Order a TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer Bundle - powerful and efficient home virtualization lab solutions
On July 26, I learned from Wiredzone that they are no longer able to accept orders for the SuperServer Bundles due to a combination of logistics and profitability challenges that 2021 has posed. I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience and frustration this may cause.
Supermicro made special 200-unit runs of the 12 core Xeon D-1567 based Bundle just for TinkerTry readers, but those System on a Chip systems are no longer being manufactured. As far as the Supermicro SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T bare bones system, those might still be for sale for a while, but I'm really not sure for how long, that's up to Supermicro.
These past 6 years were a very good run for the vSphere home lab community, far exceeding my longevity expectations for these amazing little systems. Most competitive consumer-focused products that ran VMware vSphere were only produced for one to three years, and I quite enjoyed spending a lot of time writing about the Xeon D-1500 platform.
Well over a thousand SuperServer Bundles have been sold by Wiredzone. Gladly, Wiredzone was able to lower the cost of ownership and simplify the initial power on and installation experience, coming as close to a turn-key solution as we could, with investment protection and full VMware support. I was quite relieved that Wiredzone and TinkerTry were able to convince Supermicro to continue supporting these 1000+ systems for all 6 of these years too, from vSphere 6.0 all the way through vSphere 7.0 Update 2! This really helps folks like myself who still use my Bundle 1 and Bundle 2 systems on a daily basis, and haven't yet found a suitable replacement. I hope to one day be able to offer something similar again someday, ideally very quiet or even fanless, featuring PCIe 5.0 and more M.2 slots. I already have a prototype and ideas, contacted me if you're interested in learning more. Right now though, the reality is a chip shortage of interdeminate length, and Intel outsourcing their SoC designs to TSMC. Fingers crossed this leads to good things relatively soon, with Pat Gelsinger now at the helm.
Note that the order links below will no longer work, with Wiredzone taking those order pages away this week, so you'll likely see 403 (Forbidden) or 404 errors.
Article as it originally appeared below.
Order button for the most popular Bundle: (NO LONGER SOLD)
Order button for the even more powerful Bundle: (NO LONGER SOLD)
Sep 19 2020 Update - Due to some temporary warehouse renovations, Wiredzone has to temporarily institute some shipping changes. I'm very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Wiredzone has clarified that this means:
- Bundle 1 will be unavailable until approximately end of December 2020.
- Bundle 1 and Bundle 2 are temporarily restricted to United States customers only, temporarily shipping directly from Supermicro in San Jose CA until approximately end of December of 2020. They are still burn-in tested. Bundle-extras are shipped separately at or near the same order fulfillment date from Wiredzone near Miami FL. This also means your BIOS will arrive at factory defaults so you'll need to manually configure your BIOS to the recommended settings before installing your OS. Please contact Wiredzone directly for questions/clarifications.
Another recent change is that the 32GB memory modules are now 2666MHz, but the Xeon D chipset/BIOS limits their speed to 2133MHz.
Apr 18 2020 Update - BIOS 2.1 and IPMI 3.86 testing complete underway, and all systems out with these firmware levels pre-flashed by Wiredzone.
Sep 16 2019 Update - For an extra bit of reassurance that I was right about the enormous potential for the Xeon D chipset to perform in certain HCI applications with certified (pricier) vSAN server-class SSDs, see also VMware vSAN Team - Project nanoEDGE: Good Things Come in Small Packages and Duncan Epping at Yellow Bricks - Project nanoEDGE aka tiny vSphere/vSAN supported configurations!:
Of course, the team also did some performance tests, and they showed some pretty compelling numbers (40.000+ read IOPS and close to 20.000 write IOPS), especially when you consider that these types of configurations would usually run 15-20 VMs in total. One thing I do want to add, the bill of materials lists M.2 form factor flash devices, this allows nanoEdge to avoid the use of the internal unsupported AHCI disk controller, this is key in the hardware configuration!
Sep 01 2019 Update - This system has not been replaced by any Xeon D-2100 system, it seems Supermicro has no plans to update this mini tower. Also, I have no assurance the (announced in April but still not shipping Xeon D-1600) will include a mini tower form factor. Finally, there is no 2nd Generation AMD EPYC equivalent system, those tend to still be a higher watt burn at idle, here's an example that I haven't tested, a 1.5U Supermicro A+ Server E301-9D-8CN4.
May 25 2018 Update - See Hands-on the new Supermicro SuperServer SYS-E300-9D featuring 4 core Intel Xeon D-2123IT: testing and analysis. Note that the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide for Xeon D-1500 already lists VMware ESXi 6.7, and the install of ESXi has become easier than ever! Even Spectre Mitigation has been released in BIOS 1.3 version, pre-installed for you by Wiredzone on all Bundle offerings.
Feb 01 2018 Update - Some news of a new more powerful (and power hungry) Xeon D-2100 broke recently, with more details here. SuperServers based on Xeon D-2100 are apparently only available in noisier 1U sizes. Both product lines will continue in parallel for some time. If you need a system today, the below choices based on the Xeon D-1500 continue to be great choices, and are still the only mini-tower choices. Sales of hundreds the most popular Bundle 2 have been quite steady since its introduction just over 2 years ago. The only minor open service item only affects a subset of 12 and 16 core Xeon D owners, a potential 10GbE issue that's been fixed.
