HP ProLiant MicroServer

stimpson · 28-10-2013 9:23am

rovoagho wrote: »

You mean 5450? If so, sure, send on what you want for it.

Doh. Yeah 5450. PM on its way.

seklly · 01-11-2013 12:26pm

Is this offer still available? A lot of pages in this thread!!

Dravokivich · 01-11-2013 12:42pm

seklly wrote: »

Is this offer still available? A lot of pages in this thread!!

Cashback offer expired yesterday.

You would have needed to have an invoice date from 1st - 30th Sept.

Remouad · 01-11-2013 3:55pm

seklly wrote: »

Is this offer still available? A lot of pages in this thread!!

No but it'll be back in about a year when they release the next model

randombar · 03-11-2013 4:14pm

Hi Lads,

Installed ubuntu desktop on it, happy days.

Added the hardware raid 1 but for some reason ubuntu doesn't recognise it. I still see the 2 separate hard disks in mount manager.

Any ideas or advice?

Thanks.
Gary

gerryk · 03-11-2013 4:52pm

GaryCocs wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Installed ubuntu desktop on it, happy days.

Added the hardware raid 1 but for some reason ubuntu doesn't recognise it. I still see the 2 separate hard disks in mount manager.

Any ideas or advice?

Thanks.
Gary

Yes... Use the Linux software RAID. The onboard raid is not really a raid controller. It has no battery backup or anything like that. In the event of a failure your chances of a recovery are far greater with standard Linux software raid than some proprietary onboard implementation.

randombar · 03-11-2013 6:05pm

gerryk wrote: »

Yes... Use the Linux software RAID. The onboard raid is not really a raid controller. It has no battery backup or anything like that. In the event of a failure your chances of a recovery are far greater with standard Linux software raid than some proprietary onboard implementation.

Oh right. I thought I'd save on processing by going hardware?

gerryk · 03-11-2013 6:16pm

GaryCocs wrote: »

Oh right. I thought I'd save on processing by going hardware?

Understandably, but it's just mirroring. There's almost no processing happening.

rovoagho · 03-11-2013 6:18pm

Not anymore. You don't really have an option anyway, as the previous poster said, the onboard raid isn't actually raid. Google fakeraid for more info.

I use Greyhole, so data can be recovered without long waits for rebuilding on big disks. I only use hardware raid on business servers now.

randombar · 03-11-2013 7:04pm

rovoagho wrote: »

Not anymore. You don't really have an option anyway, as the previous poster said, the onboard raid isn't actually raid. Google fakeraid for more info.

I use Greyhole, so data can be recovered without long waits for rebuilding on big disks. I only use hardware raid on business servers now.

Thanks for that guys heres the link. Probably not going back to windows or dual booting so will go software I'd say.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FakeRaidHowto

Any quick guide to setting up raid 1?

rovoagho · 03-11-2013 7:08pm

Dunno about Ubuntu. In CentOS it's available via the installer. It's possible but very messy to do on a live system.

vibe666 · 14-11-2013 11:33pm

Ebuyer have the N54L in again for £177 atm.

http://www.ebuyer.com/430446

cashback available, but I think it's only with an MS OS.

Parcel Motel is your friend for postage.

witnessmenow · 04-01-2014 7:44pm

Hey Guys,

Can cash back still be gotten on these in Ireland? I can only find the UK cashback offer pdf

blabley · 04-01-2014 8:58pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Can cash back still be gotten on these in Ireland? I can only find the UK cashback offer pdf

Old Generation or new Gen8?
Check out http://www.hp.com/ie/essnpromotions...

stimpson · 04-01-2014 9:21pm

Did you buy before dec 31st?

If not mail promotions@out-bound.co.uk and ask them for a claim form. Seems to be running in the UK at the moment so should be on here too. They can be a bit slow about getting the Irish forms updated.

RParker123 · 05-01-2014 11:37pm

This is a long thread to try and read......

Is this hp proliant server still available?
Is this a NAS?
Is this a good option to run Plex on or should I go with something else.

