Servers able to run ML / OSX Server OS?

[ne0shell]

There is a huge market for refurbed 1U servers out there you can get for 99 bucks to 200 bucks. Normal configs are quad core or even dual quad core and they normally come with 4-8GB of RAM. Dell and Supermicro are the most common but there are plenty of Compaq / HP, IBM and others.

I'm interested in getting OSX Server up and running on one so I can send it to the Datacenter and have it put in my rack for high bandwidth / remote use and so I can get some hands on time w/ the server variant of the OS.

Has anyone tried installing on this type of hardware and had any success? The Mobos are very proprietary so it's new ground but for a hundred bucks it's more than worth the attempt, especially if I can get the details on the mobo chipsets and ideally make sure they are compatible. Plus, I've had really good luck installing OSX on all kinds of hardware, laptops, etc which were not compatible out of the box.

 

[DBP]

I'd say likely to work up to a point.
The 2U servers tend to have at least one PCIe slots so you can add extra LAN/etc ports if required (if the 2-4 on-board ports don't work). Not sure about 1U boxes.
No Bluetooth or WiFi, but who cares?
USB booting might work, and then the next question may be how basic the video support can be to get OS X up and running and Server installed.
One of the big hassles may be the included RAID controllers (often SAS controllers which connect into SAS or SATA hotswap bays) many of which will not have any OS X support.

Be aware that the small (40mm ?) fans in 1U boxes are often quite loud. You might need to get it into a datacenter ASAP so you don't go deaf.

 

[ne0shell]

I have 2 sitting here and the fan noise is easy to deal with just by shutting the closet door. 1 is a Supermicro and the other a Dell. I tried running an EZB install on the Dell but it didn't even boot far enough to continue trying.

Most of the 1U servers now have PCI and PCIe ports, you just have to get the low rise version of whatever card. Most video cards now will come with a low rise adapter you can swap out. You can also get riser cards for most of these which convert the port so the card ends up horizontal w/ the mobo instead of vertical rising from it (if the port is flat mounted).

Quite a few of the servers on sale now have Intel based chipsets on the mobos but they also almost without fail use ATI based video along the same lines of the crappy built in graphics they used to put in laptops so getting acceleration working may be a challenge or even a non starter. The key there is to make sure the chipsets are all compatible, Intel based LAN is common which is fine and worst case count on adding a low rise video card.

The other issue I've run into is that the BIOS are extremely limited and often do not give you the ability to set AHCI modes. Not really sure how to get around that one.

What I'd love to see is a branch of the OSX86 projects dedicated to the server variant and support for server hardware. Otherwise I could always just get a 1 or 2U case and build my own w/ a desktop mobo and a riser adapter for the video card, I suppose.

 

[DBP]

Most of the 1U servers now have PCI and PCIe ports, you just have to get the low rise version of whatever card. Most video cards now will come with a low rise adapter you can swap out.

Of course, on a server you don't really need much in the way of video power. Just enough so the basic interface will work. And in fact once you've got OS X Server installed you're unlikely to use the video card for anything: doing everything remotely via the Server app (and maybe ssh).

Also by switching to a discrete card you lose access from the onboard management engine (which you can ssh/web into for remote console access, resets, power on/off, etc). For unattended operation this is very important.

Quite a few of the servers on sale now have Intel based chipsets on the mobos but they also almost without fail use ATI based video along the same lines of the crappy built in graphics they used to put in laptops so getting acceleration working may be a challenge or even a non starter.

I'd be happy if the HP MicroServer Remote Access Card (which impersonates a PCIe video card) could be supported in ML, but I don't have high hopes. That would give home-brew machines a major leg up in terms of being useful remote servers.