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Good cheap motherboard for a WHS2011 + FleX raid home server? - Page 2

post #31 of 50
4/30/12 at 2:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfusick View Post

Not sure. Would like to hear answer too

I did.

I now get 90-110 consistently. I haven't had even a single issue with stuttering either which I had (admittedly not that often) prior to adding the Intel NIC.
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post #32 of 50
4/30/12 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

I did.

I now get 90-110 consistently. I haven't had even a single issue with stuttering either which I had (admittedly not that often) prior to adding the Intel NIC.

Intel in your server will also be more stable in general. Had a realtek that caused a bunch of problems that disappeared after going to intel
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post #33 of 50
4/30/12 at 2:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kemist1117 View Post

Intel in your server will also be more stable in general. Had a realtek that caused a bunch of problems that disappeared after going to intel

Agreed. Same here.
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post #34 of 50
4/30/12 at 2:21pm
Thread Starter 
I have intel in my main motherboard.

Now I just need a server board with it. Or an add in card.
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post #35 of 50
4/30/12 at 2:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

I did.

I now get 90-110 consistently. I haven't had even a single issue with stuttering either which I had (admittedly not that often) prior to adding the Intel NIC.

Did you buy an add in card or are you using a mobo that supported it?
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post #36 of 50
4/30/12 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JackDiesel14 View Post

Did you buy an add in card or are you using a mobo that supported it?

I bought an add on card. Paid $22.
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post #37 of 50
4/30/12 at 4:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

I bought an add on card. Paid $22.

and you really think the add on card made a big difference?

Should I go that route on a $79 Asrock board for a $100 total price?

Or

Hold out for a nice $150 motherboard with INTEL LAN integrated ?

What you guys think ?
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post #38 of 50
4/30/12 at 4:59pm
The only reason to purchase a secondary NIC is if you are trying to do something specific with your network, like matching jumbo frames or trying to run vlans, etc... For a simple media server, realtek is certainly fine and anything else is overkill.
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post #39 of 50
4/30/12 at 5:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfusick View Post

and you really think the add on card made a big difference?

Should I go that route on a $79 Asrock board for a $100 total price?

Or

Hold out for a nice $150 motherboard with INTEL LAN integrated ?

What you guys think ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lars99 View Post

The only reason to purchase a secondary NIC is if you are trying to do something specific with your network, like matching jumbo frames or trying to run vlans, etc... For a simple media server, realtek is certainly fine and anything else is overkill.

I can just report on my experience. All I did was add a different NIC and my speeds increased and some occasional stuttering (which at that time was fixed by restarting the server) resolved completely --- I didn't change any other settings.

Try the Realtek first if you have one. That's what I did.
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post #40 of 50
4/30/12 at 7:21pm
Just ebay the pci card for $10
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post #41 of 50
4/30/12 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kegobeer View Post

Regardless of the board you like, visit the support site and make sure they have Server 2008 R2 drivers. If they don't, you'll have to gamble with Windows 7 x64 drivers. And, having dealt with WHS 2011 on a desktop board, you may encounter some hard to track down freezes, BSODs, etc. I'd go for a real server board if I were you. You can save some cash if you already have a Core i3 laying around - there are Supermicro boards that support the LGA1156 socket and will accept an i3, if you don't want to get a Xeon or Pentium/Celeron processor.

If you want a server, don't worry about BT and all the crap that is not necessary for a server. Stick with hardware that works with a server OS and you'll be happy you did.

Isn't this a relevant point? It makes sense at least... There are no windows 2008 drivers or WHS 2011 for that Asus MB. Running an OS like WHS 2011 with no drivers for that motherboard is bug free like assassin stated? No one had bad experiences with WHS 2011 drivers?
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post #42 of 50
5/1/12 at 4:16am
Here's my WHS 2011 + FlexRAID setup listed below. All drivers were able to be recognized and installed except the "PCI Simple Communications Controller". I'm still trying to find that one, but I haven't gone through everything on the driver CD/website yet. So far, no crashes, no instability, and the entire system is running great for the past 2 weeks. It has an Atheros AR8151 GigE lan chip which I'm pretty much getting 70% gigabit saturation off my WD Green drives.. no bad. But it has plenty of PCIe slots where you could put in an Intel Pro GigE NIC for cheap.

Quote:


Intel i5 2500k
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
Ceton infiniTV 4 PCI-e CableCARD Tuner
90GB Corsair GT SATA 3 SSD [OS Drive]
Sans Digital 8-bay eSATA Enclosure
HighPoint DC7280 32-port SATA Card
2x 750GB SATA2
8x 1TB SATA2
4x 2TB SATA2
Rocketfish Case (Lian-Li rebrand) modded to hold 19 HDDs
Zalman 850w Heatpipe Silent/Modular PSU
Windows Home Server 2011
FlexRAID Cruise Control + Snapshot RAID ∞
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post #43 of 50
5/1/12 at 6:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lars99 View Post

The only reason to purchase a secondary NIC is if you are trying to do something specific with your network, like matching jumbo frames or trying to run vlans, etc... For a simple media server, realtek is certainly fine and anything else is overkill.

