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Recommendation for an (OLDER) server motherboard

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Shadow Lord

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TL;DR: My current Win 2K8 R2 server setup is puny and needs an upgrade

So I have a bare bones Win2K8 R2 System Setup whose primary function started as a NAS with 60TB of storage space. It is running off of a Celeron E3400 on a Foxconn G31MXP-K with 2GB of RAM. It has worked under this role perfectly well. Over the years I have also added it on as a backup WINS server, FAX Server, and an SMTP relay. These roles mainly serve to bridge between modern HW and my old vintage stuff, for example the new requirements for TLS 1.2 for mail servers. My old equipment w/o TLS sends email notices to my server which then forwards the notice to my internet providers SMTP using the correct security protocols.

Generally this has been working well. However, recently I decided to setup Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 SP2 on the system and well the system can't handle it. Basically I wanted to setup my own WSUS for my vintage systems (2K,XP, etc...) and while install went fine and I was able to DL about 20% of the updates the WSUS server keeps crashing. The minimum system requirements for WSUS is 2GB of RAM above the OS requirements. The Foxconn G31MXP-K motherboards is a budget offering to put it kindly. It has two DIMM slots with a support for a max of 4GB of RAM. I can upgrade the memory to 4GB and maybe get through the issue but if I am going to upgrade might as well get something with a bit more horsepower in there.

I am probably not upgrading the OS (really don't feel like paying for a new OS License just because) so a motherboard from a few years (or a decade LOL) back would do the trick. Basically I am looking for recommendations for a real server board (i.e. not a consumer level board with RGB lighting, overclocking, and lots of fancy useless acronyms) that meets the following:

  • Intel based can be Xeon or Core. Looking to put in a 4 core or more cpu with large on die cache (12MB?).
  • DP or SP. Although DP is probably way overkill
  • At least 8GB of RAM support or more.
  • Onboard Video
  • One PCI-E x8 or x16 slot (for the RAID card)
  • A second PCI-E 1x or faster slot (for the FAX modem)
  • At least 1GbE connection (two would be nice or a faster connection but not necessary as all of my switches are 1GbE at the moment)
  • Ideally two serial ports (to connect the UPSes) or another PCI-E or PCI slot for add in I/O
  • Built in SATA/IDE would be nice but not necessary
  • Built in floppy support would be cool but not necessary
  • Server Functionality (e.g integrated remote lights out terminal)
  • The case is huge so I can use a regular ATX or E-ATX board in there.
  • Budget: $200 to $300 for MB, CPU, and RAM.
The server is hardly ever taxed as it is (except now for WSUS). It is only accessed at home by my systems and mainly as a NAS. If I can get WSUS running then it would also occasionally be uses to provide updates to clean installs of WinXP/2k or whatever I am playing with at the moment.

And before someone mentions it: yes I am aware of projects that have slip streamed all the updates and come up with unofficial SP for the older OSes. This is more of hey its a cool thing to do and I have the server space why not. I was hoping to get away with "free" (i.e. just install WSUS) but a couple of hundred bucks to upgrade the server is totally doable and gives me some new toys to play with.

TIA!
 
This is personally what I am running with freenas right now. in a slightly smaller version of this chassis: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/lian-li-mini-itx-nas-pc-q26,27950.html The whole setup is practically silent.

the motherboard - https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X10SDV-4C-TLN2F - https://www.ebay.com/itm/254932365206

* this version is 4C + HT - more powerful versions exist up to 12C, but are obviously much more expensive
* SP obviously
* I have 32gb in mine - memory is cheap
* check
* full 16x - check
* moving along... (go USB if its a hard requirement, i guess)
* dual 10gbe ^.^
* my UPS connects via USB, and it does have one serial on board - USB/serial adapters are cheap.
* 6x sata ports - I boot from a cheap 256gb NVME drive
* floppy support died with the pentium 4 era
* integrated IPMI
* ITX is cooler, imho. but you do you.
* I mean, its a bit over with ram, but not by much

my previous nas had 24x 2.5" sas drives that ran at 10k rpm. 32gb of ram, and a dual E5-2450L v2 xeons - it was NOT quiet.
 
luckybob said:
This is personally what I am running with freenas right now. in a slightly smaller version of this chassis: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/lian-li-mini-itx-nas-pc-q26,27950.html The whole setup is practically silent.

the motherboard - https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X10SDV-4C-TLN2F - https://www.ebay.com/itm/254932365206

