Search Term Reviews: October 23rd Edition

Given that I’m trying to get back into a regular schedule of posting (and the relative frequency of “interesting” search phrases that lead people here), I hereby present the October 23rd Search Term Edition post!  In case you missed last week’s, you can find it here.

With further ado, let’s get started.

Search Term #1:  AX4-5

So, I know the term is vague, but I figured that I’d point you to some great resources for your AX4-5.

Did you know there’s an AX4-5 microsite @ EMC.com?  If not, here’s the link.  On the support site, you can learn about the AX4-5, map out installation instructions (wizard-based; very cool!), register and download software (FLARE patches, etc.), and get basic support information and help.  Additionally, there’s a link to the hardware support matrix (important!) as well as a FAQ page.

Search Term #2: Tyan S5397

Funny enough, this has nothing to do with EMC (which is fine, btw.  happy to help out).  Essentially, my view of the Tyan S5397 is this:  It’s probably the best Intel Seaburg (5400 series chipset) mainboard on the market right now.  Don’t get me wrong; the Supermicro X7DWA-N mainboard is decent as well, but, when I’m looking for workstation leadership, it’s Tyan that comes to the fore.  People have griped about the missing sound ports (get a sound card) and perhaps the size of the mainboard (it’s eATX) but 16 dimm slots for DDR2-800 ECC/Registered memory as well as dual Xeon 5400-series CPU support is nothing to sneeze at.

For what it’s worth, if you’re an AMD guy (like myself), you’re going to best served by the venerable Tyan S2915-E series mainboard (with AMD Shanghai support coming soon!).

Search Term #3: esx 3.5 update 2 + mcp55 sata controller drivers

Based on research that others have done (and I’ve been permitted to see) it appears that ESX 3.5 Update 2 resolves some of the PCIID allocation issues that I mentioned in previous postings.  This is GREAT news if you’re doing a fresh install; if you’re doing an inline upgrade, you’re going to have follow that process.

Closing Thoughts:

That’s it for this week.  Keep reading and feel free to toss me any questions that you have!

cheers,

Dave Graham

Tagged as: Central processing unit, DDR2 SDRAM, Intel, Search, Supermicro, Tyan, VMware ESX Server, Xeon