If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)

Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

HP ProLiant MicroServer

oreillykm · 2011-03-11 15:03:49

Just took delivery of one of these (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/253305) from eBuyer. The ebuyer cost is 240 pounds - but you get a cheque back for 100 pounds from the supplier directly. So, 140 pounds. 4 bays for drives and no OS - ideal as a NAS maybe? Am gonna throw linux on it.

Options

Comments

Options
#992 01-08-2013 9:18am
gerryk

Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭

Join Date: September 2003

Posts: 1636

Ok... interesting. Thanks for the replies. I always thought they were just 'raid-in-a-box' for people who didn't want to learn how to configure a system themselves. Seems I was wrong by a fair bit.

0
Options
#993 01-08-2013 9:25am
stimpson

Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2003

Posts: 7645

Not to mention that if you lose two drives you just lose that data. All your other drives are still readable unlike RAID. The trade off is write speed, but that's not such a big deal for a media server.

0
Options
#994 01-08-2013 10:09am
rovoagho

Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,151 ✭✭✭

Join Date: April 2013

Posts: 1127

I use CentOS with Greyhole to achieve the same thing. You could also use a union FS. Much more flexibility either way.

0
Options
#995 03-08-2013 10:24am
Explosive_Cornflake

Registered Users Posts: 2,105 ✭✭✭

Join Date: December 2003

Posts: 1992

howamidifferent wrote: »

Flexraid allows creation of raid sets across multiple drives of varying size and types. Allows easy expansion simply by adding a new drive etc. ZFS does not. Also drives with existing data can be added to the array without loss of data on that drive.

So data is only on a single drive? Can't you just add a bunch of PV's to a VG under LVM and have the exact same thing?

0
Options
#996 03-08-2013 12:45pm
Nforce

Registered Users Posts: 2,924 ✭✭✭

Join Date: December 2005

Posts: 2787

I'm running Windows Server 2012 on mine. Anyone tested the hotswap ability of the modded bios?

0
Advertisement
Options
#997 04-08-2013 5:43pm
stimpson

Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2003

Posts: 7645

Nforce wrote: »

I'm running Windows Server 2012 on mine. Anyone tested the hotswap ability of the modded bios?

Yep. I've hot swapped drives on unraid. Just remember to unmount them first

0
Options
#998 05-08-2013 11:54am
Blinked_Missed It

Registered Users Posts: 395 ✭✭

Join Date: October 2012

Posts: 377

Sorry to wreck everyones head with this but how are people getting their orders processed with ebuyer.com. Im' getting rejected with my Irish visa and my paypal linked to that visa. What method is everyone using?

0
Options
#999 05-08-2013 12:00pm
[Deleted User]
Posts: 0 ✭

Join Date: -

Posts: 0

Blinked_Missed It wrote: »

Sorry to wreck everyones head with this but how are people getting their orders processed with ebuyer.com. Im' getting rejected with my Irish visa and my paypal linked to that visa. What method is everyone using?

Before ordering did you check if there is still a cashback offer? I heard that cashbacks were finished on the G7 microsever.

0
Options
#1000 05-08-2013 12:05pm
Blinked_Missed It

Registered Users Posts: 395 ✭✭

Join Date: October 2012

Posts: 377

Deleted User wrote: »

Before ordering did you check if there is still a cashback offer? I heard that cashbacks were finished on the G7 microsever.

I'm actually trying to make another order from them for some server ram as I already have one of the original N36l Microservers from the beginning of this thread. Its so reliable I couldn't justify going to the N54l just yet. Cheers. Hope for others the cashback comes back, its a great deal.

0
Options
#1001 05-08-2013 12:23pm
vibe666

Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭

Join Date: May 2003

Posts: 12644

seems like the new cashback offer must (i think) include an MS operating system?

http://www.serversplus.com/pdfs/hp_rok_aug13.pdf

the microserver itself is still listed though.

0
Advertisement
Options
#1002 05-08-2013 12:52pm
[Deleted User]
Posts: 0 ✭

Join Date: -

Posts: 0

I heard that they were finished doing the standard £100 (or whatever it is) cashback deals for the G7, from now on it'll be for the (much more expensive) G8.

0
Options
#1003 06-08-2013 11:52am
witnessmenow

Registered Users Posts: 7,012 ✭✭✭

Join Date: November 2004

Posts: 6434

Sorry for digging this up a small bit, but has anyone used plex server on these?

Is it able for the transcoding?

I have one already, that I use as a download box/ NAS, but it would be nice to add plex to the arsenal if its able for it.

0
Options
#1004 06-08-2013 11:59am
ballooba

Registered Users Posts: 6,315 ✭✭✭

Join Date: June 2002

Posts: 5777

Plex reaked havoc with my file permissions, so I got rid of it.

