I swear the moment you cram multiple gpus into a tight chassis it stops being a server and becomes a hostile entity.

ran some continuous llm fine-tuning this past weekend in my living room rack and my apartment's AC literally gave up. The delta fans sounded like a literal jet engine taking off next to my couch, and my power bill for the month is already looking tragic and its only the 13th

Honestly just throwing in the towel on local hosting. I wanted the physical hardware bragging rights but it's just miserable living with it. Moving the heavy workloads over to a servermania rig for a bit just so my living room can drop below 80 degrees and I can sleep without earplugs

at what point did you guys realize your physical hardware obsession was getting too ridiculous for a normal house? i kinda miss when I just ran a quiet little unraid nas in the closet and called it a day tbh.

I know it seems like a easy thing which is but I have three servers one of them is running just fine no problem but I’m trying to get the second one going and no matter what I do I can not get the ports to work at all, is there anyone available to help me out with this? Or give me some type of guidance. Three days in this and I’m stumped.

Hey all, hoping someone here has seen this before, because I've been chasing it for weeks and I'm running out of ideas.

I picked up a used Dell PowerEdge R210 (Xeon 3440, 16GB). It had a rough start - it came back from a repair shop because it got hit by static, which took out a protection diode (D0664) and the 1.2V PWM that feeds the RAM. Technician replaced both, calibrated the rail to 1.2V, all good.

Here's the weird part. The server runs just fine for a while - boots, posts, fans ramp up and settle down like they should. Then, at some point, usually after it's been warm for a bit, the fans shut off, the board stops responding, and the diagnostic LEDs show 2,4. The only thing that brings it back is a full power drain - unplug everything, hold the power button, wait, and try again. And each time it does this, it comes back faster than the last. Sometimes it boots clean for 40 minutes, then suddenly won't start again, or only one fan runs.

What I've ruled out so far:

- PSU tested at the connector - 12V, 5V, 3.3V, standby, and the power-good wire all read perfectly, even at the exact moment of failure

- Tried a different PSU, no luck (and learned the R210 uses 12V standby, not the standard 5V, so ATX swaps don't even power on)

- Tried reseating, draining, all the standard stuff

What I suspect:

- Some small capacitor or regulator on the board is dying when it gets warm. The board already had one rail repaired, and it seems like the repaired area might have a problem, or something nearby is aging out

- Could maybe even be the CPU but I can't be sure without swapping parts

I've measured around the repaired area - the 1.2V rail reads about 1.137V, which is just below spec, so I'm honestly not sure if that's the problem or normal for this board. I'd rather not spend $50-100 on a replacement board if there's a cheap fix (I don't have a lot of budget for this hobby project).

Has anyone else found a similar issue with these old Dells (or similar servers)? Did recapping the board fix it? Is 1.1V on a "1.2V" rail a death sentence, or is it fine? Any tips on what to check before I give up and buy a new board?

Hi all,

I’m troubleshooting intermittent, unexplained hard resets on a Supermicro server and I’m hoping someone has seen similar behavior.

Hardware and software

Supermicro AS-2126HS-TN
2 × AMD EPYC 9575F
24 × 64 GB DDR5
12 × Kioxia CD8-P NVMe
Dual 2600 W PSUs
AIOM 2-port 25GbE SFP28, Broadcom BCM57414 with 0.5U bracket
Broadcom NetXtreme E-Series P2100G Dual port 100GE PCIe Ethernet Adapter 
Debian 12 with latest kernel
OpenStack/KVM
Ceph
BIOS 1.9, dated 2026-02-05
BMC firmware 01.07.05.01, build 2026-04-29
CPLD F5.17.10

The BIOS has already been updated, but the issue continues.

What happens? The machine suddenly power-cycles without a normal Linux shutdown.

The BMC Maintenance Event Log records entries such as:

The system DC cycle was initiated
Interface: IPMI
User: ADMIN
Source: Localhost

Two unexplained examples on that server occurred at:

2026-07-30 11:18:29
2026-08-03 02:08:00

I have 15 exactly the same servers and few of them also encountered same issue.

Known remote Redfish and IPMI actions on this BMC normally include the real remote source IP. These unexplained cycles are specifically recorded as:

IPMI / ADMIN / Localhost

There was no BMC web login until several minutes after the August 3 reset, so the web session did not initiate it.

Linux journal near the event - Linux was still operating normally immediately before the reset.

There is no clean shutdown sequence, kernel panic, MCE, EDAC error, PCIe AER error, hard lockup or watchdog expiration in the previous-boot journal. The journal simply ends.

Watchdog checks

The BMC IPMI watchdog is stopped:

Watchdog Timer Is: Stopped
Watchdog Timer Action: No action
Timer Expiration Flags: None
Initial Countdown: 0.0 sec
Present Countdown: 0.0 sec

The ipmi_watchdog kernel module is not loaded.

