High-end rackmount question

[CougTek]

Would this motherboard fit inside a node of that enclosure? I prefer the Asus motherboard for the wider memory support and lower cost, but there are no compatible Asus quad rackmount enclosure with 2.5" hot-swap front bays, only 3.5" bays.

I'm trying to fit an entire 42U setup inside a 2U enclosure. The computers of the current 42U setup are all at least 3.5 years old and many are much older than that. I calculated that it would cost ~15000$ to squeeze all the setup into a single 2U chassis using Xeon E5-2670 processors and a bunch of Intel 520 Series hard drives (not much capacity is needed). Maintenance would also be greatly simplified and electrical power consumption would fall. In fact, we could effectively fit the new 2U system in an open spot of another rack and completly eliminate an entire rack.

 

[Mercutio]

It looks to me like the Asus board is too long. Even if you can somehow wedge it in there, something tells me you'd be better off with something you wouldn't need the Jaws of Life to get in or out of the chassis.

 

[ddrueding]

Even if you get the extra length by removing drive bays or such, that board is also (barely) too wide, and I don't see a way around that.

 

[LunarMist]

It looks to me like the Asus board is too long. Even if you can somehow wedge it in there, something tells me you'd be better off with something you wouldn't need the Jaws of Life to get in or out of the chassis.

Why wouldn't it fit? The board is 6.855" x 16.7" and the enclosure fits 6.8" x 16.64". The difference is probably unit conversion/rounding.

 

[CougTek]

The Asus motherboards cost 420$ each while the equivalent Supermicro is closer to 600$ while not supporting the RAM I would put on the Asus. If the difference in size is real and not from unit conversion, I'll have bought 1700$ of motherboards and ~2500$ of RAM that I won't be able to use, plus I'll have to buy 2400$ of motherboards and 3200$ of RAM in order to make everything work. I'd rather not make a guess that might cost me ~9800$ worth of hardware. It wouldn't make me popular two-weeks-in in my new job.

 

[BingBangBop]

I wouldn't guess, and I'd be conservative and not combine those two unless I could test it first. If you can't pre-test it (or get someone with experience that has done it before), then get something else where there is no doubt of them fitting. Don't forget that you are dealing with semi-non standard sizes. If you are not putting an appropriate SuperMicro MB in a matching SuperMicro case then there is also the possibility that the standoffs aren't placed right (SuperMicro has no love for their competitor Asus) and you end up having to drill holes in the case to match the MB holes.

You might call up Asus pre-sales support and ask them.

 

[ddrueding]

You might call up Asus pre-sales support and ask them.

Yup. Don't bother calling Supermicro, those turds are useless.

 

[CougTek]

Yup. Don't bother calling Supermicro, those turds are useless.

Actually, that's another of my points for trying to avoid an all-SuperMicro solution. How's your experience with Asus' Z9PE-D8 WS? Have you finally fixed your issue with it? How helpful (or not) was Asus' support?

I've found the Asus RS720Q-E7/RS12 for ~2500$ and I think all I'd need is to add the CPUs, RAM and hard drives. But I would really prefer a 24x2.5" drives configuration rather than a 12x3.5" drives.

 

[DrunkenBastard]

I wouldn't guess, and I'd be conservative and not combine those two unless I could test it first. If you can't pre-test it (or get someone with experience that has done it before), then get something else where there is no doubt of them fitting. Don't forget that you are dealing with semi-non standard sizes. If you are not putting an appropriate SuperMicro MB in a matching SuperMicro case then there is also the possibility that the standoffs aren't placed right (SuperMicro has no love for their competitor Asus) and you end up having to drill holes in the case to match the MB holes.

You might call up Asus pre-sales support and ask them.

Yeah, for this use case (job reputation at stake) better off with a Supermicro Intel server board and Supermicro case. I say Intel board because the AMD Supermicro mobos don't play nice with the Intel designed plastic air ducting plenum that comes in the case (can run without it but not ideal).

 

[Mercutio]

It's my experience when dealing with server-anything that you do what the specs say you do. You buy the RAM they want. You use the rails they tell you and you don't guess as to the acceptable dimensions for boards in the chassis.