0
Options
#1005 06-08-2013 11:59am
stimpson

Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2003

Posts: 7645

witnessmenow wrote: »

Sorry for digging this up a small bit, but has anyone used plex server on these?

Is it able for the transcoding?

I have one already, that I use as a download box/ NAS, but it would be nice to add plex to the arsenal if its able for it.

When testing Plex I found it buffered a bit with the stock configuration when running 2 streams.

Once I stuck 8 gigs of RAM into it, I had it playing back a high bitrate BR rip, and transcoding 2 other movies to an iPad and an iPhone without issue. RAM usage settled at about 40%. CPU usage was fairly low IIRC.

0
Options
#1006 06-08-2013 12:43pm
Yakuza

Registered Users Posts: 5,141 ✭✭✭

Join Date: November 1999

Posts: 5008

I stuck 3 3TB WD Red drives into mine (and 8GB RAM). After waiting for (literally) days to format a 6TB RAID-5 drive under Windows 2012 on the (6TB Data, 3TB parity), I gave up and went with a 3TB RAID 1 (under Windows) and a 3TB standalone drive. Windows didn't like the built-in RAID 1 - I probably should have waited until I got the extra drives before installing anything, and I didn't want to go to the palaver of installing all my dev tools again, so I went with a software/Windows RAID volume. I use the machine primarily as a development machine, and it runs SQL Server 2012, Team Foundation Server Express and IIS fairly well. It's quiet as well (I don't put it through any strenuous loads compared to transcoding or streaming), even with the 4 drives humming away.

I was looking to get a second one (with the cashback offer) to use as a media server, but they're getting harder and harder to find. I had one ordered via Misco but cancelled after a month (they had a back order dating back to last June) so I might have to go for a Gen 8 when they've dipped in price a bit.

0
Options
#1007 06-08-2013 1:18pm
witnessmenow

Registered Users Posts: 7,012 ✭✭✭

Join Date: November 2004

Posts: 6434

stimpson wrote: »

When testing Plex I found it buffered a bit with the stock configuration when running 2 streams.

Once I stuck 8 gigs of RAM into it, I had it playing back a high bitrate BR rip, and transcoding 2 other movies to an iPad and an iPhone without issue. RAM usage settled at about 40%. CPU usage was fairly low IIRC.

Thanks for the info, I think I still only have the 2gb that came with it.

Are you using windows or linux as your OS?

0
Options
#1008 06-08-2013 1:23pm
stimpson

Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2003

Posts: 7645

witnessmenow wrote: »

Thanks for the info, I think I still only have the 2gb that came with it.

Are you using windows or linux as your OS?

unRAID, which is a stripped down Slackware distro designed for serving media, with drive pooling, parity and web based config tools.

0
Options
#1009 06-08-2013 1:53pm
witnessmenow

Registered Users Posts: 7,012 ✭✭✭

Join Date: November 2004

Posts: 6434

stimpson wrote: »

unRAID, which is a stripped down Slackware distro designed for serving media, with drive pooling, parity and web based config tools.

Cool, its unix anyways, so hopefully I have similar results with Ubuntu server.

0
Options
#1010 07-08-2013 10:31am
gerryk

Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭

Join Date: September 2003

Posts: 1636

ballooba wrote: »

Plex reaked havoc with my file permissions, so I got rid of it.

Really? In what way? I have been using it a few months now and have had no issues.

0
Options
#1011 07-08-2013 10:54am
ballooba

Registered Users Posts: 6,315 ✭✭✭

Join Date: June 2002

Posts: 5777

gerryk wrote: »

Really? In what way? I have been using it a few months now and have had no issues.

It was a while ago, but if I recall correctly it changed the ownership of all files under the library directory to the plex user.

0
Advertisement
Options
#1012 07-08-2013 11:15am
gerryk

Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭

Join Date: September 2003

Posts: 1636

ballooba wrote: »

It was a while ago, but if I recall correctly it changed the ownership of all files under the library directory to the plex user.

Ok... I can see how that would be a pain in the arse. I haven't seen that myself, but I created a group called 'media' and added myself (for remote access over SMB) and plex to the group, and then granted group rwx to the media directory + children. All seems fine.

0
Options
#1013 08-08-2013 1:59pm
vibe666

Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭

Join Date: May 2003

Posts: 12644

i'm nearly done with this, so here's something for all you microserver nas/media server groupies and fellow data hoarders to drool over. :pac:

give it a few years of hoarding data and you'll be here too.

this is me migrating from my old NAS to my new one (which is my old old NAS with newer, bigger HDD's in it).

the freenas one is a vmware virtual machine with eight 2tb samsung spinpoints as RDM's in RAIDZ2 which is basically (without going into the technical details) more or less the freenas equiv. of having RAID6 using the ZFS filesystem.

the new NAS is my old (previous) Thecus N7700 7 bay NAS with the old 1.5tb drives removed and five (for now) new 4tb hitachi deskstars using RAID6 and ZFS, with another 1tb or so unused space for expansion.

