SuperMicro H8SSL-i (ServerWorks HT1000) -- WAS: Sun Fire X2100/nForce4 Ultra desktop

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Sun, 2005-11-27 at 11:19 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
> Broadcom ServerWorks HT1000 chipset Socket-939 mainboards run only about
> $200, and have a PCI-X slot, and well as two (2) _server_ GbE NICs with
> 96KiB SRAM.  Opteron 142-146 processors are only about $150-175.  Non-
> registered ECC DDR SDRAM is really no premium over non-registered, non-
> ECC.

FYI, it was an integrator on this list that turned me on to the
SuperMicro H8SSL-i after I mentioned the Broadcom ServerWorks HT1000
chipset.

Homepage for the SuperMicro H8SSL-i:  
  http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/motherboard/Opteron/HT1000/H8SSL-i.cfm  
Manual for the SuperMicro H8SSL-i:  
  http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/HT1000/MNL-H8SSL-i.pdf  

One thing that confuses me is the block diagram on page 1-8 (PDF page
14).  It says the dual-GbE LAN (provided by the BCM5704*1* according to
the same manual, page 1-8, PDF page 13) is on the PCI-X bus along with
the slot, but that it runs at 133MHz.  I was not aware that PCI-X [1.0]
was capable of running more than 1 device at 133MHz.  It could be that
it slows down to 100MHz if you put in a PCI-X card.

Of course, if you put in a legacy 64-bit at 66MHz 3.3V PCI card like a $125
3Ware Escalade 8006-2 (2-channel, true ASIC hardware SATA RAID) or $250
3Ware Escalade 8506-4 (4-channel), then it will run at 66MHz (should
auto-detect, although jukmper JPXA1 lets you manually set both options
of PCI-X 66MHz or legacy PCI 66MHz).  But that is still 0.5GBps for NIC
and storage -- 4x standard PCI or a PCIe x1 channel (although the PCIe
x1 is bi-directional).

According to the BCM5704*1* product brief, each NIC has its own RISC
off-loading processor 16KiB of SRAM as well as dual 64KiB RAM packet
buffer.  You might be eyeing the $50-60 SysKonnect SK-9E21D*2* PCIe x1
NIC, it has a 48KiB RAM packet buffer (no RISC+SRAM off-load engine --
just a "large send off-load").  Even the $125-150+, server-designed PCIe
x1 SK-9E21 or PCIe x4 SK-9E21 (PCI-X equivalent SK-9S21 and SK-9S22,
respectively) doesn't seem to offer any off-load other than "large send
off-load" (can't tell how good, the manual is in French or German and
doesn't make any mention of SRAM), only 2x the RAM (per port), 96KiB.

*1* Broadcom BCM5704 Product Brief (first page):  
  http://www.broadcom.com/collateral/pb/5704C-PB04-R.pdf  
*2* SysKonnect SK-9E21D Manual (page 41, PDF page 39):  
  http://www.skd.de/e_en/products/adapters/pcie_desktop/sk-9exxd/docu/Sk-9E21D_E.pdf  

Some resellers are claiming they are selling the SuperMicro H8SSL-i,
although I thought SuperMicro was against that, and only provided it for
resellers (largely because of their relationship with Intel).  Both are
out-of-stock:  

PC Super Deals:  $244.65
  http://www.pcsuperdeals.com/Productview.asp?ProductID=fd7ac3dd-0ee2-4ca1-9748-1c6c1b67fad4  

Buy.COM:  
  http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202106965  


-- 
Bryan J. Smith   mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org
http://thebs413.blogspot.com
------------------------------------------
Some things (or athletes) money can't buy.
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