Dell PowerEdge 2950: Thoughts?

R

ryanvade

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Hello everyone,
I am looking for a good server. Thinking about a Dell PowerEdge 2950 available here: bit.ly/1lAsbQL
My worry is the Broadcom Nextreme II BCM5708. It should work but....its Broadcom. Then again it is an old chipset and not a wireless chip.

Anyone else see some issues with this box?
 


My worry is the Broadcom Nextreme II BCM5708. It should work but....its Broadcom.
It uses the bnx2 module (included in the kernel) which in turn loads proprietary microcode (also included in the kernel). I would suggest researching thoroughly before buying - it's a server after all and you want a reliable NIC. Apart from the broadcom NIC nothing else obvious stands out and it's quite old hardware.

What are you going to do with it/which OS is going on it?
 
Well, that was my thinking (broadcom NIC). I should be able to make it work...

This will be running Arch + Plex Media server + Handbrake-CLI + other gaming servers. I am thinking about a couple of HP proliant servers with similar amounts of ram and CPU cores but I would get 2 for the price of the one Dell.
 
Hi Ryan

I recently bought a Dell Poweredge 2950 II with the same Broadcom NIC (also to run Plex) and it all worked out of the box. The base install is Proxmox (ie Debian).

However, I have noticed that the NIC seems slow - the max throughput I am getting is about 10Mb/s, even if I attach my MBP directly to the Dell. Not sure yet if this is an issue with the driver or something else.

If all else fails I'm going to install another NIC via a PCIe slot.

Rob
 
Hi Ryan

I recently bought a Dell Poweredge 2950 II with the same Broadcom NIC (also to run Plex) and it all worked out of the box. The base install is Proxmox (ie Debian).

However, I have noticed that the NIC seems slow - the max throughput I am getting is about 10Mb/s, even if I attach my MBP directly to the Dell. Not sure yet if this is an issue with the driver or something else.

If all else fails I'm going to install another NIC via a PCIe slot.

Rob
Thank you. :)
 

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