HP ProLiant MicroServer

positron

positron wrote: »

N54L is also 64 bit. With Xpenology, I've DSM 5.2 up and running and so far it looks perfect..

That didn't last too long - accidentally (well, not really, just got greedy) tried to upgrade to latest version of the DSM (5.1-5022 to 5.1-latest-something) and everything cr*pped out. Xpenology boots up but can't see the volume.

So I followed Juan's DSM 6 guide (ignored the SN/MAC part as I am not going to use QuickConnect/Cloud thing), and everything is back up and running. It even picked up the volume I had configured earlier on, so all shares, files all there. Going to stay well clear of the Update button now.

TheTubes

I've been looking through the first few pages of this thread and it seems the server in the original alert is no longer available (n36l)?

I'd like to get a similar server for a home network, record from IP cameras, home automation controller, media server, etc.
It looks like there are (at least) 2 updated versions of the HP ProLiant:
Gen8 £125 after cashback
Gen9 £152 after cashback

Can anyone recommend either?
The server will be running 24x7 so cost to run would be a factor.

I've been following the thread on and off for a while but haven't read all the posts...
Thanks

stimpson

TheTubes wrote: »

I've been looking through the first few pages of this thread and it seems the server in the original alert is no longer available (n36l)?

I'd like to get a similar server for a home network, record from IP cameras, home automation controller, media server, etc.
It looks like there are (at least) 2 updated versions of the HP ProLiant:
Gen8 £125 after cashback
Gen9 £152 after cashback

Can anyone recommend either?
The server will be running 24x7 so cost to run would be a factor.

I've been following the thread on and off for a while but haven't read all the posts...
Thanks

LOL. The thread is over 5 years old. The Gen 8 is a decent box. Low power and designed for 24/7 operation. The only issues I would have with it are it's not exactly silent (although not loud either), only 4 bays (no full size optical bay to stuff with drives) and if you upgrade the RAM you need ECC RAM which can be pricey. CPU might be a bit underpowered for a media centre if you plan to do transcoding, but is upgradable.

There should be more info in the later pages of the thread.

scamalert

TheTubes wrote: »

I've been looking through the first few pages of this thread and it seems the server in the original alert is no longer available (n36l)?

I'd like to get a similar server for a home network, record from IP cameras, home automation controller, media server, etc.
It looks like there are (at least) 2 updated versions of the HP ProLiant:
Gen8 £125 after cashback
Gen9 £152 after cashback

Can anyone recommend either?
The server will be running 24x7 so cost to run would be a factor.

I've been following the thread on and off for a while but haven't read all the posts...
Thanks

Seems your needs would be covered by buying NAS instead,like synology NAS -provides most features you need low power consumption,noise ,only not sure about home automation but certain there are apps that would support it.as for HP,the main issue as above user said they are quite weak,say if you have spare pc 4-5yrs old it would have same specs performance wise,thus possible to get server software running on spare pc to save on cash,if got one.That said gen 8 looks smth you could have on your desk or close by since looks slim and is tiny server,but HP seem abandoned idea of upgrading these models for consumer side since its been years now.

stimpson

scamalert wrote: »

Seems your needs would be covered by buying NAS instead,like synology NAS -provides most features you need low power consumption,noise ,only not sure about home automation but certain there are apps that would support it.as for HP,the main issue as above user said they are quite weak,say if you have spare pc 4-5yrs old it would have same specs performance wise,thus possible to get server software running on spare pc to save on cash,if got one.That said gen 8 looks smth you could have on your desk or close by since looks slim and is tiny server,but HP seem abandoned idea of upgrading these models for consumer side since its been years now.

I never said it was weak. Just the CPU is a little underpowered for transcoding (may not be an issue unless the OP is transcoding multiple streams simultaneously). The CPU is upgradable if that's a problem.

It's also designed for 24/7 operation and built to be low power and in a small form factor. It's far more suitable for the OPs use than an old PC.

spongerobinson

Anybody know if there are any ROI cashback offers available at the moment? Have one of the old units, but could do with picking up a second one. Thanks in advance.

scamalert

spongerobinson wrote: »

Anybody know if there are any ROI cashback offers available at the moment? Have one of the old units, but could do with picking up a second one. Thanks in advance.

think someone had a link few pages back to ROI site,if you can find it.

spongerobinson

My bad! Found it, thanks. Have quoted the post below for anyone else who might be looking.

