Opinions on HP ProLiant ML115 G5

[RomeoS]

Hi everyone.

The server is a HP ProLiant ML115 G5 and the specs are as follows:

Type Server
Width 17.5 cm
Depth 42.6 cm
Height 36.7 cm
Weight 11.7 kg
Recommended Use Small business, corporate business
Product Form Factor Micro tower
Internal Bays Qty 4
Front Accessible Bays Qty 2
Server Scalability 1-way
Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free) 4 ( 3 ) x memory - DIMM 240-pin
1 ( 0 ) x processor
1 ( 1 ) x PCI-X / 100 MHz
1 ( 1 ) x PCI Express x16 - full-height
1 ( 1 ) x PCI Express x8 - full-height
1 ( 1 ) x PCI - full-height
Interfaces 1 x serial - RS-232 - 9 pin D-Sub (DB-9)
1 x keyboard - generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style)
1 x mouse - generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style)
6 x USB - 4 PIN USB Type A
2 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45
2 x display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ( 1 in front )
Expansion Bays Total (Free) 2 front accessible
4 ( 3 ) x internal - 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support 3 years warranty
Service & Support Details Limited warranty - parts and labour - 3 years - response time: next business day
Processor
Type AMD Dual-Core Opteron 1214 / 2.2 GHz
Installed Qty 1
Max Supported Qty 1
64-bit Computing Yes
Multi-Core Technology Dual-Core
RAM
Technology DDR II SDRAM - ECC
Form Factor DIMM 240-pin
Features Unbuffered
Installed Size 512 MB / 8 GB (max)
Memory Specification Compliance PC2-6400
Memory Speed 800 MHz
Configuration Features 1 x 512 MB
Storage
Hard Drive 1 x 160 GB - standard - Serial ATA-150 - 7200 rpm
Networking
Features Wake on LAN (WoL)
Networking Network adapter - PCI Express x1 - integrated
Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Compliant Standards IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3ab
Remote Management Protocol IPMI 2.0
Ethernet Controller(s) HP NC105i
Miscellaneous
Features System password, power-on password
Compliant Standards ACPI 2.0
Power Jump to Top
Voltage Required AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Device Type Power supply
Installed Qty 1
Max Supported Qty 1
Power Provided 365 Watt
Environmental Parameters
Min Operating Temperature 10 °C
Max Operating Temperature 35 °C
Humidity Range Operating 10 - 90%
Storage Controller
Type 1 x Serial ATA - integrated
Channel Qty 4
RAID Level RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10
Cache Memory
Type L2 Cache
Installed Size 2 MB
Cache Per Processor 2 MB
Operating System / Software
Software Drivers & Utilities
OS Certified SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard 64-bit Extended, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 64-bit Extended
Monitor
Monitor Type None.
Graphics Controller
Type Integrated
Installed Size 32 MB
Storage Controller (2nd)
Type 1 x IDE - integrated

Its going to be used for running Virtual Machines for me to have a play on. The RAM is being upgraded to 4GB of ECC RAM and seemed a bargain when I pressed the order button at a touch over £260.

I also have a spare 160GB Seagate HardDrive I plan on throwing in there to run the system in RAID1.

I was wondering if anyone had one of these servers and if so, how loud are they? What are they like for stability? Could this system last me say 2-3 years? Would it be possible to replace the powersupply to something more beefy or are they like the dells?

Its going to replace the current Dell which seems to go haywire when more 2 people VPN into it and the network card has a habit of randomly dropping the connection.

Finally no this is not for a business but my playbox

 

[RomeoS]

Hmmm would that cause any stability issues switching the RAM to Non-ECC in the long term? I want the server on 24/7.

Knew the deal was too good to be true Would it be possible to run the fans of a fan controller or even control them in speedfan?

 

[RomeoS]

Got a pretty alright deal then. Picked it up for £98inc VAT and Del, the RAM is what pushed the total price up.

Huge relief to hear that the fans spin down. Can I ask why you wouldn't use it as a server?

 

[RomeoS]

Hmmm fair point though I wasn't expecting anything fancy at this price point.

I had a look at the documentation and it also comes with PCI Express X16 slot too which could come in handy.

I don't suppose you have any internal pics of the units you bought as workstations?

VeNT, Just had a look at the 110 but the only ones I could find were P4 based ones taking DDR1 RAM? Would like to compare them if they are going for the same price.

EDIT: Never mind, found the ML110 G4 with the Xeon 3040. Is that based on the Core2 processor?

 

[RomeoS]

Hmmm. Power Provided 365 Watt does worry me though aren't server PSU's more capable of delivering the rated wattage 24/7?

 

[RomeoS]

I thought these were HPC boxes, rather then servers as such.

If a play box then why not just get a normal PC and run VMWare/Virtual Server on it.

I did think of the build-it-yourself option but at this price there was no way I would have been able to build something similar.

VeNT, looks good

I'm thinking of throwing in another 3 more 160GB HDD's and RAID'ing them as loading 3-4 Virtual Machines would take quite some time.

Raid 0+1 + a hotspare?

Looking at the Intel website, the Xeon 3xxx series are indeed Core based.

 

[RomeoS]

The server arrived this morning.

