ASRock Rack C2750D4I Review: A Storage Motherboard with Management
by Ian Cutress on April 29, 2014 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Storage
- Atom
- ASRock
- Silvermont
- Enterprise
- server
- Avoton
ASRock C2750D4I Conclusion
There are many aspects to the C2750D4I that make you sit up and think. The combination of a proper 8-core CPU (even if it is based on Silvermont rather than Haswell) at under 25W powering a GPU capable system with up to twelve SATA drives, dual Intel NICs, up to 64 GB DRAM and management control is merely part of the perspective of this review. The purpose of this motherboard was ultimately cold storage, however many users are finding regular storage uses for it.
Ganesh currently has this motherboard and is more suited to testing the storage aspects of the motherboard than I, however in this review we focused on usability and the package as well as the other system performance.
If we look at the motherboard on paper it makes for interesting reading, and that functionality comes across as positive, however there are a couple of misses. The lack of USB 3.0 might be a cause for concern should a user need to transfer a sizable amount of data that way. The motherboard offers a possibility of a dual NAS/HTPC combination in the home, however the lack of onboard audio means that other methods will have to be used in order to do the HTPC part.
The BIOS and Software stack is server focused, and it is perhaps a shame that more from the channel side was not brought over now that this is a consumer-facing product. The ability to adjust the fans in the OS would be the best place to start, as the management interface fails to offer this and leaves the BIOS as the sole place for configuration. Also updating the BIOS is not as straightforward as ASRock’s channel line.
Having a management interface on a mini-ITX motherboard is rather interesting, especially one that offers control via a Java app and can record what is happening on screen should things go wrong. While it has been said that IPMI is vulnerable to Heartbleed, the interface should not be in a public-facing environment anyway.
Users wanting a storage platform with more than 8/10 SATA devices have in the past needed to invest in a RAID card or something extravagant like ASRock’s Extreme11 series of socketed motherboards or high-end server platforms. Now that the C2750D4I is available for casual purchase at $398, there is that route for home builds. ASRock Rack, the server element of ASRock, needs to develop an understanding of what customer-facing products have to be in order for users to see its products as more than just functional. The choice of Marvell controllers will be bemoaned by some users, especially if the aforementioned reports are prevalent.
When Intel’s next line of Atom-based processors hits the market, I hope ASRock build an updated version in a similar style and take on board the comments of current users. While a niche market, the users in that market are always looking for the ideal system build for their needs and it requires some lateral thinking from the motherboard manufacturers.
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mars2k - Saturday, May 31, 2014 - link
I'm with you Up, how did this get sidetrac'd into HTPC, I'm looking for an alternative to some of the stock Qnap and Synology geer for use in my home. Want NAS box with lots of tru put. Not clear on why Ian says no NAS. Whats up with configuring as a NAS? Any other suggestionssamueldes - Thursday, November 27, 2014 - link
Before you buy: the Areca PCIe X8 card won't fit in the ASUS AM1 board with only one PCIe X4 slot.Ammohunt - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
Avoton supports intels visualization extensions with 64GB of RAM and 8 cores it could be a decent low powered KVM server sliced up in many different ways.stoatwblr - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
I have to say I'm surprised they didn't go with minisas connectors instead of a fistful of satas. Supermicro have done the same thing and it simply doesn't make sense.Samus - Friday, May 2, 2014 - link
yeah they could have saved a ton of real estate using mini plugs. Even full sized servers like HP's ML310 series use mini plugs to keep the board clean. Even more important on an ITX board. This board has a lot of oversights, which ASRock will learn is unacceptable in the market they're targeting it at.ericloewe - Friday, May 2, 2014 - link
Bad idea in this case, since they're using SATA instead of SAS. Someone would inevitably try to use this with an SAS expander...But I agree with Supermicro having made an odd choice. Their LSI2308-equipped motherboards would be perfectly equipped with SAS connectors.
speculatrix - Sunday, May 4, 2014 - link
if you're looking more for a media player you can plug into your TV, then one of the many other Baytrail-D motherboards would be suitable... there's a useful list and discussion of them here:http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php...
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
i'm probably one of the core target prosumers for this, as for a few years now i've been running something similar at home...namely a sandybridge itx board, 35 Watt i3, ecc ram, supermicro low profile (lsi) sas controller, supermicro 24x (lsi) sas expander backplane, 400w passive psu, passive cpu cooler, 18 sata 2.5" hdds (5200rpm - WD scorpio blue / hitachi travelstar)
and while this board fits my requirements wonderfully while being cheap there is just one dealbreaker... 12x sata? wtf? no-one sane will run so many hdds without a backplane. it's just unmanageable.
the most simple backplane with 12 sata plugs + some power plugs & 12 correctly spaced hdd plugs woud do. and could be manufactured & sold very cheaply. but there is no such thing... (step up asrock :)
bernstein - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
to the point: give me such a backplane for below $100 and im sold. else thanks but no thanks.ZeDestructor - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
With 18 drives, you might want to consider a BackBlaze pod with room for 45 drives, especially now that we have 32 and 40 disk controllers. That with some ZFS would be quite an excellent NAS IMO, and I am heading that way, slowly.