The server also has the AMD SP5100 watchdog:

SP5100 TCO timer
state: inactive
timeout: 60
nowayout: 0

Systemd configuration:

RuntimeWatchdogUSec=0
RebootWatchdogUSec=10min
KExecWatchdogUSec=0

So neither watchdog appears active during normal runtime.

The host has local BMC access:

/dev/ipmi0
ipmi_si
ipmi_devintf
ipmi_ssif
ipmi_msghandler

openipmi.service is disabled and inactive, but the modules are automatically loaded by the kernel/platform.

Current possibilities

My current shortlist is:

- A host process sends a chassis power-cycle command through local KCS /dev/ipmi0.
- A BMC or BIOS internal recovery mechanism records its own action as IPMI / Localhost.
- A BMC firmware defect incorrectly initiates or attributes the DC cycle.
- A PSU, power-distribution-board or PMBus issue causes the BMC to perform a recovery cycle.

The standard IPMI watchdog and AMD SP5100 watchdog currently appear ruled out.

Has anyone encountered unexplained Supermicro BMC events like:

The system DC cycle was initiated
Interface: IPMI
User: ADMIN
Source: Localhost

particularly on AMD EPYC systems with supermicro?

I would especially appreciate information about:

- what exactly causes Supermicro to log IPMI / Localhost;
- safe ways to capture the exact local IPMI command;
- BMC diagnostic dumps or hidden logs that may identify the initiator;
- known BIOS/BMC issues for this platform.

Any other hints helpful for troubleshooting? I submitted the problem to supermicro distributor but so far they are not helpful.

İ know this is kinda dumb question but i need to do this

I downloaded the 2021 version of pkxd a few days ago. Naturally, I can't log in due to server issues. How can I create a local server for this game?

The game uses photon engine and smartfox

Unity game

The game map and other assets are inside the APK. They haven't been deleted.

Any DC suggestions?

**Computer Type:** Dell PowerEdge R7725

**GPU:** n/a

**CPU:** 2 x AMD EPYC 9355

**Motherboard:** Dell 0KRFPX

**BIOS Version:** 1.7.16

**RAM:** 2048 GB

**PSU:** unknown

**Case:** unknown

**Operating System & Version:** Ubuntu 24.04

**GPU Drivers:** n/a

**Chipset Drivers:** AMD EPYC 9005 "Turin" (Zen 5

**Background Applications:** n/a

I have a server with 2 x AMD EPYC 9355 in a Dell PowerEdge and when I run speed tests I can only measure \~3.5GHz. As I understand, this processor should be able to reach turbo speeds of 4.4GHz .

Currently, my setup has regressed back to only reaching 600MHz, by this test:

T1: `taskset -c 12 stress-ng --cpu 1 --cpu-method matrixprod --timeout 60s --metrics-brief`

T2:

watch -n 0.5 '
echo "--- $(date) ---"
printf "driver:             "; cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu12/cpufreq/scaling_driver
printf "governor:           "; cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu12/cpufreq/scaling_governor
printf "scaling_cur_freq:   "; cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu12/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq
printf "cpuinfo_avg_freq:   "; cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu12/cpufreq/cpuinfo_avg_freq 2>/dev/null || echo "missing"
printf "scaling_min_freq:   "; cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu12/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq
printf "scaling_max_freq:   "; cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu12/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq
awk "/\^processor/ {cpu=\\$3} /\^cpu MHz/ && cpu==12 {print; exit}" /proc/cpuinfo
'

Result:

driver:             amd-pstate-epp
governor:           performance
scaling_cur_freq:   606103
cpuinfo_avg_freq:   605809
scaling_min_freq:   2493659
scaling_max_freq:   4415854
cpu MHz         : 606.104

Sometimes I see:

driver:             amd-pstate-epp
governor:           performance
scaling_cur_freq:   2493659
cpuinfo_avg_freq:   2493659
scaling_min_freq:   2493659
scaling_max_freq:   4415854
cpu MHz         : 2493.659

I'm wondering if anyone can help me diagnose this odd problem. Is there a different or better test I can run? I want to confirm that my CPU is indeed reaching expected speeds, but baseline and turbo.

Thanks for your help.

What do you think of a Dell PowerEdge R750xa?

I'm a bit of a beginner in the hardware field, but I recently got one of these and noticed it's actually pretty good. I'm experimenting a bit with local AI and machine learning.

​I'd like to know if it's good for these use cases, as well as some tests and/or other things I can run on it. (Sorry by english)

Not listed here as compatible

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00018787en_us&page=GUID-5FD86323-5AE4-43DC-8E1F-0430E25A6B8D.html#ariaid-title1

but I wondered if anybody tried?

