SUPERMICRO SYS-5026T-TB 2U Server Barebone Intel X58 LGA 1366 Intel Core i7 / i7 Extreme Edition, and Intel Xeon 5600/5500/3600/3500 series

Pros: This is a solid server chassis, with a very good backplane, and an extremely good motherboard. The construction is excellent, there is nothing flimsy on the chassis at all. The 6 hot swap drive bays are durable too. System setup with LSI MegaRAID not a problem at all, as this can/has been an issue in the past with lesser motherboards. Price is very attractive for the quality of the system you get.

Support hotline is excellent. Immediate connection to knowledgeable people.

Cons: Lacks IPMI. This could be an issue for those looking for serious remote control of the system. Shell out for the -3F variant if you need it, but price is slightly more attractive for this unit without it.

System is noisy, but this is designed to be mounted in server rooms which are expected to be noisy anyways.

Other Thoughts: Make sure to check motherboard compatibility matrices when selecting 3rd party components such as RAID controllers and memory.

Pros: Cheap

Cons: The motherboard on this server is pretty unstable. I bought two less than 1 year, and i am getting rid of them. stay away

Pros: Loaded up with 5620 CPU. Make sure you do unbuffered Ram (Non - Registered) - bought bufferred and will not boot with that. Great solid constrution - quieter than I expected - solid performance. Supermicro makes some nice stuff - not buying Dell anymore.

Cons: Manuals are a little archaic, but usable.

Pros: Quick and easy to work in. Motherboard works with i7 970 hex core. Using as a DPM Backup machine and VMWare server.

Cons: Wish the motherboard had a few more USB ports (have to connect a bunch of USB stuff for the VMs)

Other Thoughts: One of our domain controllers has been using the same deal for the last year or so. No complaints here, gets the job done and doesn't take up much space.

Pros: Supermicro quality means something! Built like a tank. Great attention to detail. No problems, plugged and chugged through the hardware setup. After 72 hours of burn in and stress tests, no issues cropped up. I didn't need a onboard SAS controller, but I did need one 5.25 bay for removable media for data archiving. The rails work very well! This server fit the bill for me.

Comes with a fan/heatsink, and even comes with the tiny screws needed for the slim optical drive!

I am very happy with this 2U barebone server.

Cons: Weighs like a tank. Slim optical drive holder is hard to remove and pinches the drive ever so slightly causing the drive to be difficult to close every now and then. A "bit screw driver" will have troubles reaching one of the screw locations. The slim drive I bought is a cheap unit and I am sure it has a part to play in this issue. I could "adjust" the fit, but with as little as I will be using this drive after installation, it is not a real big bother. I am picky but not that picky.

Other Thoughts: My hardware list; all parts purchased through New Egg:
Server: SUPERMICRO SYS-5026T-TB 2U Barebone Server
Item #: N82E16816101235
Ram: Kingston ValueRAM 6GB (3 x 2GB)
Item #: N82E16820139043
CPU: Intel Core i7-950
Item #: N82E16819115211
SAS Ctrl Card: areca ARC-1880i
Item #: N82E16816151071
Ctrl Card Batt: areca ARC-6120-3
Item #: N82E16816151090
HDDs: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3R HE103SJ 1TB (Qty 6) RAID10
Item #: N82E16822152238
HDDs: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB (QTY 7 for removable data archiving)
Item #: N82E16822152245
Removable drive bay: StarTech DRW150SASBK
Item #: N82E16817998015
Removable Drive trays: StarTech SATATRAYBK 3.5in/2.5in
Item #: N82E16817998044
Optical Drive: LITE-ON DVD Burner
Item #: N82E16827106349
Slim Drive cable: StarTech SLSATAF36 36in
Item #: N82E16812200665