Good Cheap Server - HP Proliant Microserver 4 BAY - OWNERS THREAD

[z0x]

Loose HDD caddies, problem or not?

Hi All,

My first post here! I've just purchased one of these ProLiant MicroServers to use as a FreeBSD based ZFS RAIDZ2 NAS. Overall I am extremely happy - especially at this price!

The only worry I have is that the HDD caddies are very loose - allowing a significant and 'clonky' L/R wobble.

Obviously I won't be moving the machine whilst it is online, however I am worried about general movement/vibrations in the house (which is a little rickety) that cause the drives to wobble every now and again whilst its online.

Would this online wobble be likely to cause damage to the HDD's?

If so, does anyone have any recommendations for modifying the caddies or housing to prevent the movement?

Cheers,

z0x

 

[slewis1972]

Anyone running ESXi and if so, any idea what your power consumption is at the moment?
Just did a test install after my Ubuntu installation has jumped to like 43watts, and ESX is close to that at the moment I want to reduce it, otherwise I am going to go down the Windows 2008 R2 route and use vmware server.

 

[Jakus]

Indeed, TLER is the problem with the Greens but it's not the end of the world.. WDTLER can be used to change the default settings. I've not used it myself but I'm sure this page will help you along (at your own risk )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-Limited_Error_Recovery

I still advise most people to avoid the Greens for RAID, and go with either the Blacks or Samsung F4 for RAID arrays. If money is no object or your data is really important to you then WD RE (Raid Edition) is and even better option.

Interesting subject, I suppose a good old fashion slow format would map out the drive errors I've Used many WD drives in RAID and never had a problem.

I suppose it's ultimately down to the drive how it writes/checks data and I can understand conflict issues but would have thought it better to have the drive having the final control ?

 

[Jakus]

Hi All,

My first post here! I've just purchased one of these ProLiant MicroServers to use as a FreeBSD based ZFS RAIDZ2 NAS. Overall I am extremely happy - especially at this price!

The only worry I have is that the HDD caddies are very loose - allowing a significant and 'clonky' L/R wobble.

Obviously I won't be moving the machine whilst it is online, however I am worried about general movement/vibrations in the house (which is a little rickety) that cause the drives to wobble every now and again whilst its online.

Would this online wobble be likely to cause damage to the HDD's?

If so, does anyone have any recommendations for modifying the caddies or housing to prevent the movement?

Cheers,

z0x

Sata and Sata power connectors have sprung contacts, don't worry about it

 

[z0x]

Sata and Sata power connectors have sprung contacts, don't worry about it

I was a little concerned about the connectors, but it is more the HDD's internals/workings that I am worried about.

An example would be when someone runs up/down the stairs or shuts the front/back door - enough vibration is created to cause the HDD caddies to rattle around in their slots.

Is this sort of level of Shock/Impact whilst online likely to cause long-term damage to the disks?

I wouldn't worry if these were old disks, but I've just slapped 4 brand new 2TB disks in there with 8GB RAM for the every memory hungry ZFS!

Cheers,
z0x

 

[Jakus]

I was a little concerned about the connectors, but it is more the HDD's internals/workings that I am worried about.

An example would be when someone runs up/down the stairs or shuts the front/back door - enough vibration is created to cause the HDD caddies to rattle around in their slots.

Is this sort of level of Shock/Impact whilst online likely to cause long-term damage to the disks?

I wouldn't worry if these were old disks, but I've just slapped 4 brand new 2TB disks in there with 8GB RAM for the every memory hungry ZFS!

Cheers,
z0x

If the whole Case is getting heavy vibration it would make little difference whether the drives were solid or sloppy !
Short sharp shocks is what causes damage....people slamming laptop lids etc.. Unless the thing is next to the front door, Houses are constructed of large heavy components that will not readily transfer high frequency harmonics so I would not really worry too much, although I commend Your Thought and intelligence which is way beyond 99% of users.