12 element · 05-01-2014 11:49pm

Another question: Can I use the UK form to claim the cashback?
Can I buy from the UK and claim back using the Irish form (if they are doing it at the moment)?

witnessmenow · 06-01-2014 10:54am

RParker123 wrote: »

This is a long thread to try and read......

Is this hp proliant server still available?
Is this a NAS?
Is this a good option to run Plex on or should I go with something else.

the N54L can still be bought. Ebyuyer have them for £180 + £10 delivery to NI (plus €3.50 Parcel motel). Misco.ie have it for €220 (dont know how much delivery is, also check they are an approved partner for cashback)

It is not a NAS exactly, but a NAS is network attached storage, which this can be set up to do. I have 4TB of hard drives in mine that I can access from any device on my network. I am running Ubuntu and using samba to achieve the NAS part. Its big advantage over a NAS is the additional stuff it can do, its a fully working PC so you can pretty much install any applications you like. I have a web server running on mine, a torrent client, sickbeard etc

I run Plex on mine (N40L, slower processor) and it is working great for me. I dont know if it is doing any transcoding or whatever but the now TV box and my phone work perfectly with it.

12 element wrote: »

Another question: Can I use the UK form to claim the cashback?
Can I buy from the UK and claim back using the Irish form (if they are doing it at the moment)?

Yeah I was able to last year anyways.

witnessmenow · 06-01-2014 11:14am

stimpson wrote: »

Did you buy before dec 31st?

If not mail promotions@out-bound.co.uk and ask them for a claim form. Seems to be running in the UK at the moment so should be on here too. They can be a bit slow about getting the Irish forms updated.

No I havent bought it yet.

Thanks, I mailed them this morning. I'll post back when they reply.

EDIT:

Got a reply:

Hi Brian,

For some reason the claim form has not been updated but it has been extended in Ireland. Please just complete the December form, that will be fine.

Kind Regards,

Alison B
Programmes Administrator

I snipped her second name so not to be posting it on the internet! But if anyone needs a copy of the email just let me know and I'll forward it.

phantom_lord · 06-01-2014 2:45pm

Is there any issue running a 4tb drive in one of these?

stimpson · 06-01-2014 3:06pm

phantom_lord wrote: »

Is there any issue running a 4tb drive in one of these?

Once your OS supports it then you should be fine.

witnessmenow · 09-01-2014 12:48pm

Pulled the trigger this morning with dabs.ie

Which is €221 + €7.50 delivery but I was looking at the claim form:

January 2014

I noticed that there was €83 cashback on a care package so I checked the price of that on dabs, €86.50! So it made it an extra €3.50 for the care package. But even better the car package brought my order over the €300 free delivery threshold with dabs so the total cost of adding the care pacakge after cashback is -€4!

Link to N54L
Link to Micro server support

Hopefully it works out ok! Total price for server and care package should be €307 - €143 = €164 delivered

stimpson · 09-01-2014 12:50pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Hopefully it works out ok!

You won't be disappointed - great little machines.

witnessmenow · 09-01-2014 12:55pm

stimpson wrote: »

You won't be disappointed - great little machines.

I have a N40L already and love it! I got it for my Dad, he got a smart TV recently and I had an old netbook running a plex server and it's DNLA server was working great for him, but I think the HDD kicked the bucket so I said I would put in a proper solution

stimpson · 09-01-2014 1:00pm

I replaced my with a Samsung F7000. Plex app is great, except for high bitrate MKV's with DTS audio. A real PITA - would have been a perfect solution, just leaving me with a TV, an AV receiver and a PS3 in the living room. Might invest in a 1080p Roku.

lynchie · 09-01-2014 1:17pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Pulled the trigger this morning with dabs.ie

Which is €221 + €7.50 delivery but I was looking at the claim form:

January 2014

I noticed that there was €83 cashback on a care package so I checked the price of that on dabs, €86.50! So it made it an extra €3.50 for the care package. But even better the car package brought my order over the €300 free delivery threshold with dabs so the total cost of adding the care pacakge after cashback is -€4!

