Question 1

Do I need to do the "flash trick" to get LSI controller to work like an HBA rather than a RAID controller?

Accepted Answer

Yes you do, but it's very easy. According to my old notes, I got a file from /driver/SAS/LSI/2308/Firmware/IT on SuperMicro's FTP site (Newegg won't let me give that in the form of a real URL) and copied it to a USB flash drive (no need to make it bootable or anything like that), had the UEFI setup read it, and at some point in the process I got to tell it I wanted "IT mode." I don't remember all the details, just that it was trivial.

Question 2

Hello, can I use the SAS ports to connect additional SATA drives?

Thanks

Accepted Answer

Yes, absolutely. I currently have 6x4TB WD Red NAS drives connected. These are used as a pass through to my FreeNAS VM. If you plan on using this as a pass through device in a VM you will need to flash into IT mode. This is easily found through google.

Question 3

Does the lack of expansion cards bother you? I could see wanting to add an additional LBA and ethernet card but then it's full.

Accepted Answer

I already have an additional hard disk adapter in mine (8-port LSI Logic), but I'm using only one of the Gigabit eternet ports (in addition to the IPMI-dedicated one). If I needed to add more disk drives, I could use a port multiplier, but it would use a slot for its power supply. I don't see myself needing any more network ports, so that isn't a problem.

I think Supermicro makes server boards with 4 Gigabit ports, but probably not with on-board SAS as well. If you do need a lot more SAS/SATA and Ethernet ports, a different board may suit you better -- one with more PCIe slots.

Question 4

What will be the top CPU that this motherboard can handle?

Accepted Answer

Greetings,

Although I can't answer what WILL be the top CPU that is supported, Supermicro's web site lists compatibility with 4th Gen Core, Pentium, Celeron, and Xeon E-1200 V3 series processors (basically anything that can fit into the Socket 1150).

Personally I wouldn't consider anything other than a Xeon for this board as it is specifically designed for them, but some folks are using lower-cost processors in specific situations.

On the CPU World web site, the top CPU listed for socket 1150 right now is the Xeon E3-1280/1285 V3.

It's unclear if Intel will release a E3-1290 V3 in the future.

I hope this helps you.

Question 5

Does this mobo come with the SAS -> Sata cable to connect 8 Sata drives? I'm awaiting shipping, do I need to buy this separately?

Accepted Answer

The board came with six SATA cables. If you intend to use SATA drives with the SAS ports, and aren't using a backplane (which would require a SAS reverse-breakout cable) then these types of cables should be sufficient.  But it comes with only six, so you might want more.  Also, the cables it came with lack latches, and I kept knocking mine loose, so I'm no longer using them.

Question 6

Is there an updated version of this board with a newer CPU socket? I need a board just like this with the LSI controller but with a socket newer than LGA1150

Accepted Answer

You've got the X10SRH-CF-O in socket 2011v3  and the X11SSL-CF in socket 1151. They are both similar but have the LSI 3008 SAS controller as apposed to the 2308 as well as a few other minor differences such as on board NIC's.

Question 7

Will FreeNAS run from a USB 2.0 thumb drive plugged into the USB 3.0 port on the motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes, definitely.  That's what I've been using this for starting with FreeNAS 9.2 and now with FreeNAS 9.3.

It's been a couple of years, but I seem to remember needing to change one of the BIOS settings in order to get it to boot the first time.  It's run flawlessly since.  Offhand, I can't recall what it was, but I'm sure it was discussed on the FreeNAS forums.

Question 8

I put a non ecc 8 GB ram on motherboard.  Upon boot I system initialization message and number 15 all the way to the end.  It doesn't go pass through that.  What could be wrong?  I bought memory from best buy 2 8GB sticks desktop memory.

Accepted Answer

It cannot use non ECC only "1600MHz ECC DDR3 SDRAM 72-bit, 240-pin gold-plated DIMMs" More information at supermicro website

Question 9

Does the RAID controller on this board (LSI-SAS2108) support Windows Server 2012? If so, where would one go about finding the drivers or firmware updates to accommodate this?

