For the most part, most current Intel server products support Windows Server 2008 and thus SBS 2008.
For an up to date list, check out: Server Products: Status of Server support for Microsoft* Windows Server* 2008.
Note that server board S3000AH shows "In Progress".
We do have our SBS 2008 Blueprint Springer Spaniel's SBS 2008 running on that platform with an Intel Xeon 3070 Dual Core CPU, 8GB Kingston ECC, SRCSASRB RAID controller, 320GB Seagate Enterprise SATA in a RAID 1+0 array, all mounted into an Intel SC5299DP server chassis.
That box has been in "production" since late August and has had no issues whatsoever with SBS 2008 RTM. We had some issues with SBS Cougar Beta, but they were primarily due to driver compatibility with the young OS and one of the Seagates developing some bad sectors.
As always, test things out and run at least a 72 hour burn-in on the server before allowing it out into production.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
Showing posts with label S3000AH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label S3000AH. Show all posts
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Monday, 21 January 2008
New Vantec NexStar 3 version does not like S3000AH Intel Boards
We have been using Vantec NexStar 3 USB 3.5" HDD enclosures with our backup solutions for a long time now.
Just recently though, we have hit a snag: With the NexStar plugged in and turned on, we go to warm boot a server with an S3000AH based server board setup and the server hangs. Cold boot the server and head into the BIOS to make some changes, save them, then warm boot the server and it also hangs.
Vantec recently went through a product revision with their NexStar 3 USB HDD 3.5" enclosures.
Here is a side by side of the previous version (left)and the newest version (right):
One would assume that the differences in the amount of electronics would be offset by some of them being located on the backside of the PCB on the new unit. This is not the case.
So, we are now in a quandry as we have at least a dozen of these new units either in the field or sitting here in the shop waiting to be delivered to our client sites.
For now, we have been in touch with our supplier to indicate to them that the units are seemingly defective. We will also be looking into an alternative enclosure right away.
We have sent an email into Vantec's support and, when we have a little more time, we may get in touch with Intel about it. For now though, the problem is definitely in Vantec's court.
UPDATE: Vantec has responded already! We provided some more feedback as well as sent a link of a short video of the two problem scenarios we experience on an S3000AH based 1U sitting on our bench in the process of a Swing Migration.
Kudos to Vantec for being so quick to respond!
UPDATE 2008-01-28: It now seems that we can include the Intel S5000PSLSATAR series server board in this situation. We helped out on a new SBS install utilizing that board with dual Xeon 5345 Quad Core processors this last weekend.
The server hung on reboot with the enclosure plugged in and turned on.
We sent a note off to Vantec's tech support to update them on the situation.
We have also ordered in an alternative enclosure made by Thermaltake: Silver River DUO Enclosure. The key feature on this unit is the ability to flip a switch on the back to choose between the USB 2.0 or eSATA interfaces.
We have yet to hear back from Vantec.
Now that we are seeing this issue on more than one server board, when we have more time later this week we will be initiating a support ticket with Intel too.
UPDATE 2008-02-01: We plugged one of the new sled based NexStars into an existing SE7230NH1-E based Pentium D SBS box as part of this particular client moving over to a ShadowProtect based backup solution.
In this case, the SE7230NH1-E does not hang up like the S3000AH or S5000PSLSATAR boards do on a warm boot.
UPDATE 2008-02-05: We just plugged a new sled based NexStar into a server with the Intel SE7520JR2 server board in it.
We warm booted the server after some updates and configuration changes and there was no issue.
The following list will remain at the bottom of this post for clarity:
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
Just recently though, we have hit a snag: With the NexStar plugged in and turned on, we go to warm boot a server with an S3000AH based server board setup and the server hangs. Cold boot the server and head into the BIOS to make some changes, save them, then warm boot the server and it also hangs.
Vantec recently went through a product revision with their NexStar 3 USB HDD 3.5" enclosures.
Here is a side by side of the previous version (left)and the newest version (right):
The differences are pretty obvious when the two sit side by side:Vantec NexStar 3 Left=Old Right=New
- New uses a fixed SATA/Power Connector
- New uses far fewer electronic components on the PCB
They are a mirror image of each other.Vantec NexStar 3 Left=Old Right=New
One would assume that the differences in the amount of electronics would be offset by some of them being located on the backside of the PCB on the new unit. This is not the case.