Link to N54L
Link to Micro server support

Hopefully it works out ok! Total price for server and care package should be €307 - €143 = €164 delivered

According to the T&cs you must buy from an authorized HP distributor in ROI to qualify. Anybody know if dabs.ie is one as they dont appear on HP's online list?

johnybean · 09-01-2014 1:18pm

stimpson wrote: »

I replaced my with a Samsung F7000. Plex app is great, except for high bitrate MKV's with DTS audio. A real PITA - would have been a perfect solution, just leaving me with a TV, an AV receiver and a PS3 in the living room. Might invest in a 1080p Roku.

I have the N54L with Plex server on it and I have it wired to my Dad's house (couple of doors down from me

). He has a 1080p roku and as far as I know everything is playing fine for him (I would get the call for tech support if it wasn't). I also had a Nowtv for myself but the transcoding was maxing out the cpu at 100% for the duration of my 3-4GB mkvs with DTS so I have ditched that for now and am saving for either an Ouya or hold out a little longer for an i3 Nuc.

johnybean · 09-01-2014 1:56pm

I am not hugely tech savvy so I have 1 quick question. Would it be possible to add a graphics card to the N54L and have that graphics card handle the transcoding duties of Plex and take the pressure off the CPU which is currently maxing at 100% when trying to transcode some of my files to the Nowtv. I dont want to connect anything directly to the graphics card, just wondering if I could offload transcoding duty to the Graphics card?

witnessmenow · 09-01-2014 2:28pm

Plex can't use the GPU for transcoding

ozmo · 09-01-2014 2:38pm

Why would anyone want to transcode when there are cheap popcornhour etc boxes can can read the file natively over lan?

Never understood the attraction of DNLA - is it to save 50 quid at the expense of maxed out CPUs, higher electric power usage and lower quality?

Genuine question.

witnessmenow · 09-01-2014 2:39pm

lynchie wrote: »

According to the T&cs you must buy from an authorized HP distributor in ROI to qualify. Anybody know if dabs.ie is one as they dont appear on HP's online list?

I havent checked with HP but I'd say its safe enough. Dabs.com is a preferred partner.

http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/contact-hp/e-partners/hpstore-hho.html

stimpson · 09-01-2014 2:42pm

johnybean wrote: »

I am not hugely tech savvy so I have 1 quick question. Would it be possible to add a graphics card to the N54L and have that graphics card handle the transcoding duties of Plex and take the pressure off the CPU which is currently maxing at 100% when trying to transcode some of my files to the Nowtv. I dont want to connect anything directly to the graphics card, just wondering if I could offload transcoding duty to the Graphics card?

Use Direct Stream on Plex on the NowTV box - there should be no need to transcode unless you have a really crappy wireless router.

Dravokivich · 09-01-2014 2:51pm

ozmo wrote: »

Why would anyone want to transcode when there are cheap popcornhour etc boxes can can read the file natively over lan?

Never understood the attraction of DNLA - is it to save 50 quid at the expense of maxed out CPUs, higher electric power usage and lower quality?

Genuine question.

Multiple devices. Not just one HTPC or media player.

johnybean · 09-01-2014 3:10pm

stimpson wrote: »

Use Direct Stream on Plex on the NowTV box - there should be no need to transcode unless you have a really crappy wireless router.

Nowtv wont direct stream dts files

johnybean · 09-01-2014 3:11pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Plex can't use the GPU for transcoding

thanks for the clarification witnessmenow. back to the original plan of the Ouya/Nuc and xbmc

stimpson · 09-01-2014 3:17pm

johnybean wrote: »

Nowtv wont direct stream dts files

I was using it for a while and didn't have an issue with DTS.

witnessmenow · 09-01-2014 3:20pm

johnybean wrote: »

thanks for the clarification witnessmenow. back to the original plan of the Ouya/Nuc and xbmc

