I recently rebuilt everything in my home lab, based on the Supermicro SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T. My workstation, my datacenter, it's my everything, all in one, saving cost and power. Fully backed up of course, including offsite sync of the most crucial data. I've found it super handy and useful to…
Bundle 3 shipping details squared away now, article updated, this is a Fri. Nov. 20th re-announcement! 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…
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…
If you're at an airport or hotel WiFi, you'll want to be sure your Windows 10 is set to the Public network type, to block network neighborhood browsing by you, and of you. Yes, Network Location Awareness might guess wrong. As Tim Anderson explains, this can also be a common, self-induced scenario…
This is admittedly a very niche article, of high value to a select few folks that have this very specific need. That burning desire to get past Windows 7 Professional's dirty little secret. Did you know that Pro has a very annoying and seemingly arbitrary restriction? You can Remote Desktop to Pro,…
The Problem. You download the Windows 10 upgrade app, or you click on that little Windows 10 upgrade icon lurking in your system tray. Then you wait for the verdict. Suspenseful lull. Only to have your heart broken when this nasty warning comes up: Unfortunately, this PC is unable to run Windows…
What arrives every Sunday, has just the right mix of personal and professional stories, and always includes interesting tips and forum highlights? Yes, it's the Veeam Community Forums Digest, authored by backup and storage legend Anton Gostev (@gostev), Vice President of Product Management at Veeam…
Many of this past week's Surface Book first-look articles focus on the experience, the look, the feel. So did the presenter. Yes, all very important attributes for successful demonstrations, as we all ponder what this Surface Book product launch means for the rest of the laptop world. This was the…
I sure enjoyed the Microsoft Windows 10 devices event streamed earlier today, got me fired up enough to hop onto the Metro North train this afternoon, from New Haven to Grand Central Station. So glad I got myself to the publicized Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley after-party at Rattle N Hum, just…
Source: Intel Here's an inside view of the 750 Series, with the heat sink/airflow channel removed, as pictured on Amazon. Click to shop. If you use ESXi 6.0 Update 1, and you're lucky enough to possess an Intel 750 NVMe, you're still going to want to use the latest Intel NVMe driver install…
You can go with RAID for increased resilience and/or speed. Or you can go simple JBOD, and simply use the magic of VMware's Storage vMotion to move VMs among tiers at will, depending upon your needs for which speeds.Click to see more. I have chosen the latter approach for my Supermicro SuperServer…
VMware has a track record of releasing a compatibile version of VMware Workstation soon after every major release of Windows. This year was no exception, just one month after Windows 10 became widely available. It's the last time too, with all future Windows releases delivered as incremental…
Looping video of the exact steps seen below. I like Windows 10, and I installed it on 7 machines this past month alone. I think it's a good idea that Windows Updates are now shared among PCs on your home network, by default. Why should each PC download the same huge files when other PC…
If you're the type of person who enjoys seeing How It's Made, you like seeing the curtain pulled back. You've come to the right place! TinkerTry offers complete transparency here, with a video below that shows you exactly what happens during preparation of your new TinkerTry Wiredzone Supermicro…
Get AOMEI Backupper Professional Edition Download trial Purchase Purchase, with lifetime free upgrades Obtain NFR version for MVPs, MCPs, MCTS, and VCP/vExperts A few months back, I may have made a mistake by trying out Samsung RAPID Mode in an attempt to speed up my Windows 8.1 SSD noticeably. I…
You may have spotted Ben commenting right here on TinkerTry "Version 1.1 is out now!" He's right! I hadn't yet spotted the August 4th announcements, to thanks to Ben, I'm now kicking the tires on a fresh copy of Windows 10. I'm using some PCs where I "convinced" the 1.0…
Important Oct 30 2015 Update - Please read about the new bundles first at the new order page: Order a TinkerTry Supermicro SuperServer Bundle - powerful and efficient virtualization home lab solutions Original article appears below. This idea took about 4 years from idea to delivery, but at…
Here's the 6 steps in regedit.exe, then just logoff/logon [or restart Windows Explorer using Task Manager Processes view]. You're done! Why During the Windows Insider Preview period, essentially was public beta test of Windows 10, Microsoft wisely chose to show the version of Windows and the Build…
Well, now we know a bit more about getting ISO downloads of Windows 10 from MSDN, since it's now been released. Shortly after midnight here on the east coast, I noticed I could see a list of Windows 10 version on MSDN, without even needing to login, right here. I then had my sad trombone moment as…
JUL 28 2015 Update - breaking news Microsoft starts pushing Windows 10 to users who reserved it This rough-around-the-edges article is intended for an IT Professional audience that already has an upgraded Windows 10 Preview Build 10240 (Pro), and knows their way around a BIOS boot order menu and…
Normally, you'd put a server OS on such a little beast. But you don't have to. In this video, I'll demonstrate what's needed right after you finish up a default install of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10159. It's highly likely that all the steps I show will be identical in the generally…
My household has an 8 year old T61P laptop kicking about that's running Windows 8.1 on a Samsung 840 EVO SSD (with RAPID mode enabled). It runs pretty well, even though it's stuck at SATA2 speeds. Tends to play the role of a temporary PC when a laptop has gone out for service. Right after upgrading…
I actually enjoy playing around with beta code, because I like getting a peek at where things are headed. I also enjoy hitting the ground running, when the final product finally arrives. For over a decade now, in my home the family's PCs tend to be at the very latest OS level, usually a month or…
Please note what been in TinkerTry's tagline, since January 2013: TinkerTry IT @ home Efficient virtualization, storage, backup, and more... So it's rather theme-appropriate for me to be happy to share that Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE is now generally available, download…
TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here. IT Professional offering part-time consulting.
Paul Braren, MCSE in 1998, VCP #2681 in 2005, vExpert 2014 to 2025, Veeam Vanguard Emeritus, 2015 to 2019.
Easily update VMware ESXi at TinkerTry.com/easy-update-to-latest-esxi
These systems still work great for many even 9+ years later, mine included, even with (unsupported) vSphere 8 and Windows 11 Version 21H2. But unless you added the optional TPM module, it may be the end of the line as far as repurposing them for running the latest Windows 11 Version 24H2 and beyond.
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop SuperServer bundles in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. Bare bones system sales continued for years longer.
What's next in 2025? I don't yet have my answer for my home lab, especially now that VCF certification is required to keep non-production home lab licenses going, even as a vExpert and VMUG Advantage EVALExperience customer.
As for a SuperServer follow-on, the Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh slightly better in 2024, and hopefully Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids-D) much better in 2025 featuring PCIe Gen5, MCRDIMMs, and 100GbE networking, wow! Feb. 27 2025 update update looks promising, but pricey. Infortunately, it's become clear to me that Supermicro is less focuses on the mini-tower form factor these days.
As for the CPU industry, it's unfortunate that Pat Gelsinger was apparently ousted from Intel's helm in these challenging times, but I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when he was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.