Many folks have kindly asked me how they can show their support for TinkerTry when making various Wiredzone purchases, choose either:
1. Use any of the links at TinkerTry when buying, such as those found below.
2. Cut-and-paste ?urlsource=tinkertry onto the end of any Wiredzone URL.
Only then may TinkerTry earn a small commission from the referral. Various SuperServer Bundle links also found at Wiredzone do not.
Fast and simple
Just looking for the far-and-away most popular bundle, which is the TinkerTry'd Bundle 2? That's the 8 core Supermicro SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T that's been burn-in tested and has 64GB of ECC DDR4 on board. So very ready for your server OSs/hypervisors including VMware ESXi 6.5 and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 / Hyper-V, just bring your own SSDs and/or HDDs.
Order Button for The Most Popular Bundle:
Xeon D-1541 8 core with 64 GB of RAM in a versatile and quiet mini-tower, pre-configured with latest UEFI BIOS and IPMI, 100% ready for your storage and OS install. Assembled and tested in the US, ships worldwide.
Pre-assembled and burn-in tested, with two 32GB DDR RAM modules totaling 64GB, just add your drive(s). Optionally, since there are 2 more available DIMM slots, you can easily upgrade by adding two more 32GB DIMMs to your cart, then all 128GB will be installed and tested for you. I don't currently have a local supplier for EU (any more) or ANZ, but Wiredzone does ship bundles globally, and will give you pricing estimates to your location.
You may enjoy a this look at pictures and the complete BOM (Build of Materials) for my entire home datacenter solution, based on the same Bundle 2 that anybody can buy.
Systems can be shipped worldwide. Just add a system to your cart to get shipping estimates, or contact Wiredzone.
Xeon D-1500 Timeline at TinkerTry
Feb 29 2016 Update - All order links for Xeon D-1540 now updated to Xeon D-1541, same price.
May 25 2016 Update - Interested in a even "Superer"Server 12 or 16 core mini-tower bundle? Visitors voted, results are in! Drop a comment below expressing interest, I'll see what I can do!
Jun 23 2016 Update - Wiredzone quietly upgraded from 2133MHz memory to 2400MHz memory as soon as Supermicro announced those speeds are to be supported. Yet, bundle prices actually dropped. All links and screenshots below updated accordingly.
Jul 11 2016 Update - Wiredzone also offers a 1U version of this same system, details below.
Jul 30 2016 Update - Wiredzone also now offers two NUC-sized 1U mini versions featuring the many benefits of Xeon D-1500 SoC design, detailed here and here, with order pages now ready below for both the SYS-E200-8D and SYS-E300-8D.
Since it's unbundled, you will likely want to add two or four 32GB DDR4 RDIMMs to your order before checkout, as well as any additional bundle components that can be ordered separately.
Aug 31 2016 Update - Wiredzone also now offers a 12 core mini tower system! The bare-bones version of this Xeon D-1567 is now available for pre-order now at Wiredzone, with the TinkerTry'd Bundle pre-order page expected on Sep 5th. Shipments for all SYS-5028D-TN4T-12C systems are expected to start in 3-4 weeks.
Sep 15 2016 Update - Wiredzone affiliate links changed to more Amazon-Associate-style cookie-based referral. New 12 core Xeon D-1567 Bundle added.
Oct 06 2016 Update - Typhoon Chaba and Hurricane Matthew have delayed expected shipments of Bundle 2 12 Core by a week, into the 3rd week of October 2016. I'm sorry for any inconvience this may have caused you.
Oct 18 2016 Update - Got my shipment notification for my Bundle 2 12 Core today, will have it by Friday! This means shipments for everybody have begun!
Oct 25 2016 Update - Just published - Unboxing and assembly of first Xeon D-1567 Supermicro system, the SYS-5028D-TN4T 12 Core Bundle 2.
Dec 23 2016 Update - For all of 2016, Wiredzone was able to keep Bundle 2 in stock, ready to ship quickly. They are a small shop and take some well deserved time off at year end. If you're trying to order today and were hoping for a 2016 delivery, here's the unfortunate news I just received last night:
We are wrapping up for the week and unfortunately we couldn't ship all of the 8-Core bundles sold recently, Supermicro didn't have enough, we were hoping they would ship today via Overnight to us...We will resume shipping the 8-Core on January 2nd/3rd. All 12-Cores were shipped.
May 24 2017 Update - Bundle 3 orders are no longer being taken.
Problems arose with shipping logistics that Wiredzone was unable to overcome. Currently, the best course of action is to go through the process of ordering the identical Bundle 2 instead, which will include shipping calculations from the US. I'm truly sorry for this inconvenience, and it's a circumstance that is most unfortunate and disappointing to me as well. Here's what Wiredzone ownership said:
We can still support EU customers and ship from the US. The only disadvantaged is the EU customer will not benefit from the EU import duties and taxes incentive, VAT is always included regardless. One advantage is that we can ship much quicker (1-3 days).
Oct 26 2017 Update - Concern about old BIOS on SuperServer SYS-E300-8D
I would ask folks to consider avoiding the SuperServer SYS-E300-8D, since it's been over a year since the last BIOS change released for it, seen in this table. This leaves it potentially vulnerable to intranet attack. I never found the core count/cost very compelling, see TinkerTry.com/compare, and it was strange that you couldn't really use that 2nd PCIe slot anyway. I realize it offered SFP+ 10GbE, but RJ45 10GbE is more versatile for many applications, since it offers 1GbE connectivity too. I do hope Supermicro updates the BIOS, but my sense it that this might not happen, given how long it's already been.