So, we are now in a quandry as we have at least a dozen of these new units either in the field or sitting here in the shop waiting to be delivered to our client sites.
For now, we have been in touch with our supplier to indicate to them that the units are seemingly defective. We will also be looking into an alternative enclosure right away.
We have sent an email into Vantec's support and, when we have a little more time, we may get in touch with Intel about it. For now though, the problem is definitely in Vantec's court.
UPDATE: Vantec has responded already! We provided some more feedback as well as sent a link of a short video of the two problem scenarios we experience on an S3000AH based 1U sitting on our bench in the process of a Swing Migration.
Kudos to Vantec for being so quick to respond!
UPDATE 2008-01-28: It now seems that we can include the Intel S5000PSLSATAR series server board in this situation. We helped out on a new SBS install utilizing that board with dual Xeon 5345 Quad Core processors this last weekend.
The server hung on reboot with the enclosure plugged in and turned on.
We sent a note off to Vantec's tech support to update them on the situation.
We have also ordered in an alternative enclosure made by Thermaltake: Silver River DUO Enclosure. The key feature on this unit is the ability to flip a switch on the back to choose between the USB 2.0 or eSATA interfaces.
We have yet to hear back from Vantec.
Now that we are seeing this issue on more than one server board, when we have more time later this week we will be initiating a support ticket with Intel too.
UPDATE 2008-02-01: We plugged one of the new sled based NexStars into an existing SE7230NH1-E based Pentium D SBS box as part of this particular client moving over to a ShadowProtect based backup solution.
In this case, the SE7230NH1-E does not hang up like the S3000AH or S5000PSLSATAR boards do on a warm boot.
UPDATE 2008-02-05: We just plugged a new sled based NexStar into a server with the Intel SE7520JR2 server board in it.
We warm booted the server after some updates and configuration changes and there was no issue.
The following list will remain at the bottom of this post for clarity:
- Intel SR1560SF and S5400SF Series (SRCASRB RAID) Warm Boot Failure
- Intel S3000AH and AHLX (On board RAID used) Warm Boot Failure
- Intel S5000PSLSATAR (On board RAID used) Warm Boot Failure
- Intel SE7320NH1-E (On board RAID used) Warm Boot Okay
- Intel SE7520JR2 (SRCS16 RAID controller) Warm Boot Okay
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
Labels:
Error,
Intel,
S3000AH,
USB Hard Drive,
Vantec
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
System Builder Tips: Intel S3000AH "PCI Device" and "PCI Serial Port" Unknown in W2K3
There is an issue for the S3000AH Intel server boards with Windows Server 2003 or SBS 2003 installed.
From Intel's site:
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
From Intel's site:
Intel® Server Board S3000AHIntel's Site: Intel® Server Board S3000AH - Two Unknown Device Under Microsoft Windows* Device Manager.
Two Unknown Device Under Microsoft Windows* Device Manager
On Microsoft Windows*, after installing all the drivers (onboard LAN, video and chipset), Microsoft Windows* Device manager is showing two devices - "PCI Device" and "PCI Serial Port", each of which has a yellow question mark.
The devices "PCI Device" and "PCI Serial Port" are the components of Intel® Active Management Technology(iAMT). iAMT is not available without driver installed for these two devices. The .inf file for these devices are included in the LAN driver package (10.4 or later), rather than the Intel® Chipset Driver Package.
There are two ways to resolve the warning:
On LAN driver package 10.4 or earlier releases :
(1) Manually install the iamt.inf for the devices. Extract the LAN driver package, select the "PCI Device" in Microsoft Windows* Device Manager and direct Windows to find iamt.inf in the \platform\IntelAMT\Drivers\WS03XP2K (for IA32) or \platform\IntelAMT\Drivers\WS3XPX64 (for EM64T). This will install the iamt.inf. Do same steps for "PCI Serial Port" device.
or
(2) Run the setup utility provided for the LAN driver package in \apps\setup\SETUPBD. This will install the LAN drivers and the iamt.inf. Alternatively, you can install the LAN drivers, PROSET software and iamt.inf file from \apps\PROSETDX.
