Dissapointed with the Gen 10 HP MicroServer

[whiskycycle]

I have a gen 8 microserver I use it with XPenology and DSM software. Perfect for my home needs.

I was looking forward to a new microserver.

However now it is released I'm really dissapointed.
AMD CPU which is none removable.
No iLO support

This isn't a step up in my opinion, I will just stick with my gen 8 server for now.

Pain in the backside for us at work... we've a few hundred Gen8 and could probably do with more, but no iLo and semi-sucky "RAID" on the Gen10 completely rule them out.

Likely replacement right now is the ML30 for us, but they're big and defeating part of the point of why we went to "Micro" servers! Good number of the Gen8 are hidden behind desks and the like, whereas we've no hope of getting a tower/rack in some places when we rip out 42u and dog cage data cabs.

So much for progress!!!

 

[TechMinerUK]

Has anyone else had an issue with the RAID controllers on the new Microservers bugging out causing Windows not to boot. So far every every one I've seen has had an issue once two more HDD's have been installed.

I must admit that I think these are a step backwards even down to the case construction as the Gen 8's had nice smooth closing hinged doors whereas these are the standard plastic ones which just fall off when they're opened. It's only a small element but it just makes the whole server feel cheap considering their are other units on the market for far cheaper like the T30/TS150 where the only down side compared to the Gen 10 is the lack of caddied HDD's.

 

[andy_mk3]

The Gen10 was a disappointment for me too. I have a N54L which was a Plex server among many other things, and it was struggling. I was tempted by a Gen8, bot for the same kind of money I went a bit more 'balls out' and got a Dell R710, dual Xeon X5670's with 24GB RAM, and I have never looked back, so much power and I can do so much more where the N54L was holding me back. It can now handle multiple Plex streams and plenty of other things. Of course it does use more power but it's not a horrific amount of power.

I think the biggest downfall of the Gen10 is the lack of upgrade-able CPU.

 

[covenantuk]

Has anyone else had an issue with the RAID controllers on the new Microservers bugging out causing Windows not to boot. So far every every one I've seen has had an issue once two more HDD's have been installed.

I must admit that I think these are a step backwards even down to the case construction as the Gen 8's had nice smooth closing hinged doors whereas these are the standard plastic ones which just fall off when they're opened. It's only a small element but it just makes the whole server feel cheap considering their are other units on the market for far cheaper like the T30/TS150 where the only down side compared to the Gen 10 is the lack of caddied HDD's.

Nope. Got 2 SSD, a DVD-RW and 4 HD installed using onboard and add in SATA card - all perfectly stable.

 

[TechMinerUK]

Nope. Got 2 SSD, a DVD-RW and 4 HD installed using onboard and add in SATA card - all perfectly stable.

Is there an extra step to configuring them or am I really unlucky as when I create a soft-RAID in Windows they just refuse to boot. Also the boot process to get into the UEFI does seem extremely sluggish (I might just be being finnicky now)

 

[covenantuk]

BIOS processing is slow yes, but I'm used to HP and their slow boot times.

Are you RAIDing your boot drive?

Ratheer than trust Wiondows drivers I originally grabbed the Marvell drivers from EVGA website as they were about the most recent available: 1.2.0.1039-WHQL but I found a more recent one today - dated 2015 - see this post:

https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-h...er-6gb-driver-windows-10-1-2-0-1039-whql.html

The driver is hosted here: https://rebyte.me/en/asus/71681/file-631377/

As in the threead you may not be able to install 1047 driver directly but if you install the 1039 driver just update from device manager and pointed towards the unzipped folder.

 

[TechMinerUK]

BIOS processing is slow yes, but I'm used to HP and their slow boot times.
Are you RAIDing your boot drive?
Ratheer than trust Wiondows drivers I originally grabbed the Marvell drivers from EVGA website as they were about the most recent available: 1.2.0.1039-WHQL but I found a more recent one today - dated 2015 - see this post:
https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-h...er-6gb-driver-windows-10-1-2-0-1039-whql.html
The driver is hosted here: https://rebyte.me/en/asus/71681/file-631377/
As in the threead you may not be able to install 1047 driver directly but if you install the 1039 driver just update from device manager and pointed towards the unzipped folder.

