# Lenovo ThinkSystem SR665 FreeBSD compatibility



## Buck (Aug 15, 2021)

This one. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/data-center/servers/racks/ThinkSystem-SR665/p/77XX7SR552S

What I'd like to know if there are any potential pitfalls before I get one. The intention is to run some kind of virtualization, like ESXi or Proxmox and one of the guest OSes is going to be FreeBSD.

1. Is virtualization software emulating hardware for guest OSes or do they have direct access to hardware?
2. Am I going to have trouble with OCP 3.0 network cards? I'm totally unsure how those work and what drivers are required, et cetera. Maybe the better alternative would be to use PCI ports and plug some better supported (Intel?) NIC in there?
3. Any other potential pitfalls with branded servers that may make the whole system unbootable/unusable?
4. What about running bhyve on this instead of ESXi and friends?


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## SirDice (Aug 16, 2021)

Buck said:


> Is virtualization software emulating hardware for guest OSes


Yes. 


Buck said:


> or do they have direct access to hardware?


Only if you configure passthrough. 



Buck said:


> Am I going to have trouble with OCP 3.0 network cards?


Depends if ESXi or Proxmox supports them. Judging from the specifications it should be supported by ESXi.



Buck said:


> Any other potential pitfalls with branded servers that may make the whole system unbootable/unusable?


That's a support question regarding ESXi or Proxmox. Has nothing to do with the guest OSes your going to run on it.


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## richardtoohey2 (Aug 16, 2021)

I had trouble installing FreeBSD on a ThinkSystem (sorry, can't find the exact specs) so definitely worth your while checking before you buy.  I imagine it would have been resolvable but the end-customer was in a rush to get to production so I didn't have enough time to work it out.


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