On LAN driver package 11.0 or later releases :
(1) Manually install the iamt.inf for the devices. Extract the LAN driver package, select the "PCI Device" in Windows* Device Manager and direct Windows to find iamt.inf in the \PLATFORM\IntelAMT\Drivers\Win32 (for IA32) or \PLATFORM\IntelAMT\Drivers\Winx64 (for EM64T). This will install the iamt.inf. Do same steps for "PCI Serial Port" device.
or
(2) Run the setup utility provided for the LAN driver package in \apps\setup\SETUPBD. This will install the LAN drivers and the iamt.inf. Alternatively, you can install the LAN drivers, PROSET software and iamt.inf file from \apps\PROSETDX.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
Saturday, 9 June 2007
System Builder Tip: Server processor/CPU caveats when Intel server system building.
Yesterday, I mentioned that we had a bit of a struggle getting some Xeon 5130s working on what turned out to be a pre-production S5000PSL server board back when the Xeon 5130s were newly released. Blog post here: System Builder Tip: Intel S3000AH Server Board Series BIOS Updates Available.
When we sell server product, one of the selling "features" should be future upgrades to the server to meet further growth of the company. Yet, in today's server world, this is not the case.
How is that?
Let's say that in the case of the above S5000PSL we only installed a single Xeon processor. Say, the Intel Xeon 5130 SL9RX. We note that the Core Stepping is B2.
So, a year and a half down the road we need to add a second processor. The Xeon 5130 processor may still be in production, but we can only install a CPU with the same stepping code as the existing one, that is B2. More than likely, the stepping code on the then in production Xeon 5130 would be B3 or B4 or even higher! So, we would need to comb the Internet looking for the right one. Or, we would have to buy two (2) processors from our supplier anyway.
And therein lies a very serious caveat: The earlier revision of the server board may not support the newer stepping code CPUs or more Cores even with a BIOS update!
Here is a practical example based on an experience we just had with a server upgrade:
Here is a picture of the PBA code on the existing S3000AH that we attempted to upgrade yesterday to a Xeon X3210 Quad Core processor:
Note that the last three digits in the PBA number are -204. This is the board's revision level.
Now, here is what Intel's Web site states for X3210 compatibility:
In the last column we have some Notes numbers.
Here they are:
Our Intel Xeon X3210 CPU in note 7 requires a server board revision of -206 or above.
Thus, our installed S3000AH board at revision -204 does not qualify. Even with a BIOS update, the -204 board will not support the X3210 or X3220 Xeon Quad Core processors as indicated in the above Notes. In every other way, they are essentially identical!
We were fortunate that we had an S3000AH with a newer revision level here in the shop:
Our in-shop server board was revision -207.
When doing a straight across upgrade like this, that is, one S3000AH -204 for one S3000AH -207 one must make sure to flash the -204 to the newest BIOS version FIRST. Then boot the system up into the BIOS to verify the settings, then boot into the OS, with the -204 board still in the system, to make sure the OS doesn't take a fit over the BIOS update. Everything should work out okay up to this point.
To rephrase: Before making any physical changes to the server:
As soon as the server board swap is complete, boot directly to your BIOS update thumb drive and update the -207 to the S3000AH BIOS version as above (revision 42 as of this post).
Once the BIOS update is complete verify your BIOS settings as above!
There are two (2) RAID controllers built into this server board: The LSI based one and the Intel Matrix Technology one. Your OS may choke and not boot if the wrong one is configured.
If you had RAID array(s) configured on the previous server board, they will be picked up by the newer server board RAID controller with no issues. At least, that is what happened here with us as we verified the RAID controller type beforehand. Take note, both RAID controller versions picked up the RAID arrays, but the OS may still choke on the wrong controller!
When explaining to the client what may happen, we qualify our quote with options as far as what may happen if we run into this situation. Best case scenario and worst case scenario. We get approval for both as we provide costs for both.