Its actually very quiet after you get past the POST screen. Imagine the sound of 2 92mm Delta's spinning up...

Just installed Windows 2003 Server R2 and patched it. To say I am surprised by the amount of hardware for the money is an understatement.

There are even overclocking options in the BIOS should you feel the need for more power though I wont be touching them, stability is the first priority.

VeNT, I did eye up the Xeon spec but I felt it wasn't really worth the extra £120sh? more. The Opteron seems more than capable of handling whatever I throw at it. Plus the motherboard has support for both SATA and SAS drives.

It came shipped with a SATA LightScribe DVD-RW, Keyboard and Mouse and the latest BIOS on a CD.

 

[RomeoS]

There is no BIOS option to change memory voltage so J1nxy might just have got unlucky.

I called HP UK and asked about the Remote Management Card offer. Even though I bought the system a day before the offer was introduced, they are shipping me the card anyway. Result!

 

[RomeoS]

You've miss understood what I mean, regardless of which of the 4 sticks I use and which slot it will not post with 4 slots populated. Eg slot 1-3 populated, posts, slots 1,2,4 posts, slot 1-4 populated won't. Stick 1,2,3 use posts, 1,2,4 posts, 2,3,4 posts etc etc

It looks like to use 8GB of none ECC is a none starter. So returning the memory and getting ECC stuff as it cost me about 15 more.

Ah right. Had a quick google but cant see anything about the system not posting with all 4 slots.

How much did the 8GB cost you?

EDIT Email sent

 

[RomeoS]

Aye thats what I thought hence why I bought the ECC RAM from the start.

Thats incredibly cheap considering I paid £166 for 4GB from Crucial :\

 

[RomeoS]

Mail in trust if you can send me the link

Finished loading up all the VM's and I think I'll need the full 8GB :\

 

[RomeoS]

The Opteron system can do RAID 5.

Getting some reasonable CPU Temps:

IDLE

Core 0: 38C
Core 1: 40C

LOAD

Core 0: 48C
Core 1: 49C


Thats after 2 hours Orthos. The HDD's hover around 32C with 2X 160GB's running in RAID1. Going to order the extra 3 HDD's next week.

 

[RomeoS]

Hmm every spec (on websites selling this server) say the ML115 G5 has Raid 0,1,5. When I order the additional drives, i'll check for sure.

 

[RomeoS]

Nice one mate

Let me know how you get on. Im thinking about putting on VMWare ESX Server or something. Virtual Iron looks interesting though, how does it compare to ESX?

 

[RomeoS]

Molloyster, I am not sure how good the PSU's are in these machines but dave-lew99 mentioned he had to upgrade the PSU's for new graphics cards.

AndyC, Strange memory issue but glad its sorted. The stock BIOS on the G5's is a bit old so updating it might help in future. As for the management card, its worth giving them a call.

 

[RomeoS]

Can anyone confirm if x86osx runs on these?

Cheers
Zaf,

This guy got it to run, not much info on how he did it though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk7haidZ10A

brendy, Aye the expansion is somewhat limited but on the ML115 G5 you get PCI Express 16X, PCI Express 8X, PCI-X and a regular PCI Slot.

Glad to hear the PSU is upto the job of powering a couple of HDD's. Was having second thoughts on ordering the extra ones. The current 2 are being worked really hard, constant 50%+ disk usage :\

 

[RomeoS]

Cheers Mate

Going to buy one of these as my desktop and use Machine in Sig as a ESX server

ESX is VERY fussy about what hardware it will run on. Had to borrow a rather expensive SATA RAID card to get the software to pick up my hard drives.

After installation I removed it, enabled the onboard SATA ports and it worked just fine.

 

[RomeoS]

Yeah mate. Used a Intel Gigabit network card I had lying around.

Huge thread here regarding installing ESX on the ML115 G4/G5:

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116768;jsessionid=98E666F50D7F0771D5F3DD32D0ABBAED?tstart=0

 

[RomeoS]

Cant find that dell for £117 anywhere but i'll keep in mind when I want another spare PC. Doesn't seem all that bad for that price.

 

[RomeoS]

Completely forgot about this thread Just thought I would update.

I now have a small cluster of 3 ML115 G5's with my original still being the main workhorse.

I have since upgraded the RAM on all 3 servers to 8GB (Damn Windows 2008 Server) with the first box taking care of AD, DHCP, DNS, Virus Scanning etc on the network. The second ML115 now is the file server with a few Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB's thrown in there. Is also does a bit of encoding/ripping my blueray/hd dvd collection and the odd CD. The Third ML115 is the VPN, Intranet, Web + FTP, ISA and MySQL Server.

Not all the tasks are running off a single OS, got VMWare ESXi running on each box

I did have the power supply go pop on the 2nd server but HP sorted that out very quickly. So a few months on now and I got to say they were excellent buys. Very reliable, quiet little machines.

EDIT Forgot to mention being able to run Non-ECC RAM is a huge plus, saved a bit of cash until I had the money to get them all ECC RAM.

EDIT 2: Seems you can drop in a quad core with a BIOS update and a certain website has them for £158 delivered with Opteron 1352/250GB HDD/512MB RAM.