I had being using xbmc and the ouya and was working great for me, then my ouya network interfaces broke, both of them within a few weeks of each other. I should be able to get it replaced.

johnybean · 09-01-2014 3:21pm

Maybe its the way the files are encoded but if I try to play files which are dts encoded I get a message saying that the audio device cannot be detected or something to that effect. Most of the files are either ac3 or dts audio encoded mkv and mp4 files. Come to think of it, its probably the tv not being able to play dts and not the nowtv. Its a pity because when I select auto from the streaming options menu Plex decides whether to transcode or not and the CPU shoots up to 100%.

johnybean · 09-01-2014 3:24pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

I had being using xbmc and the ouya and was working great for me, then my ouya network interfaces broke, both of them within a few weeks of each other. I should be able to get it replaced.

Im just hesitating on the Ouya at the moment because of the Dts issue, I know about sbmc version from koying but I am not actually looking to passthrough audio, I just want something that will play all files through the tv. I have a pentium laptop hooked up at the moment which is playing everything fine but the fan is driving me nuts.

stimpson · 09-01-2014 3:28pm

johnybean wrote: »

Maybe its the way the files are encoded but if I try to play files which are dts encoded I get a message saying that the audio device cannot be detected or something to that effect. Most of the files are either ac3 or dts audio encoded mkv and mp4 files. Come to think of it, its probably the tv not being able to play dts and not the nowtv. Its a pity because when I select auto from the streaming options menu Plex decides whether to transcode or not and the CPU shoots up to 100%.

Is the message from the TV or the NowTV box? I was using a HDMI switching 5.1 receiver, so that might have been why it worked for me.

johnybean · 09-01-2014 3:31pm

stimpson wrote: »

Is the message from the TV or the NowTV box? I was using a HDMI switching 5.1 receiver, so that might have been why it worked for me.

The message comes from the TV. I think maybe your receiver is the key here. I was confused because when I connect my laptop to the tv i can direct play all files but sometimes I have to switch my audio output to analog, even though its connected by HDMI. I dont know why this works,it just does. My head is melted with all this

witnessmenow · 09-01-2014 3:38pm

johnybean wrote: »

Im just hesitating on the Ouya at the moment because of the Dts issue, I know about sbmc version from koying but I am not actually looking to passthrough audio, I just want something that will play all files through the tv. I have a pentium laptop hooked up at the moment which is playing everything fine but the fan is driving me nuts.

I never used the official Ouya XBMC client, I used the one you side loaded which did not have the DTS issue (thats the codec issue right?). Its a bit of fun as a console too. If they were €100 I would buy a second one no bother, they are just a tiny bit dear i think.

ozmo · 09-01-2014 3:42pm

ozmo wrote: »

Why would anyone want to transcode when there are cheap popcornhour etc boxes can can read the file natively over lan?

Never understood the attraction of DNLA - is it to save 50 quid at the expense of maxed out CPUs, higher electric power usage and lower quality?

Genuine question.

Dravokivich wrote: »

Multiple devices. Not just one HTPC or media player.

But cannot you do just that with One NAS (or file-shares on a PC/Laptop) and then a WDLive/XMBC/R PI or whatever at the tvs.

It just seems that with all the effort buying digital source, digital lcd tv, digital hdmi cables
- you are then introducing the digital equivalent of a scart cable right in the middle that is degrading resolution and bitrate from the high quality source you have to hand that you could be using directly.

And all the transcoding required on the plex/win7 server likely means it can support maybe one (maybe less) high definition client without stutter.
Fast forward/rewind and subtitles are going suffer unnecessarily too?

johnybean · 09-01-2014 3:48pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

I never used the official Ouya XBMC client, I used the one you side loaded which did not have the DTS issue (thats the codec issue right?). Its a bit of fun as a console too. If they were €100 I would buy a second one no bother, they are just a tiny bit dear i think.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I've spent the past few years buying cheap and buying twice, thrice etc etc

This is why I think I am going to hold out for either this nuc which is down to £128 at the moment with an i3 but no LAN, get a Thunderbolt to LAN adapter and take my chances
or
this nuc with LAN already when it comes down in price a bit.
or

This one which is promising to be a really cheap nuc which is shaping up to be an ideal htpc if everything pans out.

