Help with rack server using Intel Optane as boot drive

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computer_idiot

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In short, I want to build a 1u or 2u rack server with Intel optane (900p or p4800x) as the boot drive (and no other storage device). Unfortunately, I can't find anyone that is offering this yet (Dell, HPE, Supermicro resellers, etc). So, I'm going to build my own, BUT to date I've only put together desktops.

It's also been frustrating to find a dearth of info on compatibiliy of server components - which has led me to feel more comfortable using desktops parts (and there's no way I come anywhere close to the endurance numbers before I replace this). I'd happy be getting the following hardware below into a server chassis, but is that doable?


-Intel Core i7-8700K Coffee Lake 6-Core 3.7 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 95W BX80684I78700K Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630

-ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming K6 LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z370 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard

-G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2666 (PC4 21300) Intel Z170 Platform / Intel X99 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-2666C15D-16GVB

-Intel Optane SSD 900P (280GB, AIC PCIe 3.0 x4, 20nm, 3D XPoint)



More specifically, my questions are:

1. Can I fit these in 1U or 2U? If so, how do I handle cooling? Nothing I've ever used before would seem to fit.

2. Are there other considerations besides endurance that I should be aware of? This will be going into a remote data center.


Appreciate any guidance on the above. Thank you.
 
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R
You'd need to find a 2U chassis, and then a decent sized 2U LGA 115x cooler to fit. I believe you can find the 2U 1155/1156 coolers which should handle the thermals. You'd also need to find a chassis that supports ATX style motherboards as well, ones that support the SSI CEB will fit your typical ATX/MATX motherboard, but the ones that support SSI EEB do NOT.

Chassis like this would probably work, not sure about the PSU quality though:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2J53FT1598&cm_re=2u_chassis-_-9SIA2J53FT1598-_-Product

Then you pick up a PCIe riser or PCIe ribbon cable and mount the SSD sideways.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812198039&cm_re=pcie_riser-_-12-198-039-_-Product

2U CPU...
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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The only way you could fit into a 1U or 2U case is to use a right-angle PCIe adapter. But I don't know how you line up with the card slots in the back of a rack mount case.

Are you actually talking to Dell or HP sales people or just browsing the websites? The sales people know when an unreleased product will be available. It might be worth waiting.
 
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R

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You'd need to find a 2U chassis, and then a decent sized 2U LGA 115x cooler to fit. I believe you can find the 2U 1155/1156 coolers which should handle the thermals. You'd also need to find a chassis that supports ATX style motherboards as well, ones that support the SSI CEB will fit your typical ATX/MATX motherboard, but the ones that support SSI EEB do NOT.

Chassis like this would probably work, not sure about the PSU quality though:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2J53FT1598&cm_re=2u_chassis-_-9SIA2J53FT1598-_-Product

Then you pick up a PCIe riser or PCIe ribbon cable and mount the SSD sideways.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812198039&cm_re=pcie_riser-_-12-198-039-_-Product

2U CPU cooler:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE1B6806378&cm_re=lga_1156_cooler_2u-_-9SIAE1B6806378-_-Product

As for the computer being hooked into the data center, the problem you run into with this type of setup vs a dedicated server board is simple IPMI control. What is IPMI? It a management interface which can allow you to do almost anything as if you were connected to the machine AT THE BIOS LEVEL. We are talking about being able to control the server, turning it on, turning it off, rebooting it, installing an OS, all remotely which becomes critically important when the computer is in a data center a few hundred miles away. If the OS or the machine locks up, are you going to be able to have a person run down the hall, and push the button for you? At 1:30 am? Unlikely. With an IPMI interface you don't need to.

Another big issue is the availability of ECC RAM. ECC is Error Correcting Code. At a base level it can detect AND CORRECT single bit errors due to... anything that causes single bit errors in RAM. This helps to prevent those above mentioned lock-ups of the OS or software.

Both of those simple things are two very good reasons to stick with dedicated server boards, especially when combined with how far away the hardware is going to be physically located. To be honest, is there a reason you MUST have Intel Optane SSDs? I've been running my main webserver OS on a Crucial M4 64GB SSD for several years now and not had a single issue.

RAW SMART info - 52,000 hours, zero bad blocks, wear level has gone from 100 to... 99, at this rate I should get 5.2m hours out of it. I'll probably die before it does. Unless you have an insane work load on it, get yourself 2 quality MLC SSDs. One is the main drive, and once a day copy drive 1 to drive 2 as a backup. Call it a day.
 
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computer_idiot

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Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've spoken to directly to people at both - has been more frustrating than helpful, unfortunately.
 
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computer_idiot

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Incredibly helpful, thank you. The IPMI and ECC were just the kinds of considerations I didn't want to overlook. To answer your question about Optane SSDs, I don't know if I absolutely NEED them. However, I am stuck using a third party application that is absurdly I/O intensive and creating bottlenecks on my current SSD (Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC). I really have no idea if the Optane will help at all...or if it will be complete overkill and a lesser SSD could make a huge difference. Given that the performance of the Optane 900p was on par or better than the Samsung 960 Pro in just about every category and at the same price point, it seemed like the correct choice.

So, putting all that together, I'm thinking it would be wise to go with all server hardware except for the SSD. Instead of the p4800x, I'd like to go with two 900p drives and do a daily a copy as you suggested. I can do that for $750 total vs. $1800 for a single 4800x drive. Perhaps, I could use some of the savings on a redundant power supply. Similar to my initial question, is this a bad idea? Intel's official position is that the 900p was not tested with server components. Again, I have zero concerns about wearing out the 900p...only that the server board won't play nicely with the desktop drive.

Thanks again for all the help.
 
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