A simple media server was how i was using it, was still worth the $23 to go to intel and not have random headaches once a month
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post #44 of 50
5/1/12 at 7:15am
Intel NICs are known for being the best, but that doesn't mean you will necessarily have problems if you don't use one. I'm using the integrated Realtek NIC in my server (with a combination of different client NICs), and I have no problems with stuttering (or any other network issues, for that matter) on any of my clients. If it were me, I would just get the motherboard I wanted, then add in a NIC later only if I had problems with the integrated one.
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post #45 of 50
5/1/12 at 8:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darin View Post

Intel NICs are known for being the best, but that doesn't mean you will necessarily have problems if you don't use one. I'm using the integrated Realtek NIC in my server (with a combination of different client NICs), and I have no problems with stuttering (or any other network issues, for that matter) on any of my clients. If it were me, I would just get the motherboard I wanted, then add in a NIC later only if I had problems with the integrated one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157302

I might give this one a shot, and add a Intel card later for $20 if I think I should.


Anyone think of a better motherboard for Server use- for $100 or near in price ???


Assassin,

you linked another before... but I lost it. Love to hear your advice here.
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post #46 of 50
5/1/12 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darin View Post

Intel NICs are known for being the best, but that doesn't mean you will necessarily have problems if you don't use one. I'm using the integrated Realtek NIC in my server (with a combination of different client NICs), and I have no problems with stuttering (or any other network issues, for that matter) on any of my clients. If it were me, I would just get the motherboard I wanted, then add in a NIC later only if I had problems with the integrated one.

This is fair enough advice, i would just say, if you happen to have problems, in my experience it was not worth tinkering around trying to fix the realtek as nothing i tried worked. Popped in the intel and no problems at all. Again just my experience.
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post #47 of 50
5/1/12 at 9:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfusick View Post

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157302

I might give this one a shot, and add a Intel card later for $20 if I think I should.


Anyone think of a better motherboard for Server use- for $100 or near in price ???


Assassin,

you linked another before... but I lost it. Love to hear your advice here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kemist1117 View Post

This is fair enough advice, i would just say, if you happen to have problems, in my experience it was not worth tinkering around trying to fix the realtek as nothing i tried worked. Popped in the intel and no problems at all. Again just my experience.

Agree with that advice.

Like I said I tried the Realtek LAN first and wasn't 100% satisfied. Read on here that Intel NIC was superior and less buggy and for $22 I said why not? Haven't had any issues since.

So I think trying the Realtek first is a fine way to go. Add a card later if needed.

Now MFusick is a Tim Allen "More Power!" type and might want to just go with the Intel NIC from the start.
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post #48 of 50
5/1/12 at 2:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post


Now MFusick is a Tim Allen "More Power!" type and might want to just go with the Intel NIC from the start.

I am. For sure.

But I am on a shoe string budget for now.

Wondering what is a good solution for now. I am not afraid to upgrade it later. If cost is reasonable ($100ish) I don't mind buying another next year or year after.

For $200 on a motherboard I would want a few years minimum out of it.


Right now I just need to buy something that will run DDR1600mhz (I have 8GB already) and have 8 SATA ports. Hopefully 4 of them SATAIII.

Aside from those two requirements- I would like it to have a good LAN CHIPSET. (INTEL)

I like Asrock and Asus boards best and will probably stick with them.

So right now my decision is:

Asrock for $99. Which one ? (No Intel but could add for $20)
vs
Asus for $199. It's nice. Almost as nice as my Z68 Deluxe.
vs
use my Asus Deluxe Z68 for server and get something else for my 2600K on my main machine. (Asrock Z77 Extreme ? or Z77 Asus)

I am thinking if I could only find a $100 board with Intel and 8 SATA that does 1600mhz+ DDR3 I would be fine. lol..


So advice?
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post #49 of 50
5/1/12 at 9:59pm
Hi Mfusick WHS 2011 OEM now only $30 after $10 rebate. Are you getting one ? Heck I am in for one. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...MwKH6X07ed_WSA
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post #50 of 50
5/2/12 at 2:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dubboxster View Post

Hi Mfusick WHS 2011 OEM now only $30 after $10 rebate. Are you getting one ? Heck I am in for one. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...MwKH6X07ed_WSA

I have it. Paid 42$ no rebate. Newegg.

But great deal for anyone that needs it.

Thanks for sharing.
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