HP ML110 G7 32GB RAM - Cashback

[beavis]

That's perfect, looks good to me. One last question, what are the onboard NIC's?

Not near my server tonight, but the HP page says it's 'Two Intel Hartwell 82574 Gigabit NICs'

 

[clusterToy]

N40L + Crucial DIMMs

Just had an email about this from a competitor:

The ML110 G7 will take 32Gb using 4 x 8GB Crucial DDR3 ECC DIMMs.

The Microserver N40L will take 16Gb using 2 x 8GB Crucial DDR3 ECC DIMMs.

I have the Microserver N40L and I also have 2 x 8GB of Crucial DDR3 ECC DIMMs (CT2KIT102472BB1339). The server does not recognize the memory modules, it starts up to a blank screen. On it's own 2GB memory module it works fine.

I only bought them because I saw this comment. I contacted Crucial support and they said that they only go by the manufacturers official suggestions and that their advice was that the memory modules would not be reliable (if they worked - they didn't know).

Now, that I think about it, I guess one of the modules (or both) might not work.

Did anyone successfully used those modules?

How do I test if a memory module is not working? Should I try one module only?

 

[Appleby]

Fantastic thanks. See no reason not to get one of these now!

 

[benofishal]

24GB Working Here

Hi,

Just thought I'd inform you all that 32GB is most likely to work.

I have 24GB running here, 2 x 8GB modules and 2 x 4GB modules. I suspect 4 x 8GB modules will be fine.

I used Kingston RAM with the following part numbers. It's DDR3 1333MHz ECC Unbuffered Dual Ranked.

KTH-PL313E/8G
KTH-PL313E/4G

In fact upon looking on Kingstons website to check the part numbers then it seems they have added the 8GB module to ML110 G7 compatibility list, in the last 48 hours since I ordered my RAM. It wasn't there when I purchased so I took a gamble.

In the UK the cheapest place I found for the 8GB sticks was Ballicom - I already has the 4GB sticks out of my Microserver.

I'm running the latest BIOS version.

Hope this helps you all.

 

[Lorddalron]

Hope this helps you all.

Try not to be too helpful in regards to giving out competitors websites. If we look hard enough I'm sure we'll could come across it.

Good info though in regards to you using 24gb

 

[beavis]

Thanks for the info. I'm using 2xKTH-PL313E/4G in my system, I'd not spotted the 8G version before so I guess it must be pretty new?

 

[FastLaneJB]

Hi guys,

Don't obviously post on here but based on the info benofishal gave I ordered an ML110 G7 last week (The cash back has been extended to the end of July) and 4 x Kingston KTH-PL313E/8G.

It came with the latest BIOS on it, popped the RAM in and it's on with 32GB of RAM. I'm now running a memtest on it to make sure it's stable but it's looking good.

iLO 3 is great as well. Here's a picture of it posting with 32GB of RAM.

 

[beavis]

I'll have to check when I get home, but I think there's a later ROM? You might want to try the HP BIOS update disk as this will also do the RAID controller and iLO3 updates as well.
HP SmartUpdate Firmware DVD

Also loving iLO3, even with the annoying limits that getting the extra pack removes (virtual media/remote desktop after booting).

Thanks very much for the RAM test, good to actually see it working.

 

[FastLaneJB]

Hi beavis,

I did run the HP Firmware Update DVD 10.10 which was the latest when I downloaded it the other day. The only thing it upgraded was the iLO 3 from 1.26 to 1.28 I think.

The firmware for the BIOS is the latest. If you look on their site it's dated that they posted it to the site in June 2012 but the firmware version is dated from Feb. I'm guessing it went through a lot of testing before they posted it or they've just updated the installer files since for some reason.

I've got ESXi 5 loaded onto it. I've ordered a cheap ATI HD 6450 which will hopefully turn up tomorrow or the day after. This I plan to then pass through to a VM so I can use it for a work VM. I've already tested USB passthrough on it so I can put a keyboard and mouse to the VM.

It will save me powering my gaming desktop to just do work and hence a bit of electricity. The server is going to be on 24/7 of course. I know someone that has this working on an ML150 G6 so hoping this will work fine on the ML110 G7 as well.

 

[Muel]

Hi beavis,

I did run the HP Firmware Update DVD 10.10 which was the latest when I downloaded it the other day. The only thing it upgraded was the iLO 3 from 1.26 to 1.28 I think.

The firmware for the BIOS is the latest. If you look on their site it's dated that they posted it to the site in June 2012 but the firmware version is dated from Feb. I'm guessing it went through a lot of testing before they posted it or they've just updated the installer files since for some reason.

