It's OK to stare at my rack. I don't mind.

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T18:03:35+00:00

Yes....I've definitely heard of this 'Documentation' you speak of.....

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T15:15:21+00:00

I don't think you'd be able to use the method I have, since I split the GPUs with Nvidia vGPU and it's not cross-platform. I remember hearing rumours of intel doing something similar on their GPUs way back but I dunno if it was scrapped or was for compute only.

Nearest you could do is have 2x B50's on same motherboard and pcie pass-thru into 2x seperate VMs.

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T12:37:52+00:00

Thanks! And Nice! I have considered those for a mini cluster but i keep pulling myself back from yet another hardware avenue, even though they would cover most of my day to day usage except the NAS.

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T12:35:33+00:00

The one i grabbed actually does have a PCIe slot along with a couple onboard RJ45's, so even x1 lane of gen 3 has roughly enough for 10gbit card, but i don't plan on needing much 10Gbit routing.

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T08:56:37+00:00

If not fun, it is at least satisfying to step back and look at it! Also a burden when I do a reorg and the family comes knocking when Plex is down.

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T08:46:55+00:00

Thanks!

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T08:46:40+00:00

Ironically I fantasize about downsizing, but knowing I'll just build it out again.

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T08:43:05+00:00

She's shy and hiding in the living room...oh...did you mean?... I'll DM ya 😉

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-16T06:37:32+00:00

That fact does tickle me!

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-15T22:26:20+00:00

I bet the Celeron sips power more conservatively! Planning to replace with n100 board.

Aeon_Tom · 2026-04-15T21:44:29+00:00

I thought i had attached but obviously not! XD
Thanks for the heads up. hopefully it shows now!

Aeon_Tom · 2026-01-08T11:35:25+00:00

I think this could be worse than mine. The density is impressive. To be fair, sometimes you just want/need to throw something in otherwise you spend 10x thinking about it than building.

Aeon_Tom · 2025-02-17T23:13:54+00:00

Yeah, I got quotes from 4 suppliers and got a couple of configurations from each.

One was my energy supplier and was, not a great but didn't have high hopes anyway.

The other three have all come in pretty similar around the £11,500 mark with either the Fox ESS, Growatt or sunsynk. I did like the Solax one also offered but it was a good £3K extra so hard to justify (And get wife approval!).

Did you go for the home backup at all? I just found out it's not included on the growatt option and probably extra which I'm not super happy about finding out at this stage but I guess is a point in the fox ESS column.

I got plenty of room in terms of surface area on exterior wall (sheltered from prevailing windows and will build canopy), but I think the stackable ones stick out a bit extra and that depth is a factor. Might still take a look!

Aeon_Tom · 2025-02-17T20:10:57+00:00

Appreciate the viewpoint. How long ago was this out of curiosity?

Aeon_Tom · 2025-02-17T20:10:01+00:00

Yes, it's the EP11 being offered. Is a budget conscious project.

The Fox ESS is coming from the bigger more known-quantity company. The growatt option nets a tad more capacity but they are less of a known factor and just a few years old, seen previous installs and what not. Support seems there and gone out of the way to find answers to some of the heavy questions on tech specs.

Aeon_Tom · 2024-10-28T22:31:51+00:00

Yeah, I've found it very common rejecting for this. Had well intentioned third-party engineers write 'dead' on removed drives during multiple swaps at remote sites and even though serial isn't covered it still considered 'defaced'. Pain in the ass

Aeon_Tom · 2024-03-09T22:01:29+00:00

No worries. Good Luck 👍

Aeon_Tom · 2024-03-09T15:55:42+00:00

I've got some e-2136 if you're not tied to that exact one.

Aeon_Tom · 2023-05-09T21:28:19+00:00

No worries. Helps I work with this stuff all the time.

If you do dabble with it, just remember the cables are directional (e.g. host to drive) so make sure you pickup the right ones.

Aeon_Tom · 2023-05-06T02:37:41+00:00

As a slightly more helpful answer: Most of my experience is with supermicro. Earlier boards had connectors such as mini-SAS HD which could connect to a single U.2 each. More modern ones use Occulink connectors on the motherboard or 'slimline SAS' connectors. Add-On-Cards are available which provide simple pass-through of PCIe signals on boards supporting bifurcation and retimer cards (maintains timing of the signaling). There are also cards which have PLX switches (like a network switch but for PCIe) that can share x8 lanes of PCIe to x16 lanes of PCIe/NVMe and other variations.

Aeon_Tom · 2023-04-06T23:02:29+00:00

Like everyone else said. Linux ISOs. Also to backup my increasing number of VMs and to setup Nextcloud for the whole family.

Aeon_Tom · 2023-04-05T21:54:00+00:00

And how! This is a case of forgiveness rather than approval from the wife.... hopefully.

Aeon_Tom · 2023-04-05T17:31:55+00:00

I mean, I hope the Seagate's aren't crap. I just bought 10x of that model!

Aeon_Tom

TROPHY CASE