BabyDragon Hardware Compatibility List
This is the complete Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for the BabyDragon reference ESXi system. Hardware which does not appear on the HCL may be compatible and supported, but has not been tested or verified. Hardware on this list is specifically known to work with and be compatible with VMware ESXi 4.0U1 and later. ESXi 4.1 and later are recommended.
All hardware is either tested and verified by myself, other people who have built and tested BabyDragons, or based on manufacturer statement or certification.
Base Motherboard
- Supermicro X8SIL-F
- BIOS update to 1.0C or later is required to use VTx functions.
- IPMI firmware update to 2.0.1 or later is required for all use cases.
Processors
- Intel Xeon® X3400-series processors (Socket 1156)
- Intel Xeon® L3400-series processors (Socket 1156)
Memory
- Please refer to the Manufacturer’s Tested Memory List.
- All Kingston memory listed as compatible by Kingston.
- 4x KVR1333D3D8R9S/4GHB is recommended for 16GB
- All Crucial Technology memory listed as compatible by Crucial Technology.
Disk (SATA on motherboard)
- Standard SATA hard disk drives, 5400RPM through 10,000RPM.
- All Intel® X25 and X18 series Solid State Drives (Gen 1 through Gen 2) with 3.5″ adapter.
- All STEC SATA-II Solid State Drives (Mach16 and Mach8)
- All SandForce-based Solid State Drives.
- Most other SSDs believed to be compatible, but untested.
Power Supplies
Peak draw for a BabyDragon with 2 15,000RPM disks and an X3400 processor is under 450W. In Balanced power mode, average draw will be under 200W without allowing disks to spin down. 80Plus Certified power supplies are tested at 20%/50%/80% load, so the aim is to hit the 50/80 load points for typical/peak. Modular is preferred due to limited cable space.
All power supplies must be ATX V2.2 or V2.3 with EPS12V, and cannot use P4->EPS (4 to 8 pin) adapters.
- SeaSonic X400 Gold (400W ATX 2.3) – Modular, 80Plus GOLD, Fanless
- SeaSonic X460 Gold (460W ATX 2.3) – Modular, 80Plus GOLD, Fanless
- SeaSonic X650 Gold (650W ATX 2.3) – Modular, 80Plus GOLD
Only recommended for systems with a minimum of 2 internal disks and 1-3 PCIe cards. - SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze (520W ATX 2.3) – Modular, 80Plus BRONZE
- SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze (520W ATX 2.3) – Fixed Cabling, 80Plus BRONZE
- Corsair 450VX (450W, ATX 2.2) – Fixed Cabling
- Corsair HX520 (520W, ATX 2.2) – Modular, 80Plus BRONZE
Only recommended for systems with a minimum of 2 internal disks. - Antec Signature 650W (650W, ATX 2.3) – Semi-Modular, 80Plus BRONZE
Do not use on systems without internal disks. Strongly recommended for large configurations. - Antec TruePower NEW 550W (550W, ATX 2.3) – Semi-Modular, 80Plus BRONZE
- Rosewill RG430-S12 (430W, ATX 2.3) – Fixed Cabling, 80Plus base
Tested by multiple people on Twitter. Actual efficiency unknown.
Expansion Cards
There is a 1GB/2GB addressable limitation for PCIe expansion cards due to the Intel 3420 chipset. This generally only affects graphics cards, but does affect some cards as detailed below. The PCI-Express layout of the X8SIL-F provides 2x PCI-Express 2.0 8 lane, 8x mechanical and 1x PCI-Express 2.0 4 lane, 8x mechanical. (Total 20 PCI-Express lanes in 3 slots hardwired 2×8 1×4.)
- All Expansion Cards Listed on the VMware Hardware Compatibility List except as noted below.
- ALL full-length expansion cards are mechanically incompatible with the V351 and V352 chassis.
- 3Ware RAID controllers – may not have >1GB of cache installed or present.
- Adaptec RAID controllers – may not have >1GB of cache installed or present.
- Areca RAID controllers – may not have >1GB of cache installed or present.
- LSI RAID controllers – may not have >1GB of cache installed or present.
- All nVidia graphics cards with >=1GB of graphics memory are incompatible.
- All ATI/AMD graphics cards with >=1GB of graphics memory are incompatible.
- Some PCI-Express or PCI Ethernet controllers using Intel i8257x family chips may require onboard Ethernet to be disabled via motherboard jumper.
