Best Home Server in 2022 for Virtualization and Containers

[@ad8mustanggt]

How much power does that guy draw at idle and under load?

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Mike I will get some readings on this and post back out soon.

[@uwu9102]

😮😮

[@kian8382]

Any updates?

[@iampoch01]

@@VirtualizationHowto I'm interested with the answer to the question, too!

[@timp]

Me to

[@FrAllard]

Official specs state that there is 4x 1GbE, 2x 10GBase-T, 2x 10G SFP+ and 1 dedicated LAN for IPMI 2.0. You said 6x 1GbE in the video. Two of those copper ports are 10G

[@johnwalshaw]

Great review. Couple points of feedback you may already be aware of. That's 4x1G and 4x10G (2 SFP+ 2RJ45). For the IPMI license, it can be generated from a simple CLI command, which for a home lab, why not. I decided to do a case mod, and mounted an external exhaust fan directly above the proc heat sink. I also added an air shroud above the heat sink to focus the air flow. Last but not least, the smaller stock fans have their RPM halved with some cable mods. It's now super quiet and runs cool. Realizing this case mod would affect the 2.5" SSD mounting, but if you have the vertical space, the case mod goes a long way to making a very quiet and cool system.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

John, I was not aware of that for the IPMI license. Good info. Great to hear about the mods too, thanks for sharing on the cooling tips!

[@azaram5571]

I hate to nitpick but my OCD can't deal with that top cover not sliding together neatly! 😅 Started with the middle unseated and ended with the left unseated.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Haha, yes, after reviewing the video, I realized I didn't get the lid seated properly! It bugged me too when watching. I should have known you guys would easily spot as well :)

[@n.n.1279]

Supermicro computers had those espionage chips on board that did not call Supermicro but somewhere else in China!

[@dervaretyndigtland4760]

Nice server. Too bad it is insanely expensive for home use. Here in Denmark it costs the equivalent of USD 2025 and then you still have to buy memory and storage on top of that.

[@RicardoMeleschi]

FYI - It's 4x1GbE Ports, 2x10GbE, and 2xSFP+ Ports. This is a fantastic little box, I have an older SYS-E300-9D-4CN8TP myself that I use as a 10Gb router for my homelab.. Overkill? Absolutely, and I love it! =)

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Ricardo thanks for sharing your setup!

[@TheMemcon]

Looks like a great home server, but the price is a little hard to swallow. Definitely will continue to look at SuperMicro though. Thanks for the video.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Thank you Qosmo!

[@enveedee]

Saw the video, thought nice machine.. Then looked up the price, then my first thought was 'home server ?' not at that price.

[@kpwlek]

Shit my network seems to be really old comparing to whatever you have.... I would love to have this server in my rack I would get rid of straight two old servers I use for VMware...

[@BrianThomas]

I've been using ARM for my home lab. I've been thinking about using Proxmox for ARM, but I'm not sure how good it will run. I'm using 3 of the Rock chip 8 core variant with 16GB of RAM.

[@ScottMooreConsultingLLC]

I want to buy the E302-12D-8C. Where do you buy your servers from?:

[@T3hBeowulf]

I've been using Dell 7060s and 7070s micro form-factor PCs for similar reasons. I have them configured with Proxmox, maxed out on RAM, NVMe for boot/configuration, SATA SSD local node storage (ISOs, VMs, containers, etc.) and an external NAS for shared data. Two fit perfectly side-by-side on a shelf and since the airflow is front to back, I can physically stack them to "scale up". I do like these Supermicro machines too as they're definitely more "server grade". The price of the micro PCs though is hard to look past.

[@reason2008]

Hello Michael. Any recommendations on specific 7060s or 7070s to pick up? I'd like to do some home lab stuff. The supermicro looks amazing, but is too pricey for me right now. Thanks for any recommendations.

