Hello, I''m looking to get some new hardware, preferably x86 type and was wondering if you guys can recommend some good recent motherboards which will allow me to run OpenSolaris + Xen. What kind of setups are you running? Is there something that you would recommend? I know that there is HCL here: http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/drivers/ then there is Xen''s wiki: http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/VTdHowTo But they don''t instill much confidence in what would be compatible with OpenSolaris and Xen at the same time. Thanks in advance, Aleksandar
Aleksandar Simic wrote:> Hello, > > I''m looking to get some new hardware, preferably x86 type and was > wondering if you guys can recommend some good recent motherboards > which will allow me to run OpenSolaris + Xen. > > What kind of setups are you running? Is there something that you would > recommend? > > I know that there is HCL here: > > http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/drivers/ > > then there is Xen''s wiki: > > http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/VTdHowTo > > But they don''t instill much confidence in what would be compatible > with OpenSolaris and Xen at the same time. > > Thanks in advance, > Aleksandar > _______________________________________________ > xen-discuss mailing list > xen-discuss@opensolaris.org >Frankly, if it can run OpenSolaris, it can run Xen (I''m assuming you are looking at a x86/x64-based machine). To support the hardware virtualization features (e.g. to run Windows as a guest), you will need a (post-2008) Intel CPU which supports the VT extensions, or an AMD one which supports AMD-V. The good news is that pretty much all current AMD CPUs support AMD-V (all the Athlon/Phenom/Opterons do, and I think even all the Semprons do too). For Intel, they''re a little harder. All Intel Xeons, i5, and i7 chips support Intel-VT, all the Extreme versions of the Core2 series do, and /most/ Core2 chips do also, except at the low end. You''ll have to check Intel''s web site to see exactly which Core2 chips support Intel-VT. I''m from the ZFS side of the house, so I /strongly/ suggest you get a motherboard which will support ECC ram. All but the cheapest AMD motherboards support ECC (unbuffered/unregistered in the case of single-socket MB, registered in the case of dual/quad socket MB), even if they don''t explicitly state it in the promo material (go look at the mfg''s web site). Intel-compatible Motherboards which are intended for Xeons should advertise they''re ECC-compatible. Pretty much all "consumer" (i.e. non-Xeon) Intel motherboards WON''T support ECC. After that, it''s a matter of getting a MB which has sufficient features for you (enough SATA ports, NICs, RAM slots, etc.) Look at the HCL for that kind of info. The good news here is that a large majority of modern SATA chipsets and NICs are supported by OpenSolaris; I''ve less experience with audio chipsets, as I''m building servers and don''t care about this. -- Erik Trimble Java System Support Mailstop: usca22-123 Phone: x17195 Santa Clara, CA
Thanks Erik, this is what I was after. On 18/11/2009, Erik Trimble <Erik.Trimble@sun.com> wrote:> Aleksandar Simic wrote: >> Hello, >> >> I''m looking to get some new hardware, preferably x86 type and was >> wondering if you guys can recommend some good recent motherboards >> which will allow me to run OpenSolaris + Xen. >> >> What kind of setups are you running? Is there something that you would >> recommend? >> >> I know that there is HCL here: >> >> http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/drivers/ >> >> then there is Xen''s wiki: >> >> http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/VTdHowTo >> >> But they don''t instill much confidence in what would be compatible >> with OpenSolaris and Xen at the same time. >> >> Thanks in advance, >> Aleksandar >> _______________________________________________ >> xen-discuss mailing list >> xen-discuss@opensolaris.org >> > Frankly, if it can run OpenSolaris, it can run Xen (I''m assuming you > are looking at a x86/x64-based machine). > > To support the hardware virtualization features (e.g. to run Windows as > a guest), you will need a (post-2008) Intel CPU which supports the VT > extensions, or an AMD one which supports AMD-V. The good news is that > pretty much all current AMD CPUs support AMD-V (all the > Athlon/Phenom/Opterons do, and I think even all the Semprons do too). > For Intel, they''re a little harder. All Intel Xeons, i5, and i7 chips > support Intel-VT, all the Extreme versions of the Core2 series do, and > /most/ Core2 chips do also, except at the low end. You''ll have to check > Intel''s web site to see exactly which Core2 chips support Intel-VT. > > I''m from the ZFS side of the house, so I /strongly/ suggest you get a > motherboard which will support ECC ram. All but the cheapest AMD > motherboards support ECC (unbuffered/unregistered in the case of > single-socket MB, registered in the case of dual/quad socket MB), even > if they don''t explicitly state it in the promo material (go look at the > mfg''s web site). Intel-compatible Motherboards which are intended for > Xeons should advertise they''re ECC-compatible. Pretty much all > "consumer" (i.e. non-Xeon) Intel motherboards WON''T support ECC. > > After that, it''s a matter of getting a MB which has sufficient features > for you (enough SATA ports, NICs, RAM slots, etc.) Look at the HCL for > that kind of info. The good news here is that a large majority of modern > SATA chipsets and NICs are supported by OpenSolaris; I''ve less > experience with audio chipsets, as I''m building servers and don''t care > about this. > > -- > Erik Trimble > Java System Support > Mailstop: usca22-123 > Phone: x17195 > Santa Clara, CA > >-- Sent from my mobile device