* this version is 4C + HT - more powerful versions exist up to 12C, but are obviously much more expensive
* SP obviously
* I have 32gb in mine - memory is cheap
* check
* full 16x - check
* moving along... (go USB if its a hard requirement, i guess)
* dual 10gbe ^.^
* my UPS connects via USB, and it does have one serial on board - USB/serial adapters are cheap.
* 6x sata ports - I boot from a cheap 256gb NVME drive
* floppy support died with the pentium 4 era
* integrated IPMI
* ITX is cooler, imho. but you do you.
* I mean, its a bit over with ram, but not by much

my previous nas had 24x 2.5" sas drives that ran at 10k rpm. 32gb of ram, and a dual E5-2450L v2 xeons - it was NOT quiet.
Click to expand...
Hey,

Thanks for the recommendation. Unfortunately, that board does not meet most of my requirements. If it was ridiculously cheap then maybe it would be worth considering but at that price point definitely not a go for me. As far as noise it is not an issue. It is a server, it is noisy, and that's why it goes in the server closet where I don't have to hear it. You should hear how noisy my Compaq 9000 Rack is. LOL. As for ITX, sure its nice if I was building a system I needed to hide behind a TV or tuck in a corner. However, the server is in my old Akiwa GHS-1500. Understated is not the look I am going for LOL.

Your suggestion though did send me down the Supermicro rabbit hole and I ended up upgrading to a DP system:

  1. Supermicro X9-DRH7F MB
  2. Xeon E5-2630L V2 x 2 (60W each vs. the 45W on the one you recommended)
  3. 128GB of ECC DDR3 RDIMM
  4. A DB9 Bracket for the second COM port
Gave me everything I wanted (and way more), w/ no unnecessary USB dongles, and all for under $170 including tax and shipping. At that price it would be hard to complain. LOL.
 
Last edited:
https://www.anoopcnair.com/sync-iss...indows-server-update-services-sccm-configmgr/

Sync issues with the WSUS 3.0 SP2​

So, what are the Sync issues with the WSUS 3.0 SP2? Microsoft announced that from 31st October 2021 onwards, WSUS 3.0 SP2 would no longer synchronize and download updates from Microsoft Windows Update services.

Microsoft announced other important WSUS and Microsoft update-related changes in the recent past. The changes are in place to enhance the security of the Microsoft update mechanism. The user-based proxy changes announced are also in line with the same security enhancement initiative from Microsoft.
 
Unknown_K said:
https://www.anoopcnair.com/sync-iss...indows-server-update-services-sccm-configmgr/

Sync issues with the WSUS 3.0 SP2​

So, what are the Sync issues with the WSUS 3.0 SP2? Microsoft announced that from 31st October 2021 onwards, WSUS 3.0 SP2 would no longer synchronize and download updates from Microsoft Windows Update services.

Microsoft announced other important WSUS and Microsoft update-related changes in the recent past. The changes are in place to enhance the security of the Microsoft update mechanism. The user-based proxy changes announced are also in line with the same security enhancement initiative from Microsoft.
Click to expand...
That is not a sync issue. That is catastrophic failure. LOL. No I am syncing fine by using a different upstream server which has TLS 1.2 and gets updates from MS. The TLS 1.2 requirements only apply to MS's own servers as I understand it. With my system the WSUS server is crashing after 20% sync. Even running rules, like approve updates, now causes it to crash. So it looks like a resource issue more than anything else.
 
Well I finally got the new server squared away and its is chugging along syncing up all updates for Win2K, XP, 2K3, Vista and Office XP/2K3. I wonder if there is still a source out there for win 9x (98SE to be specific) updates.

As a bit of closure here is the new MB vs. the old one:

Old NAS vs. New NAS.jpg

And the beastie completely installed. A pretty clean install if I do say so myself. 😇

NAS Installed.jpg
 
Shadow Lord said:
Well I finally got the new server squared away and its is chugging along syncing up all updates for Win2K, XP, 2K3, Vista and Office XP/2K3. I wonder if there is still a source out there for win 9x (98SE to be specific) updates.
Click to expand...
Yes there is if you do a internet search for them. The Vogons forums will be a good source of info in that reguard as well.;)
 
Chuck(G) said:
For WIn98SE, there are several versions of the "Unofficial Ultimate Service Pack" out there. I've never had any problems with them.
Click to expand...
I have used them myself w/o issues. And they are probably faster/easier but if I have all this HP sitting around, why not? ;)
 
Caluser2000 said:
Yes there is if you do a internet search for them. The Vogons forums will be a good source of info in that reguard as well.;)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up. I will check over there. Do you know if WSUS 3.0 supports Win9x as well? Or will I have to run an even older OS for that one?
 
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