Oct 26 2017 Update 2 - BIOS 1.2c and IPMI 3.58
As part of the Bundle build process, Wiredzone is now using BIOS 1.2c and IPMI 3.58.
Jan 08 2018 Update - VMware ESXi HCL 6.0 to 6.5 update
I'm still pushing Supermicro to get these Xeon D systems to be listed on the VMware HCL for 6.5, not just 6.0. While ESXi 6.5 Update 1 runs great on these Bundles, it would be best if VMware HCL were updated too, see how many other Xeon D vendors have already updated here.
Mar 15 2018 Update - Great news!
Mar 27 2018 Update - More great news!
CVE-2017-5715 Security Vulnerabilities Regarding Side Channel Speculative Execution and Indirect Branch Prediction Information Disclosure mitigation is here, and BIOS 1.3 is here:
- Supermicro Xeon D SuperServer BIOS 1.3 released pretty much just for Spectre mitigation / IPMI 3.58 is still the latest
This release includes the long neglected Flex ATX SYS-E300-8D system, also called BIOS 1.3, but it's a different download, and I don't have the full release notes.
Apr 17 2018 Updates - Even more great news!
VMware vSphere 6.7 was released today, and the installation on the Xeon D has never been easier! Now, you don't even need Java for your Supermicro iKVM, and no Adobe Flash is needed for vSphere web based UIs, awesome!
There's more great news, check this out:
Finally, I've learned that there's renewed hope that Wiredzone will find a way to reliably have drop-shipments of Bundles from inside EU again, perhaps as early as 3Q2018, fingers crossed!
Please contact Wiredzone directly at info@wiredzone.com for more information on these bundles.
Looking for a beefy eight (or twelve) core Xeon that's both efficient and powerful? How about two 10Gbe ports, two 1Gbe ports, one 1GbE management port, up to 128GB of RAM, and up to 8 storage storage devices, or even 11 with an adapter. If you're thinking about stepping up to a turnkey (tested and warranted) solution on VMware's HCL, then you've come to to right place. Learn a lot, then place your order from US or EU, shipped anywhere in the world.
I tinker constantly in my home lab and yes, this compact 15 lb./6.8 kg. beast runs anything I've thrown at it. Booting from M.2 NVMe at full PCI 3.0 x4 speeds, I've tested Windows 10, SuSE 12, Red Hat 7.2, Nutanix CE/Acropolis, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. Oh yeah, runs VMware ESXi 6.5 very well, easily installed onto the included USB drive. Think how many VMs you can juggle with 4 times as many CPU threads and 4 times as much RAM as even the very latest Skylake Intel NUC.
This compact and efficient SuperServer is a big step-up in performance and capability from the mostly single-NIC world of small PC servers, such as the Intel NUC, HP ProLiant Microserver Gen8/HPE ML10 Gen9, Gigabyte Brix, or likely any home-brew whitebox built before 2016.
Order SuperServer - Table of contents
- Bundle 1 - SuperServer 08 Core Workstation with Windows 10 SSD (ships from US)
- Bundle 1 - SuperServer 12 Core Workstation with Windows 10 SSD (ships from US)
- Bundle 2 - SuperServer 08 Core (ships from US, no OS, no drives, ESXi ready)
- Bundle 2 - SuperServer 12 Core (ships from US, no OS, no drives, ESXi ready)
Bundle 3 - SuperServer 08 Core (ships from EU, no OS, no drives, ESXi ready)Bundle 3 - SuperServer 12 Core (ships from EU, no OS, no drives, ESXi ready)- 1U Miniest - SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no drives, ESXi ready)
- 1U Mini - SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no drives, ESXi ready)
- 1U Rack Mount - SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no drives, ESXi ready)
- Options - RAM, DDR4 Memory, 3.5" & 2.5" Drives & SSDs, M.2 NVMe SSDs
- Option - 3.5" to 2.5" Conversion Drive Caddy
- Tested 3rd Party Accessories
- Tested VMware EVALExperience 365 day license
- This system is THE first Intel Xeon D-1500 in the VMware Compatibility Guide!
- Excellent compatibility with VMware ESXi 5.5/6.0
- Bundle 1/2/3 - Comparison Table (with component links)
- Intel NUC6i7KYK specs compared with Xeon D-1500 SuperServers
- Required Reading (be well informed - Xeon D-1540/1541, SR-IOV, etc.)
