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

moss · 1 Jun 2011 at 13:59

You can use RAID 5 or RAID Z (if you use an OS that supports) it offers both. If a drive dies it can rebuild the data when a new drive is installed in place of the one that has died.
I personally wouldn't rely on this alone for redundancy purposes though.

Simpic · 1 Jun 2011 at 14:04

TurGe said:
Being a complete Noob to Raid
If I were to buy 4 * 2TB disks which would be the best Raid Set up to use also could I use the disk that comes with the unit as the OS drive in the CD rom Drive Space

As others have said, RAID5 or RAID Z. Also check out UnRAID.

You can use the CD ROM bay by fitting an Icybox. Have a Google and you will find the right part. I have a 2TB drive in there and a 2.5 inch underneath it as well. Six drives in total.

Regards,

Simpic

TurGe · 1 Jun 2011 at 14:09

moss said:
You can use RAID 5 or RAID Z (if you use an OS that supports) it offers both. If a drive dies it can rebuild the data when a new drive is installed in place of the one that has died.
I personally wouldn't rely on this alone for redundancy purposes though.

Ok Raid 5 it will probably be then, I am probably going to try 2008R2 Standard or maybe a linux variant, looking through all the threads is just mind blowing as to which way to go, don't suppose anyone has done a how too guide for a few different variations dependent on what you are trying to accomplish.

TurGe · 1 Jun 2011 at 14:12

Simpic said:
As others have said, RAID5 or RAID Z. Also check out UnRAID.

You can use the CD ROM bay by fitting an Icybox. Have a Google and you will find the right part. I have a 2TB drive in there and a 2.5 inch underneath it as well. Six drives in total.

Regards,

Simpic

Yahh I have read a couple of your posts not really sure I need 6 drives to be honest, just thought it would be a good idea to use the 4 bay as the NAS/Storage and a separate drive as the OS

moss · 1 Jun 2011 at 14:24

Depending on what you want to do, FreeNAS is free and is pretty good. It has a web interface and supports RAID Z.

TurGe · 1 Jun 2011 at 14:28

moss said:
Depending on what you want to do, FreeNAS is free and is pretty good. It has a web interface and supports RAID Z.

Just want to be able to store
Photos
MP3
video
Itunes
Download using NZB Client
Stream to xbox 360

ubern00b · 1 Jun 2011 at 14:28

Anyone done a 6 x 2TB unRAID build? I assume there is no space for a 6th 3.5" hard drive internally but you could use an external eSATA enclosure?

chenko · 1 Jun 2011 at 15:27

ubern00b said:
Anyone done a 6 x 2TB unRAID build? I assume there is no space for a 6th 3.5" hard drive internally but you could use an external eSATA enclosure?

There is a 3.5" sized "bay" underneath, but access is limited and would require you to reroute the power connectors for the drives below.

You can just use an eSATA as you mention.

TurGe · 1 Jun 2011 at 17:21

Just for anyone still unsure the deal is on the HP site is now up to date HP Site

AbsenceJam · 1 Jun 2011 at 18:30

Al Vallario said:
Which BIOS hack and operating system are you using, may I ask? The only detailed report I've heard of the eSATA port working to provide 6 drives is from someone using a Windows installation who configured it on the off-chance using device manager

Having tried pretty much everything to get this working, I've now given up and splashed out on a cheap SiL 3132 chipset PCIe RAID card to run my boot drive off. Will update, hopefully with great success, when I receive it

The most recent hacked BIOS, so not the very larest HP one. Running W7.

Didn't have to do anything special to make it work.

Al Vallario · 1 Jun 2011 at 18:57

AbsenceJam said:
The most recent hacked BIOS, so not the very larest HP one. Running W7.

Didn't have to do anything special to make it work.

Very frustrating. Can't get any sign of the eSATA port working; both 2.5" and 3.5" drives, both old and new BIOS hacks, both 160GB and 250GB model MicroServers... no eSATA at all.

Beginning to think it might be my eSATA->SATA cable, although I have no means of testing it. Either way, I've got my PCIe RAID card winging its way to me now so that should remove the need for all this kerfuffle

fish · 1 Jun 2011 at 19:41

Al Vallario said:
Very frustrating. Can't get any sign of the eSATA port working; both 2.5" and 3.5" drives, both old and new BIOS hacks, both 160GB and 250GB model MicroServers... no eSATA at all.

Beginning to think it might be my eSATA->SATA cable, although I have no means of testing it. Either way, I've got my PCIe RAID card winging its way to me now so that should remove the need for all this kerfuffle

SNAP

i have just taken the drive out of my lappy, no joy. Then taken the one from my external hdd, no joy. I have complained to the people who supplied my esata cable and they sent out a new one, still no joy. Seriously i am running out of hair and am loath to by an esata enclosure if it wont work.

edit: just tested cables with a multimeter and they appear to be electrically sound.

DIABLO · 1 Jun 2011 at 22:30

ubern00b said:
Anyone done a 6 x 2TB unRAID build? I assume there is no space for a 6th 3.5" hard drive internally but you could use an external eSATA enclosure?

It is possible to get 2 3.5" in the OD bay there is a guy on another forum who made up some brackets so he could mount one on top of each other.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/14738494-post576.html

Rudeboy · 2 Jun 2011 at 02:17

AbsenceJam said:
The most recent hacked BIOS, so not the very larest HP one. Running W7.

Didn't have to do anything special to make it work.

The most recent BIOS has also been hacked, so no reason not to use it. I'm running the latest hacked BIOS and can access my Nexstar external eSATA hard drive dock without problem.

Details of the latest BIOS are here;
http://forum.wegotserved.com/index....t-microserver/page__view__findpost__p__104539

howamidifferent · 2 Jun 2011 at 13:23

Rudeboy said:
The most recent BIOS has also been hacked, so no reason not to use it. I'm running the latest hacked BIOS and can access my Nexstar external eSATA hard drive dock without problem.

Details of the latest BIOS are here;
http://forum.wegotserved.com/index....t-microserver/page__view__findpost__p__104539

Thats not the latest BIOS. Thats from 4 months ago. New one available now.

JC · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:16

howamidifferent said:
Thats not the latest BIOS. Thats from 4 months ago. New one available now.

Can you post a link to that please

Cstark · 2 Jun 2011 at 15:07

Offer extended till end of June now, though the usual place are currenty out of stock...

Rudeboy · 2 Jun 2011 at 15:18

howamidifferent said:
Thats not the latest BIOS. Thats from 4 months ago. New one available now.

Well, a quick search on hp.com still shows me the revision O41A BIOS dated 2nd April 2011 that I linked to in my previous post.

Where are you seeing a more recent BIOS? is it a beta?

It's also not 4 months old. You're aware that Americans list dates different to what we do right? Look at the dates on the other BIOS's below to compare.

*edit*
Sorry, I see what you mean. I didn't realize the USB link was a BIOS as I never used it. I just downloaded the latest BIOS from hp.com and applied the same files listed in the hack. Worked fine for me.

Ozymandias · 2 Jun 2011 at 15:20

JC said:
Can you post a link to that please

Latest Bios Here dated 02.04.2011

ubern00b · 2 Jun 2011 at 15:32

Rudeboy said:
*edit*
Sorry, I see what you mean. I didn't realize the USB link was a BIOS as I never used it. I just downloaded the latest BIOS from hp.com and applied the same files listed in the hack. Worked fine for me.

So you can confirm you used BIOS:

2011.04.02 (A) (27 May 2011)

With the hack from wegotserved.com and it works?