Decisions, decisions

stimpson · 09-01-2014 3:49pm

ozmo wrote: »

But cannot you do just that with One NAS (or file-shares on a PC/Laptop) and then a WDLive/XMBC/R PI or whatever at the tvs.

It just seems that with all the effort buying digital source, digital lcd tv, digital hdmi cables
- you are then introducing the digital equivalent of a scart cable right in the middle that is degrading resolution and bitrate from the high quality source you have to hand that you could be using directly.

And all the transcoding required on the plex/win7 server likely means it can support maybe one (maybe less) high definition client without stutter.
Fast forward/rewind and subtitles are going suffer unnecessarily too?

Why do you think it's degrading the resolution? With directplay/directstream you get the full resolution. It only transcodes when necessary - eg. to my iPhone over 3g. I can push 30GB MKV's over gigabit Ethernet to my Samsung Smart TV without issue.

Dravokivich · 09-01-2014 3:54pm

ozmo wrote: »

But cannot you do just that with One NAS (or file-shares on a PC/Laptop) and then a WDLive/XMBC/R PI or whatever at the tvs.

It just seems that with all the effort buying digital source, digital lcd tv, digital hdmi cables
- you are then introducing the digital equivalent of a scart cable right in the middle that is degrading resolution and bitrate from the high quality source you have to hand that you could be using directly.

And all the transcoding required on the plex/win7 server likely means it can support maybe one (maybe less) high definition client without stutter.
Fast forward/rewind and subtitles are going suffer unnecessarily too?

You asked about DNLA, I responded about it. Want to bring in hardware. It's easily expandable.

biebiebie · 10-01-2014 10:41am

witnessmenow wrote: »

Pulled the trigger this morning with dabs.ie

Which is €221 + €7.50 delivery but I was looking at the claim form:

January 2014

I noticed that there was €83 cashback on a care package so I checked the price of that on dabs, €86.50! So it made it an extra €3.50 for the care package. But even better the car package brought my order over the €300 free delivery threshold with dabs so the total cost of adding the care pacakge after cashback is -€4!

Link to N54L
Link to Micro server support

Hopefully it works out ok! Total price for server and care package should be €307 - €143 = €164 delivered

That's a great deal if it stands. I'd be interested in one myself.

However I have a suspicion that the Dabs.ie purchase might not qualify for the cashback offer. And if not then it will end up costing the full €307.

Have you confirmed this with dabs.ie yet?

vectra · 10-01-2014 11:58am

OK Guys.
I am thinking of one of these in the near future
I will be using it mainly to store mkv files and some music to stream as well.

I understand there are different specs between the models, but what difference would I see between the N36 ~ N40 & N54 as an end user?

Cheers

ozmo · 10-01-2014 12:08pm

Dravokivich wrote: »

You asked about DNLA, I responded about it. Want to bring in hardware. It's easily expandable.

stimpson wrote: »

Why do you think it's degrading the resolution? With directplay/directstream you get the full resolution. It only transcodes when necessary - eg. to my iPhone over 3g. I can push 30GB MKV's over gigabit Ethernet to my Samsung Smart TV without issue.

Ok - thanks - when I was testing it a few years back - there was no directplay/directstream support in the spec - everything I had was getting transcoded - and I couldn't get any what I would call acceptable results - I might give it another test see if it has improved.

witnessmenow · 10-01-2014 12:20pm

vectra wrote: »

OK Guys.
I am thinking of one of these in the near future
I will be using it mainly to store mkv files and some music to stream as well.

I understand there are different specs between the models, but what difference would I see between the N36 ~ N40 & N54 as an end user?

Cheers

I can do what you are talking about on my N40L, but you wont be able to buy a N40L or N36L for as cheap as a new N54L so you may as well get the most powerful one!

HP ProLiant MicroServer

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