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  3. can someone explain to me why server motherboards are so fucking awful (it could also just be supermicro.

can someone explain to me why server motherboards are so fucking awful (it could also just be supermicro.

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  • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
    whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
    whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
    wrote last edited by
    #1

    can someone explain to me why server motherboards are so fucking awful (it could also just be supermicro. i've had two server motherboards and both were from supermicro)

    the cheapest, most cost-reduced, aliexpress tier desktop motherboard easily outperforms both of those supermicro boards, combined, when it comes to things like "fucking booting like a normal PC"

    dysfun@social.treehouse.systemsD whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS elly@donotsta.reE david_chisnall@infosec.exchangeD 5 Replies Last reply
    0
    • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

      can someone explain to me why server motherboards are so fucking awful (it could also just be supermicro. i've had two server motherboards and both were from supermicro)

      the cheapest, most cost-reduced, aliexpress tier desktop motherboard easily outperforms both of those supermicro boards, combined, when it comes to things like "fucking booting like a normal PC"

      dysfun@social.treehouse.systemsD This user is from outside of this forum
      dysfun@social.treehouse.systemsD This user is from outside of this forum
      dysfun@social.treehouse.systems
      wrote last edited by
      #2

      @whitequark yeah that just sounds like normal supermicro problems.

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

        can someone explain to me why server motherboards are so fucking awful (it could also just be supermicro. i've had two server motherboards and both were from supermicro)

        the cheapest, most cost-reduced, aliexpress tier desktop motherboard easily outperforms both of those supermicro boards, combined, when it comes to things like "fucking booting like a normal PC"

        whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
        whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
        whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
        wrote last edited by
        #3

        i was going to set this up to relax and i'm genuinely considering going back to doing my taxes

        whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

          i was going to set this up to relax and i'm genuinely considering going back to doing my taxes

          whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
          whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
          whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
          wrote last edited by
          #4

          at least the tax code is rational and easy to comprehend. comparatively

          whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
            whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
            whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
            wrote last edited by
            #5

            @grumpybozo long POST times are just DRAM being DRAM. i don't mind that too much. every motherboard is gonna have that problem to some extent

            jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

              can someone explain to me why server motherboards are so fucking awful (it could also just be supermicro. i've had two server motherboards and both were from supermicro)

              the cheapest, most cost-reduced, aliexpress tier desktop motherboard easily outperforms both of those supermicro boards, combined, when it comes to things like "fucking booting like a normal PC"

              schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
              schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
              schrotthaufen@mastodon.social
              wrote last edited by
              #6

              @whitequark The one Dell server I operate takes even longer to boot than the Supermicro ones. Oh it’s POST’ing? Time to go and boil a cuppa

              whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW scherzog@mastodon.gamedev.placeS 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS schrotthaufen@mastodon.social

                @whitequark The one Dell server I operate takes even longer to boot than the Supermicro ones. Oh it’s POST’ing? Time to go and boil a cuppa

                whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
                wrote last edited by
                #7

                @schrotthaufen how do u live like this

                schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

                  can someone explain to me why server motherboards are so fucking awful (it could also just be supermicro. i've had two server motherboards and both were from supermicro)

                  the cheapest, most cost-reduced, aliexpress tier desktop motherboard easily outperforms both of those supermicro boards, combined, when it comes to things like "fucking booting like a normal PC"

                  elly@donotsta.reE This user is from outside of this forum
                  elly@donotsta.reE This user is from outside of this forum
                  elly@donotsta.re
                  wrote last edited by
                  #8
                  @whitequark uhh, okay? It won't be anything you don't already know though...

                  When you power the server on, it will wait for BMC to fully boot first (and as we know, that's a cursed, fully-fledge Linux distro usually booted from SPI flash on ARMv6 core (i.e: ASpeed AST2500)). So if BMC isn't up, x86 firmware will wait for BMC to finish booting and only then start going trough the POST.

                  Then there's a matter of rubbish from AMI riddled with many, many modules (that often aren't needed), as well as amount of hardware that needs to be initialized (memory controllers, qpi links on multi-socket systems, multiple rootports etc) and of course - DRAM training.

                  For example, OpenComputeProject's TiogaPass (Xeon SP Lewisburg (Skylake)) with 768GB of DDR4 (registered ECC) takes 1,5 minutes just to train the memory controller when running coreboot. DDR5 can easily take twice as long (my firewall with Intel N100 SoC has a single-stick of DDR5 SO-DIMM and takes 40 seconds to train the memory).

                  You can avoid going trough the POST if you just kexec a newer kernel but... yeah.
                  whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • elly@donotsta.reE elly@donotsta.re
                    @whitequark uhh, okay? It won't be anything you don't already know though...

                    When you power the server on, it will wait for BMC to fully boot first (and as we know, that's a cursed, fully-fledge Linux distro usually booted from SPI flash on ARMv6 core (i.e: ASpeed AST2500)). So if BMC isn't up, x86 firmware will wait for BMC to finish booting and only then start going trough the POST.

                    Then there's a matter of rubbish from AMI riddled with many, many modules (that often aren't needed), as well as amount of hardware that needs to be initialized (memory controllers, qpi links on multi-socket systems, multiple rootports etc) and of course - DRAM training.

                    For example, OpenComputeProject's TiogaPass (Xeon SP Lewisburg (Skylake)) with 768GB of DDR4 (registered ECC) takes 1,5 minutes just to train the memory controller when running coreboot. DDR5 can easily take twice as long (my firewall with Intel N100 SoC has a single-stick of DDR5 SO-DIMM and takes 40 seconds to train the memory).