- FAQ / Q&A (warranty, return policy, 1U variant, and much more)
- Crazy long list of ALL SuperServer related articles at TinkerTry
- CPU/GHz - Xeon D has twice the cache and cores of Skylake, at half the watts
- Storage Layout Explained (6 SATA, 1 M.2 PCIe, 1 PCIe)
- Tested Storage Devices (HDDs/SSDs/PCIe NVMe/M.2 NVMe)
- BIOS/IPMI Release Notes and Upgrade Procedure (with video)
- Supermicro Xeon D SuperServer BIOS 1.2c / IPMI 3.58 released
- BIOS Recommended Settings (with video)
- BIOS Recovery Procedure
- How to easily install VMware ESXi 6.0 on an Intel Xeon D Supermicro SuperServer
- VMware ESXi 6.5 runs well on Xeon D Supermicro ServerServers, here's what you need to know
- How to easily install Server 2016/Hyper-V on an Intel Xeon D Supermicro SuperServer
- Bundle 1 Assembly of Workstation including Windows 10 install (with video)
- Memory DIMM removal tips and techniques
- CR2032 Battery replacement demonstration
- Bundle 1 20 ft. Cable Extension set
- Travelpro Luggage suitable for airplane carry-on amzn.to/1jxON7g
- Fan replacements can make Supermicro SYS-5028D-TN4T mini-tower even quieter
- Pictures
- SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T Product Page
- SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T User's Manual Rev 1.0b
- SuperServer X10SDV-TLN4F Motherboard Product Page
- SuperServer X10SDV-TLN4F Mini-ITX Series Motherboard User's Manual
- SuperChassis 721TQ-250B Product Page
- SuperChassis 721TQ-250B User's Manual
- Disk Benchmarks
- Futuremark 3DMark PCMark 8.0 (Work & Storage Benchmark Results)
- Supermicro SuperServer Xeon D increases DDR4 support from 2133MHz to 2400MHz while Xeon D-1541 bundle prices are lowered
- M.2 expansion for your NVMe SSDs - EZDIY adds, Angelbird Wings adds and cools, Amfeltec Squid adds, cools, and quadruples
- Samsung 960 PRO/EVO/SM961 M.2 NVMe SSD disappearance-after-reboot-or-bios-change workaround is to power cycle, bug fixed in PRO/EVO firmware 2B6QCXP7/2B7QCXE7
- Home Lab Decision Making – NUC and Supermicro by Michael White of Veeam
- Intel Optane SSD 900P Series is the latest in 3D XPoint NVMe hotness but it is not ideal for most home virtualization lab enthusiasts
- Temporary workaround to recover from intermittent Intel X552/X557 10GbE network outages on 12 and 16 core Xeon D, hoping for a public firmware update fix
- Supermicro SuperServer Xeon D-1500 Bundle mini-tower and 1U rack mount are finally on the VMware Compatibility Guide for ESXi 6.5U1
- Supermicro Xeon D SuperServer BIOS 1.3 released pretty much just for Spectre mitigation / IPMI 3.58 is still the latest
- How to easily install VMware ESXi 6.7 on an Intel Xeon D Supermicro SuperServer
- Supermicro SuperServer Xeon D-1500 Bundle mini-tower and 1U rack mount are already on the VMware Compatibility Guide for ESXi 6.7
- Disclosure
SYS-5028D-TN4T Xeon D-1541 Mini-tower with 64GB RAM.
TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer Workstation (ships from US).
- SSD pre-loaded with Windows 10. Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
- Detailed specs and comparison table.
- This is a virtualization enthusiast build. While it runs Windows great as is, you cannot suspend/resume like with normal desktops, as the BIOS is built for server (always-on) workloads. Also note that if your intent is to run Windows 10 as an ESXi 6.5 VM with a GPU passed through to it, then note that this isn't fully supported by VMware, more details here. Wanted to be sure you're aware of this. Honestly, most buyers are better served with the much more popular Bundle 2 offerings listed below.
SYS-5028D-TN4T-12C Xeon D-1567 Mini-tower with 64GB RAM.
TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer Workstation (ships from US).
- SSD pre-loaded with Windows 10. Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
- Detailed specs (identical other than CPU) and comparison table.
- May 29 2018 note: On the 12 and 16 core Xeon D systems, there appears to be an intermittent 10G issue that users of earlier-than-2018 systems experienced, Supermicro is now fixing this with a firmware update before all shipments.
Click the image above for current pricing/ordering of Wiredzone SKU 10026362B1.
Don't miss the required reading below.
Just under 3 months ago, the SuperServer Workstation was born, August 1st, 2015, named Bundle 1. It delivers a ready-to-boot Windows 10 preload on a Samsung 850 EVO SSD. Paired with an efficient triple-4K capable GPU, it's ready to meet both your datacenter home lab and primary workstation needs. It's what I'm using right now, fulltime. This compact, efficient, and very powerful octacore Supermicro SYS-5028D-TN4T has room for 128GB of RAM and 8 drives. Includes 4 NICs (2x1GbE and 2x10Gbe), with a 5th management-only NIC for very handy IPMI/iKVM remote operations.
That 8 core Xeon CPU alone is worth > $850 USD. This is a very capable workhorse. It gets more work done in less clock cycles and lower GHz, making this 45 watt 14-nanometer Xeon D-1541 SoC a great alternative to higher GHz Core i7 Skylakes that only have half the compute cores. A great virtualization choice too. Xeon D explained more here and 10GbE driver support for VMware demonstrated here.
SuperServer Workstation details:
Customers who chose this bundle enjoy full assembly with 4 hours of burn-in testing included, and no FedEx ground shipping charge for US customers. At Wiredzone, the Bundle 1 used to show "Build-to-order" for status. Due to rising demand, they've now made sure to have extra on hand, so they're now usually able to get them assembled, tested, and shipped out within 2 business days.
Bundle 1 is one of the first shipping Windows 10 OEM systems anywhere in the world. That August 1st birthdate was just 2 days after Microsoft released Windows 10. This early success here in the US has led to steadily increasing sales, with Wiredzone completely mastering the co-developed the very public OEM build process. This Bundle 1 remains available on the newly-simplified base bundle order page.