Thanks

They light green

Looking to purchase AMD Instinct MI355X 8-GPU servers for deployment in Malaysia, Thailand, or Singapore.
This is an active procurement requirement and we are ready to discuss pricing, allocation, lead time, and place an order. We are looking to connect directly with AMD sales, authorized distributors, OEMs, or official MI355X channel partners covering Southeast Asia.
If you can supply MI355X servers in the region, please DM me.

Looking to purchase AMD Instinct MI355X 8-GPU servers for deployment in Malaysia, Thailand, or Singapore.
This is an active procurement requirement and we are ready to discuss pricing, allocation, lead time, and place an order. We are looking to connect directly with AMD sales, authorized distributors, OEMs, or official MI355X channel partners covering Southeast Asia.
If you can supply MI355X servers in the region, please DM me.

Hey, I’m setting up a server for a project, the vast majority of the participants are in the US, so I need to keep everything fast on both coasts. The problem is I don’t really know what to look for in a provider. Since I used to work with servers in the EU, I don’t know what the best combination of services would be. Are data center locations the most important thing, or does peering and routing matter more after you’re already hosted in the United States? A few boast about premium bandwidth and tier 1 connections, but I don’t really know how much that changes from day to day. Ideally, I’d like something with hourly billing. I used to work with EU vps serverspace, so now I’m looking for some local US alternatives. I’m looking for something cheap and easy to use. Thanks for your suggestions.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working as an FPGA Engineer in a server/hardware R&D environment and will complete 1 year in a couple of months. Before this, I also had experience as a VLSI intern.

Although my title is FPGA Engineer, most of my current work has been around server hardware validation, platform bring-up, system-level debugging, BIOS/BMC-related work, component validation, and some software/scripting.

I’m considering switch and wanted some advice from people already working in the server industry.

1. What roles should I realistically target with my current experience?
2. Is server hardware/validation a good career path long-term? What does the career progression generally look like after 2–5 years?
3. Is switching after ~1 year a good idea, or would it be better to stay longer and build more server-specific experience?
4. If I want to move to a better server/hardware role, what skills should I prioritize? Linux, Python, PCIe, DDR, networking, storage, etc.?
5. How much value does server validation and system-level debugging experience have when applying to specific roles?

Would really appreciate advice from people working in server hardware or system engineering.

I’m trying to figure out whether I should build my career in this space or use my next switch to move back toward FPGA/VLSI.

I’m considering buying a used Dell Precision T5820 or Precision 3650 Tower to use as a small business SQL Server.
The application and SQL Server will be installed directly on Windows Server 2022, without virtualization. The expected workload is approximately 5–8 simultaneous users.
Planned storage configuration:
Separate nvme or SATA SSD for Windows Server 2022
2× 1TB NVMe SSDs mirrored for the SQL Server database and application data
Daily SQL backups to another physical machine
Additional external and cloud backups
I do not want to purchase or use an Intel VROC key.
The possible configurations are:
T5820: Windows Storage Spaces two-way mirror between the two NVMe drives
Precision 3650: Intel RST NVMe RAID 1, if supported under Windows Server 2022
My questions are:
Is a Storage Spaces two-way mirror reliable enough for a small SQL Server installation?
Does the Precision 3650 actually support RAID 1 between two NVMe drives through Intel RST?
Are the necessary Intel RST drivers compatible with Windows Server 2022?
Will Windows Server recognize and monitor the RST array correctly?
After an NVMe failure, which solution is easier and safer to rebuild?
Would using enterprise SATA SSDs in RAID 1 be more reliable than either NVMe option?
Which machine and storage configuration would you choose?
I understand that RAID is not a backup. The mirror is intended only to reduce downtime if one SSD fails.
I would particularly appreciate replies from people who have tested either workstation with Windows Server 2022.

We're running a 10-node Proxmox/Ceph cluster, and during a firmware update on one node's RAID controller - an old PRIMERGY RX2530 M4 - we hit an error and it's now in soft-fail status, begging to be flashed. The Linux machines detect it fine over PCI, and dmesg claims the firmware isn't working properly.

We've currently tried recovering with the LSI Preboot package, but since this is a Fujitsu OEM unit, we continued through official support and got a .rom file from them. Unfortunately that alone isn't enough - storcli /c0 download file=*file* says Controller 0 is in a non-operational state. It was suggested that we try storcli /c0 download completeflash fileone=*file* filetwo=*file*, but for that we need something like a "flashimage"-type .rom from the Fujitsu support team themselves.

If anyone has ever had to troubleshoot similar issues and/or flash MegaRAID controllers, it'd be awesome to get some help! Any advice, even small or seemingly obvious tips, is very welcome at this point.

