Building a MicroATX low-profile i815 server... component advice?

[hans007]

leo if you really want to avoid that conflict if there is one, pick up a usb nic. yeah and his idea with the router is a good one, it costs more to get a working router system working, unless you are gonna use it as a print server / game server / cd burner box too, its probably better to just get a dedicated router.


LPX has the riser in the middle, this usually let there be more cards since the riser could have them on the left and right, but it was way more cluttered and had less airflow, so they made nlx with the riser all the way on the right. NLX has bigger cases, thus more airflow. Its just like ATX and AT, ATX isn't more efficient it takes up more space. But more airflow.

 

[Leo V]

Wolfman35: simple, hardware routers/firewalls are inflexible and limited. An actual Linux box running as a server/router/firewall would not only be much more flexible, but allow many more things I want to accomplish with it: fileserver, webserver, mailserver, Quakeserver, additional processing resource upon demand, etc etc.

My two existing computers will be connected to the server/router/firewall via a switch, but the server needs another nic for the actual SDSL hookup. Using an external nic kinda defeats my goal of having everything in an ultracompact package.

Since I actually found someone who might sell me a cheap Intel i810E motherboard (it's actually pretty expensive new), I'll have to rephrase my question to the only thing which matters: can I get Linux working with that additional PCI nic? (as in, effort notwithstanding). Thanks. If absolutely not, any alternative i810E FlexATX (or LPX) motherboards which allow it?

 

[Leo V]

Message fired off to Intel motherboard support:

"Hi,
I'm building an ultra-compact Linux server, and your D810EMO motherboard is perfect for my needs. However, I require installing a PCI network interface card in addition to the motherboard's onboard Intel nic (I need 2 ethernet interfaces).

While the PCI slot is definetely present, somebody told me the D810EMO won't allow using any additional nics. Is this true? Any specific nic model I should perhaps use?

A speedy response is greatly appreciated."

I'll get post their response once it arrives.

 

[Wolfman35]

Linux makes it even harder since Linux does ALL it's resource allocation straight from CMOS polling. Your best bet is to get a PCI NIC (since ISA is not an option for you w/810E) that is "configurable" ala Jumpers on the NIC. That solves the problem. Remember ... it's the memory addressing that conflicts...not the IRQ. Now you're going to ask me what PCI NIC has jumpers .... Right?

NIC's in Linux are just like Modems .... You need Hardware configuration to make them work properly. This opens a whole new can of Linus Worms.

Good luck with a response from Intel. Since the 810E is a retired board thier support is virtually non-existant. BTW: CompGeeks was selling the 810E w/LAN for $33 a few weeks back. (Rain on the bargain parade)

For BEST results in Linux use: BX chipset/Award BIOS/Configurable NIC. Linux on the 810E just isn't optimal anyway IMHO.

 

[Leo V]

"Now you're going to ask me what PCI NIC has jumpers .... Right?"

You just saw it coming! None of my four 3COM NIC's have jumpers, but I can always trade if I hit a brick wall. There are some decent PCI nics with jumpers, correct?

True, I wasn't looking for an easy installation, and I'll have plenty of time to mess with it. This is why I'm so uncompromising--this will become a learning experience for me. Of course, it's very opportune to anticipate this learning experience, and I greatly appreciate all the information you gave me.

 

[cableguy]

Give the 3-Com a shot and if you have a conflict just plug it into anther slot...

oops you only have one

I've been thinking about getting myself some nice 2U rackmount cases and a mini-rack.
I can't stand the space my towers take up now. I don't use that many PCI slots anyway.
http://www.antec-inc.com/product/cases/2u.html


Anybody else have a rack at home?

 

[Leo V]

OK, response from Intel support engineer:

"First the D810EMO is not designed for server applications and is not supported as such. I'm not aware of any known issues with installing a NIC in the PCI lot. The Intel(R) Pro/100+ has been tested."

So there is definitely hope. I'm buying the mobo tomorrow, but it'll be longer before the CPU/case get here.

Rackmounts are cool, but they cost blasphemous amounts of money for no apparent reason. For the case, I'm thinking about the CaseEdge Book-Size FlexATX case, <$50 from TechStore.

 

[ElFenix]

slim cd roms are hard to find, AFAIK.

i've had an SE440BX running just fine with a couple of NICs in it for months. dunno about linux though.

 

[Leo V]

I won't be using any CD-ROMs or floppies. My ideal case would have no external bays at all.

 

[Leo V]

Just received my D810EMO Intel motherboard. The BIOS appears to be American Megatrends. And I've never seen a smaller motherboard...it's almost toylike in size.