Supermicro SYS-6018R-WTR
The main Xeon E5-2600 v3-based platform we've been using for testing is Supermicro's 1U SYS-6018R-WTR. It's largely an evolution of the SYS-6017R-WRF we already had in the lab. Although this is a 1U format, the server has redundancy built-in, and packs the space with features.
First, as a 1U chassis, there are only so many options for front-mounted storage. This particular chassis exposes four 3.5" front hot-swap bays. In our test system, bays one and two are populated with the Intel SSDs. There are standard LED indicators, as well as power and reset buttons. The rest of the chassis' face serves as a large vent, pulling air in and over the power-hungry components inside.
Redundant fans are responsible for this task. Essentially, two fans are spliced together. If one fails, the other continues to operate. In datacenters, emergency remote hands to replace a fan can cost $100. So, minimizing the need for urgent replacements saves money. Furthermore, with the redundant design, if a fan does fail, the system continues to receive some cooling.
In the same vein of redundancy, there are two 700 W 80 PLUS Platinum-rated PSUs in the rear of the chassis. Low-cost 1U designs, often sporting single Xeon E3s, are usually sold with one power supply to reduce costs. Higher-end servers like this one are meant to be fed with A+B power, and thus have the ability to weather a failure along one of the power delivery routes. That is to say each power supply is fully capable of keeping the server running independently.
The back of the chassis exposes fairly standard I/O. There are two built-in Ethernet ports and one IPMI/KVM-over-IP port for remote management. If you've ever experience a serious failure from a remote location and used KVM-over-IP to troubleshoot, you already know that this feature is awesome. Supermicro also enables four USB ports and a VGA output. Interestingly, this server does not have a dedicated serial port. You can always attach a USB-to-serial adapter if it's really needed.
Inside the server there are two expansion bays. For testing, we used one of the PCIe riser's slots for Supermicro's Fortville-based dual 40 GbE adapter.
Plastic guides ensure that air flows through the 1U heat sinks, RAM, and expansion cards in a focused fashion.
Our system came equipped with eight 8 GB Samsung DDR4-2133 ECC RDIMMs. When we received the test unit, these were very hard to purchase on the open market. You can see that the server has four memory slots on either side of each processor, totaling 16.