I've got ESXi 5 loaded onto it. I've ordered a cheap ATI HD 6450 which will hopefully turn up tomorrow or the day after. This I plan to then pass through to a VM so I can use it for a work VM. I've already tested USB passthrough on it so I can put a keyboard and mouse to the VM.

It will save me powering my gaming desktop to just do work and hence a bit of electricity. The server is going to be on 24/7 of course. I know someone that has this working on an ML150 G6 so hoping this will work fine on the ML110 G7 as well.

I'm a little intrigued, do you mean you'll pass all the peripherals through to a VM, so that will behave essentially as a desktop machine but with VMs running in the background? Could you then install the vSphere client and connect to the same VM through it? That'd cause some serious glitches in the matrix I expect!

 

[beavis]

I've not tried it myself as mines a pure Windows box, but from what I've read Intel VT-d does indeed work well. I'd be interested to hear how you get on with it.

I did run the HP Firmware Update DVD 10.10 which was the latest when I downloaded it the other day. The only thing it upgraded was the iLO 3 from 1.26 to 1.28 I think.

Ah yes, looks like we are on the same versions.

BIOS Version: J01
BIOS Release Date: 02/01/2012
Redundant System ROM: 04/21/2011

Integrated Lights Out
Firmware Version: 1.28
Firmware Date: 1/13/2012

HP Smart Array Controller, Slot 0: HP B110i
Firmware Revision: 1.42

 

[beavis]

HP Online Diag util has some excellent stuff in it, 16 temp sensors, and some less useful things such as....

Power Supply 1 - Provides power to entire server
Status: Working
Present: Yes

 

[rp2000]

Just a quick few questions for owners of this server.

1) What is the fan noise like? I did some googling and found some threads in the last year mentioning the front one is loud. No idea if these are isolated or this is an old issue that has been fixed by BIOS etc. (link 1 link 2

2)Has anyone upgraded from a ML110 G5. I would be interested to know how this compares in terms of noise, power usage and processing power.

The cashback offer at the moment is quite tempting. It would still cost more than I paid for the ML110 G5, but that was a while ago and I expect this to be more powerful (just hope not noisier!!)


rp2000

 

[FastLaneJB]

2)Has anyone upgraded from a ML110 G5. I would be interested to know how this compares in terms of noise, power usage and processing power.

I've got an ML110 G5, G6 and now G7. I've not had chance to compare the noise in a quiet environment yet but the G6 for instance was noticably louder than the G5. I believe this is a bit quieter than the G6 but that's based on it being in a none quiet area. So I'll see if I can get a chance to find this out for sure and come back to you on it.

I'm a little intrigued, do you mean you'll pass all the peripherals through to a VM, so that will behave essentially as a desktop machine but with VMs running in the background? Could you then install the vSphere client and connect to the same VM through it? That'd cause some serious glitches in the matrix I expect!

There is a danger with this that the universe could end, it's kind of like crossing the beams in Ghostbusters. My bad if we all cease to exist.

Parts turned up today but have some work to do first. Got a Raptor 1TB to go with my HD 6450. I've got a 600GB Raptor in my G6 and it makes no end of difference when running multiple VM's. Obviously I know SSD's are faster but I need a reasonable amount of space for the VM disks plus no trim in ESXi. So I figure for now it's the best price / performance option.

Anyway my friend is doing the pass through. I'd not tried it yet as the only system I had that supported VT-d was the G6 and that doesn't have a 16x slot to put a graphics card in. Anyway the way it works on his ML150 G6 is you install Windows 7. Load VMWare Tools. Power the machine down and pass the graphics card though. Boot up using the console on vSphere. Load the graphics card drivers and he's disabled the VMWare Graphics Card.

So now when it boots you don't see it on the external display but on the vSphere Console because you cannot change the graphics card order so it always inits on that display. But once Windows has loaded the vSphere Console for that VM goes blank and the external display kicks in. So basically you cannot see the machine booting on the external display but it's just left on 24/7 like his server so no real problems.

He's then passed directly through one of the USB controllers to that VM. So now he can plug devices into some of the ports on his server and they instantly connect to the Windows 7 VM without having to manually map them through using vSphere Client. The rest of the ports go to the server like normal.

He's not got a sound card yet but that's probably the last step if you need sound, I like to listen to some tunes while I work so a cheap USB or PCI-e sound card would do.

Obviously this isn't to create a performance desktop but one you can use without powering up another machine, assuming the server is on 24/7 anyway. The only external electricity is the power to run my HD 6450 which I assume is not a lot considering it's so low end.

I have read of people using this method to have a HTPC without issue. I've even read of one guy that had a proper desktop board with lots of PCI-e 16x slots of having 3 graphics cards to make 3 machines out of one. He then uses those so he and his kids can play Minecraft and runs the Minecraft server off the same box in another VM as well. Lol.

