Intel S1200BTLR ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1155 Intel C204 DDR3 ECC UDIMM 1066/1333/1600/1333LV

Pros: Clear documentation, Intel support website, regular firmware updates. Ivy Bridge support out of the box, nice low power consumption when coupled with a low-powered cpu.

Cons: Not clear that KVM IPMI support requires purchasing an extra RMM4LITE product, broken KVM features, possibly bad quality control and/or bugs in the memory controller. High price for features that are not working correctly. Making sure your fans run correctly requires downloading and running a special UEFI FRU update which asks you which fans are connected and how you want the fan speeds to operate - not bad once it's configured, but this kind of thing should be in the BIOS, not a FRU firmware update.

Other Thoughts: I bought this motherboard primarily for one feature - it offers remote KVM, also commonly found as an IPMI feature. Supermicro has offered this for many years and it's a wonderful feature because it simulates, through a web interface and java application, a real keyboard, mouse and video console that you can control, along with a virtual CD-ROM and floppy disk so you can do a complete install (and re-install) of the system without having to actually hook up a keyboard, mouse, monitor, or even have a local CD-ROM or USB stick. When it works, it's a remote admin's dream come true.

Unfortunately, that's where this motherboard falls short. It was NOT obvious that this motherboard will not do the KVM functions until after you purchase another $40 add-on, the RMM4LITE which as far as I can tell is just a tiny dongle which activates the already built-in KVM features. The second misleading thing is, not matter what I do, I can't get the Virtual CD-ROM feature to work - all I get is a message that says "CD-ROM redirection is not supported on this platform" - oh really? The other thing is, the KVM appears to be extremely picky about video modes. The only reliable video mode it seems to support is the initial screen where you quickly press F2 to get into the BIOS configuration menus. Even then, half of the time the screen goes blank, and you have to log-out of the IPMI interface, connect back in and the screen will refresh and pick up where it left off. Even now that I have Ubuntu Server 12.04 installed, the console only shows up about half of the time. The only feature that is reliable is the power-on adn reset web interface, and the sensor outputs which show various temperatures and fan speeds.

The other problematic issue is this motherboard supports Dual Channel Symmetric memory when you put 2 identical DIMMs in slots A1 and B1. Right now I'm thinking the motherboard has a problem because whenever I put my 2 pieces of 8 GB of memory in, within about 7 days I get kernel panics. However, if I put them in slots A1 and A2, which is the slower single-channel mode or I run only with one DIMM at a time, everything works just fine. So effectively I have a motherboard with only 2 out of 4 functioning DIMM slots because if I fill in 3, the Dual Channel Symmetric mode kicks in and my memory becomes unstable. These exact memory DIMMs are explicitly listed on Intel's website as tested and approved for use with this motherboard, so I doubt it's a compatibility issue.

Supermicro offers a board with a fully functioning IPMI without the need for a $40 add on for $190. This board, when you add the RMM4LITE, costs $260. For that extra money you would hope things would work better, not worse. Unfortunately, since the memory issues took close to 4 weeks to diagnose and RMM4LITE did not ship until my 30-day return window expired I am stuck with this board. I hope I don't ever need more than 16GB or I will have to buy something else.

Pros: Features, Does all its supposed to. Good Budget server MOBO.

Cons: Lets see, the power connecter slot is right behind the RAM slots. I wish Intel would consider people who wish to mount the MOBO in a ATX computer case. Stickers supplied to label the I/O shield

Other Thoughts: Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 Server Memory Server
Intel Xeon E3-1235 Sandy Bridge 3.2GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core
ntec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active
Sentey Eagle Extreme Division Mid Tower Case
I went with the ATX midtower case with a bottom power supply was my 1st mistake. The main connector was just long enough to plug in the MOBO. With that said the top of the case has a fan slot that was rendered useless.

Pros: Does what it's supposed to

Cons: Makes it difficult to do some of the simplest things

Other Thoughts: I recently built a home sever and decided to use honest-to-goodness server parts instead of a mash-up of desktop components. While this MB may be the bees knees for server building, you definitely need to understand all of the lingo beforehand. I've been building desktop systems since Computer Shopper wasn't so much a magazine but a thick telephone book. I am not sure why so may options are blocked-out and why I don't have any ability to control fan speeds (the only option I can see is to see your altitude and it's supposed to do it for you.

Pros: Board is able to take new 12** V2 Ivy Bridge Intel Processors, has onboard video (make sure to get an Intel 12*5 V2 processor for onboard video to work), BMC management, ESRT2 (0/1/10) RAID and RST (0/1/10/5) RAID support, VT-d, and there're certain DDR3-1600 sticks that work with it (namely Kingston 8GB KVR16E11/8I sticks).

Cons: No case fan control because the board has BMC management.

Pros: BIOS supports E2 v2 out of box, unlike current SuperMicro options (2012.11.10), IPMI, 1600 ECC

Cons: Just discovered fan throttling is NOT supported with standard ATX cases. From the manual (G167972-004_S1200BT_SERVICEGUIDE.PDF), page 28: “Auto” Fan Control is intended to support standard EPSD chassis options. “Manual” Fan Control is intended to support third-party chassis installations.

Given that heat management is a core pillar of server management, I find this wholly unacceptable. This is my first and last Intel Server motherboard as a result.

Other Thoughts: no fan throttling for off-the shelf ATX cases.

Pros: These server boards work fine. You cannot look on Kingston's website for memory compatibility, you have to look on Intel's website. We generally use Crucial memory, but there are Kingston modules that work - you must look at Intel's website for compatibility. Server boards in general can be very picky about memory. I've built over a dozen small business servers using this motherboard and they work great.

Cons: Slow matrix RAID. If your using RAID 1/0 use the built in LSI controller. If you need RAID 5 you can get a USB plugin from Intel that allows you to enable it on the LSI. The matrix RAID that's built in is ungodly slow. Better yet install a hardware RAID card - hardware RAID is always faster and more robust than software RAID. The onboard LSI works fine though.