International shipping is available, with estimated shipping fees calculated for you, before making payment. All Bundle 1 shipments come from Wiredzone in Florida.
This system is ready for self-install of VMware vSphere 6.0, with future TinkerTry article guidance about running your same Windows 10 SSD as a VM. If you want your ESXi and your Windows 10 SSD running concurrently, VMware ESXi hypervisor passthrough skills are required, along with a separate Digi USB-over-IP switch, and a willingness to occasionally use a second system for initial configuration/administration. I realize a leading-edge combined SuperServer Workstation (that I use extensively) is not for everybody. I suspect many proud owners are dual booting theirs. Booting a EFI system as a VM hasn't been without some issues, see my discussion with Chazz, Patrick, and Rob here.
Worth noting that Wiredzone.com basically charges the sum total of their website's public prices for each component in the bundle, without the huge uplift on DIMMs or mandatory storage that you'll find at competitors. Folks have reported right here at TinkerTry that they've already saved hundreds by buying their bundles from Wiredzone. It's also reassuring to know your server and DIMMs have been professionally burn-in tested for at least 4 hours, greatly reducing the likelihood of DOAs.
While there are many Supermicro Resellers in Europe, turns out very few stock this particular model. With great word of mouth on the SuperServer Workstation, the uptick in demand overseas is also becoming increasingly evident from site commenters.
And not everybody wants a workstation combined with a server. Wiredzone and TinkerTry have heard you.
- This is the most popular bundle.
SYS-5028D-TN4T Xeon D-1541 Mini-tower with 64GB RAM.
TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no storage).
- Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Microsoft Windows 10 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
- Detailed specs and comparison table.
.
SYS-5028D-TN4T-12C Xeon D-1567 Mini-tower with 64GB RAM.
TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no storage).
- Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Microsoft Windows 10 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
- Detailed specs (identical other than CPU) and comparison table.
- Feb 04 2018 note: On the 12 and 16 core Xeon D systems, there appears to be an intermittent 10G issue that some users have experienced, Supermicro and Intel have been notified, and there seems to be a firmware fix in the works.
Click the image above for current pricing/ordering of Wiredzone SKU 10026362B2.
Question: Can I order just the tested server and memory, without the GPU card and Windows 10?
Answer: Yes! You can now get a SuperServer without the workstation parts, no GPU, no SSD, no Windows 10. All the other extras (USB flash drive, speaker, 6th Supermicro SATA3 cable, TinkerTry logo sticker, pictured) here, along with the assembly procedure, are identical to the Bundle 1. The Linux version of the BurnInTest is used to print out your successful 4 hour test sheet.
This is a ready-to-power-on system with 64GB of RAM, bring your own storage and OS. This SuperServer is now basically a la carte. Skipping the GPU frees up the PCIe slot for an 8th drive, NVMe PCI for example. You can still self-upgrade to a SuperServer Workstation later on if you'd like, following along with my upcoming SuperServer Workstation upgrade guides to complement my install video. See also compatibility-tested accessories.
If you add two more Samsung DDR4 32GB DIMMs to your server order totaling 128GB of RAM, just think how many VMs you can run with that much RAM fueled by 8 very capable Xeon cores blessed with a generous 12MB L3 cache.
Question: What is this new 12 core SuperServer I'm hearing about?
Answer: It's Supermicro's first Xeon D-1567 product, in an IT enthusiast-friendly SuperServer Mini Tower!
Based on TinkerTry visitor request, on October of 2016, a new motherboard called the X10SDV-12C+-WD002 began shipping. It's really a Xeon D-1541 8 core X10SDV-TLN4F motherboard, but an OEM variant with a Xeon D-1567 instead. It comes with a taller heatsink/CPU fan combination and is sold by Wiredzone as a complete system, in 3 Bundles, the SYS-5028D-TN4T-12C-B1, SYS-5028D-TN4T-12C-B2, and SYS-5028D-TN4T-12C-B3. In Windows Device Manager, the System Model will show as PIO-5028D-TN4T-01-WD002.
Question: What can having so many cores do for me?
Answer: Can get your multi-threaded workload done a lot faster, while remaining efficient. See details at TinkerTry.com/compare, with some performance measurements at this spot.
Question: I'm in Europe, can I reduce the time to get my system, and the shipping costs?
Answer: Yes!
TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer (ships from EU, no OS, no storage).
Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Microsoft Windows 10 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
TinkerTry'd Supermicro SuperServer (ships from EU, no OS, no storage).
Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Microsoft Windows 10 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
Customers in any EU country can now order this same-as-Bundle-2 hardware through the same Wiredzone Supermicro Authorized Reseller in the US. All that differs is that the Supermicro factory in California ships (by air) your server and bonus items to Supermicro BV (The Netherlands), where they install the DIMMs and perform their Supermicro burn-in testing. These extras are customer-installed, and included in a bag in the same completely ready to power up system that's shipped out to you. You only pay the EU shipping portion of the journey. Those shipping costs of approximately $65 USD, plus all applicable VAT/taxes and import duties for your country. Shipping and VAT will be estimated before you complete your shopping cart checkout. The total time from ordering to arrival in EU should be roughly 2 weeks. If demand goes up, this time could possibly be shortened in the future.
