HP ProLiant MicroServer

howamidifferent

From reading the multitude of threads on the web about this box, the concensus seems to be that Win 2008 server is the best performing.
FreeNas and Solaris have been reported to be very slow to transfer files to and from.

Im using Win 2008 R2 and its fast. Havent measures speed but its fast enough not to warrant trying to improve on it.

SlipperyPeople

hmm interesting never thought about 2008. I have a dreamspark account so i could get it for free :cool:

howamidifferent

Plus Win 2008 has Hyper-V so you can throw a few virtual machines on it as well. I run WHS2011 as a VM on mine to backup the laptops in the house.

machalla

Isn't it a bit of a problem that WHS doesn't seem to have an anti-virus solution available? Or has that changed in recent times? I had a look a while back and there didn't seem to be plugin at the time.

SlipperyPeople

I seem remember i was able to put microsoft security essentials on Win Server 2008...not possible with WHS 2011 no?

MartMax

I have Ubuntu Server installed with Deluge (torrent), Plexapp Media server (for IOS devices/ATV2/Airplay), PS3 Media Server. Use webmin/terminal/vnc to remotely access it for maintenance update stuff. Using the stock RAM and 2 x 2TB Samsung HD204UI drives on RAID1. Fairly basic set up and does the job for storage and media sharing.

machalla

The last time I looked MSE supposedly wouldn't work but according to this post would seem to imply it does but is not supported.

I did check out WHS2011 earlier in the year and most of what I saw seemed to be saying the there was no add-on/plugin available. Perhaps MSE will work with WHS2011, just not "officially".

AndrewR

Am about to buy one of these micro-servers from DABS.ie but would appreciate some feedback on my proposed setup -

• Microserver with 2Gb Ram and 320Gb HDD
• ASUS Radeon 6450 1Gb low profile graphics card
• LG Electronics CH10LS20 10X BD-ROM/DVD-RW Blu-Ray Lightscribe COMBO SATA Kit
• Logitech Wireless keyboard and mouse

The primary purpose of the server will be as a HTPC - playing DVD's BluRays, playing DVD's/audio stored on my NAS, streaming media from d'internet etc. small amount of surfing, no consoles as yet but Santa's coming soon...
My questions are:

1. What OS to install - Ubuntu / Windows Server and as I have a number of small USB drives floating around (1Gb) would it be advisable to boot the device off one of these or install the OS onto the HDD and boot from there?
2. I presume if the answer from 1. is Windows Server the 2Gb RAM would be insufficient? Can anyone recommend a good Ubuntu/Linux primer as I've never used any of these OS's before
3. I'd plan to use XBMC as the user-interface, would this do all the things I'm looking for above?
4. What's the best way to connect the GPU to an LG flat-screen TV - HDMI, DVI or RGB? I ask because I connected a desktop to a flat-screen monitor with all of these connections and found the best output to be DVI..why use HDMI?
5. Finally I might like to play some "older" PC games from the server. When this box goes in it'll replace an old desktop running XP. Would it make any sense to dual-boot the server to run XP and Ubuntu?

TIA,
Andrew

mcgovern

AndrewR wrote: »

Am about to buy one of these micro-servers from DABS.ie but would appreciate some feedback on my proposed setup -

[
• I'd plan to use XBMC as the user-interface, would this do all the things I'm looking for above?
• What's the best way to connect the GPU to an LG flat-screen TV - HDMI, DVI or RGB? I ask because I connected a desktop to a flat-screen monitor with all of these connections and found the best output to be DVI..why use HDMI?
  

XBMC can do all that, though I think it takes some messing to get Blu-ray working.
Regards the connection to your TV, there is no onboard sound (at least on the old model) so you'll need to use HDMI for sound and picture, unless you want to go with a USB sound card (don't think you'll fit a graphics card and sound card internally).

ondafly

great bargain alert !

just ordered one using lasercard on dabs. delivery expected wednesday week. I'm going to use it for studying for VMware vSphere ESXi5.0.

ondafly

is this RAM suitable ?

http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_10600_1333MHz_CL9_NT_Series_Desktop_dual_channel_memory_kit-2x4GB_/index.html

SachaJ

Just a note that this offer is running until the end of January and the Dabs code IESALE10 knocks a further €9.99 off. So it's now €145.55 (after cash back) which is a stunning price for a great bit of kit.

I'm seriously considering one over the Synology DS212. My main use will be storing TV shows and 1080p movies for use with my Dune D1. Another use I'm thinking about is for BitTorrent downloads. Currently I leave my PC switched on all the time for the torrents so it should be much more energy efficient.

What OS's could I install on the MicroServer that would allow me to run the torrents? Mainly I'd like for the server to hibernate or sleep once the downloads are finished and then wake on lan when required. In uTorrent I see that I have hibernate when the downloads are finished so maybe one of the Windows OS's might be best. If I was going with Windows, I presume I'll have to add a graphics card in order install the OS? Any way around this?

I think the DS212 might do that as well as having iPhone/iPad apps which work very well with the NAS operating system.

feylya

SachaJ wrote: »

Just a note that this offer is running until the end of January

The voucher says the server has to be delivered before December 31st http://h40055.www4.hp.com/docs/focus-pack/dec12/Microserver-Offer-Dec-IRE.pdf

Unless I'm looking at the wrong voucher?

SachaJ

feylya wrote: »

SachaJ wrote: »

Just a note that this offer is running until the end of January

The voucher says the server has to be delivered before December 31st http://h40055.www4.hp.com/docs/focus-pack/dec12/Microserver-Offer-Dec-IRE.pdf

Unless I'm looking at the wrong voucher?

