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

Marky · 23 Jun 2013 at 19:13

I am also using Stablebit Drivepool and I haven't had an issue yet...

Just preparing to buy some more drives to add to my pool - but it looks really easy to do so

Yaayuh! · 23 Jun 2013 at 19:33

Have been looking at upgrading my NAS and the HP Microserver N54l has popped into the equation.

Does anyone know if the AMD Turion II N54l is any better than an AMD Athlon X2 5600+ (65nm Brisbane)?

Also, what RAM is compatible? I assume Standard/Low Profile RAM and i can use Non-ECC RAM?

ubern00b · 23 Jun 2013 at 20:10

Synology OS is really slick. Installed it today on my N54L for a play around. Unfortunately it won't be staying for 2 reasons. It's obviously not official and I wouldn't want to rely on it for my 16TB of data but more so, it doesn't spin down your disks when not in use. My electricity bill would sky rocket. Otherwise, I can see why people love the Synology OS.

Attu90 · 23 Jun 2013 at 21:15

ubern00b said:
Synology OS is really slick. Installed it today on my N54L for a play around. Unfortunately it won't be staying for 2 reasons. It's obviously not official and I wouldn't want to rely on it for my 16TB of data but more so, it doesn't spin down your disks when not in use. My electricity bill would sky rocket. Otherwise, I can see why people love the Synology OS.

I have a Synology NAS and have been thinking of putting the OS onto my Microserver.
When you say it wont spin down the disks it this a problem with the software working on the microserver ?, its a shame as my Synology is on 24/7 and as you said it would cost a fortune on the microserver with the hardrives active all the time.

edGfaCTor · 23 Jun 2013 at 21:19

Nick1881 said:
I have bought a new N54L and moved my server across from my N40L.

Now I want to use the N40L as a NAS, I want to start it with 1 x 3TB drive and install the OS onto a 16GB SanDisk Extreme USB pen.

What's the best raid software to use on it? I only need basic file sharing, nothing extreme, just so I can stream media from it, also I need to be able to expand it easily by adding a second drive once the 3TB is full.

Any recommendations would be great.
Thanks

Try nas4free its the carry on from freenas.

You can install it on your usb drive and mount your 3tb drive and just add other drives later on.

Nick1881 · 23 Jun 2013 at 21:30

My N40L has 4GB of RAM, my N54L has 8GB.

NAS4free and Drive Bender both look good.

Thanks for the recommendations

ubern00b · 23 Jun 2013 at 21:52

Attu90 said:
I have a Synology NAS and have been thinking of putting the OS onto my Microserver.
When you say it wont spin down the disks it this a problem with the software working on the microserver ?, its a shame as my Synology is on 24/7 and as you said it would cost a fortune on the microserver with the hardrives active all the time.

Seems to be an incompatability between the Synology port and the Microserver. No one has been able to work it out thus far but people are working on it. Keep an eye out on the XPEnology forum.

joelk2 · 23 Jun 2013 at 22:27

is anyone using one of these running freenas and in an apple environment?

Tobes · 23 Jun 2013 at 23:00

Having a bit of a problem with my server. Sometimes on restart it knows there is 8gb or ram but only makes 4gb usable. Sometimes a restart sorts it, sometimes I have to turn it off and on. Taken the mobo out and reseated the modules but still it happens. Any ideas?

MagicBoy · 23 Jun 2013 at 23:44

joelk2 said:
is anyone using one of these running freenas and in an apple environment?

Yes.

joelk2 · 24 Jun 2013 at 07:01

MagicBoy said:
Yes.

May I ask how you set up freenas? I spent 2 hours last night doing different things and could not get it so I could copy files from my Mac to my server I set up AFP shares cifs shares. Guest access. All sorts. Nothing seemed to work.

unleashed · 24 Jun 2013 at 07:30

ubern00b said:
My electricity bill would sky rocket.

Bit of a dramatic statement

DiscoDave · 24 Jun 2013 at 10:06

I gave in, getting one for £79.99 after cashback. Looking forward to playing about with it

.

Couple of general questions:

- What's the cheapest ram I can get for the NL54?
- Are the WD red's good for this box?

NAS specific:

- Are you guys using a specific RAID group? (Raid5, for example)

I plan on using this in conjunction with my Acer revo as a full HTPC/NAS setup

Jeci · 24 Jun 2013 at 11:12

DiscoDave said:
I gave in, getting one for £79.99 after cashback. Looking forward to playing about with it .

Couple of general questions:

- What's the cheapest ram I can get for the NL54?
- Are the WD red's good for this box?

NAS specific:

- Are you guys using a specific RAID group? (Raid5, for example)

I plan on using this in conjunction with my Acer revo as a full HTPC/NAS setup

I use the 2TB WD RED's with my N40L and there's no issues whatsoever, they're fairly quiet and reliable.

I'm currently using a 4 disk RAIDz (5) array, looking to expand that to a 6 Disk RAID 5 array at the end of the month. 12TB total / 10TB Usable. Performance wise it's not too bad, 90MB/s read/write.

DIABLO · 24 Jun 2013 at 12:23

Tobes said:
Having a bit of a problem with my server. Sometimes on restart it knows there is 8gb or ram but only makes 4gb usable. Sometimes a restart sorts it, sometimes I have to turn it off and on. Taken the mobo out and reseated the modules but still it happens. Any ideas?

Ram compatibility problem I would say.

SaltandSauce · 24 Jun 2013 at 12:49

Darryn said:
Microserver + X-Swing tidy way to get 2 drives in the 5.25" bay.

paintguy said:
And if you want to go crazy with 2.5" drives:

Various Icy Dock solutions for the Microserver

Thanks for the helping hand guys. I bought myself a carriage to slot one drive into the bay but I'm going to need to consider looking into an X-Swing as it looks both neat and highly beneficial. As we all know, the extra space, the better!

Yaayuh! · 24 Jun 2013 at 13:08

Anyone know what the backplane/connectors are like in the N54L Microserver? I need to know if SAS drives will work, the connectors on the drive are the same but instead of split DATA + POWER they're open for one conenctor.

Also, any idea on a set of 2x2Gb or 2x4Gb sets of RAM for it? Any compatibility issues?

Will this work? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-006-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516

SaltandSauce · 24 Jun 2013 at 13:25

GSXRMovistar said:
Couple of questions, anything special required to hook up an additional hard drive in the optical bay (e.g. bios update

paintguy said:
You'll need a Molex to sata power lead converter and a sata lead of course. As mentioned, if you want full speed from the inboard sata port (i.e. for an SSD) you'll need to use the hacked BIOS but it'll work just fine without.

I'm using the supplied 250Gb drive in mine as I haven't bought any big ones yet

You've got to be kidding me? I've just received a Sata lead and had intended on adding the 250GB drive into the bay using a bracket that I recently purchased. Do I now need to order myself a Molex to sata power lead converter for me to get the new drive up and running? ... D'oh!

doodah · 24 Jun 2013 at 13:45

So how many drives can you fit in this thing then

?

paintguy · 24 Jun 2013 at 13:54

xibinim said:
So how many drives can you fit in this thing then?

Probably about a dozen if you get inventive with 2.5" drives

6 of them in the ODD bay using the dock I linked to above. One underneath the ODD bay, and I've seen someone stick an SSD on the inside of the back panel!

Certainly enough to need an add on card for more ports. Don't know how well the tiny PSU would cope with spinning all those up at once though....