# Intel server platform(s) compatibility with FreeBSD



## hiatek (Jul 1, 2010)

Hi everyone,
Just wondering if anyone has had any experience building servers with the intel server platforms and FreeBSD?
I am looking at these to provide low cost single server solutions as an alternative to HP and Windows Server options.
As a minimum i require hardware RAID 1. Are there any recommendations for achieving this with FreeBSD or cards/controllers that definitely won't work?


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## User23 (Jul 1, 2010)

Intel MatrixRAID is supported by the ataraid driver and can read & write the metadata.

http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?...ion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+8.0-RELEASE&format=html

http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?...ion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+8.0-RELEASE&format=html


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## hiatek (Jul 2, 2010)

Okay thank you for the help.

Regarding the hardware raid controllers (SRCSATAWB for instance) are these safe to use with FreeBSD also?
Also do the motherboards "just work" or are there complications with these (S5500BCR for instance)?


Kind Regards,
Michael


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## User23 (Jul 2, 2010)

There is no official support for FreeBSD by Intel for this card it seems like. Another funny thing is that this SRCSATAWB seems to be a little bit modified and relabeled LSI MegaRAID SAS 8708ELP.

http://www.intel.com/products/server/raid-controllers/srcsatawb/srcsatawb-overview.htm

http://www.lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/internal_raid/megaraid_sas/megaraid_sas_8708elp/

The most mainboards should "just work" but if you can use all the features of the chipset is not sure. Supermicro for example have a OS Compatibility Chart (including FreeBSD) for 5600/5500 boards. This gives me a overview for what system configuration could work with FreeBSD.

http://www.supermicro.com/support/resources/OS/5500.cfm


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