Due to the complexity of inter-CPU stepping compatibility along with CPU type to server board revision level compatibility we always build our dual processor servers with two processors installed.
If our client is planning on having a large influx of employees over the life of the server, then we will install faster CPUs and more RAM too. We will build a server that will meet our client's needs for a minimum of two years as best as we can based on their budget.
If we are dealing with a smaller client with a rather static employee pool that only needs a one processor based server, we will sell a uniprocessor server system.
Given the above S3000AH server board revision compatibility situation, as well as the S5000PSL revision compatibility situation we were in before, we are careful about adopting new server technology.
In the case of early adopting, there are no guarantees that the server board revision purchased will be compatible with future CPUs. Thus, virtually no future upgrade scenarios will exist.
Some S3000AH specific Intel links:
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
When we sell server product, one of the selling "features" should be future upgrades to the server to meet further growth of the company. Yet, in today's server world, this is not the case.
How is that?
Let's say that in the case of the above S5000PSL we only installed a single Xeon processor. Say, the Intel Xeon 5130 SL9RX. We note that the Core Stepping is B2.
So, a year and a half down the road we need to add a second processor. The Xeon 5130 processor may still be in production, but we can only install a CPU with the same stepping code as the existing one, that is B2. More than likely, the stepping code on the then in production Xeon 5130 would be B3 or B4 or even higher! So, we would need to comb the Internet looking for the right one. Or, we would have to buy two (2) processors from our supplier anyway.
And therein lies a very serious caveat: The earlier revision of the server board may not support the newer stepping code CPUs or more Cores even with a BIOS update!
Here is a practical example based on an experience we just had with a server upgrade:
Here is a picture of the PBA code on the existing S3000AH that we attempted to upgrade yesterday to a Xeon X3210 Quad Core processor:
Note that the last three digits in the PBA number are -204. This is the board's revision level.
Now, here is what Intel's Web site states for X3210 compatibility:
In the last column we have some Notes numbers.
Here they are:
Our Intel Xeon X3210 CPU in note 7 requires a server board revision of -206 or above.Thus, our installed S3000AH board at revision -204 does not qualify. Even with a BIOS update, the -204 board will not support the X3210 or X3220 Xeon Quad Core processors as indicated in the above Notes. In every other way, they are essentially identical!
We were fortunate that we had an S3000AH with a newer revision level here in the shop:
Our in-shop server board was revision -207.
When doing a straight across upgrade like this, that is, one S3000AH -204 for one S3000AH -207 one must make sure to flash the -204 to the newest BIOS version FIRST. Then boot the system up into the BIOS to verify the settings, then boot into the OS, with the -204 board still in the system, to make sure the OS doesn't take a fit over the BIOS update. Everything should work out okay up to this point.
To rephrase: Before making any physical changes to the server:
- Update the BIOS.
- Boot into the BIOS and verify settings especially the RAID controller LSI vs. Intel Matrix, save, and reboot if any changes were made by the BIOS update.
- Boot into the OS to verify its acceptance of the new BIOS.
- Shutdown the system.
As soon as the server board swap is complete, boot directly to your BIOS update thumb drive and update the -207 to the S3000AH BIOS version as above (revision 42 as of this post).
Once the BIOS update is complete verify your BIOS settings as above!
There are two (2) RAID controllers built into this server board: The LSI based one and the Intel Matrix Technology one. Your OS may choke and not boot if the wrong one is configured.
If you had RAID array(s) configured on the previous server board, they will be picked up by the newer server board RAID controller with no issues. At least, that is what happened here with us as we verified the RAID controller type beforehand. Take note, both RAID controller versions picked up the RAID arrays, but the OS may still choke on the wrong controller!
When explaining to the client what may happen, we qualify our quote with options as far as what may happen if we run into this situation. Best case scenario and worst case scenario. We get approval for both as we provide costs for both.
Due to the complexity of inter-CPU stepping compatibility along with CPU type to server board revision level compatibility we always build our dual processor servers with two processors installed.
If our client is planning on having a large influx of employees over the life of the server, then we will install faster CPUs and more RAM too. We will build a server that will meet our client's needs for a minimum of two years as best as we can based on their budget.