I'm super happy Wiredzone is now able to help Europeans get this particular system much more affordably than ever before, from an Authorized Supermicro reseller. I realize there are still import duties and taxes to deal with, but big savings on the shipping is sure to help.
Here's the new Bundle 2 and Bundle 3 announcement post:
SYS-E200-8D Xeon D-1528 Barebones.
Supermicro SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no storage, no RAM)
- Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Microsoft Windows 10 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
- Detailed specs and comparison table.
Click the image above for current pricing/ordering of Wiredzone SKU 10026326.
In the title above, all that "not TinkerTry'd" means is that I haven't finished personally testing this system out yet, to create a bundled solution. Worry not, it's a complete warranted system that Supermicro manufactures.
Barebones means no storage or memory included. Note that free shipping is available within the US if you choose to purchase only the SYS-5018D-FN4T itself from Wiredzone, without any memory. Since the server doesn't include memory, I'd recommend either qty 2 or qty 4 of those 32GB RDIMMs from here, with some storage options are presented for you below. The memory will ship separately, but usually arrives on the same day as the system. There will be a shipping charge for the memory, generally under $10.
Here's the Recommended BIOS Settings you'll want to configure, suited for any modern OS. Since the memory will likely ship to you separately, there is no 4 hour burn-in test with this system. If sales volumes of this 1U demonstrate a sufficient need, TinkerTry and Wiredzone can team up again to try to create a pre-tested bundled offering at a future date, please drop a comment below to express your interest.
Bundle or barebones, you still have that same 30 day refund policy and full warranty. Extended warranty is available for up to 5-years, in case any customer is interested, inquire at [info@wiredzone.com](mailto: info@wiredzone.com). This includes overnight cross-ship replacement of any defective component.
Since this isn't a bundle, your package won't include the 32GB USB flash drive (for ESXi), 6th SATA cable, PC speaker, or TinkerTry sticker, all available separately at the links provided.
SYS-E300-8D Xeon D-1518 Barebones.
Supermicro SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no storage, no RAM)
- Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Microsoft Windows 10 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
- Detailed specs and comparison table.
In the title above, all that "not TinkerTry'd" means is that I haven't finished personally testing this system out yet, to create a bundled solution. Worry not, it's a complete warranted system that Supermicro manufactures.
Barebones means no storage or memory included. Note that free shipping is available within the US if you choose to purchase only the SYS-5018D-FN4T itself from Wiredzone, without any memory. Since the server doesn't include memory, I'd recommend either qty 2 or qty 4 of those 32GB RDIMMs from here, with some storage options are presented for you below. The memory will ship separately, but usually arrives on the same day as the system. There will be a shipping charge for the memory, generally under $10.
Here's the Recommended BIOS Settings you'll want to configure, suited for any modern OS. Since the memory will likely ship to you separately, there is no 4 hour burn-in test with this system. If sales volumes of this 1U demonstrate a sufficient need, TinkerTry and Wiredzone can team up again to try to create a pre-tested bundled offering at a future date, please drop a comment below to express your interest.
Bundle or barebones, you still have that same 30 day refund policy and full warranty.
Since this isn't a bundle, your package won't include the 32GB USB flash drive (for ESXi), 6th SATA cable, PC speaker, or TinkerTry sticker, all available separately at the links provided.
SYS-5018D-FN4T Xeon D-1541 1U Rack-mount.
Supermicro SuperServer (ships from US, no OS, no storage, no RAM)
- Ready for VMware ESXi 6 / Microsoft Windows 10 / Windows Server / Hyper-V!
- Detailed specs and comparison table.
In the title above, all that "not TinkerTry'd" means is that I haven't personally tested this system out. Worry not, it's a complete warranted system that Supermicro manufactures, with the same exact Xeon D-1541 X10SDV-TLN4F motherboard as the tested bundles, but renamed to X10SDV-8C-TLN4F because it substitutes taller heat sink vanes for the CPU fan, opting for cross flow from the 1U's fans instead.
Note that free shipping is available within the US if you choose to purchase only the SYS-5018D-FN4T itself from Wiredzone, without any memory. Since the server doesn't include memory, I'd recommend either qty 2 or qty 4 of those 32GB RDIMMs from here, with some storage options are presented for you below. The memory will ship separately, but usually arrives on the same day as the system. There will be a shipping charge for the memory, generally under $10.
Here's the Recommended BIOS Settings you'll want to configure, suited for any modern OS. Since the memory will likely ship to you separately, there is no 4 hour burn-in test with this system. If sales volumes of this 1U demonstrate a sufficient need, TinkerTry and Wiredzone can team up again to try to create a pre-tested bundled offering at a future date, please drop a comment below to express your interest.
Bundle or barebones, you still have that same 30 day refund policy and full warranty.
Since this isn't a bundle, you will likely want to pick up one or two 2 x 2.5" drive adapter, a 32GB USB flash drive (for ESXi), PC speaker for BIOS beep codes/warnings, and TinkerTry stickers.
Advantages
- Given it's the same exact motherboard that all my heavily-tested bundles use, your ownership experience is likely to be functionally identical, from an OS perspective
- PCIe slot is full-height, versus the mini-tower's half-height low-profile slot
- If you own a rack, this "half pizza box" is a very space efficient solution, as you can fit many systems into a compact small space
- Convenient front wiring, see how clean it makes this 3 node PernixData cluster give-away look!
