Asrock C2550D4I – Server Motherboard (Server, Intel, DDR3-SDRAM, Mini ITX, Dual, fbga1283)

I purchased this item to use as a Linux based home server. There are five big selling points for this board:1. It runs relatively cool (40 - 50 degrees at idle) and does not need a CPU fan cooler. If you buy PWM case fans the board dials down their speed to minimum when the case is cool, which is most of the time. I'm using Silent Wings2 140mm from "be quiet" and they spin at about 200rpm for most of the time.The BitFenix Prodigy case is so quiet you can hardly tell it's on.2. The IMPI interface means it can be controlled remotely and used in a headless configuration. This includes powering on the unit and editing the BIOS both remotely.3. It's built for storage and has 8 SATA 3 ports and 4 SATA 2 ports which are ideal if you want to operate in RAID as I am (RAID 1).4. It is at a good price point for the power (4 core) for my usage, the 8 core version C2750D41 is too expensive at over £100 pounds more.5. It uses full size DIMM DDR3 memory slots.Although I am very happy with this board and would recommend it there are a couple of minor issues you should be aware of:1.If you are planning on using hardware RAID via the on-board ROM forget it. The downloadable manual states you can access the configuration screen during POST by pressing CONTROL+M. It doesn't work. However both Linux and Widows have excellent support for software RAID so not really a major issue.2. The i210 LAN ports are quite new and although most Linux Distros seem to support them (Ubuntu 14.04, Fedora , Red hat) Debian does not support them out of the box, you have to backport them which is a pain. I know Debian keep hold of an older kernel for stability so support will be included when they upgrade.This is a quiet cool running board which uses low electrical power but has some high end features usually reserved for very expensive servers. For a home or small business server build this board really is an excellent choice.There is a video review of the C2750D41 (the 8 core version) on The TEK You tube channel.

What I like about this product is the amount of hard drives it can hold without a raid card, and five stars to the sellers

I had 2 of these boards delivered by Amazon ( great service ) and both did NOT work. Amazon kindly refunded me, but I'm left with 2 x EEC ram that I also bought from Amazon that I can NO longer use or need. Cannot recommend this motherboard at all.

Been running for a year now as a NAS, and on 24/7. No issues so far.

Running Freenas for less than two years and has failed. I don't expect failure after two years from any MoBo, let alone alleged server grade - even if it's always-on. Now I have terabytes of data I can't access unless I replace the board. Not buying another one of these so will also have to buy a new case, CPU, SATA controller etc.Very disappointed.