                    You can avoid going trough the POST if you just kexec a newer kernel but... yeah.
                    whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                    whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                    whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
                    wrote last edited by
                    #9

                    @elly i've sat here for ten minutes and the BMC that claims to be alive doesn't respond to arping

                    david_chisnall@infosec.exchangeD 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

                      @grumpybozo long POST times are just DRAM being DRAM. i don't mind that too much. every motherboard is gonna have that problem to some extent

                      jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ This user is from outside of this forum
                      jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ This user is from outside of this forum
                      jernej__s@infosec.exchange
                      wrote last edited by
                      #10

                      @whitequark @grumpybozo 19 years ago I worked on an IBM eServer that didn't let you turn it on for 5 minutes after connecting power, and then took 15 minutes to get through POST. Was probably the first server with UEFI that I encountered.

                      ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS schrotthaufen@mastodon.social

                        @whitequark The one Dell server I operate takes even longer to boot than the Supermicro ones. Oh it’s POST’ing? Time to go and boil a cuppa

                        scherzog@mastodon.gamedev.placeS This user is from outside of this forum
                        scherzog@mastodon.gamedev.placeS This user is from outside of this forum
                        scherzog@mastodon.gamedev.place
                        wrote last edited by
                        #11

                        @schrotthaufen @whitequark With just a little bit of tuning the CPU, RAM and PCI parameters you'll even have time to grow, harvest and roast your own beans for that!

                        schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

                          @schrotthaufen how do u live like this

                          schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                          schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                          schrotthaufen@mastodon.social
                          wrote last edited by
                          #12

                          @whitequark Easy. Sleep till 9am, work from 10:30am - 5pm (incl. *excellent* dinner), clock out, don’t touch servers in my free time, and get a adequate monetary compensation 😛

                          whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ jernej__s@infosec.exchange

                            @whitequark @grumpybozo 19 years ago I worked on an IBM eServer that didn't let you turn it on for 5 minutes after connecting power, and then took 15 minutes to get through POST. Was probably the first server with UEFI that I encountered.

                            ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO This user is from outside of this forum
                            ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO This user is from outside of this forum
                            ocdtrekkie@mastodon.social
                            wrote last edited by
                            #13

                            @jernej__s @whitequark @grumpybozo My first AMD EPYC-based servers came with a notice they may take up to 30 minutes to boot the first time. They are a little better now.

                            whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ 2 Replies Last reply
                            0
                            • scherzog@mastodon.gamedev.placeS scherzog@mastodon.gamedev.place

                              @schrotthaufen @whitequark With just a little bit of tuning the CPU, RAM and PCI parameters you'll even have time to grow, harvest and roast your own beans for that!

                              schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                              schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                              schrotthaufen@mastodon.social
                              wrote last edited by
                              #14

                              @scherzog @whitequark I could use the excess heat to roast the beans!! 🤯

                              1 Reply Last reply
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                              • schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS schrotthaufen@mastodon.social

                                @whitequark Easy. Sleep till 9am, work from 10:30am - 5pm (incl. *excellent* dinner), clock out, don’t touch servers in my free time, and get a adequate monetary compensation 😛

                                whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                                whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                                whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
                                wrote last edited by
                                #15

                                @schrotthaufen i touch servers only in my free time

                                truly, if hell on earth exists this is it

                                schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO ocdtrekkie@mastodon.social

                                  @jernej__s @whitequark @grumpybozo My first AMD EPYC-based servers came with a notice they may take up to 30 minutes to boot the first time. They are a little better now.

                                  whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                                  whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                                  whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #16

                                  @ocdtrekkie @jernej__s @grumpybozo jesus christ

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO ocdtrekkie@mastodon.social

                                    @jernej__s @whitequark @grumpybozo My first AMD EPYC-based servers came with a notice they may take up to 30 minutes to boot the first time. They are a little better now.

                                    jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                    jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                    jernej__s@infosec.exchange
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #17

                                    @ocdtrekkie @whitequark @grumpybozo Some early DDR5 motherboards also came with stickers warning you that the first boot may take 10-20 minutes without showing anything on the screen.

                                    ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

                                      at least the tax code is rational and easy to comprehend. comparatively

                                      whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                                      whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW This user is from outside of this forum
                                      whitequark@social.treehouse.systems
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #18

                                      i like how half the responses to this are like "you haven't seen even half the ways in which these motherboards suck. you are like a little baby" and honestly i'm both impressed and scared

                                      whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ 2 Replies Last reply
                                      0
                                      • jernej__s@infosec.exchangeJ jernej__s@infosec.exchange

                                        @ocdtrekkie @whitequark @grumpybozo Some early DDR5 motherboards also came with stickers warning you that the first boot may take 10-20 minutes without showing anything on the screen.

                                        ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO This user is from outside of this forum
                                        ocdtrekkie@mastodon.socialO This user is from outside of this forum
                                        ocdtrekkie@mastodon.social
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #19

                                        @jernej__s @whitequark @grumpybozo Yeah, these are early DDR5s.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • whitequark@social.treehouse.systemsW whitequark@social.treehouse.systems

                                          @schrotthaufen i touch servers only in my free time

                                          truly, if hell on earth exists this is it

                                          schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                                          schrotthaufen@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                                          schrotthaufen@mastodon.social
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #20

                                          @whitequark My deepest condolences

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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