Supermicro SuperServer E300-9D-8CN8TP

Overview

Compact Mini-1U embedded server with Intel Xeon D-2146NT. Used in kvm-01 and kvm-02 hypervisors.

  • System Model: SYS-E300-9D-8CN8TP

  • Part Number: E300-15

  • Motherboard: X11SDV-8C-TP8F (embedded)

Specifications

Component Specification

Form Factor

Mini-ITX (6.75" x 6.75")

CPU

Intel Xeon D-2146NT (8-core, 16-thread, 2.3GHz base, 3.0GHz turbo)

Chipset

SoC (System on Chip)

RAM

4x DDR4 DIMM, up to 512GB ECC RDIMM/LRDIMM

Storage - M.2

2x M.2 (M-key, PCIe 3.0 x4, supports NVMe)

Storage - SATA

4x SATA III (6Gbps)

Network

2x 10GbE SFP+ (Intel X722) + 2x 10GBase-T (Intel X722)

IPMI

Integrated BMC (ASPEED AST2500)

PCIe

1x PCIe 3.0 x8 (in x16 slot)

USB

2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

Video

ASPEED AST2500 BMC (VGA)

TDP

80W (CPU)

Storage Configuration

M.2 Slots

Slot Location Recommended Drive

M.2-1

Near CPU

Samsung 980 Pro 2TB (OS)

M.2-2

Edge of board

Samsung 980 Pro 2TB (VM storage mirror)

Compatible NVMe Drives

Model Capacity Interface Notes

Samsung 980 Pro

1TB/2TB

PCIe 3.0 x4

Recommended - proven compatible

Samsung 970 EVO Plus

1TB/2TB

PCIe 3.0 x4

Budget option - slightly slower

WD Black SN850

1TB/2TB

PCIe 4.0 x4

Works at PCIe 3.0 speeds

Intel Optane P1600X

118GB/58GB

PCIe 3.0 x4

Boot drive only - ultra-low latency

Network Configuration

Port Layout

 [SFP+ 1] [SFP+ 2] [10GBase-T 1] [10GBase-T 2] [IPMI]
    │         │           │              │         │
    └─────────┴───────────┴──────────────┴─────────┘
              10GbE Networking (4 ports total)

Recommended Configuration

Port Connection Use Case

10GBase-T 1

Management switch (1G)

IPMI, SSH, management

10GBase-T 2

NAS (10G direct or switch)

VM storage, NFS

SFP+ 1

10G switch (if available)

VM traffic, vMotion

SFP+ 2

Unused/future

HA heartbeat

BIOS Settings

Recommended for Virtualization

Setting Value Location

Intel VT-x

Enabled

Advanced > CPU Configuration

Intel VT-d

Enabled

Advanced > CPU Configuration

SR-IOV

Enabled

Advanced > PCIe Configuration

C-States

Disabled

Advanced > CPU Configuration (for consistent performance)

Turbo Boost

Enabled

Advanced > CPU Configuration

Hyper-Threading

Enabled

Advanced > CPU Configuration

Boot Mode

UEFI

Boot > Boot Mode Select

Deployment Notes

kvm-01

Component Configuration

RAM

64GB (4x 16GB DDR4 ECC)

Storage

2x Samsung 980 Pro 2TB (NVMe)

OS

Rocky Linux 9 + libvirt/KVM

Network

10GBase-T 1 → Management, 10GBase-T 2 → NAS

kvm-02 (Planned)

Component Configuration

RAM

64GB (4x 16GB DDR4 ECC)

Storage

2x Samsung 980 Pro 2TB (NVMe)

OS

Rocky Linux 9 + libvirt/KVM

VMs Planned

vault-02, vault-03, k3s-master-02, k3s-master-03

Purchasing

System

  • Supermicro SYS-E300-9D-8CN8TP (Part Number: E300-15)

  • Embedded motherboard: X11SDV-8C-TP8F

  • MSRP: ~$2,000-2,500 (complete system with CPU)

  • Sources: Supermicro resellers, eBay (used)

Recommended Accessories

Item Qty Notes

Samsung 980 Pro 2TB

2

M.2 NVMe for OS/VMs

DDR4 ECC RDIMM 16GB

4

64GB total (check Supermicro QVL)

10GBase-T SFP+ module

2

If using SFP+ ports with RJ45

Mini-ITX case with 80W+ TDP support

1

Supermicro CSE-505 or similar

Known Issues

IPMI Java Console

Requires Java 8. Use ikvm or browser-based HTML5 console if available.

