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

[Deleted member 138126]

Picked one up for £98 today couldn't resist.

The 4 x 3TB WD Reds, 8gb ECC and 128GB SSD I now need to finish it off will hike the price up a wee bit though!

Sigh, it's so tempting. I have an N36L so unfortunately just don't have the need, but it is so ridiculously cheap, how can you not!?

 

[Caustic]

Managed to grab one of the N54L's yesterday for £197.94. Happy with one for under £100, and glad I waited!

Any reccomendations for RAM? I'ts going to be used as a FreeNAS server, so need as much as I can put in.

Officially they support 8GB max, but some people have had no issues with 16GB. I personally went with 8GB ECC. Not too expensive, a good amount and nice and reliable.

CD

 

[ShortWarning]

It's because they're releasing a new gen of them which will be running on low end Intel chips... Which makes them even more interesting after the revamp.

Would you say it's worth holding out for this? I don't need one desperately but would like to pick one of these up quite soon.

Will there be similar cash back deals?

 

[tbz_ck]

Would you say it's worth holding out for this? I don't need one desperately but would like to pick one of these up quite soon.

Will there be similar cash back deals?

If you need the performance increase then wait. As for cashback, who knows! I'd expect there to be something, but probably not until several months after launch.

All guess work though to be honest...

 

[yonderblue]

Looks like the new G8 Microservers might be able to swap out CPU's for i3, i5's etc more info here :- http://blog.themonsta.id.au/some-extra-info-regarding-microserver-beta-units/

I don't know when the original G7 Microserver was launched if that came with cashback on launch, So who knows if the new G8 Microservers will launch with cashback.

 

[ShortWarning]

How long does the cashback normally take to clear with these?

 

[Infidelus]

How long does the cashback normally take to clear with these?

Info on the cashback says

Cheques will be issued within 45 days of receipt of your correct invoice

 

[Terrier_Jimlad]

N54L with £100 cashback with free delivery - worth the punt or wait until the G8?

 

[durbs]

N54L with £100 cashback with free delivery - worth the punt or wait until the G8?

I didn't particularly 'need' one as I have a perfectly good N40L but as the N54L can be had at the moment for pocket change, I couldn't see any reason not to get one.

I'm guessing with the change to Intel, the Gen8 ones are going to be around 3x what I just paid for the N54L (£98) at release so that takes it outside of the realms of a plaything to mess around with. Speed-wise, I'm not bothered about waiting for the next gen as my N40L is fine for what I need it for so the N54 at 35% faster will be more than enough.

 

[Tinders]

I have a N40L, if I were to upgrade to N54l, could I just slot my drives (2 x 3tb WD Red in raid 1) and os drive into it and carry on with my merry way, or would I need to reinstall it all?

 

[Terrier_Jimlad]

Sound, works out at £82.39 after cashback, so will just get one ordered for that money

 

[Si.]

I'm still struggling to find one in stock

 

[ShortWarning]

I'm still struggling to find one in stock

Search "N54L" in google. The first result (a very well known shop) has over 300 for pre order (despatched within a couple of days). It is £109 after cash back however.

Edit - Now due on 10th June.

 

[paintguy]

I have one on the way to me as they seemed too cheap to resist. However, now I've added up how much it'll cost to populate with disks and enough memory to run something like freenas it might end up sitting in its box for a while! Might have been as well knocking something together with all the old hardware I have lying around.

I've been reading this thread to find a cheaper way of doing what I want but nearly 200 pages takes some digesting. Surely setting it up as a simple file sharing / back up machine doesn't need masses of extra RAM and complex software.

I need to find the idiots guide

 

[enigmo]

Anyone have any idea how much N36Ls are going for 2nd hand? I'm tempted by a 54, or even waiting for a Gen.8, but I'm thinking with cashback driving prices down so far I'd be lucky to get £40 for my n36.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Just had a N54L delivered to replace my aging ex470, now need to decide what O/S to go with. WHS2011 sounds ideal if only it had a drive extender equivalent.

 

[Caustic]

N54L with £100 cashback with free delivery - worth the punt or wait until the G8?

It depends upon if you want any of the new features. Do you want USB3, dual network or more CPU speed? It does look like the N54L and earlier might have the advantage when it comes to how many HDD's you can squeeze in, but that's just a guess.

I have one on the way to me as they seemed too cheap to resist. However, now I've added up how much it'll cost to populate with disks and enough memory to run something like freenas it might end up sitting in its box for a while! Might have been as well knocking something together with all the old hardware I have lying around.

I've been reading this thread to find a cheaper way of doing what I want but nearly 200 pages takes some digesting. Surely setting it up as a simple file sharing / back up machine doesn't need masses of extra RAM and complex software.

I need to find the idiots guide

Perhaps go for something other than Freenas which does (apparently) require a reasonable amount of RAM. You could go for Ubuntu Server which is super low resource wise or OpenMediaVault which some people seem to like.

I have a N40L, if I were to upgrade to N54l, could I just slot my drives (2 x 3tb WD Red in raid 1) and os drive into it and carry on with my merry way, or would I need to reinstall it all?

It is just a guess, but you should be able to carry on. The hardware is identical, only a CPU difference, and even then, just a speed bump.

CD

 

[Caustic]

Can't wait for the Gen8 myself. If it has a replaceable CPU I would be super happy. (Yup, what a geek.)

 

[nails666]

The Gen8 does sound very nice but I'm guessing the price differential will be fairly significant compared to the current ~£100 (including the cashback) so I've finally taken the plunge and ordered one. Now just need to get a few drives to fill it up with and I'll be sorted.
If the Gen8 really is that much better then I can just grab one of them as an upgrade when they get the big cashback deals

 

[covenantuk]

So tempted to buy one to go with my N40L, but I don't really have a need for two... plus there's no way the missus will NOT notice that I've got 2 of them in my cave.....

Think I'll just wait until G8 is discounted and do an upgrade, I'm sure I can probably flog mine to one of the guys at work.