[@T3hBeowulf]

​@@reason2008 I shopped around on eBay looking for some of the following things: * Lots of 2 to 5 "micro-form-factor" or "MFF" machines. (if possible, sometimes better deals this way) * I set my max price between $200-$300 for each unit. * I preferred systems with either a i7-8700T/i5-8500T processor (as that grants 6 full CPU cores) but accepted systems with even a i5-7500T CPU * I generally looked for machines with as little ram/hdd as possible since I was planning to replace those anyway. * Dell 7060, Dell 7070 sometimes fetch a premium but be patient and use saved searches. There are deals out there. * Lenovo M710q and M720q are "similar in configuration" and IMHO just as good as the respective Dell units. Most of the machines I bought (5 total) came with 8GB or 16GB of RAM as a single stick. I purchased a couple 32GB kits (2x16GB) and was able to move some 8GB sticks into other machines and make several with 16GB and 32GB of RAM each. Finally, I picked up some Crucial MX500 1TB SATA SSDs for each node to use for temporary local storage and left whatever NVMe SSD that came with the machine in there as it was just for booting ProxMox. The additional SSDs and RAM are optional, you don't NEED those to get started. I waited until the first cluster was set up before adding more RAM. Total spend in my case for all units, parts and accessories to outfit 5 MFF units was about $1200.

[@HiPh0Plover1]

@@T3hBeowulf can you explain more about the cluster concept ? like the cpu's power is all combined at once using proxmox ? how does that work exactly i'm new to this

[@T3hBeowulf]

@@HiPh0Plover1 Sure! Think of the cluster like a small office with each node being like an office worker. They are a team, and work together but each node is still an individual and performs their chosen tasks individually. Where the cluster benefits over a single node is in coordination. Let's say we have an office with 4 people. They agree on a leader and each take on tasks to keep themselves busy. If a worker is sick, the remaining 3 workers take on the tasks of the other. As the systems admin, you can choose which tasks are assigned to which nodes and shuffle tasks around as desired. Proxmox can also automatically migrate tasks to other nodes in a cluster (when configured) to reduce how long a service is unavailable.

[@jondoough]

those do not have any storage controller for them and the ethernet is not good

[@jeffnew1213]

Cute server, but I don't see a slot on the back to expose a network card. As a vSAN node, 10G would do, but for mainstream use, my servers have 25G Mellanox-X4 cards. Since yesterday, I've been working with Dell to configure my first new server in 10 years. The first was a T620. It's been a great server for a decade, but vSphere 8 will obsolete it next month. The new server is an R740 Cascade Lake. Plans are to add a second, identical, server early next year. I'll be divesting myself of the T620 and an R720, so the home lab won't be growing, it'll just be staying current. vSAN nodes are four HP EliteDesk 600 G5 Minis with Thunderbolt to 10G adapters. All-flash (M.2). Ready for vSAN 8 when it ships. "Second site" for vSphere Replication, SRM and Horizon Cloud Pod is a cluster of three Lenovo M93p Minis. I think those are aging out as well, but I haven't started looking for a replacement yet. Those will be cheap machines. In the mean time, the second site cluster and vCenter can remain vSphere 7 for awhile. Kind regards.

[@tenderloin9735]

If you can put the server away to a garage, then old loud server from a real data center like Dell R720 with 512 GB of RAM is perfect for a home lab. Runs ESXi like a champ for less than a $1000. It does eat electricity though because of dual socket Xeons, like a whole amp and a half.

[@nomadzatara]

How much was this unit with ram, riser, and impi license? OS Price not needed. Thanks! 3 of these would be great for a vsphere lab. Thx. Just an edit, I looked up the price of this gear and as much as I'd love to have it, I simply can't afford it. :(

[@Danny_Bananie]

Is this still worth it in 2024 if I could snag one for $1200+tax? (8c, 8T, 128GB, 1TB m.2) Or should I be looking at something else. I like that this is rack mountable in such a small form factor as my rack only has 17.5in of depth. Thanks for your videos!

[@anthonydelagarde3990]

Can you please list the server model in the comments section. I typed what I thought I heard and it does not return results in Super Micro search page. Thank you in advance

[@pyramid011]

Pretty sure that is the: SuperServer E300-9D-8CN8TP

[@rickycastro3210]

Is that the WHOPPER back there in the background?

[@DialM4Microcontrollr]

I haven't ordered supermicro but have known about them for years. If I want the IPMI functionally, do I order the "Supermicro Out of Band Software License Key". Great video and thanks!

[@Lorenzo95]

Hmm I wonder why there was no sound of it running in the video?

[@DearNoobs]

awe man... i was super interested until you mentioned there's some silly software licensing for the mgmt port. ugh....

[@jhonedoe3734]

big fan of virtualization here, wether it's aws, azure, gcp or homelab I'm into it. Just discovered your channel and subbed. This machine looks sweet! The only thing is the price, I checked and here in Europe they cost +5k 😫 so not for me.. thanks for the vid anyway!

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Awesome, thank you!

[@arjanv]

indeed, not really a homelab price;(

[@ripaire]

Try to make a video about how to install proxmox top of debian and setup wifi and fix the messing drivers of wifi card

[@vinkenwood8233]

Jasnýý, pecko za petačtyřicet tisíc jako domácí server, proč ne.

[@markos8971]

Fantastic, just something I was looking for over last 2 days.

[@VroomvroomNY]

A little pricey for me at $1000. I hope for around that kind of money you get all that...

[@paulmaydaynight9925]

disappointing advocacy for brand name over calling out antiquated 1990's Ethernet ports, it might be fun, but the price is ridiculous even if you can reclaim your vat as a business -no fun for full price end home users- not to mention *no low power 5.0Gbit/2.5Gbit ports in 2022* is a no go for so called New hardware -with only an old as new stock 6 year Old cpu- even for a home user looking to build out, hell even the non industrial grade pi4 kvm has antiquated 1990's 1Gbit/s port

[@bluesteelbass]

All copper network connections use the Intel I210 controller. No NFS or iSCSI support, Virtual Machine Queues or Intelligent Offloads, Traffic Managment... was hoping at least for i350v2.

[@alcohonis]

Can you provide a link on where you purchased that setup?

[@VirtualizationHowto]

www.wiredzone.com/shop/product/10028249-supermicro-sys-e300-9d-8cn8tp-compact-embedded-intel-processor-barebone-6927?search=e300-9d

[@shodanxx]

Anyone wondering, this is a 2200$ server NO RAM NO STORAGE at that price, cpu with only 11000 cpumark score on 8 cores I get better hardware from the dumpster

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Shodanxx, thanks for the comment. However, I respectfully disagree on that front. These are fantastic servers. CPU scores for me and I think many others are not the most important thing for home lab as I generally am not benchmarking my VMs for performance. I will say I have never had a performance issue with these servers running very dense VM environments. In my lab, I want enterprise features, efficiency, low noise, and manageability. These small footprint supermicros deliver on that front and would be very difficult to duplicate the efficiency in full-sized rackmount servers running in the home lab 24x7x365.

[@alfreddumas4611]

I've built my lab with Dell R710s and the latest units are T7810 towers with E5-26xx cpus and other than the electric bill when i let then run 24/7 i am happy with the capabilities

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Sounds great Alfred! It is all about what works for you and, ultimately, the learning we get from it.

[@JustThinkingAboutIt-i5k]

I thought the purpose for a home lab was to install physical nodes on baremetal and have kubernetes make the hardware redundant. Please excuse me for my ignorance. Also when you say 'VM', is this an instance created by docker or are you talking about a Virtual Machine created with HyperV and etc? I don't understand the advantages, disadvantages.. Please be generous with your reply I'm a noob.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

@user-tg3nd6me9l, sign up on the VHT forums and create a topic on this and I can give some more personalized help: www.virtualizationhowto.com/community. Thank you for the comment!

[@ShinyTechThings]

Which mini split do you have? I've got an LG and it cools my home office/lab really well.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

It is a Pioneer 12000 BTU unit. Small, but effectively cools my office with my lab gear. Made a huge difference in the summer months. Even with efficient servers, etc, temps are just too much in the summer without active cooling.

[@ShinyTechThings]

@@VirtualizationHowto I totally agree. Now I don't have to crank the whole house down to 70°F to keep my home office at 75-78°F and freeze out the rest of the house.

[@SB-qm5wg]

idrac, IPMI monthly payments sucks

[@VirtualizationHowto]

For supermicro it is a onetime payment of $40 or so. So not bad at all for what you get.

[@TheOnlyEpsilonAlpha]

Nice Video, but your Website is completely bloated with ads

[@gowinfanless]

Very impressive,are you interested to review our NEW version with i3-N305 CPU and 32GB LPDDR RAM with 3*2.5G+2*10G or 2*25G SFP+?

[@EduardoSantanaSeverino]

I liked the video, thank you very much for sharing. However, I personally think there is some room for improvement in this video. the first and most important improvement is for a video presenting a server home lab server the price/cost factor should be discussed or at least mentioned in the video. But very good video thank you!

[@VirtualizationHowto]

@eduardosantanaseverino, thank you for the comment! It would be great if you could share your thoughts on the VHT forums: www.virtualizationhowto.com/community. Thank you for the comment!

[@TheRealAnthony_real]

Yes but ... For the money this server costs I get 3 intel NUCS and do a proxmox cluster for availability and much more

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Vlad, thanks for the comment!. You can definitely find cheaper options out there. However, I really like the enterprise gear from Supermicro though. So many great features and I have never regretted the investment I have made in the hardware.

[@hokuspokus8570]

Looks cool but for that price around 1300$ I get 5 x (R620 2x E5-2670 v2 (10 cores) 32GB).

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Hokus, thank you for the comment. Definitely older enterprise gear is a great way to build out a home lab environment. One of the things that is important for me in my setup is the power consumption and noise. My lab runs 24x7x365 and is in my office as well. I wouldn't be able to do the full r620s in my area for those reasons.

[@dandtech]

@ 3K price tag is way too expensive for a home lab.

[@Schjoenz]

I know what "server" is BUT BUT BUT! What is home lab? What is virtualization and containers? I want to get answers from experts, not google.. I hope anyone can help. TIA..

[@jblow530]

Looks pretty cool. Been running a 25 instance container farm on a Lenovo M920 tiny for the past 2 years and it's been rock solid as well. Love the low power stuff where I can run a full blown 10TB online groupware collaboration system on under 50 watts.

[@JeevaDotNet]

What do you use for storage with the Lenovo M920?

[@jblow530]

@@JeevaDotNet Couple of 4TB SSD's, in addition to the nvme drives and I backup to 2.5" HDD over USB.

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

sounds interesting and budget friendly. are you running linux?

[@jblow530]

@@TheUnofficialMaker Yep, currently running a mix of Ubuntu 20.04 on the host, and 22.02 on some newer instances and a few Centos 8 lab containers.

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

@@jblow530 great, can you run esxi on it?

[@jimholloway1785]

Is this Supermicro E300-9D-8CN8TP brand new and where did you purchase it? I am still going through the video but the networking looks to meet my needs very well.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Jim, this is not the newest model they have out, however, in my honest opinion, it is still the best value for the buck for 2022. They just came out with a new 25 GB network capable model with 16 cores. However, there is a $1000 premium for the newest proc. For my use the e300-9d is still a great little machine. Check out here: www.wiredzone.com/shop/product/10028249-supermicro-sys-e300-9d-8cn8tp-compact-embedded-intel-processor-barebone-6927?search=e300-9d

[@shmayazuggot8558]

Repurposed a threadripper for ESXi/Vsphere, 2xdual port Mellanox 10Gb SFP+ Fiber nics to a managed switch with 7 NVME drives… Does all I need and runs 30+ VM’s without breakig a sweat. I like the size of that super micro..

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Awesome!

[@_Spartan-107_]

Are you using filters and voice effects!?

[@BOOMEL12]

Can you give an idea of cost of this please?

[@screamingiraffe]

A nice review, a bit pricey considering they start at $2,000 for a barebones version

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Screamingfiraffe, these are pricey little servers. However, for me (not for everyone), the price is justified with the performance, features, and efficiency you get with them.

[@jarl9510]

I think he really really really likes supermicro

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Jarl, yes I do :) Many other great vendors out there, but the Supers are one of my favorites

[@gidomareyt]

I use Mikrotik for everything, due to the supply shortage I need other options, specially for load balancing.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Giovanny, supply chain is affecting everyone I'm afraid, but there are a few models as I mentioned here that are available for shipping. Who knows how long these will be available too :-/

[@jonathanturnquest8105]

Can you make a video that demonstrates this server in a cluster using vSAN?

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Definitely will have videos coming soon 👍

[@jonathanturnquest8105]

@@VirtualizationHowto WOOT WOOT!

[@casperghst42]

It's called "rack ears" ;-), the license for IPMI is only to be able to upgrade the bios, that should be mentioned. I gave up after '... super micro ... super micro ...".

