Pros: Server seems to have a viable niche in the small footprint, high processing power (better than atom) with support for virtualization (due to processors), and a ton of other features.

Cons: Limited processor support. Currently Intel only has two processors in production that are compatiable with this unit; the E3-1260L (45w/4core/8threads) and E3-1220L (20w/2core/4threads) models. Neither of these are readily available, as they just came to the market 2Q/11. It has better cooling that similar Supermicro servers, but with a pure heat sink for the processor and only part of a single fan blowing on the CPU (no shroud), I would suggest a slight mod to add some additional fans.

Overall Review: Once the E3-1260L is easier to aquire, this system potential is a quad core server with 8 threads and up to 32 GB of ram in a very compact box that does not require rails (it is very shallow and easily mounted and supported with 4 screws in the front). Perfect for processor intensive applications with below normal power requirements (ie: Home Server). Attach an external NAS/Samba or other storage system, and this will make a great headend.

Pros: 1U, light weight, very quiet, IPMI, dual network ports, RAID support on the motherboard.

Cons: Only 2 USB ports. There are connectors for more on the motherboard, but even adding a PCI bracket with more ports is tricky due to space constraints. I would love to see Supermicro dump the two PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports and replace them with at least two more USB ports. Out of the box, the system only supports 1 3.5" device internally. It does allow for two brackets that hold 2 2.5" devices each, allowing for up to 4 internal devices. But these brackets are not included (search for part number MCP-220-00044-0N if you need them). You'd think that for a server, even a small one, at least 2 drives would be used and Supermicro would include a bracket by default.

Overall Review: We are using two of these as redundant domain controllers in a small environment. We run with 8GB ECC RAM (Kingston KVR1333D3S8E9SK2/4G) and Core i3-2120T processors, plus two hard drives in RAID1. They have been flawless so far.

Pros: Compact, not heavy, loud or hot, has IPMI, supports ECC memory

Cons: very limited selection of CPUs and memory. Uninformative manual, the shroud mentioned in the manual (page 6-6) to improve airflow is not actually supplied. Need a special bracket to install a second 2.5" disk drive. The part number is MCP-220-00044-ON (not given in the manual). Newegg has this. The manual does not specify the login or password for the IPMI. Both are "ADMIN" (all caps).

Overall Review: There is no list of compatible CPUs on the Supermicro website. We found that an i3-2120T does work. There is no list of compatible memory either. We found that several brands that appeared to meet the requirements of the 5017C listed in the manual did not work. However, the "memory error" beeps (5 short, 1 long - see page A-1) did not occur either, so we were not sure it was a memory problem. Eventually memory from a vendor that allowed us to specify the target motherboard was purchased and functioned.

Pros: Newegg inventory currently has the 2.0 BIOS and full support for the v2 processors. I'm running with the XEON E3 1230V2 3.3G 4CHT. Holds up to 32gb RAM. Easy to build and setup. IPMI works great. Small footprint. Runs pretty cool.

Cons: You need a bracket to mount a 2.5" drive which is not included. (I hacked it for now and just put in a single screw to hold the 2.5" drive. It appears that the eth0 and eth1 ports are flipped from the description in the manual. Initial power on boot time somewhat slow due to IPMI initialization; I think you can disable the wait for that in the BIOS settings.

Overall Review: You need ram with hylinx chips. N82E16820239133 Kingston 4GB KVR13E9/4HC works great, best performance if you install 2 at a time.

Pros: This is a nice small, inexpensive server barebones. It's relatively quiet and wonderfully reliable. The built-in remote-access controller is an awesome bonus. Works great with a Xeon E3-1220 V2. Supports (and requires) ECC memory.

Cons: There's only room for a single 3.5" hard drive. With a little creativity and the right SATA cable, you can attach a pair of 2.5" drives and RAID them with Intel's software RAID BIOS (Windows only, of course), but it's a bit hacky. The shortness might be a problem if you have a deep rack. :) It does not have a redundant power supply, so please don't use this for hosting production VMs.

Overall Review: Socket 1150 processors only support 32GB of RAM max. RAM compatibility isn't a problem if you specifically shop for RAM that is on SuperMicro's HCL or that the RAM maker guarantees works with the specific model of motherboard (X9SCL-F). You must use ECC, unregistered memory.

Pros: 1U, half depth. Inexpensive. Win7 install from usb stick was under 5 minutes to the desktop. System is very simple and easy to set up.

Cons: Could have done a better job with the drive mounting. Air flow design isn't the greatest.

Overall Review: Running this with a E3 1230V2 and 16G ram. Vsphere 5. Windows Server 2008R2 and Win7. 180G Intel ssd for running vm's, 500g 2.5" 7200 for additional storage.

Pros: Quiet, Powerful, Compact

Cons: Already mentioned, but RAM is picky. 2nd NIC needs help under ESXi 5.1 (see note below).

Overall Review: This RAM works: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239133 This is the ESXi 5.1 NIC fix: http://virtual-drive.in/2012/11/16/enabling-intel-nic-82579lm-on-intel-s1200bt-under-esxi-5-1/

Pros: Small Powerful room for expansion

Cons: very few available processors as mentioned i had to special order mine from a company luckily they could get it :D Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1260L (8M Cache, 2.40 GHz)

Overall Review: looks great my first server build ever also it says 1 3.5" hdd or 2 2.5" hdds it should reflect 2 x2 brackets meaning a possible 4 2.5" hdd just to clear it up for you :D