Server MANUFACTURER FreeBSD8

N

nando_es

Hi,

I'm new to FreeBSD, thus I apologize in advance for silly mistakes or comments.:)

I'm about to install a FreeBSD server in a small company. It will be quite simple server, just a file & printer server.

I know FreeBSD.org keeps a Hardware compatibility list detailed on every component: Such Controller, Chiptset, NIC...

I've been told that FreeBSD is higly compatible.However, I don't want to buy a machine and discover that some of the components are non-compatible or that they have to function in a reduced-feature mode with some other-third-party driver. I would like to purchase a machine which is guaranteed, so all component works in FreeBSD 8.

With that purpose, I have tried to get such ok from manufatures, like DELL, HP, COMPAQ, FUJITSU... So far, no such statement has been received.

I would like to ask who of you have recently bought a small server and provide me feedback about it, in the terms that "I found is fully compatible" or the opposite, just to avoid wasting others time.

Any comments on the issue will be appreciated.

Thansk in Advance

Fernando
 
Thanks mk,

I had already taken a look to ixsystems.It wasn't easy to find manufactures with such feature (FreeBSD support)

However, they are in the States and myself in Europe. Perhaps, I should have stated that first.:\

Fernando
 
since I do not have a say in the choice of OS, I discovered hands-on that Supermicro hardware is very well supported in FreeBSD. they have offices in Netherlands and UK (with tech support and all) and distributors all over Europe (but I suggest you buy direct if possible). please be aware they are not offering much in terms of support plans - it's parts only and you are better with a local distri if you need SLAs
 
Thanks Victor.

I've just sent some emails to local distributor of SuperMicro. Thanks for the tip.

Nonetheless, I got on the net that DELL has some websites for Linux users. Indeed, some urls like http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/linux-servers.aspx shows and http://advisors.dell.com/advisorweb/iDriveMatrixView.aspx?redirect=1 show which server is compatible with Linux.

They show a Matrix with compatibility with Red Hat 5,4 & 4.7, SUSE Linuex, 11,10 & p and Solaris.

Based on your experience and knowledge in FreeBSD, would it be a right or useful approach a rule like "if such machine works in Linux will work in FreeBSD 8?

Thanks
 
nando_es said:
Based on your experience and knowledge in FreeBSD, would it be a right or useful approach a rule like "if such machine works in Linux will work in FreeBSD 8?

Thanks
Click to expand...

No, FreeBSD is (un)fortunately not Linux.
 
On the other hand... If several other 'different' OSs are supported it's quite likely it'll work. For servers the things to watch out for are probably scsi/sata supported chipsets and network. I really couldn't care less if audio and/or graphics work :e
 
Thanks for your replies and comments.

If I get more information/answers from manufacturers I will post them.

Fernando
 
I've installed FreeBSD on nearly every server at my school. So far, I haven't encountered any hardware problems yet, apart from one concerning a SATA DVD drive. I couldn't boot from CDs, but DVDs were ok.

The servers are mainly manufactured by IBM, Acer and HP. I'll post the models if you need them.
 
I have installed FreeBSD on the following machines:

1) HP DL360 G4

Currently FreeBSD is the only Unix that I have been able to install on this machine. OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFlyBSD and OpenSolaris they all hang during installation boot.

2) HP DL320 G5

3) Tyan S2892 motherboard used in a bare-bone.
 
nando_es said:
However, they are in the States and myself in Europe. Perhaps, I should have stated that first.:\
Click to expand...
Well, that is what the "location" field in the user profile is for. You could use it. :)
 
I would never buy from DEll or some like this. My experience shows that I can have at least 3 times higher quality parts for the same money (or 3 times cheaper with the same hardware they sell). It takes maximum an hour to assemble a box and I had never needs in their service that's not free btw.
 
Hi,

Thanks again for your replies, I do appreciate them.

Using FreeBSD 8 in the new year has become in a good outlook.

I am waiting for replies about Supermicro server's compatibility with FreeBSD 8. According to one distributor, some of their machines are already compatible FreeBSD 7.

I'll post more news about other Manufacturers as soon as I get them.

Fernando
 
Why not just "try" a machine? I know Sun has a program like that where you can try a machine for something like 60 days. Plenty of time to find out whether it works or not.
 
supermicro.com lists a OS compability list for some boards.

e.g. http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/motherboard/Opteron2000/SR56x0/H8DIi_.cfm

page down in the right corner

---

Iam using different single and dual socket mainboards for intel and amd cpus from tyan.com and supermicro.com a long time now. I started with a dual pentium3.

The only problems that appear to me in that long period of time:

onboard NICs on nvidia chipsets dont work stable ... the just go away sometimes (imho intel ftw)

ACPI issues: Kernel hang on boot and Interrupt storms (but that problems appear to me while updating FB from 5 to 6 ... long time ago)
 
I recently rented a "bargain" server from a local provider (Athlon X2-3800+ 2gb ram, sata 250gb hd). I tried to run FreeBSD 8.0. It kept giving hard drive errors. I had them install a new drive. The same thing happened again. I had Centos 64 installed and the server works fine.

I think there are still some isolated problems out there with these type problems:
Code: 
 READ_DMA48 timed out LBA=18446744073709551614
 FAILURE - READ_DMA timed out LBA=18446744073709551599
 
Some DMA timeouts were fixed in 7/8-STABLE after 8.0 release. It is difficult to say more without additional info.
 
I was running 8 stable with the latest patches. I even compiled a custom kernel. I think it was a hardware problem however, it works fine with Centos. I haven't given up on FreeBSD..I have it running on a couple of boxes here at home and will try another bargain server when the price is right.
 
Here is the info on the hardware I was using (with the dma errors). Currently running linux.

Processors 2
Model AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ @ 40°C
CPU Speed 2 GHz
Cache Size 512.00 KB
System Bogomips 7998.6
PCI Devices
- Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
- Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
- Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
- Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
- Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
- (6x) Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
- IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller
- IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE
- ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
- Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller
- (2x) PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8T890 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller
- PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800/K8T890 South]
- PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE I/O APIC Interrupt Controller
- USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0
- (4x) USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
- VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE/K8N890CE [Chrome 9]
IDE Devices
- hda: WDC WD2500AAJB-57WGA0 (Capacity: 232.89 GB)
SCSI Devices none
USB Devices
- (4x) Linux 2.6.18-164.10.1.el5 uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
- Linux 2.6.18-164.10.1.el5 ehci_hcd EHCI Host Controller
 
I've never liked VIA chipsets. Now I just don't have any of them on local market to experiment with. Sorry. If you could provide me test machine with serial console, power control and separate working boot device...
 
It was a rented server. I still have it however, it is running linux at the moment. I cannot ask the provider to reinstall FreeBSD.

I agree re the VIA chipsets. I guess that's why it was in the "bargain bin".
 
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