[@jondoough]

nobody is paying that much money

[@180doman]

Saw the thumbnail. Clicked the video. Checked the price. Closed the video after 30s ... :D

[@sforgosh96]

Nice description of the gear but it is completely impractical. It isn't like everyone just has $1,300 sitting around to play with a home lab. Discussing affordable options would be a much better segment.

[@chapagawa]

Am I picking up a, Christopher Walken vibe here, NOw?

[@VirtualizationHowto]

hololi, LOL

[@PingofDeath-xh6ok]

I purchased older enterprise Servers from SavemyServer so I am running 2 dell poweredge R710 and R720

[@TumescentPuma]

Hello, just subscribed. Is there a USA source you recommend for these little supermicros? How home use, I have been looking at poweredge 620s but don’t want a little jet engine heat source in my basement stairwell rack sucking 250-300 watts so I can run some vm’s.

[@bcookdc2]

Always impressed by SuperMicros options. Thanks for sharing. I plan to research and implement a Terraform setup for my devs so that they can easily deploy dev instances and tear them down, have you done anything with Terraform and vSphere?

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Brenden, yes definitely. This has continued to draw me into the Supermicro solutions. Tons of features, out of band management built-in, and great networking features. These are great servers for virtualization use cases in the home lab and very efficient.

[@unclewho]

Terraform is very different among clouds and onprem deployments. I would suggest to play around on the cloud(aws/gcp/azure) you are targeting.

[@simplifiedelectronics3091]

Very helpful

[@jimberry7865]

I'm looking at getting the E300-9D. Can you tell me, How big are you're capacity M2 drives that you have in the card? Also, about how much was that card? Finally why do you have an SSD mounted as well? How big is that? I'm building a proper rack with a lot of input from your channel.

[@zyghom]

home server for 2k$ - thank you

[@gustafrantung2628]

I can see all switches & server running in same room as you speak, but I can not hear any hum on your voice. How do you set your mic? Pls, tell me your secret. Thank you

[@j4nch]

You can't put 3.5 disk? 2.5 are nice, but quite a bit more expensive. Or is there a way to mount the 3.5" disk outside of the chassis?

[@steelfalconx2000]

Dude this is really expensive for a 16 core system.

[@cLoWnS4eVeRyBoDy]

What will be the best laptop released 2022 for running VMs???

[@youngfyah]

How loud are these?

[@howardleen4182]

3k is out of my league 😢

[@younghe9727]

噪音太大了，要是被动散热就好了

[@eherlitz]

Surely a very nice little server but the pricing starts at 2000€ or $ + tax, having HA as a requirement there are a lot of other options out there imo.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Eric, there are definitely less expensive home lab options out there and I agree every use case is different and where one chooses to invest, another may spend elsewhere. In my lab, low power, low heat, and low noise are most important and these little servers are great.

[@eherlitz]

@@VirtualizationHowto Yea I agree, I've looked into the series of 1u-micro servers from supermicro and it looks awesome if you got the money!

[@pixelatedmushroom]

with pg&e rates at 0.50/kWh I'll stick with the cloud :)

[@stephend3961]

I'm glad some folk are rich , can understand if you do it for a living !

[@lorenzo42p]

a younger me would love to have all those extra ethernet ports, but a wiser me knows I prefer trunking vlans into my home server. that's a lot of memory to have. hope it doesn't lead to bad bloated choices.

[@PoeLemic]

I really enjoyed this overview. I hope you keep making videos on this topic. I just found out about your channel by a recommendation. And, I'm just getting into having a HomeLab, so new to it.

[@chenxuewen]

做工有点差，这么大缝隙😂

[@muhdbunahmad]

It will great to virtualize a pfSense. With these abundant of network ports.

[@seanwoods1526]

Nice review!! Did you install any additional drivers for vSphere with this motherboard?

[@danielebadiali9921]

HOLYY SHIITTT I LOVE YOU ❤❤❤ I'VE BEEN SEARCHING AROUND THE INTERNET FOR 5 HOURS AND THEN NOW IT'S OVER FINALLY I LOVE YOU MAAN

[@brentgreeff1115]

How many times do you need to say "home lab" in the first 40 seconds?

[@Tr1pke]

Please learn how to close those chassis covers ……..

