that for any of the servers we build on the Intel server board S3420GP series.

On the plus side, the new heatsink configuration that comes with the Intel Xeon Processor 3400 Series does not require that much force to install on the board.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Memory Configuration Tool – Relieve That Pain!

One of the most significant brain busters with Intel’s new Core i7 architecture as well as the new Intel Xeon Processor 3400 Series and 5500 Series architectures is trying to get a straight answer on how to come out with a certain amount of RAM in the system.

This is the Intel Server Board S3420GP Xeon 3400 series memory page out of the product’s technical product specifications manual:

There are more pages both before and after this one that get into how to configure memory for this particular server board without really making things entirely clear.

There is the Intel Server Configurator Tool that will only allow certain RAM part combinations during the configuration process, but it does not tell us why it allows or does not allow us to choose a certain amount of RAM like 24GB for one box.

In comes Intel’s new Memory Configurator Tool:

We are looking to have a Xeon 3400 series server configured with 24GB. This tool will actually show us the how/what/where/why of getting there.

• Intel Memory Configuration Tool Download 

The tool at least takes some of the guess work out of configuring servers.

The above 24GB configuration request yielded the following result:

It says we can do 6x 4GB Registered DIMMs at 800MHz up top with the bottom right quadrant indicating the DIMMs can be Single, Dual, or Quad Rank when it comes to the memory chips on the DIMMs themselves.

Now, is the tool right?

Well, we will find out in short order since we have an SR1630HGP 1U server system based on the S3420GPLC series server board with six 4GB Kingston quad ranked registered ECC RAM sitting in the shop waiting to be built.

When we run through the Intel Server Configurator Tool and come to the memory configuration portion, we get the following:

The Configurator indicates up to 4x 4GB Registered Quad Rank DIMMs which does not meet our 24GB need. So, we shall see soon enough which one is right.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

New Intel Uniprocessor Servers – 1U And Pedestal Get Awesome Enterprise Level Features For SMB!

Our number one complaint when it came to the SMB focused server systems, read uniprocessor,  we implement for our more local clients are the following missing features:

• Remote Management Module built-in.
• More than 8GB of ECC RAM.
• No plug-in I/O or LAN modules to save the one PCI-E slot in 1U form factor servers.

The biggest drawback was the lack of the remote management module. For the cost of the module to be included in a server we only needed one or two visits to our client’s site to pay for it.

We found an alternative in the StarTech IP KVMs and their PDU units that would allow us to manage the server remotely along with the ability to power cycle it if need be.

With the release of the new SR1630GP and SR1630HGP 1U servers as well as the Intel Server Board S3420GP for pedestal applications we now have access to the following options:

• Remote Management Module 3 in plug-in module format.
• SAS 4 port RAID plug-in module.
• 32GB of ECC Registered RAM supported.

Both the RMM3 and the SAS 4 port modules plug directly into the server board thus saving the PCI-E slot in a 1U configuration for something important such as a 2 or 4 port PCI-E Gigabit Server NIC for virtualization needs.

For the first time in immediate memory, we have a notation that the product line was developed with Small Business Server in mind. From the Intel Xeon Processor 3400 Series Product Brief (PDF File) on page 6:

For those of us that prefer to build our own servers based on the Intel name brand that also ties in the Intel Channel Partner Program, these new features are a huge step forward.

We are no longer at a disadvantage with the Tier 1 server builders that could offer the above features in their step up from entry level server systems.

We build our servers so that we can know them through and through. This product knowledge facilitates the troubleshooting process significantly. Another advantage is that we do not get caught between the hardware vendor and the software vendors blaming each other for a stability problem.

The new 1U SR1630HGP server systems will be perfect for small business virtualization needs. Since the new Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 now includes failover clustering and its free, we will be looking to basing our entry level clusters on these units.

Lots of neat things to come! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer