Supermicro SuperServer SYS-E300-8D and E200-8D powerhouses arrive, have a look under the hood!

Having already carefully inspected those recent Supermicro PR stock photos, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I finally had a little time to have a close look under the hood, minutes ago. Remember, those E300 and E200 product pages don't even have instruction manuals yet, so I was quite eager to see exactly how the 2.5" drive is fitted, and whether those fans use any vibration isolation.

Surprise #1 hit me immediately as you'll hear in the unedited video below:

Hey, there's only 2 40mm fans in each system!

Those PR photos clearly showed 3 fans in each 1U high mini server. A bit odd. But this last minute change could be intended to reduce noise. Perhaps Supermicro decided this chassis/mobo combo simply didn't need 3 fans to adequately cool this SoC.

It's also quite possible that fewer fans could result in more noise due to higher RPMs. It really depends upon how the IPMI controlling those RPMs is tuned. I won't know for sure how it sounds until I (hopefully) receive my loaner storage tomorrow so I can actually use these systems, just in time for the weekend!

In the video, you'll also see me check out exactly how those 2.5" drives are fitted directly to the underside of the inner lid. It seems they're really thinking about SSDs only here.

Once I'm able to fire each of these systems up, I'll measure how many watts they use and how much sound they make without an OS. I'll then measure again once Windows 2016TP5 is loaded, and again with VMware ESXi 6.0U2. Don't worry, I'll record the good parts for you, as I've been doing all along. It's taken a lot of self-control to keep away from these little guys off camera. Seriously!

Keep in mind that a spot for a matching fan FAN-0100L4 is right there, and there are plenty of extra 4 pin fan headers. Just in case. Also worth noting that both systems feature rubber isolation mounts where the fan brackets attach to the chassis.

Come on back tomorrow and visit the home page to see what's new, and to check out the related articles below. There is a lot happening here at TinkerTry, where many more firsts are yet to come!

Video

• Supermicro SYS-E300-8D Product Page
  As of July 20th, ordering became available at Wiredzone. These bare-bones systems have not been "TinkerTry'd" yet, and are not currently available as burn-in tested/memory-included bundles. As of July 29th, shipments have begun.

• Supermicro SYS-E200-8D Product Page
  As of July 20th, ordering became available at Wiredzone. These bare-bones systems have not been "TinkerTry'd" yet, and are not currently available as burn-in tested/memory-included bundles. As of July 29th, shipments have begun.

JUL 29 2016 Update

New video now available! Special thanks to Micron for providing the loaner M510DC 2.5" SATA3 SSDs I'll be initially using, so I can proceed with installing OSs and powering these little guys on up. Finally, you'll see and hear these mini servers in action, on the day I finally get to do so myself, Saturday July 30th.

It seems that noise concerns from those little fans are far-and-away the biggest unknown that folks are most interested in before making their buying decisions. I'll start by comparing the dB levels with the SYS-5028D-TN4T mini tower with the stock fans and default IPMI fan speed settings, similar to what I did here.

Video

Videos of power up will have to wait until Saturday, July 30th. I'm recording and publishing as I go.

JUL 30 2016 Update

Here's the plans for my Saturday, fingers crossed:

• publish basic video of unboxing and power up of networking equipment
• record video of basic noise level testing, after POST/no OS
• publish video of basic noise level testing, after POST/no OS
  If time permits, I'll also install Windows 2016TP5, and see how each system sounds at idle, followed by ESXi.

JUL 30 2016 Update 2

See also at TinkerTry

• Supermicro SuperServer SYS-E300-8D and SYS-E200-8D close-up pictures

• Intel NUC-like micro servers with 4 or 8 1GbE/10GbE ports? Introducing Supermicro SuperServer SYS-E300-8D and E200-8D powerhouses, Xeon D-1518/1528 inside!

See also

• Home Reviews Computer Systems SFF PCs Intel Skull Canyon NUC NUC6i7KYK Mini PC Review
  JUN 8 2016 by Steven Bassari at TweakTown

Wikipedia entries for Mini-ITX and Flex ATX.

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.