# Help finding motherboard for ECC ram



## thedude22 (Feb 20, 2019)

Well I guess this is as good a place as any to ask this.  So I'm wanting to build a ZFS fileserver and I thought I'd go ahead with the ECC ram, so I ordered 32gb of 2x16gb ecc ddr3 on ebay because I thought it was cheap.  I tried it in my current PC and of course it didn't work, but I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a motherboard that would match it at a decent price. 

I'm looking at AM3+ cpus and motherboards, some of which support ECC ram, but I'm unsure about the memory requirements.  I've seen a 2xDIMM motherboard that says Max 16gb ram, and a 4xDIMM motherboard that says max 32gb.  But does that mean I need 4x8gb?  Will 2x16gb sticks work with the 4 dimm motherboard?  Does anyone have any other suggestions for cheaper hardware that can put this ram to use?


----------



## thedude22 (Feb 20, 2019)

Found an old intel server board on ebay.  Never mind.


----------



## SirDice (Feb 20, 2019)

In case someone else finds it, SuperMicro sells, besides complete servers, also mainboards. Most boards are tested with FreeBSD (look at their compatibility matrix) and work really well. Not too expensive and usually good quality boards. There's also quite a big market for second hand or refurbished server boards. If you don't mind getting slightly older chipsets (instead of the latest and greatest) you can easily pick up a really nice server board for peanuts.


----------



## thedude22 (Feb 27, 2019)

I got an Intel dbs1400fp4 for 185 shipped off ebay.  Not too bad.  Refurbished Xeon CPUs are all over the place for very cheap.  Turns out some AM3+ boards support ECC ram, but not buffered ram.  Have to be careful there.

Although I can't figure out how to get in the BIOS.  I reset the CMOS and it still wants a password.  I don't see anything in the sparse motherboard documentation about that, but I'm booting up so it's good.

Any suggestions on a server case?  I'd like one that's rack mountable with plenty of hotswap drive bays on the front, but without being 25+ inches deep.  I don't have space for that at the moment.  I can do tall but I can't do deep.  I won't be getting my rack until I move again.

I dont understand how these kind of things are supposed to work:


			Robot Check
		


Is that supposed to go inside another chassis or something? I wouldn't mind separating out the motherboard and HDDs into separate enclosures as long as they don't cost too much and are rack mountable and can be reached with Sata cables.  I'm not doing SAS.


----------



## Phishfry (Feb 27, 2019)

thedude22 said:


> I dont understand


Look at the description. It says 3 X 5.25" Drive Bays.
What that means is it takes up 3 CD-ROM sized slots in a case. Each CD bay is 1.75" tall.
So you want to make sure the case you buy has 3 X 5.25" bays.(Needs =>3U)
This will slip right in and take a couple of power supply leads.

Rackmount chassis under 25" is doable. What height or U are you thinking.
Standard low profile expansion cards need 2U minimum.

So more details for case recommendation..
What kind of expansion cards are you installing. Video cards come in low profile and full.


----------



## Phishfry (Feb 27, 2019)

Here is an example of what I bought off ebay:








						SuperMicro 2U Rackmount Server Chassis CSE-822 - with 400W PSU 181011010094 | eBay
					

SuperMicro CSE-822 2U Rackmount Server Chassis. We apologize for the inconvenience. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.



					www.ebay.com
				




One of the problems I have faced is there are two different large motherboard sizes. EATX and SSI.
These are similar but not identical. Some boards I have to relocate a standoff where it is wrong.
Perils of buying used parts.

I believe you are going to find a hard time finding a short 2U case with a drive cage. Most are >24".
Jump up to 3U and you get some good options.
Chenbro uses threaded motherboard standoffs and has holes for everything. I recommend them.


----------



## SirDice (Feb 27, 2019)

Phishfry said:


> Chenbro uses threaded motherboard standoffs and has holes for everything. I recommend them.


+1 for Chenbro. I have three 19" cases from them. I have a 2U RM24200, a 4U RM42200 and another 4U model (can't find the exact model any more). One of the 4U cases has 2 x 3 5.25' bays. Ideal for a removable drive bay.


----------



## thedude22 (Feb 27, 2019)

I don't need any expansion cards right now.  Although I may add extra PCIe SAS HBAs if necessary in the future.  I'm thinking 3U, just because I have a fanless cpu cooler that's a little tall.  4U would be fine also, especially if the added room allows a reduction in the depth of the chassis.  I'd also like something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  I only have 2 of each left.  I'll have a look at Chenbro.  My motherboard is standard ATX btw.  It's a single cpu board.


----------



## thedude22 (Feb 27, 2019)

I found this:








						Refurbished: iStarUSA EA-3M16EXP-JB-RF Black 3U Rackmount Build-to-Order - 3U 16-Bay SAS Expander Storage Rackmount Chassis - Newegg.com
					

Buy Refurbished: iStarUSA EA-3M16EXP-JB-RF Black Material of Front Bezel: Texture-Coated Aluminum Material of Handle: Aluminum Material of Main Chassis: Heavy-Duty Cold-Roll Steel with Zinc-Plated Bright Chromate 3U Rackmount Build-to-Order - 3U 16-Bay SAS with fast shipping and top-rated...




					www.newegg.com
				




But I can't tell what's going on inside.  It looks like it isn't designed to hold a motherboard at all.  I like the way it looks though.


----------



## thedude22 (Feb 27, 2019)

Also, since I'm only using sata motherboard ports, if a case says it has SAS/SATA backplanes, that's okay right?  Does that mean I can use SAS or SATA drives or does it mean I can also use SAS or SATA on the motherboard?  I assume I can't use mini-SAS to go back to the motherboard sata ports.


----------



## thedude22 (Feb 27, 2019)

What happened to my disk names after changing the motherboard out?


----------