- If you order just the system and RAM on your Wiredzone order, your shipping is very affordable anywhere in the US
Drawbacks
- 1U form factor means smaller cooling fans that spin at higher RPMs, making more noise
- Power supply is 200 watts, versus the mini-tower 250 watts, so I wouldn't plan on adding any watt-thirsty GPU that requires anything beyond PCIe bus power
- Technically, only the mini-tower version is currently on VMware's HCL, so there is a chance that VMware could push back if a Service Request is opened on this 1U (I'm trying to resolve this)
- Since this isn't a bundle, your package won't include the 32GB USB flash drive (for ESXi), PC speaker, SATA3 cable for mini-tower, or TinkerTry sticker, available separately
Bundle 1/2/3 Options
RAM
If you want to move from the included 2 DIMMS/64GB of memory up to 128GB right away, just add 2 additional matching DIMMs (MEM-DR432L-CL03-ER26, pictured above) to your cart before you complete your Bundle 1, 2, or 3 purchase. This way, all 4 of your Samsung RDIMMs will match, and be burn-in tested together. These are ECC Registered DIMMs, the only type Supermicro validated. You can only add memory to this system in matching pairs, and the memory pricing at Wiredzone is very competitive.
Alternatively, you can of course skip this option, and instead add 2 more identical DIMMs later on, if the need arises. Prices might not fall much more, but crystal balling memory is more art than science. The US pricing went from $350 when I bought mine in June 2015, down to $250 in January 2016. They should be available for quite a while, since DDR4 in this density is still rather new, and this same MEM-DR432L-SL01-ER24 is also available on Amazon and Newegg.
Jul 2018 Update - prices have unfortunately skyrocketed for RAM, this is an industry thing, not a Supermicro or Wiredzone thing.
Drives (up to 8 of them total!)
Should you choose to add things like hard drives, those items can generally be included in your same shipping group for Bundles 1/2 for now. Especially for Bundle 3, you should contact Wiredzone directly for such pre-sales questions. Generally, added drives will be customer-installed if purchasing the EU Bundle 3.
You can fit 4 3.5" drives into the included hot-swap drive caddies. Or you can fit up to 4 2.5" drives (with adapters for each SSD) instead. You also also fit 2 2.5" drives into the chassis interior bays quite easily. Finally, the mobo's PCIe 3.0 x 4 M.2 slot can accommodate an NVMe drive, and the single PCIe slot (occupied by GPU in Bundle 1) can accommodate an NVMe drive as well, using a simple pass-through full-speed adapter.
This system chipset and BIOS includes Intel RST RAID 0/1/5 that works fine with Windows by changing the BIOS from AHCI to RAID and installing a Windows driver, the same way it's been done for years. This RST never was, and still isn't compatible with VMware ESXi, but all the drives work fine with VMware if left at the default AHCI mode. I have test-fitted the popular LSI 9265-8i RAID card into the low profile PCIe slot, and it does fit, but the very long cabling that you'd replace some or all of the chassis SATA cabling is a bit clumsy. I'm now saving watts and putting out less heat by using a simpler and faster approach to my storage strategy.
Here's some of the most popular drives that I have personally tested at least one size version of, under both Windows 10 and VMware ESXi. Click the images to see the latest pricing and availability info at Wiredzone.
Drive Caddy
For your reference, here's the popular drive caddy at Wiredzone, so you can replace some or all 4 of the included 3.5" drive caddies. This way, you can easily use SSDs in those hot swap drive bays instead of HDDs:
Supermicro 3.5in HDD to 2.5in HDD Converter Tray
SKU: 10019224
MFG Part Number: MCP-220-00043-0N
This same drive caddy is also available at numerous (non-Prime) Amazon 3rd party resellers as well, watch those descriptions and return policies carefully.
Required Reading
Here's the original article announcing Bundle 1 that you should read it before you buy Bundle 1, Bundle 2, or Bundle 3. That way, you're a very well-informed and happy buyer, and it includes all the details, including 30 day return policy, an extensive Q&A/FAQ, and a very thorough descriptions of what's in the box, with pictures:
10GbE
If you have VMware vSphere 6.0 plans, it's also important to note that recently a VMware provided 10GbE arrived, and was TinkerTry'd here:
Xeon D-1540 (late June 2015) versus Xeon D-1541 (late Nov 2015?)
On November 9th, 2015, Intel announced a slight rev of the Xeon D-1540 CPU called the Xeon D-1541, which may ship as soon as November inside these same chassis, replacing the Xeon D-1540. It will have all the same specs, uses the same memory and accessories. The only 3 small differences appear to boil down to:
- the CPU clock multiplier moved from 20 to 21 (less than 5% performance boost), from 2.0GHz/2.6GHz turbo, to 2.1GHz/2.7GHz turbo
- the ability to use Storage Performance Development Kit (SPDK)
- SR-IOV support
I do not know the shipment dates, other than Intel stating Nov. 2015 availability for the many recently announced Xeon D processors.
The latest information on ship dates is now available at:
SR-IOV
What is SR-IOV? Patrick Kennedy does a great job explaining it here, here's an excerpt:
Is SR-IOV absolutely necessary for virtualization? No. It is a PCI-SIG standard technology to accelerate virtual machine networking.
Also, Supermicro has confirmed this limitation about SR-IOV to me on October 28 2015 - "Our current released X10SDV-TLN4F motherboard and related server SKUs using this motherboard based on D-1540 CPU does not have SR-IOV feature."