GaryCocs wrote: »

http://www.hpshop.ie/hewlett-packard-enterprise-proliant-microserver-gen8-2-3ghz-g1610t-150w-ultra-micro-tower-819185-421-prod.html

And a €65 cashback offer https://jrit-offers.ext.hpe.com/ie/en/pdf/HPE-ProLiant-MicroServer-Gen8-Offer.pdf

So €165 after cash back

For me it's great because of the low power and form factor.

I'd definitely play with what you have first but this is my second outing with the microserver. Great piece of kit.

zep

Not sure if your interested but I've a used one on adverts.

spongerobinson

Anybody know if Elara qualify for the rebate? They have the best Irish price I can find. Bought one from dabs a number of years back, but they are gone now.

spongerobinson

zep wrote: »

Not sure if your interested but I've a used one on adverts.

Have pm'd you.

PJtharsaile

positron wrote: »

If anyone is still following this thread..

I had N54L running UNRAID 5 as a NAS box for years at this stage, and the LG TV, PS3 and all other devices were happy to use it as DLNA source. The other day I tried to update Plex using a plex updater plugin, and that has wrecked my system. Basically, Plex has removed support for x86, and UNRAID 5 is x86. UNRAID themselves have moved onto UNRAID 6.x which is great but no longer free.

Just googling about my options, so far I've tried Ubuntu, NAS4Free etc, and I can't get any of them to do a full install into USB key like how UNRAID does. Also I want to run my server without a screen if possible - hence the reluctuance to go to full Ubuntu / Windows 8 etc, also I only have about 4 GB RAM. Then I started exploring other OS options.. and say the Synology OS hack called 'xpenology', which looks interesting. Just wondering if anyone here has tried it, any good?

http://xpenology.com/forum/

I haven't tried Xpenology.

For what it's worth I've been running FreeNAS on my N54L for 3 years and it runs beautifully; currently v9.10.2. Admittedly it's maxed out with 16Gb ECC RAM and currently has 5x 2Tb drives running ZFS. I am not running Plex on it; I run that on an HTPC. FreeNAS 10 is in beta and will support hosting virtual machines. Take a look. I also run Synology and will probably shift to FreeNAS on the Android principle: I can just move my OS to new hardware and won't get told "you can't run that unless you buy a more expensive Synology box". I assume Xpenology bypasses that kind of carry on but I read enough stories of grief with it to give it a pass. It's prettier than FreeNAS v9, but if your data matters use ZFS. Wait a little and you'll have the best of both: nice GUI and ZFS. I'll probably want a new microserver when FreeNAS 10 ships so I can switch some things to VMs.

stimpson

spongerobinson wrote: »

Anybody know if Elara qualify for the rebate? They have the best Irish price I can find. Bought one from dabs a number of years back, but they are gone now.

Should be an authorised HP retailer. Email promotions@out-bound.co.uk to be sure.

TheTubes

scamalert wrote: »

Seems your needs would be covered by buying NAS instead,like synology NAS -

Thanks, had a look but seems like you have to pay for every IP Camera after the first 2, that would put me off. I'd like the flexibility of being able to add/remove whatever services I want using something like docker or similar.

JDxtra

You can run Docker on many of the Qnap devices.

spongerobinson

stimpson wrote: »

Should be an authorised HP retailer. Email promotions@out-bound.co.uk to be sure.

Just to confirm, they've told me Elara do qualify for the cashback. However, their price seems to have gone up slightly, so it's now a little cheaper direct from HP!

frash

If anyone is upgrading & using their old one for parts would they send me a PM?
Need a new 2nd hand power supply.
Thanks!

Alun

JDxtra wrote: »

You can run Docker on many of the Qnap devices.

.. and on the more powerful Synology boxes too, maybe only the Intel based ones, I'm not sure.

stimpson

frash wrote: »

If anyone is upgrading & using their old one for parts would they send me a PM?
Need a new 2nd hand power supply.
Thanks!

I feel bad about this as I disposed of my chassis a few months back and forgot to strip the PSU.

Take a look at PicoPSU. They aren't cheap but probably cheaper than a HP PSU and they will make your server almost silent

If you think you can get away with 120W, then this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mini-Box-picoPSU-120-worlds-tiniest-supply/dp/B005TWE3O8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484044385&sr=8-2&keywords=pico+psu

and this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEICKE-Charger-Routers-Displays-Monitor/dp/B006Z9TQE6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1484044385&sr=8-3&keywords=pico+psu

will do.