If we are dealing with a smaller client with a rather static employee pool that only needs a one processor based server, we will sell a uniprocessor server system.
Given the above S3000AH server board revision compatibility situation, as well as the S5000PSL revision compatibility situation we were in before, we are careful about adopting new server technology.
In the case of early adopting, there are no guarantees that the server board revision purchased will be compatible with future CPUs. Thus, virtually no future upgrade scenarios will exist.
Some S3000AH specific Intel links:
- Intel Server Board S3000AH Qualified and supported Intel Processors.
- Intel Server Board S3000AH Technical Links.
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Labels:
CPUs,
Intel,
Intel Xeon,
S3000AH,
System Builder Tips
Friday, 8 June 2007
System Builder Tip: Intel S3000AH Server Board Series BIOS Updates Available
The Intel S3000AH series server board has received a recent BIOS update to version 42.
Product page can be found here: Intel S3000AH Server Board.
Gotta make sure that BIOS is up to date, especially in this case as we are installing a Xeon X3210 Quad Core processor into an existing server that had a Xeon 3050 installed.
Previous BIOS versions may not be compatible with Quad Core, so the BIOS should be updated before hand if possible.
For new system builds, having a Xeon 3000 series processor around can facilitate that.
That goes for any server board BTW.
A while back, we got caught with an early revision S5000PSL board that did not support the 5100 series processors we were installing into it. It was not a known issue at that time as the 5100 series Xeons were just released and we happened to get a couple of the early ones. It took a BIOS update to get things to spec, but we did not have a 5000 series processor to install in the board to update the BIOS!
It worked out in the end, as we were fortunate our supplier had later revision boards in stock, so we were no further behind on our build time! We had the replacement board next day.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Product page can be found here: Intel S3000AH Server Board.
Gotta make sure that BIOS is up to date, especially in this case as we are installing a Xeon X3210 Quad Core processor into an existing server that had a Xeon 3050 installed.
Previous BIOS versions may not be compatible with Quad Core, so the BIOS should be updated before hand if possible.
For new system builds, having a Xeon 3000 series processor around can facilitate that.
That goes for any server board BTW.
A while back, we got caught with an early revision S5000PSL board that did not support the 5100 series processors we were installing into it. It was not a known issue at that time as the 5100 series Xeons were just released and we happened to get a couple of the early ones. It took a BIOS update to get things to spec, but we did not have a 5000 series processor to install in the board to update the BIOS!
It worked out in the end, as we were fortunate our supplier had later revision boards in stock, so we were no further behind on our build time! We had the replacement board next day.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Labels:
BIOS Updates,
Intel,
Intel Xeon,
S3000AH,
S50000PSL,
System Builder Tips,
Xeon 3000 Series
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
System Builder Tip: Intel SR1530AH/S3000AH BIOS Updates
When integrating any system, the first thing that should happen is a BIOS update.
Intel recently released BIOS version 41 for the SR1530AH/S3000AH server board.
The simplest method of updating the BIOS is to have a bootable USB Flash Drive (link to previous blog post) on hand with the BIOS updates and flash utility on it.
Once the system has booted and you are about to run the iFlash32 utility, the proper command line syntax is as follows:
Answer Yes, and away you go.
Reboot and F2 back into the BIOS settings to verify that they are correct, then install your OS of choice.
Please note that the iFlash32 utility will error out of you use the .ROM file ... at least in this case.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Intel recently released BIOS version 41 for the SR1530AH/S3000AH server board.
The simplest method of updating the BIOS is to have a bootable USB Flash Drive (link to previous blog post) on hand with the BIOS updates and flash utility on it.
Once the system has booted and you are about to run the iFlash32 utility, the proper command line syntax is as follows:
iflash32 ah86041.cap /u [Enter]Replace the current BIOS file name with the appropriate one for your situation. The U switch updates the BIOS automatically.
Answer Yes, and away you go.
Reboot and F2 back into the BIOS settings to verify that they are correct, then install your OS of choice.
Please note that the iFlash32 utility will error out of you use the .ROM file ... at least in this case.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Labels:
Intel,
Intel 1U,
S3000AH,
System Builder Tips
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