[@VirtualizationHowto]

@Tr1pke, I know been kicking myself since making the video :)

[@deletemonsanto]

Hi i find my equipment in recycling or buy sec. hand or bild on my own

[@KC-hd4qp]

2:50 The top cover is bent didn't you notice it? Even on a video cut?

[@VirtualizationHowto]

K C, yes I totally missed that I didn't have the top cover completely seated after taking it off for the inside shots. No bending though, was just unseated on one side, thank goodness.

[@Oberkaptain]

I have been adding Kubesail PiBoxes.

[@inusahcodjoe]

1st time ever hearing of a super micro server brand....ll live to buy one

[@ryanisflying]

Love it except for the network io. It’s 2022. Those ports should be all nbase-t 1/2.5/5/10 gig copper Ethernet and those two SFP ports should be at bare minimum supporting 40 gigs if not 100. And what’s with the fucking licensing fee for the Out-an-numagement? Anybody who buys the server wants that feature why does it not come packaged included I don’t understand why HP does that as well. Well at least pleach P I believe they have two different tears of it and management basic in enterprise one you never mention that with this So unless there’s two different kinds it should at least include the basic one for free basic being power on power off push and hold in Mount virtual media.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Ryan, agreed! Networking features have certainly progressed slowly over the past few years, you would think 400 GB Eth would be standard by now given how everything else has progress. The fact that 10 Gbe is still the "fast" standard is frustrating.

[@JasonJensenA]

Do you think this would run well in a forced ventilated cabinet in an RV?

[@PersianSoheil]

where did you order the rack ears?

[@sftmark7]

My problem is the price - %1000+

[@VirtualizationHowto]

SFT thank you for the comment. The price certainly can be a barrier. With supply chain issues this past couple of years, it doesn't help.

[@mcolakoglu]

Is it noisy? I have only living room to put this but worry about noise.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Memet, these are not noisy compared to big full size enterprise servers. I find these little Xeon-D servers to be perfect for my home lab use cases

[@mcolakoglu]

@@VirtualizationHowto great!, thank you for insight

[@Keksstar]

Why does the SSD connect to two SATA Ports?

[@keithasche]

I'm currently running a Dell PowerEdge R810 and R720. The R810 is a power hog, but is expected with 4x 10core CPUs. The R720 is very new but seems so much more efficient; even with 2x 10core CPUs.

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Awesome!

[@RixtronixLAB]

Nice info, thanks :)

[@tomas-gv4ht]

hello . where can i buy the server Thank you a greeting

[@_Steven_S]

Supply chain 😕 Been waiting forever trying to get one of these in the UK, the 5019D-FN8TP full width version. Price has increased about £800 this year too. If I didn't specifically want the Intel, I'd probably have added another 5019D-FTN4 (it's AMD counterpart without the on-board 10 gig) to the fleet.

[@philipp1960]

love the tipp with the m2 pcie adapter. But because budget, I just replaced my broken 2TB 2.5inch drive.. for now. I have ZFS (in raid 1) using an nvme as cache, I don't think the drive is my bottleneg in my fujitsu d3543-s2

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Awesome!

[@MrMaster2k]

Let's play a game - Every time Brandon says SuperMicro - we take a shot - how drunk are you now?

[@VirtualizationHowto]

Oh no, got to work on not repeating myself!

[@jeffsilverberg5848]

Where is the link to purchase?

[@funspag468]

Fell asleep twice

[@Joshie120]

how to run them with the cost of electric?

[@DavidStruveDesigns]

Is that $30 license for firmware and BIOS updates a monthly fee or yearly? I can't imagine it would be really worth it if it's a monthly fee since firmware and BIOS updates aren't exactly going to be _that_ regular. Unless servers get updates on a much more regular schedule than most domestic boards (like the ones regular folks buy for their home computers)??

[@VirtualizationHowto]

David, it is a one time fee. You grab the mac address of the IPMI network adapter and they use the mac to generate the key specific to your Supermicro server. Hope this helps!

[@drvcrash]

love the little supermicros. Ive been running a lab two node vsan on a pair E300-8D's over 5 years now. they rock

[@eyesonly4451]

I've still got my HP-85B lab computer with an HP-IB interface module and a working tape drive. These computers were masters of lab data collection and plotting said data on HP-GL pen plotters. A day long since past.