NVMe Boot

Some BIOS versions require NVMe firmware update for boot support. Update to latest BIOS first.

BMC/IPMI Reset

CMOS Reset (JBT1)

To reset CMOS (clears BIOS settings, NOT BMC):

  1. Power off completely

  2. Locate JBT1 jumper on motherboard

  3. Move jumper from Open (Normal) to Closed

  4. Wait 10 seconds

  5. Return jumper to Open position

  6. Power on

BMC Reset via ipmitool (Preferred)

If system boots but BMC IP is unknown, use local ipmitool:

# Load IPMI kernel modules
sudo modprobe ipmi_devintf
sudo modprobe ipmi_si

# Check current BMC LAN config
sudo ipmitool lan print 1

# Reset BMC to factory defaults
sudo ipmitool mc reset cold

# Set static IP
sudo ipmitool lan set 1 ipsrc static
sudo ipmitool lan set 1 ipaddr 10.50.1.201
sudo ipmitool lan set 1 netmask 255.255.255.0
sudo ipmitool lan set 1 defgw ipaddr 10.50.1.1

Upgrade Path (Successor Models)

The E300-9D uses Intel Xeon D-2100 series (2018, 14nm). Newer Ice Lake-D based systems offer PCIe 4.0 and 25GbE networking.

Comparison Matrix

Spec E300-9D-8CN8TP (Current) E300-12D-8CN6P 110D-16C-FRAN8TP E302-12D-8C

CPU

Xeon D-2146NT (8C/16T)

Xeon D-1736NT (8C/16T)

Xeon D-2775TE (16C/32T)

Xeon D-1736NT (8C/16T)

Process

14nm (2018)

10nm Ice Lake-D

10nm Ice Lake-D

10nm Ice Lake-D

PCIe

3.0

4.0 x16

4.0

4.0 x16

RAM Max

512GB

256GB

512GB

256GB

Network

2x 10G SFP+, 2x 10GbE, 4x 1GbE

2x 25G SFP28, 4x 1GbE

2x 25G SFP28, 2x 10GbE, 4x 1GbE

2x 25G SFP28, 4x 1GbE

Storage

1x 2.5" + 2x M.2

1x 2.5" + M.2

2x 2.5" + 6x SATA

1x 2.5" + 3x M.2

Cooling

Fans

Fans

Fans (800W PSU)

Fanless (silent)

Form Factor

Mini-1U (10" x 1.7" x 8.9")

Mini-1U (10" x 1.7" x 8.9")

Standard 1U rack

Mini-1U (11.6" x 3" x 8.1")

Price (approx)

$2,000-2,500

~$1,050 (barebone)

Contact reseller

Contact reseller

SYS-E300-12D-8CN6P (Direct Successor)

Same Mini-1U chassis as E300-9D. Best drop-in replacement.

  • CPU: Intel Xeon D-1736NT (8-core, 10nm Ice Lake-D)

  • Key Upgrades: PCIe 4.0, 25GbE SFP28, QAT crypto acceleration

  • Use Case: Network appliance, SD-WAN, edge computing, virtualization

Links:

SYS-110D-16C-FRAN8TP (Maximum Performance)

Standard 1U rackmount with 16 cores. Best for serious homelab/production.

  • CPU: Intel Xeon D-2775TE (16-core/32-thread, 2.0GHz base)

  • Key Upgrades: Double the cores, 800W redundant PSU, RAID on SoC, Intel Deep Learning Boost

  • Use Case: Heavy virtualization, AI inference, production workloads

Links:

SYS-E302-12D-8C (Fanless / Silent)

Completely fanless operation. Best for noise-sensitive environments.

  • CPU: Intel Xeon D-1736NT (8-core, 67W TDP)

  • Key Upgrades: 0dB silent operation, wall-mount bracket, QAT

  • Operating Temp: 0°C to 35°C (fanless limits)

  • Use Case: Living room, office, edge locations without cooling

Links:

Upgrade Recommendation

Use Case Recommended Model

Drop-in replacement, same rack space

E300-12D-8CN6P

Maximum VMs, serious homelab

110D-16C-FRAN8TP

Silent operation, living space

E302-12D-8C

Budget conscious

Keep E300-9D (still solid for homelab KVM)

Future: Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids-D)

Expected ~2025-2026 with PCIe 5.0, MCRDIMMs, and 100GbE networking. No Supermicro announcements yet.

References

Official Documentation

Local Files

General Resources