In the next month or so i'll be throwing another two 4tb disks in to fill the free disk bays and expanding it out to the full maximum 16tb (32bit OS limitation for a single volume on the NAS) and probably using the rest for iSCSI storage for vmware, although I might stay cautious and just use 6+1 spare in the last bay so I have a hot spare as I had a minor issue with bad blocks on one of the 4tb drives during the data migration, so probably better to be safe than sorry i reckon.

so, in the interests of 'NAS envy', has anyone got a bigger one?

0
Options
#1014 08-08-2013 2:07pm
stimpson

Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2003

Posts: 7645

Photo is borked.

I'm nowhere near that kind of setup. Currently 2x3tb and 1x2TB WD reds. I have 4x1TB drives in an eSATA JBOD from my old setup which I'm planning on connection to the Microserver when I get to 80% capacity.

0
Options
#1015 08-08-2013 2:31pm
howamidifferent

Registered Users Posts: 1,817 ✭✭✭

Join Date: October 2006

Posts: 1764

vibe666 wrote: »

so, in the interests of 'NAS envy', has anyone got a bigger one?

Here's my last build...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w1zseunj8xxy6af/pAelWDeXxJ

0
Options
#1016 08-08-2013 2:56pm
stimpson

Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2003

Posts: 7645

howamidifferent wrote: »

Here's my last build...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w1zseunj8xxy6af/pAelWDeXxJ

That's just mental. Have you considered counselling?

0
Options
#1017 08-08-2013 5:22pm
vibe666

Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭

Join Date: May 2003

Posts: 12644

stimpson wrote: »

Photo is borked.

should be de-borked now? :pac:

0
Options
#1018 08-08-2013 5:27pm
vibe666

Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭

Join Date: May 2003

Posts: 12644

howamidifferent wrote: »

Here's my last build...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w1zseunj8xxy6af/pAelWDeXxJ

there's always someone to make me feel like an amateur just around the corner! :pac:

what were the specs?

0
Options
#1019 08-08-2013 6:29pm
howamidifferent

Registered Users Posts: 1,817 ✭✭✭

Join Date: October 2006

Posts: 1764

vibe666 wrote: »

there's always someone to make me feel like an amateur just around the corner! :pac:

what were the specs?

I built it from the following after selling the two microservers I had in use along with a 8 bay external esata enclosure.

SuperMicro X9SCM-F Board
Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2 3.3GHz
16GB ECC RAM (4x4GB DDR3-1333)
HP Smart Array P410 256MB cache
HP SAS Expander 24 Port
X-Case RM 424 - 24 Hotswap Bay 6GB Mini SAS (SATA/SAS Backplane)

Has 20 x 2TB drives of various makes and models in it along with a 500GB boot disk. It's been setup and wiped numerous times over the past few months as I played with Hyper-V and ESXi. Its currently got Windows Server 2012 R2 on it with a few VM's to manage downloading, some learning labs and a few misc OS's to play with. I use FlexRaid to manage the storage. I dont want to rely on hardware raid...

0
Options
#1020 08-08-2013 7:16pm
stimpson

Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2003

Posts: 7645

Here's my old Mac mini with hacked eSATA:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72400343

That was replaced last Christmas with a 2012 Mac mini quad 2.6 ghz i7 with 16 gigs of ram and a 256 gig ssd /1tb fusion drive. A usb3 to eSATA adaptor allowed me to connect the eSATA box.

I have recently run CAT 5e to the spare bedroom for the microserver. The plan now is to sell the mini when I replace it with something cheap and silent to do plex playback.

0
Advertisement
Options
#1021 08-08-2013 7:25pm
paddyp

Closed Accounts Posts: 1,927 ✭✭✭

Join Date: June 2006

Posts: 1860

howamidifferent wrote: »

I built it from the following after selling the two microservers I had in use along with a 8 bay external esata enclosure.

SuperMicro X9SCM-F Board
Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2 3.3GHz
16GB ECC RAM (4x4GB DDR3-1333)
HP Smart Array P410 256MB cache
HP SAS Expander 24 Port
X-Case RM 424 - 24 Hotswap Bay 6GB Mini SAS (SATA/SAS Backplane)

Has 20 x 2TB drives of various makes and models in it along with a 500GB boot disk. It's been setup and wiped numerous times over the past few months as I played with Hyper-V and ESXi. Its currently got Windows Server 2012 R2 on it with a few VM's to manage downloading, some learning labs and a few misc OS's to play with. I use FlexRaid to manage the storage. I dont want to rely on hardware raid...

No need to worry about heating for the winter either with that running :pac::pac:

0