Edit.... here's the form: http://www.hpshop.ie/Microserver.pdf

BlackWizard

SachaJ wrote: »

What OS's could I install on the MicroServer that would allow me to run the torrents? Mainly I'd like for the server to hibernate or sleep once the downloads are finished and then wake on lan when required. In uTorrent I see that I have hibernate when the downloads are finished so maybe one of the Windows OS's might be best. If I was going with Windows, I presume I'll have to add a graphics card in order install the OS? Any way around this?

You won't need a graphics card. It has onboard graphics. I bought a low profile graphics card because I needed HDMI.

As for the OS, just stick on Windows 7 32bit on it. That's what I run with no issues. I mate in work has been using Ubuntu and thinks it's fine.

ixtlan

I'm tempted to get this, despite not really needing it for anything. The consumerist society at work...

I have a mac-mini under the tv, so I wouldn't initially use this as a media player, but I might like to test with it. I know there's no audio, and therefore a HDMI video card serves multiple purposes, better video performance and bundled audio. However I wonder if the onboard VGA could be used with something like this... http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-1-channel-usb-sound-card-adapter-black-59039 There's a variety of these on offer and I see reports that they should work under Ubuntu, though I expect there might be issues with more minimalist Oses.

Ix

ondafly

ixtlan wrote: »

I'm tempted to get this, despite not really needing it for anything. The consumerist society at work...

I have a mac-mini under the tv

I picked one up just before Christmas, and I also own a mac-mini sitting under the TV. Just an FYI really - its a little bit louder than the MAC, and obviously a good bit taller. Lovely machine though, and its going to suit me to the crowd with VMware

ondafly wrote: »

is this RAM suitable ?

http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_10600_1333MHz_CL9_NT_Series_Desktop_dual_channel_memory_kit-2x4GB_/index.html

Anyone know if the above RAM is correct for these !

garvm

ixtlan wrote: »

I'm tempted to get this, despite not really needing it for anything. The consumerist society at work...

I have a mac-mini under the tv, so I wouldn't initially use this as a media player, but I might like to test with it. I know there's no audio, and therefore a HDMI video card serves multiple purposes, better video performance and bundled audio. However I wonder if the onboard VGA could be used with something like this... http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-1-channel-usb-sound-card-adapter-black-59039 There's a variety of these on offer and I see reports that they should work under Ubuntu, though I expect there might be issues with more minimalist Oses.

Ix

I got something similar on amazon and it works fine on Windows 7

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0048UJ24S

SachaJ

Anyone tried it with FlexRAID and WHS2011?

BlackWizard

garvm wrote: »

I got something similar on amazon and it works fine on Windows 7

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0048UJ24S

Are you sure it will work on a PC with no onboard sound? I really think there needs to be some kind of hardware install for sound. Pci sound cards are cheap these days anyway.

Jonathan

BlackWizard wrote: »

Are you sure it will work on a PC with no onboard sound? I really think there needs to be some kind of hardware install for sound. Pci sound cards are cheap these days anyway.

It will work fine.

hmmm

I'm running unraid at the moment and I'm about to install a 5th drive in the optical bay. A lot of sites talk about running the modified/hacked BIOS to get full AHCI support.

What's the implication of not installing the modified BIOS - will the speed slowdown be dramatic and noticeable?

JDxtra

Looks like no stock left on Dabs.ie or HP Shop.

Anybody else stock these at a good price where the discount is valid? Elara is a few quid more expensive.

SachaJ

JDxtra wrote: »

Looks like no stock left on Dabs.ie or HP Shop.

Anybody else stock these at a good price where the discount is valid? Elara is a few quid more expensive.

Try Misco.ie.

http://www.misco.ie/Product/Q444298/HP-G7-N40L-Micro-Server-100-00-GBP-Cashback-Offer

SachaJ

Just received my N40L.

Did anyone email in the forms to get the cash back or does it have to be post?

garvm

SachaJ wrote: »

Just received my N40L.

Did anyone email in the forms to get the cash back or does it have to be post?

I posted in mine, didn't hear anything so emailed them to be told they never got it. They told me to email it instead which I did but still waiting for the cheque! The email address is on the cashback form.

SachaJ

garvm wrote: »

I posted in mine, didn't hear anything so emailed them to be told they never got it. They told me to email it instead which I did but still waiting for the cheque! The email address is on the cashback form.

Grand thanks. Just emailed them in....

SachaJ

Just a quick update.

I emailed in my details yesterday afternoon and this morning received an email stating that my claim had been approved and a cheque was on the way.

feylya

SachaJ wrote: »

Just a quick update.

I emailed in my details yesterday afternoon and this morning received an email stating that my claim had been approved and a cheque was on the way.

Same. Nice quick turnaround on it!

Has anyone done anything interesting with their servers? I'm waiting for the HDD prices to fall before filling it

howamidifferent

I have the N36L and have installed a PCIex1 card with two esata connectors.
This I have attached to an 8 bay esata enclosure. Two connectors from the enclosure to the card.
The Proliant on boot allows entry into the esata cards bios which correctly lists the 8 drivesin the external enclosure by model number and serial number.

In the Proliant itself I have the 4 internal bays occupied and have the OS in the ODD bay on the original 250GB disk.

Problem is after the esta cards bios test I can press F10 to get into the Proliant bios. But here it lists only 12 drives.
With the result that one of the 8 in the enclosure is not listed and thus is not available to the OS.
The Proliant bios lists the OS drive, the 4 internal and the first 7 in the enlosure.
The enclosure drives are all healthy. If I swap their slot locations within the enclosure I can see in the Proliant bios that the movement is seen but it will always only list the first 7 in the enclosure. So it seems the Proliant Bios is locked to see only 12 hard drives.

Likewise the OS presents only these 12 drives made available through the Proliant bios.

Is there anyone who can confirm this and more to the point, is there any way of increasing or getting around this 12 drive limit?