New stories about this missing feature detailed here. In short, the drawbacks (can't vMotion, etc.) outweigh the benefits, for my largely single-user home lab.
The thing is, with the release of BIOS 1.1, I seem to have SR-IOV working just fine on both the Xeon D-1540 and the Xeon D-1541. Whether it's officially supported on the Xeon D-1540 is another matter.
Intel RSTe RAID
This system chipset and BIOS includes Intel RSTe RAID that is commonly found on consumer motherboards too. This Intel RSTe's RAID0/1/5 support works fine with Windows by changing the BIOS from AHCI to RAID and installing a Windows driver, the same way it's been done for years. This RST never was, and still isn't compatible with any version of VMware ESXi.
Bundle Comparison Table
with component pictures here.
PCMARK 8 - Samsung 950 PRO M.2 NVMe SSD added to TinkerTry'd Bundle 1
Read all about the variety of PCMark 8 benchmarks, to help provide a sense of the relative performance, under various use-cases. It's rather time-consuming to run these, with some of these tests taking hours. This is a server platform, but with the solid choice in GPU, the VisionTek 7750 HD that fits the space and power draw limitations of the chassis, it can become a SuperServer Workstation Bundle 1, with a BIOS that takes 50 seconds, and Windows 10 OS that takes about 6.6 seconds to boot. I tested with the 512GB version of the 950 PRO, the fastest consumer SSD in the world right now.
All of tests were all performed with a Bundle 1 with 128GB of RAM (4x32GB). Note that even a 64GB (2x32GB) configuration would perform the same, given the identical memory speed. The UEFI BIOS was set exactly the same way as it was for recent disk benchmark testing, described here. Tested with Windows 10 Version 1511/Build 10586 with the AMD Driver version 15.201.1151.0 auto-installed by Windows Update.
PCMARK 8 - With Samsung 850 EVO SSD, TinkerTry'd Bundle 1
The sound you'll make when you take delivery of your new SuperServer bundle of joy
The voice recording and this article were produced with my SuperServer Workstation Bundle 1.
Disclosure: TinkerTry makes a modest commission on each Wiredzone sale only if you use one of the affiliate links found at TinkerTry. Wiredzone is an authorized reseller that charges very competitive prices. Please consider sharing the URL TinkerTry.com/superservers. This source of web site funding goes directly into delivering more value to enthusiastic fans, and it sure beats complete dependency on advertisements. No sponsored posts, and all relationships with any vendors disclosed. All hardware and software was purchased, and any rare exceptions (loaners) are clearly mentioned. I'm a very discerning buyer who is relieved to finally have a highly-upgradeable virtualization server that is also widely available. I even worked hard with Wiredzone to help make these available in EU. This Xeon D platform is a solid foundation for years of fun and interesting articles to come. This common platform helps owners to help each other more effectively, reaping maximum benefit from such a significant mutual hardware investment.
See also at TinkerTry
-
Superguide: Supermicro SuperServer 5028D-TN4T - THE Ultimate Home Virtualization Lab
This index is a great way to guide you to dozens of already-published articles about this system. -
-
Superguide: Supermicro SuperServer 5028D-TN4T - THE Ultimate Home Virtualization Lab
JUL 29 2015 - Nice little USB flash drive choice for that ESXi in your home lab
Jan 31 2015
See also
- Supermicro SuperServer 5028D-TN4T User's Manual
JUN 01 2015, by Supermicro
- Supermicro X10SDV-TLN4F Review – A must get platform
APR 13 2015, by Patrick Kennedy at Serve The Home, here's an excerpt:
BOTTOM LINE:
With four port Ethernet (two 10Gbase-T and two 1Gbase-T), solid storage m.2 PCIe x4 and 6x SATA III, a fast and low power CPU (Intel Xeon D-1540) and 128GB of RAM, the Supermicro X10SDV-TLN4F is a must get platform. For those still using Intel Xeon L5520 or L5620 generation processors, one can get more performance in less than half of the power and space footprint which is astounding. For those that always wanted more than the Xeon E3 line could offer in terms of their limited RAM capacity (practical 32GB limit) and core count (4C/ 8T max), this is the answer.
Disclosure
TinkerTry.com, LLC is an independent site, has no sponsored posts, and all ads are run through 3rd party BuySellAds. All equipment and software is purchased for long-term productive use, and any rare exceptions are noted.
TinkerTry's relationship with Wiredzone is similar to the Amazon Associates program, where a very modest commission is earned from each referral sale from TinkerTry's SuperServer order page. I chose this trusted authorized reseller for its low cost and customer service, and a mutual desire to help folks worldwide, including a new way to reduce EU shipping costs. Why? Such commissions help reduce TinkerTry's reliance on advertisers, while building a community around the Xeon D-1500 chipset that strikes a great balance between efficiency and capability.
I personally traveled to Wiredzone near Miami FL to see the assembly room first-hand, and to Supermicro HQ in San Jose CA to share ideas and give direct product feedback.
I'm a full time IT Pro for the past 23 years. I've worked with IBM, HP, Dell, and Lenovo servers for hands-on implementation work across the US. Working from home lately, I'm quite enjoying finally owning a lower-cost Supermicro solution that I can recommend to IT Pro colleagues, knowing it will "just work." That's right, no tinkering required.
