Supported Motherboards / Hardware requirements

[computernerd]

Hello all!

I want to build a new server for Proxmox and am wondering about the hardware that is supported by Proxmox, i.e. the Linux kernel that it uses under the hood
.
As far as I figured, Proxmox VE 3.1 uses Linux kernel 2.6.32-23 (http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Roadmap#Proxmox_VE_3.1)

I am interested in 2 motherboards of Supermicro. Supermicro has a compatibility list, but unfortunately is not mentioning the exact kernel version that starts supporting their boards, but a number of GNU/Linux distributions, such as Red Hat, Fedora, openSUSE & Ubuntu.
I looked up with which kernel versions those distributions ship. The result is as follows:

1. Socket 1155 with Intel C204 chipset
   1. 32 bit: Listed as supported as of openSUSE 11.3, which came with kernel 2.6.34
   2. 64 bit: Listed as supported as of Fedora Core 10, which came with kernel 2.6.27
2. Socket 1150 with Intel C222 chipset
   1. 32 bit: Listed as supported as of Ubuntu 12.10, which came with kernel 3.5
   2. 64 bit: Listed as supported as of Fedora Core 15, which came with kernel 2.6.38

Questions:

1. Should the kernel versions included in those distributions indeed be the very first to support the chipsets, only the first motherboard (C204) is compatible with Proxmox, because 2.6.27 < pve-kernel-2.6.32-23-pve, right?
2. Does anyone know a better and more exact way on how to learn which kernel version a motherboard's chipset is supported by the kernel, instead of my "reverse engineered" approach with the distros?
3. Is the kernel of Proxmox 3.1 really that old, or is there any back-porting occurring, so that the 2.6.27 might support newer hardware than obvious at first sight, e.g. the motherboard with the C222 chipset?
4. Does anybody know about when the next release of Proxmox will be released and if it will include any notable jump in the kernel version?

Thank you for any feedback/help/input!!

Kind regards
computernerd

 

[Patschi]

Is the kernel of Proxmox 3.1 really that old, or is there any back-porting occurring, so that the 2.6.27 might support newer hardware than obvious at first sight, e.g. the motherboard with the C222 chipset?

When the kernel isn't the latest one, it does not mean, that it's not maintained anymore. The OpenVZ containering does only work on 2.6.32 - there is no newer kernel version from the OpenVZ team. More to OpenVZ & the "old kernel" you can read on: http://openvz.livejournal.com/45647.html

I also would be interested when the next version will be released. I think about in 1-2 months - Just a guess. With the hardware-specific questions I can't help - sorry. Maybe just try it, if it works?

 

[dea]

Only a note...
Proxmox use RH kernel 2.6.32.
RH use a very very very very patched kernel, include drivers and support not present in 2.6.32 "Vanilla" kernel.
Very important: "2.6.32 Vanilla" != "2.6.32 RH"

Luca

 

[mir]

Since the kernel in Proxmox is the kernel used in RHEL 6.4 you can find the compatibility list here: https://hardware.redhat.com/Super Micro Computer, Inc.