And welcome to the forums

 

[Jakus]

Oops !, I see the caddies are actually rattling (did not read properly) I agree that's not good, Find a more solid place for it to live or put it on a block of foam with a board on top. (old sofa cushion with a bit or plywood on top)

 

[slewis1972]

Hi

I have :

Corsair XMS3 Classic 4096MB 1x4096MB Memory Module Kit 1333MHz PC310666 DDR3 DIMM 240pin CL 99924

from crescent in the Microserver. Been working fine all week. Now I am getting acpi BSOD in Windows 2008. Change back to the original 1gb stick - all ok.

memtest reports back ok.

System boots into linux all ok.

If I do a fresh install of Windows 2008 RD, all ok, set it up, reboot, and get the same error.

Any ideas?

Scott

 

[beavis]

ACPI BSOD can be caused by all kinds of stuff

As a random idea, do you get the same issues if you leave the Ethernet connection out?

 

[z0x]

Oops !, I see the caddies are actually rattling (did not read properly) I agree that's not good, Find a more solid place for it to live or put it on a block of foam with a board on top. (old sofa cushion with a bit or plywood on top)

Well everything is looking good this evening! I'm glad you were concerned with the situation too, most people I asked didn't think it was a problem - I was getting tempted to leave it as-is..

I have just finished cutting some small lengths of rubber mat (from the ironing board - uh oh ). They have now been lovingly inserted between each caddy at the base of the HDD cage, and the wobble issue has been eliminated.

I searched everywhere for a suitable/safe material to use. When I remembered the rubber mat I even tested it with a red-hot spoon handle from the stove - I can safely say that heat is not going to cause me any problems!

Now all I need is to find that foam & plywood to stand the unit on.. I'm trying really hard to ignore the sofa

I'm wondering if polystyrene ceiling tiles would be any good?

Cheers,
z0x

 

[lavaman]

hi, I've got my HP microserver! Yipee

I purchased it to :
1. backup PC & Mac laptop
2. stream videos to xbox 360. My DVD's are backed up using DVDShrink.

questions:
1 .Is WHS ok for this?
2. How much ram do I need for WHS?
3. can you recommend 2TB drives for it?

thanks!

 

[kae2]

1 - Yes - Edit: Don't know about Macs though, sorry! PC Backup can be configured automatically with WHS.
2 - Don't know.
3 - I use the Samsung F4EG's and very happy with them!

 

[lavaman]

Thanks kae2, are these ok as well?
2TB Western Digital WD20EARS Caviar Green, SATA 3Gb/s, 5400+rpm, 64MB Cache, 8ms

 

[Gundam God]

hi, I've got my HP microserver! Yipee
questions:
2. How much ram do I need for WHS?

thanks!

Running WHS on mine with the 1gb it came with, not had any problems. Only really use mine as a NAS and it does the job splendidly.

Thanks kae2, are these ok as well?
2TB Western Digital WD20EARS Caviar Green, SATA 3Gb/s, 5400+rpm, 64MB Cache, 8ms

I have one of those in my PC but decided against putting it into my HP. The EARS use the large 4K disk sectors so will require a change of jumper setting or the tool WD provide.

If you plan to use WHS I would keep things simple and avoid large sectors. I used Samsung F3s for mine.
If you plan to use any other OS then they should be fine.

If only Vail had kept DE we'd have a more up-to-date WHS without the 4K sector problems.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Is anyone running Freenas on one of these? V8 doesn't recognise any of my Samsung disks.

 

[Gizmo_Ger]

@Burnsy2023: I have the same problem with FreeNAS 8 RC. I think it is the controller which isn´t recognized. Went back to FreeNAS 7.
I´ve played around with a few distros, still haven´t found the ONE. Tried FreeNAS, ZFSguru, unRAID, Openfiler, etc...

 

[Jakus]

Is anyone running Freenas on one of these? V8 doesn't recognise any of my Samsung disks.

Worked fine with WD ears ....don't really help You though

 

[Jakus]

If only Vail had kept DE we'd have a more up-to-date WHS without the 4K sector problems.

I'm not so sure WHS drive extender or the whole OS was very good controlling disks.....It did it's own thing !! great until you want to recover data !

An newer version of the Idea would have been good though

 

[Harbz]

What would be the easiest way to fit a ssd into one of these? would the connectors line up if I used a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter in the removable bays? I've already used the top bay with a DVD drive.