I'll have a crack at that and I'm just trying to do the same setup as on the G8 with the OS drive as one unit and then two extra drives in a "RAID1" soft-RAID config through Storage spaces. It's almost as if the server is trying to boot from the other drives as it remains in a bricked state until one of the two in the RAID is removed.

 

[covenantuk]

If you add any drive to the Gen10 you need to go back into BIOS and ensure your boot drive is set properly. For some reason it can randomly change the boot order - though if it's soft raid in Windows it shouldn't try to do that. I'd just use onboard raid instead.

 

[TechMinerUK]

If you add any drive to the Gen10 you need to go back into BIOS and ensure your boot drive is set properly. For some reason it can randomly change the boot order - though if it's soft raid in Windows it shouldn't try to do that. I'd just use onboard raid instead.

Hmmm, I shall have a look at that. The only issue is that after creating the soft-RAID it doesn't even let me get to the BIOS (I left it for 30 minutes booting to BIOS and it just stalled)

 

[covenantuk]

It sounds like the way you've set up Windows software raid it's trying to use the new array as a boot drive but the BCD isn't configured properly for it.

Did you install your boot drive on the SATA5 port?

 

[TechMinerUK]

It sounds like the way you've set up Windows software raid it's trying to use the new array as a boot drive but the BCD isn't configured properly for it.
Did you install your boot drive on the SATA5 port?

Nope, I put the boot drive in the first caddied bay. It's quite bizarre as once Windows is installed I don't really meddle with the boot drive or settings at all.

 

[covenantuk]

I'd put the boot on SATA5. It looks like it's conflicting with the Marvell Raid in some way, plus if you want to expand your storage it's easier

 

[Avalier]

I've been reading a lot about the shortcomings of the Gen10 over the Gen8, I quite like the idea of the Microserver to get rid of all the drives which are starting to pile up in my computers.

Would you still recommend the Gen10 if all you're looking to have is a somewhat low powered NAS box running a VPN server? The dual core 8GB model sets me back £220 with £20 cashback. I would be looking to fill it with 4TB or 6TB drives for SnapRAID+mergerFS and install the rest of the software myself, or unRAID if I want to go down the easier route. I'd rather not go straight to the big rack-based options until I'm more comfortable with running a server like this.

Up until now I would set up Windows file shares and have everyone connect to a SoftEther VPN to access the content, and I think the Gen10 fits the bill for moving all of this to a separate machine. Dual core should be sufficient power (I mostly store films/TV but no transcoding is necessary) I can upgrade the RAM at a later point if needed, and I'm not too worried about the lack of iLO as I have physical access to the machine most of the time if something does go horribly wrong.

 

[blueboy2001]

I've just built one of these for the first time and they are so obviously cost engineered compared to the Gen8's - although the same can be said for a lot of HPE's recent low end kit.

As a 4 bay storage appliance these are probably still the best thing for the job - the one I'm building is to provide a few TB of backup space for Veeam to write to.

We've traditionally used these because you can get on site support for them relatively cheaply, but the lack of iLO will make this more difficult.

 

[covenantuk]

For the money, it's still the best solution for a home low-noise NAS imo once you figure in the cashback. I've got an add-in SATA card installed and now running an SSD boot drive, SSD OS drive for HyperV, SATA DVD-RW and 4 x 3TB HDD.

I've also made up a fan adapter cable and got a 4pin PWM fan on the way that operates on 3.3v PWM (damn you HP using non-std voltage) which should reduce fan noise even more. Once that's done I'll look at the PSU fan also.

 

[Stelly]

Just to let you know mate, I have just dropped a E3-1230 v2 in mine which runs hotter but I'm cooling it with a Noctua NH-L9i, so it off set it... nice 35c CPU according to the iLO

Stelly

 

[DIABLO]

Just to let you know mate, I have just dropped a E3-1230 v2 in mine which runs hotter but I'm cooling it with a Noctua NH-L9i, so it off set it... nice 35c CPU according to the iLO

Stelly

Without any modding or anything? Does all the mount hole line up or did you have to make do with only a couple of screws holding it?

 

[Stelly]

Without any modding or anything? Does all the mount hole line up or did you have to make do with only a couple of screws holding it?

nope, you can either mark and drill or cut down the length of the bracket... its really not hard, I did mine with a dremel and a cup of tea

Stelly

 

[covenantuk]

Is this the Gen10 you're talking about? It doesn't have an iLO

 

[GDL]

No, Stelly is on about the Gen8's.