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HP Z400 notes

What to do when you get a desktop version of ubuntu and you want a server

sudo bash
apt-get update&&apt-get dist-upgrade && apt-get autoremove
nano /etc/hostname


root@joey:~# cd /etc/netplan/
root@joey:~# mv 01-network-manager-all.yaml /tmp/
root@joey:~# nano 50-cloud-init.yaml
network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    enp1s0:
        dhcp4: no
        dhcp6: no
  bridges:
    br0:
        dhcp4: no
        dhcp6: no
        addresses:
            - 192.168.0.65/24
        gateway4: 192.168.0.1
        nameservers:
            addresses:
                - 192.168.0.1
                - 198.202.31.141
        interfaces:
            - enp1s0

root@joey:~# netplan apply
root@joey:~# reboot


root@joey:~# apt-get install openssh-server


root@joey:~# nano /etc/default/grub
root@joey:~# update-grub
root@joey:~# systemctl enable multi-user.target --force
root@joey:~# systemctl set-default multi-user.target 
root@joey:~# reboot

Memory

Looking at the memory usage for that standalone desktop it seems like we could get by with 4G until we decide to use zfs or containers. Our file server is running 3 containers and 7T of zfs and uses 12.8G.(out of 21)

The cheapest memory I could find at present is on eBay at $4/G https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-8GB-2x4GB-Memory-RAM-PC3-10600-ECC-Unbuffered-HP-Compaq-Workstation-Z400/221132609031?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

On Board "Fake" Raid

The bios raid on the hpz400 is a bastardized spitwad created by intel hp and only seems to play well with micro$oft. The drivers which kind of worked under dmraid have been integrated into linux's mdraid drivers. The newfangled installer on 18.04 server (subiquity) breaks on it. The alternative installer installs an os on the raid array but it won't boot. You can boot it from another disk but it won't boot by itself.

Making it work

Since I purchased a 240G ssd for this server I installed ubuntu manually to a 10G partition on it, When installing the os activate the intel raid but not the sata raid. Rebooting the box gives you the option of booting to the bios raid array. From there you can chroot onto the boot disk and update the grub default to boot the other disk.

root@joey:~# mount /dev/sdd1 /mnt
root@joey:~# mount -t proc proc /mnt/proc
root@joey:~# mount -t sysfs sys /mnt/sys
root@joey:~# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
root@joey:~# chroot /mnt
root@joey:/# cd etc
root@joey:/etc# nano default/grub
...
GRUB_DEFAULT=2
root@joey:/etc# update-grub

On the other hand

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC0F8UV0008&ignorebbr=1&source=region&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC--pla-PC+Server+and+Parts--Hard+Drive+Controllers+%2F+RAID+Cards-_-9SIAC0F8UV0008&gclid=CjwKCAjwza_mBRBTEiwASDWVvrfrvrffm4o0noMgtv3UEV7bdZpf1JgLXy4v99kFnn_iNhMc7H2bPhoC7YoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds '' Note: There may be a bios upgrade to fix this however z400 will not boot from SmartArray P810 either.

Processor

System !#1

root@annie:~# dmesg|grep smp
[    0.000000] smpboot: Allowing 16 CPUs, 8 hotplug CPUs
[    0.044000] smpboot: CPU0: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           W3520  @ 2.67GHz (family: 0x6, model: 0x1a, stepping: 0x5)
[    0.044000] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
[    0.062447] smp: Brought up 1 node, 8 CPUs
[    0.062447] smpboot: Max logical packages: 2
[    0.064004] smpboot: Total of 8 processors activated (42670.64 BogoMIPS)

System !#2

root@joey:~# dmesg|grep smp
[    0.000000] smpboot: Allowing 16 CPUs, 14 hotplug CPUs
[    0.044000] smpboot: CPU0: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           W3503  @ 2.40GHz (family: 0x6, model: 0x1a, stepping: 0x5)
[    0.044000] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
[    0.046748] smp: Brought up 1 node, 2 CPUs
[    0.046748] smpboot: Max logical packages: 8
[    0.046748] smpboot: Total of 2 processors activated (9599.50 BogoMIPS)
root@joey:~#

Same after upgrade to 1xX5650 $10 on eBay.

root@DeeDee:~# dmesg|grep smp
[    0.000000] smpboot: Allowing 16 CPUs, 10 hotplug CPUs
[    0.044000] smpboot: CPU0: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X5650  @ 2.67GHz (family: 0x6, model: 0x2c, stepping: 0x2)
[    0.044000] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
[    0.060027] smp: Brought up 1 node, 6 CPUs
[    0.060027] smpboot: Max logical packages: 3
[    0.060027] smpboot: Total of 6 processors activated (32002.70 BogoMIPS)

Compared to BS2020:

root@bs2020:~# dmesg|grep smp
[    0.000000] smpboot: Allowing 24 CPUs, 0 hotplug CPUs
[    0.164444] smpboot: CPU 0 Converting physical 1 to logical package 0
[    0.172000] smpboot: CPU0: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X5650  @ 2.67GHz (family: 0x6, model: 0x2c, stepping: 0x2)
[    0.216015] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
[    0.004000] smpboot: CPU 1 Converting physical 0 to logical package 1
[    0.474623] smp: Brought up 2 nodes, 24 CPUs
[    0.480002] smpboot: Max logical packages: 2
[    0.484002] smpboot: Total of 24 processors activated (127681.26 BogoMIPS)

and kb2018

root@kb2018:~# dmesg|grep smp
[    0.000000] smpboot: Allowing 32 CPUs, 16 hotplug CPUs
[    0.140000] smpboot: CPU0: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5640  @ 2.67GHz (family: 0x6, model: 0x2c, stepping: 0x2)
[    0.176015] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
[    0.342596] smp: Brought up 2 nodes, 16 CPUs
[    0.346074] smpboot: Max logical packages: 4
[    0.348004] smpboot: Total of 16 processors activated (85310.05 BogoMIPS)

Upgrading the Processor

According to this thread the z400 with the 6 memory slots will support the Xeon 56xx family. https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/xeon-5600-brief.pdf

I purchased one on eBay for 10 bucks. I probably should have purchased 2

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163034026449