EDIT:

OK I've got this working. No problems at all really and runs well. I've not loaded my G7 with any other VM's yet really but running on it's own with 2 vCPU's you wouldn't know it's a VM at all.

I tested video playback with Divx codec installed with Hardware acceleration enabled, that'll then play a 1080p MKV with around 1 - 2% CPU so clearly the hardware accelerated video playback is working. Also I put on Heroes of Newarth for a quick test and that runs fine (Well for a £30 graphics card but point is being in a VM doesn't make any difference).

Here's the Device Manager with a few things expanded. If I disabled the VMWare Graphics Adapter it didn't then seem to detect the ATI card on reboot. So I've left it on and just disabled the screen from going onto that.

And here's the performance stats from Windows 7. Note this is not running off the Raptor as I'd built this VM already on the 250GB drive it ships with to just test. I suspect disk performance will jump nicely once it's on the Raptor.

As one of my screens died recently (Was running dual screens), I'm in the market for a new screen so thinking if I get a HDMI one which can take the audio (And pass it back out to some proper speakers) that'll save getting a sound card. Kill 2 birds with one stone.

Very happy with this server so far

 

[Hellsmk2]

Ordered one of these on Sunday and it's turned up today.

Unfortunately I'm a couple of hundred miles away working.

I have quite a few plans for this. ESXi 5 install, and then the following VMs-

1 DC
1 Exchange 2010
1 VMware View
1 Sun Ray server / Oracle Secure Desktop (for thin client access and remote access).
1 Oracle VDI
1 RDS
2 Win7 for View/ VDI

It's only a quad core server with 8gb ram, so all these won't be on at the same time (apart from the DC, Exchange and the SRS/SSGD servers). Main use is just for systems testing for work, which it should just about be up to.

 

[pingo]

installed 4 x Kingston KTH-PL313E/8G today and it works good i now have 32gb ram

running win2008r2 so thanks for all info about this

 

[FastLaneJB]

Back to the noise question for rp2000, it's noiser than the G7. Infact it's noiser than the G6 as well I think. Apparently it might be quieter when there's no PCI-E cards in as apparently once you put one in, the Fan 8 which is the one that blows over the PCI-E is now running at 39% on my system. It spins it up to cool the cards and there's a piece of plastic to funnel the air over the cards.

I'm not too bothered by fan noise so I don't mind too much but if you aren't and it's got to be near you then it might be too loud. If you don't need a PCI-E card in it then it's probably quite a bit quieter.

More annoying to be honest is that it spins the fan up and down just slightly quite often. Not by much and only for a second or two but I find the change in fan noise more annoying than a constant fan noise if that makes sense? It's probably only a few percentage but it's just annoying to me. If I look on the iLO 3 the percentages don't even change so it's probably too quick or a too small change to register but it's there, I can hear it

I guess I'll just learn to live with it. After a while I imagine I'll have learnt to block it out like I did the wife

 

[rp2000]

Back to the noise question for rp2000, it's noiser than the G7. Infact it's noiser than the G6 as well I think. Apparently it might be quieter when there's no PCI-E cards in as apparently once you put one in, the Fan 8 which is the one that blows over the PCI-E is now running at 39% on my system. It spins it up to cool the cards and there's a piece of plastic to funnel the air over the cards.

I'm not too bothered by fan noise so I don't mind too much but if you aren't and it's got to be near you then it might be too loud. If you don't need a PCI-E card in it then it's probably quite a bit quieter.

More annoying to be honest is that it spins the fan up and down just slightly quite often. Not by much and only for a second or two but I find the change in fan noise more annoying than a constant fan noise if that makes sense? It's probably only a few percentage but it's just annoying to me. If I look on the iLO 3 the percentages don't even change so it's probably too quick or a too small change to register but it's there, I can hear it

I guess I'll just learn to live with it. After a while I imagine I'll have learnt to block it out like I did the wife

Thanks for the feedback. My G5 does the spin up/spin down when under load as well and it is more annoying than constant noise.

Shame about the extra noise with PCIE devices plugged in as I would want an extra NIC More annoying as a NIC is probably a device that doesn't need extra cooling!


rp2000

 

[beavis]

I can confirm the fans are not very consistent on my server either and it's certainly more annoying with a PCI-E card installed. I've finally got around to putting at least near (well, on top of) my rack under the stairs so it's not a problem any more. I'd not want it in the same room as me, especially a bedroom.

The fans all use a custom connector and I've read the BIOS is very sensitive to replacing them with lower RPM versions.

 

[dragonuk]

See if I want to use iLO but also connect the server to my home network.

Do I need to use 2 network cables and connect one to the iLO rj45 connection and another to the normal rj45 connection ?

Also the Network controller has 2 ethernet Ports . Why would you need 2 ?