You will need an ATX extension lead for the N54L as the PicoPSU is about 3mm too tall (I'm sure I have one somewhere as I bought it but didn;t need it for my build)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000FL60AI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

FWIW, I run one on my (non HP) server. It sits about 18 inches from my head during the day and I can't hear it over my PC on the floor (which is whisper quiet unless gaming). The only moving part is a single low speed 14cm fan.

frash

stimpson wrote: »

I feel bad about this as I disposed of my chassis a few months back and forgot to strip the PSU.

Take a look at PicoPSU. They aren't cheap but probably cheaper than a HP PSU and they will make your server almost silent

If you think you can get away with 120W, then this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mini-Box-picoPSU-120-worlds-tiniest-supply/dp/B005TWE3O8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484044385&sr=8-2&keywords=pico+psu

and this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEICKE-Charger-Routers-Displays-Monitor/dp/B006Z9TQE6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1484044385&sr=8-3&keywords=pico+psu

will do.

You will need an ATX extension lead for the N54L as the PicoPSU is about 3mm too tall (I'm sure I have one somewhere as I bought it but didn;t need it for my build)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000FL60AI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

FWIW, I run one on my (non HP) server. It sits about 18 inches from my head during the day and I can't hear it over my PC on the floor (which is whisper quiet unless gaming). The only moving part is a single low speed 14cm fan.

Thanks for that.
Shame about your discarded PSU though.

Not too bothered about the fan noise as it resides in a cupboard (there's plenty of ventilation before anyone suggests that's why the PSU died)

CreepingDeath

spongerobinson wrote: »

My bad! Found it, thanks. Have quoted the post below for anyone else who might be looking.

I got a reply from hpshop.ie this morning that the cash back offer was only for Gen 9 servers.

I was trying to get them to come down in price nearer servers plus.co.uk. I had asked them to confirm the cash back offer with that exact link above which mentions Gen 8 and Jan 2017 deadline. Not going to argue, will go with cheaper option, they were €25 more expensive with the cash back to start with.

Weird the cash back offer not available in Ireland.

grogi

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Weird the cash back offer not available in Ireland.

This not? https://hpcashback.com/ie/en/pages/cashback/terms

CreepingDeath

grogi wrote: »

This not? https://hpcashback.com/ie/en/pages/cashback/terms

That says "for qualifying products", according to hpshop.ie the Gen 8 doesn't qualify. Anyways, got it cheaper elsewhere so their loss.

srdb20

Can you post the link for the cheapest with cash back offer, thanks.

CreepingDeath

srdb20 wrote: »

Can you post the link for the cheapest with cash back offer, thanks.

For me, it was Serversplus.com

Gb£181.14 Inc VAT, plus £14.95 delivery to Ireland, minus Gb£60 cashback.
So Gb£136.09 = roughly €157.124

So you pay full price, then apply for the cashback afterwards.

Very good customer service.
You can't create an account online with an Irish address, it's expecting a valid UK postcode, so fire them an e-mail and they'll create it manually.
If your delivery address is the same as your credit card billing address they're happy, otherwise you might have to jump through some security hoops.

CorEire

CreepingDeath wrote: »

For me, it was Serversplus.com

Gb£181.14 Inc VAT, plus £14.95 delivery to Ireland, minus Gb£60 cashback.
So Gb£136.09 = roughly €157.124

So you pay full price, then apply for the cashback afterwards.

Very good customer service.
You can't create an account online with an Irish address, it's expecting a valid UK postcode, so fire them an e-mail and they'll create it manually.
If your delivery address is the same as your credit card billing address they're happy, otherwise you might have to jump through some security hoops.

What email address did you contact them at?
I sent an email the other day for a delivery quote to Ireland and got no response.

CreepingDeath

CorEire wrote: »

What email address did you contact them at?
I sent an email the other day for a delivery quote to Ireland and got no response.

Their online "contact us" page where you can leave a message. http://www.serversplus.com/contact.asp

CorEire

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Their online "contact us" page where you can leave a message. http://www.serversplus.com/contact.asp

Thanks. They set up a new account for me with an Irish address earlier.
I got as far as the delivery address page and chose the "Copy invoice address" option but I still can't order. It still wants a post code.
How did you get past that point?

CreepingDeath

CorEire wrote: »

Thanks. They set up a new account for me with an Irish address earlier.
I got as far as the delivery address page and chose the "Copy invoice address" option but I still can't order. It still wants a post code.
How did you get past that point?

I didn't order online.
Just ring them up.
The lady who set up my account also answered the phone, so no problems.

randombar

Hi All,

Just wondering about the RAM again for Gen 8.

Any recommendations or deals?

Looks lively enough: http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/proliant-microserver-gen8/CT7168757