Supermicro SuperServer 5029C-T

With an excellent price/performance ratio, the Supermicro Superserver devices offer a compact design with good connectivity, allowing optimal Nerve performance. The SuperServer 5029C-T is a compact, mini tower server system featuring an Intel Core i3, and a high number of SSD/HDD mounting options.

For more information refer to the information materials provided by the manufacturer:

• Product page
• User manual

Device specifications

The table below contains the key specifications of the specific hardware model that has been certified for Nerve usage. Use the article number listed here when ordering the device from the manufacturer only. Note that other device variants are not supported as Nerve Devices.

If required, contact sales@tttech-industrial.com for help with ordering Nerve Devices.

Setting up the device for Nerve usage

Follow the instructions below to set up the hardware, install the Nerve software and make the node ready for use in the Management System. Note that the materials provided by the device manufacturer are also required to continue.

Requirements for the instructions below:

Refer to the user manual of the manufacturer to set up the hardware. Connect a keyboard and a monitor to the device and make sure that the device is ready to be powered on. Also, prepare a USB drive in case the BIOS version of the device needs to be updated.

BIOS update

To avoid possible issues and complications, the BIOS version on the SuperServer 5029C-T needs to be version 1.3 or later and Setup Utility needs to be V2.20.1276 or later. Refer to the user manual of the manufacturer for information on how to update the BIOS version.

Required BIOS settings for Nerve

Certain BIOS settings need to be changed to ensure the desired performance of the Nerve system.

1. Power on the device.
2. Press Del while the device is booting to enter the BIOS menu.

3. Change the following settings:

   Path	Setting
   Advanced > CPU Configuration > Intel (VMX) Virtualization Technol	Enabled
   Chipset Configuration > System Agent (SA) Configuration > VT-d	Enabled
   Advanced > CPU Configuration > C states	Disabled
   Advanced > CPU Configuration > Active Processor Cores	All
   Advanced > PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration > CPU SLOT1 PCI-E 3.0 X16 OPROM	EFI (this option is needed when the RAID controller is installed)

4. Save the changes and exit BIOS.

Installing Nerve

Requirements for installing Nerve on the device:

In addition, a workstation is required to prepare the bootable USB drive. Connect the monitor and the keyboard to the SuperServer 5029C-T.

Before beginning with the installation, make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive. Press Del when the device is booting to enter BIOS and change the boot device settings.

On Windows

1. Download the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img.tar.gz from the Nerve Software Center to a workstation.
2. Extract the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img.tar.gz file to retrieve the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img. Depending on the program used, the file might need to be extracted more than once.
3. Transfer the extracted Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img file to the USB drive using Rufus.
4. Plug the USB drive into a USB port of the Nerve Device.
5. Make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive and power on the device.

The setup will start automatically and take a few minutes to complete. Select OK when the installation is complete and remove the USB drive. The device will reboot and reach a log in screen, asking for host access log in credentials. Make sure that the device will boot from the hard disk before rebooting the device.

On Linux

1. Download the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img.tar.gz file from the Nerve Software Center.

2. Enter the following commands to extract the Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img.tar.gz file and transfer the extracted file to the USB drive:

   tar xf Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img.tar.gz
   sudo dd if=Nerve_Blue_USB-installer_2.5.0_for_supermicro-superserver-5029c-t.img bs=4M of=/dev/sd<drivename> status=progress
   sync
   

   Note

   Make sure to replace <drivename> with the system name of the USB drive.

3. Plug the USB drive into a USB port of the Nerve Device.

4. Make sure that the device will boot from the USB drive and power on the device.

The setup will start automatically and take a few minutes to complete. Select OK when the installation is complete and remove the USB drive. The device will reboot and reach a log in screen, asking for host access log in credentials. Make sure that the device will boot from the hard disk before rebooting the device.

Connecting the device to a network

The device needs to be connected to a network in order to communicate with the Management System and perform key features of Nerve. The Nerve system has a designated network interface for communication with the network — the wan interface. This interface is mapped to LAN1 for this device. Connect an ethernet cable to LAN1 for establishing network access and communication with the Management System. Note that communication with the Management System is happening over port 443 (HTTPS).

