Dell Poweredge C2100

BlizzardX · 22 Apr 2016 at 03:16

Hi

I'm still on the look out for a 'cheap' 12 bay 3.5" server for Xpenology and to replace my current system. Being in New Zealand, chassis are generally very expensive to get shipped and not many appear here at the right price.

I've seen a Dell Poweredge C2100 12 bay server which is much cheaper than anything I could get here, and cheaper than the equiavelent R510 which I know about. The problem is I don't know much about the C2100 apart from it was developed as a cluster based server and doesn't have the same management tools as a normal server; what this means though I have no idea as I acnnot find ANYTHING on them.

So, has anybody used C2100s in their server setups? If so, do you know what it has in place of iDRAC and how do you manage it remotely including remote KVM? For the most part, my iDRAC in the R410/R310s I own spend their time looking at power stats, remote KVM or power control... I don't use anything else... Would I have trouble with the C2100 or am I better of searching for a cheap used R510 or Supermicro 12 bay SAS2 chassis?

Any thoughts, help or direction is appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

jameshurrell · 22 Apr 2016 at 20:46

Have a read of this, it has some basic info which may help:
http://m.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/24/dell_cloud_servers/

BlizzardX · 22 Apr 2016 at 22:34

Thanks, that is pretty much what I've already gathered... They appear to be more quiet, but with less redundancy in the hardware relying on software for that, and the hardware can take more memory but has less spare PCI-e gen 2 slots available; only 2 x8 slots but it does have the mezzanine slot of 10G/QDR Infiniband cards.

My primary concern though is the remote management capabilities. Everything I've read suggests that they do not have iDRAC and that remote access is limited but so far I have found limited images/information to confirm this.

As long as it has a web gui that allows me to control power and remote KVM then that would be sufficient as I keep my IPMI/iDRAC as separate units and do not attach them to my Active Directory.

Caged · 23 Apr 2016 at 16:21

It's got IPMI which isn't iDRAC.

http://poweredgec.com/files/QSG_PowerEdge_C_System_Management.pdf

BlizzardX · 23 Apr 2016 at 20:41

Thanks caged, I know they where generally tied to software which managed them as part of a bigger cluster but the information on the web seems quite limited; to be expected I guess as they're a unique unit.

I'd much prefer a Dell R510 or Supermicro SAS2 chassis but they're carrying a $500 premium here in NZ.

BlizzardX · 23 Apr 2016 at 20:46

Caged said:
It's got IPMI which isn't iDRAC.

http://poweredgec.com/files/QSG_PowerEdge_C_System_Management.pdf

Ok so according to the manual it has KVM support and a web gui; appreciate its not iDRAC standard... Why can't I find any videos or pictures?!

nutcase · 23 Apr 2016 at 21:13

Are you able to get a disk shelf then something to hang it off?

BlizzardX · 23 Apr 2016 at 21:41

nutcase_1uk said:
Are you able to get a disk shelf then something to hang it off?

Had thought about that but would require new HBAs (or at least internal to external slots followed by the external cable; plus I was trying to free up a chassis for my gaming server which will be joining the rest of the units in the rack in the next few months.

Ideally a complete storage server is better as it will reduce the need for two units with 2 sets of PSUs and power consumption etc. They're still also expensive