Supermicro Atom 330 Dual-Core 1.6GHz Barebone Server

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RAID 0/1/5/10, 1 x 3.5" internal drive bay
wow, it supports raid but it doesn't support raid since the case can't hold more than one drive...
i would consider this false advertising as this 1U server really doesn't support raid as is.

It supports 2x 2.5inch drives if you had read it... but anyone serious about their server would not be using the onboard software raid in the first place.

#2 where did you see software RAID? With ICH7R south bridge, this server is capable of hardware RAID 0/1/5/10.

doesgof: the case can hold two 2.5" drives if you purchase the appropriate bracket (see newegg reviews).

the pci-express slot is supposedly the same way: you need a riser to use it.

4 virtual cores (dual core + hyper-threading) make it interesting, but the memory limitation (2 GB) is a handicap for a server (aggressive file & data caching). it's that horrible chipset (945) intel mated with the atom: large process size (90nm), high tdp (22W), & memory limitation (2GB). intel netbooks have the same problem, though the newer chipset (us15w) is a little better (2.3W tdp, no sata, 2GB max), but i don't know what chipset intel will use for their next generation of nettop processors (nm10?) and its features.

the ethernet controllers have nice features (tcp checksum & segmentation offload), but being realtek (vs intel) i wonder about driver stability (windows) or maturity/features (linux).

interesting, but i do too much occasional processing on my server (vs just moving bits around) and the form factor is a detriment (lack of drive space, little expansion slot support), not a benefit in the smb market.

#4, you win today's "Best and Most Complete Technical Reply That Is Totally Beyond Most Ben's Users' Ability To Grok" award.

#4, do you actually get 4 virtual cores? I have a dual quad-core system and both ubuntu and xp see it as only 8 virtual cores (along with the BIOS). I thought that the dual/quad core stuff replaced hyper-threading.

Also, I agree that the old chipset and lack of memory expandability cripple this potential server. There have and will be better deals.

#6 Intel Atoms and i7 processors have hyperthreading again

#3 I apologize, what I meant is that the onboard raid controller is capable of around software raid performance... aka not very beneficial.

The ultralow voltage / energy efficient Intel Atom lines are not designed for server application but for Nettop/Netbook/Mobile Internet Devices. This one 1U is not that 1U.

So Ben, what are you smoking?!

Well, Microsoft research labs are researching the possibilities to use Intel Atom to build a cloud to significantly brings down the electricity cost on a large cloud data center usage. But that's whole new different scenario - because you need 10s of thousands of this Intel Atom chips to make up the computing power - which would be never applicable for personal server farms.

And large corporations won't even look up these server deals, most of the hardware racks are almost always custom built.

Got one of these a week ago for $220. Put 2gb ram in it, XP pro sp2, patched the tcpip.dll and now have 12 concurrent remote connections on it. All running simple desktop apps. Runs at about 30% cpu with less than a gig of ram being used.

These boxes are sweet. Supermicro provides drivers for the chipset, network adapters and video on their website for MS OS's.

Haven't tried linux, but everything is pretty standard. I'm sure it will run fine.

You can put 2 2.5" drives in here without the adapter. there is enough space and you can get at least 1 screw in each drive.

I'm running with a single 32gb ssd which I'll ghost. For my application I do not need raid.

Runs almost silent (amazing with 40mm fans on the ps and cpu!), with nearly no heat (the northbridge is the only thing that gets warm).

Weighs less than 10lbs, can easily rackmount w/o rails. Supports two comm ports, has 6 internal usb headers and a full usb connector on the board too!

Other great applications of this box would be Untangle, Smoothwall, WHS, etc...

The only possible downside is the internal power supply. A lot of these atom boxes are using external bricks. I think I would prefer one of those vs the microATX ps that this one comes with.

#8, it is software raid. Funny thing when those so quick to try and point out hardware vs software raid don't even know what is what and why it would matter.

For the record, today the excuses for hardware raid are very few when you don't have the capability of a lot of drives, when CPUs are multiple times faster than the need to be, and when it doesn't actually rely on software it relies on firmware or hadn't anyone noticed an array can be rebuilt outside of the operating system on software raid? Only real difference is where calculations are offloaded and whether there's an additional layer of caching which is also less important when systems have so much faster and more memory.


4 virtual cores don't make it interesting, any modern OS is multithreaded and one good single core outperforms 4 virtual Atoms. It's role is a light duty server, not to take the place of a better endowed system.

#11, the external bricks are just more stuff tethered and are less reliable due to no active cooling, higher thermal density as well as space constraints. They are used to trick the user into seeing it as a smaller system which isn't a factor in rack form factor, or to give versatility in power input which is also not much of a factor in a rack.

I'm not defending purchase of one though, it's kinda silly for a one-off server to not go with a more competent CPU, which will throttle back in speed and voltage to make total system power consumption not much different, especially if a more power conservative chipset than 945 is chosen.

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