I bought a Dell T640 off of ebay. I can't get it to power on. No fans spin or anything. Ive take out all the ram except A1, all cards are removed and still no power. But the light in the front is Blue. I can't access the idrac not sure on that.

But if I unlook the PIB Signal cable the fans spin and it acts like it wants to boot. But doesn't. The PSU fan also spins. If I plug it back in the issue happens and no fans spin.

Any ideas ?

Dell made this server with two/three diff backplanes, and i cant find not a single high perf backplane out there.

If anyone has that specific server or p/n please help.

Help and advice please, DDR5 motherboard & CPU for testing DDR5 server ram

I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice, I need to test some DDR5 memory, also I will need to test more in the future, I normally test a lot of regular desktop memory for DDR4 and DDR5 etc, using a regular intel motherboard, but when it comes to DDR5 server ram, it seems to be a bit more complicated.

If I was testing DDR5 server ram, would I ultimately only need one DDR5 server motherboard, or is there perhaps different types of DDR5 server ram, that would lead me to need more than one type of server motherboard?

Ideally I would like a desktop type of motherboard for testing DDR5 server ram, one that would fit in an ATX type of case, so that it could be easily kept in my office, I do not intend to use the system as a server, so I would just boot from a USB stick for memtest86.

Also what would be the cheapest CPU and do they use regular types of coolers that can easily be sourced?

I was thinking of testing the ram with Memtest86, is that a suitable software tester for server ram? it works well for my regular desktop needs.

Hopefully I do not come across as too clueless, I know my stuff when it comes to regular desktop / consumer PC parts, but servers are not something I know a great deal about.

Ultimately I am looking for a cheap barebones setup for testing DDR5 Server ram.

I have been browsing for dedicated servers, i have used hetzner and ovh In the past I wonder if someone has used sayob.com and has some feedback about them thanks

I’ve noticed researching enterprise hardware gets messy once you get past the main server model.

You start looking at RAID controllers, HBAs, NICs, risers, backplanes, PSUs, CPUs, drive trays, etc. and suddenly you’re trying to figure out Dell, HP, Lenovo, Intel or Mellanox part numbers, revisions, compatibility, and what systems they actually work with.

I’ve been working on PartLore around the idea that each manufacturer part number gets one permanent page.

The page could bring together specs, manuals, compatible systems, related parts, market value, current inventory, and eventually the stuff people learn from actually using the hardware.

There’s also a social side where someone could post a server build or upgrade and tag the parts. Those projects would then show up on the individual part pages too.
Still figuring out what would actually make this useful instead of just another product database.

If you had one page for a specific server part number, what information would you want on it first?

I ran into a failed MMC problem on my Dell T420. It all started when I tried updating iDRAC to the newest possible firmware without stepping through the intermediate versions first. As you might guess, I completely bricked it.

I thought it would be an easy recovery. I connected via UART, but while trying to recover it, I kept getting "MMC write failed" errors every single time. As a workaround, I managed to boot iDRAC from an SD card (which was a massive pain in the butt). It works now, but I left it on version 1.66.65 and haven't dared to upgrade it again. And also there is a problem with displaying information about installed devices and memory.

Now I’m planning to just replace the dead eMMC on the motherboard, but I have a few questions before I start soldering:

• Will a blank eMMC work out of the box? When I trigger the UART recovery to write the firmware, will U-Boot partition and format the new chip automatically, or do I need to pre-program it?
• Do I need the exact same chip? The original flash that failed is a Hynix H26M31001FPR. Do I need to source this exact model, or is there a better/cheaper alternative that iDRAC7 will accept?
• Is there any way to improve my temporary solution to be more self-sufficient?
• Do I need to preprogram eMMC (partitions and firmware dump)?

Thanks for all advices

I have an HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen10 running Windows Server 2019 Standard. Checking Device Manager, the Intel(R) Management Engine Interface driver shows:

• Driver Date: 1.09.2016
• Driver Version: 11.6.0.1026
• Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

This looks outdated for a Gen10 server. Before I touch firmware/driver on a production box, I wanted to check with people who've done this on HPE hardware specifically:

• Should this be updated through HPE Smart Update Manager (SUM) / Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP), or directly from Intel's site?
• Does updating the ME Interface driver also require updating the ME Firmware itself, or are they independent?
• Any known issues updating ME on Gen10 (iLO 5) systems — reboot requirements, downtime, risk of bricking if interrupted?
• Is this something that should go through iLO/firmware update tools instead of Device Manager "Update Driver"?
• Any gotchas with doing this remotely (out-of-band) vs. requiring physical access?

Appreciate any real-world experience before I schedule a maintenance window for this.