When setting up the device, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding network access:

• Where is the Management System hosted?
  The Nerve Management System is either hosted in the cloud by TTTech Industrial or on premise in the internal company network.
  When the Management System is hosted in the cloud, the node will likely require internet access. The easiest way of doing that is connecting an ethernet cable to LAN1. The wan interface will then receive an IP address from a DHCP server and establish internet access automatically. However, contact the IT administrator on how to allow devices to connect to the internet inside of the internal company network. When the Management System is hosted on premise, nodes do not necessarily need internet access to communicate with the Management System. If that is the case, it is required to make sure that the Nerve Device and the Management System are located in the same network.
• License activation
  The license activation process is affected by the possible situations described above, making offline license activation necessary under certain conditions. If the Management System is hosted on premise, the node might not have internet access. If that is the case, a file-based offline license activation method is necessary to activate the Nerve license. However, a separate workstation with internet access is required to complete the license activation.

Finding out the IP address of the device

Due to the limited availability of ethernet ports, Nerve does not offer a designated port and interface for host access and management purposes on the Supermicro SuperServer 5029C-T. Therefore, the IP address of the wan interface that is mapped to physical port LAN1 is required to start using Nerve. Depending on the network access the node has, this needs to be done differently.

The node has network access

If the node has network access, an IP address will be assigned to the wan interface by a DHCP server. Follow the instructions below to find out the IP address of the wan interface.

1. Connect a keyboard and a monitor to the device.
2. Power up the device once Nerve is installed.
3. Enter the login credentials for host access once the system asks for host login. The login credentials can be found in the customer profile.

4. Enter the following command to display the IP address of the wan interface:

   ip a s wan
   

The IP address is displayed next to inet in the output the system gives. This IP address is required to access the Local UI in the instructions below.

The node does not have network access

In case of the node not having network access, the IP address of the wan interface has to be set manually. For simplicity, the IP address of the wan interface will be set to 172.20.2.1 — the IP address of the host.

1. Connect a keyboard and a monitor to the device.
2. Power up the device once Nerve is installed.
3. Enter the login credentials for host access once the system asks for host login. The login credentials can be found in the customer profile.

4. Enter the following commands to open the wan interface configuration:

   cd /etc/network/interfaces.d
   sudo nano wan
   

5. Enter the host access password if prompted.

6. Edit the configuration the following way:

   auto wan
   iface wan inet static
     bridge_ports eth0
     address 172.20.2.1
     netmask 255.255.255.0
   

7. Enter Ctrl+S to save the configuration.

8. Enter Ctrl+X to exit the Nano editor.

9. Enter the following command to apply the changes to the wan interface by restarting the networking services:

   /etc/init.d/networking restart
   

10. Enter the host access password if prompted.

With the wan interface IP address set to 172.20.2.1 the Local UI can be reached at http://172.20.2.1:3333/.

Accessing the Local UI

After the image installation, the device can be powered on after setup for product license activation. For that, a connection to the Local UI needs to be established.

1. Connect a workstation to port LAN1.
2. Configure the network adapter of the workstation. The IP address has to be in the same range as the IP address of the wan interface with a 255.255.255.0 subnet mask. Refer to the chapter above on how to find out this IP address.
3. Open a browser window or tab.
4. Enter <wanip>:3333 to access the Local UI.

At first, only the required elements to activate the Nerve product license are shown in the Local UI. The full extent of the Local UI is unlocked after product license activation and requires a login. For first time log in use the credentials from the customer profile.

Activating the Nerve license

After logging in to the Local UI, the product license can be activated so that Nerve can be used on the device. Make sure that the Local UI can be accessed as described above. License activation can be done either online or offline.

• Online activation
  When the node has internet access, the node will automatically connect to the licensing server. This is the most straightforward way of activating licenses.

• Offline activation
  In case of the node not having internet access, the license can be activated with a file-based method. However, note that a workstation with an internet connection is required for connecting to the licensing server in order to upload and download files. This might be the way to activate the license if the Management System is hosted on premise.

Refer to License activation in the user guide for more information.

Registering the device in the Management System

With the license activated, the node needs to be configured for use in the Management System through the Local UI. Afterwards the node needs to be registered in the Management System.

1. Make sure that the Local UI can be accessed as described above.
2. Open a browser window or tab.
3. Enter <wanip>:3333 to access the Local UI.

4. Log in with the credentials from the customer profile.

   

5. Refer to Node configuration for information on how to configure the device for use in the Management System.

6. Refer to Adding a node for information on how to register the node in the Management System.

Additional device specific information

The following information below is device specific information for use with Nerve.

Physical ports and network interfaces

Below is a depiction of the node internal networking adapted to the SuperServer 5029C-T hardware. Refer to Node internal networking for more information. The table offers a quick overview of the network interfaces that can be reached through the physical ports of the SuperServer 5029C-T.