Accepted Answer

All,

For those of you buying this board with intention of installing Server 2012 R2, the driver package for the raid controller (LSI-SAS2308*) indicates the 8.1 files are the way to go. I personally had success with the Server 2008 driver installer.

I am running:

Motherboard - MBD-X10SL7
CPU - Intel Xeon E3 1231 V3B
Ram - 32GB Crucial CT2KIT102472BD160B
HDD - Western Digital Red x4 W/One Failover Drive
SSD - Samsung EVO850 x2 RAID 0

All drives are connected to hot swap bays and fed back through the SAS controller.

Hopefully this saves someone some time and assurance that setup is confirmed to work.

Rob

Question 10

How well does this MB and the SAS controller work with VMWare ESXi?

Accepted Answer

I have used Hyper-V on this server with no issues but have read about other uses using VMWare ESXi on this board.  Specifically I did come across a post where the user mentioned that ESXi picked up the LSI controller on this board in the VMWare ESXi management console and was able to manage RAID volumes from there.  The board uses Intel controllers so network shouldn't be an issue for ESXi.  (I do support VSphere at work).

Product SKUs
MBD-X10SL7-F	X10SL7-F (Bulk Pack)
Physical Stats
Form Factor	microATX
Dimensions	9.6" x 9.6", (24.4cm x 24.4 cm)
Processor/Cache
CPU	Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/v4 and 4th Gen Core i3, Pentium, Celeron processors Single Socket H3 (LGA 1150)
System Memory
Memory Capacity	4x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM sockets Supports up to 32 GB DDR3 ECC Un-Buffered memory (UDIMM)
Memory Type	1600MHz ECC DDR3 SDRAM 72-bit, 240-pin gold-plated DIMMs
DIMM Sizes	8GB, 4GB, 2GB, 1GB
Memory Voltage	1.5V, 1.35V
Error Detection	Corrects single-bit errors Detects double-bit errors (using ECC memory)
On-Board Devices
Chipset	Intel® C222 Express PCH
SATA	SATA3 (6Gbps) w/ RAID 0, 1 SATA2 (3Gbps) w/ RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
SAS	SAS2 (6Gbps) via LSI 2308 SW RAID 0, 1, 1E, 10 support
IPMI	Support for Intelligent Platform Management Interface v.2.0 IPMI 2.0 with virtual media over LAN and KVM-over-LAN support Aspeed AST2400 with 10/100/1000M bps MAC
Network Controllers	Intel® i210AT dual port GbE Controllers Supports 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T, RJ45 output 1x Realtek RTL8211E PHY (dedicated IPMI)
VGA	BMC integrated Aspeed AST2400
Input / Output
Serial ATA	2x SATA3 (6Gbps) ports 4x SATA2 (3Gbps) ports
SAS	8x SAS2 (6Gbps) ports
LAN	2x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports 1x RJ45 Dedicated IPMI LAN port
USB	2x USB 3.0 ports (1 via header, 1 Type-A) 6x USB 2.0 ports (4 rear, 2 via header)
VGA	1x VGA D-Sub Connector
Serial Port / Header	2x COM ports (1 rear, 1 header)
DOM	SATA DOM (Disk on Module) power connector support
TPM	1x TPM 1.2 20-pin Header

Brand	SUPERMICRO
Model	MBD-X10SL7-F-O

CPU Socket Type	LGA 1150
CPU Type	Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3 / v4 and 4th Gen Core i3, Pentium, Celeron processors

Number of DDR3 Slots	4 x 240pin
DDR3 Standard	DDR3 1600
Maximum Memory Supported	32GB
ECC Supported	Yes

SATA	4 x SATA 3.0Gb/s + 2 x SATA 6.0Gb/s
SATA RAID	SATA3 (6 Gbps) w/ RAID 0, 1 SATA2 (3 Gbps) w/ RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
SAS	8 x SAS2 (6 Gbps) ports via LSI 2308
SAS RAID	SW RAID 0, 1, 1E, 10 support

SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O Micro ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C222 DDR3 1600

SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O Micro ATX Server Motherboard

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LAN Chipset	Intel I210-AT
LAN Speed	10/100/1000Mbps
Max LAN Speed	2 x 1Gbps

Item#: N82E16813182821