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

Uhtred said:
humm ok. DId you try 4k block size? Otherwise i'm out :)
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If you're talking about the block size of the VMFS datastores where the RDM mapping files live on then in 5.1 the block size is 1MB. It's a limitation in ESXi with non-passthru I/O Devices.

It looks like I'm going to have to install Ubuntu server and turn it into a NAS along with all my other client software. Has anyone done this? If so, which software would you recommend?
 
Audigex said:
The "What do you use your home server for?" thread will give you some ideas. Link here

Basically, though I'd set up your Raspberry Pi to use OpenELEC and stream films/tv/music from the internet and your Microserver.

Then for the Microserver the typical thing to do is OwnCloud/NAS for the RPI to stream from and general backup. Web/software development servers with Apache/MySQL/git or some similar setup. Perhaps something like Amahi/Zentyal to run your network. You could leave it downloading torrents, games, whatever else interests you. It could be a TeamSpeak or game server for Minecraft, Counter Strike or whatever.

That's basically what I am/will be doing with mine. Apart from the fact I've also got it set up as a HTPC with a HD6450. It will play back from itself but also stream the movies etc to a RPI in the other room.
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awesome post, just what i needed, cheers!
 
DiscoDave said:
If you're talking about the block size of the VMFS datastores where the RDM mapping files live on then in 5.1 the block size is 1MB. It's a limitation in ESXi with non-passthru I/O Devices.

It looks like I'm going to have to install Ubuntu server and turn it into a NAS along with all my other client software. Has anyone done this? If so, which software would you recommend?
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SOrry no, I meant in Freenas for example when you provision the pool (it's possible you weren't even able to get to that point)
 
What are people using for the virtual storage appliances in when making a lab vCentre?
I'm using HP VSA atm but it's fairly slow. I tried FreeNAS in the past but that was slow beyond belief.
 
joelk2 said:
my instructions are for a uk based shop who has stock of them.

how much did you pay on ebay?
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£7.50.

I mentioned ebay because when I was looking, all the shops who claimed to have them were out of stock when i tried to order. It's just an extra option for those looking for them.
 
Damn. Built my VMware lab but can't vMotion. There are no EVC options to get an N36L and N54L working together :(

*Edit*

Oh I need to power off VM's before chaning the EVC mode. Will not find out if it works until I am home later.
 
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A pretty noob query by a recent n54L owner: appreciate reply

I know I will be advised to read a thread here-and-there: which I have, as a starter; thats why even able to post the queries :rolleyes:

I am massively impressed by the specs of the microserver owners here and applaud the knowledge being shared.

But my requirements from the acquired N54L at this point are very limited and I am on a small budget, hence the queries, the answers to which may allow me to make some good use of the microserver, acquired at just £75 in the UK with the £100 cashback promo going on. (That's why it was hard to resist!) :)

I DON'T have any massive data requirements currently. No huge video bak's, no streaming requirements- infact my current backup is on a 500GB WD USB - which resides any critical docs/pics from the three laptops I own.
THUS I was thinking of centralising all data into one location - thought of barebones 500GB/1TB NAS - when stumbled upon £75 N54L deal.

Queries:
1. OS: I plan to use WHS2011 as more of windows person and the fact it gives one an option to access the box remotely from the internet (I have a domain). £35 is the investment I can surely do to make box worthwhile! Unless a reco comes to even save this cost and use alternate OS like NAS4Free from a USB?
2. HDD: Given I dont have massive data requirements currently AND I just plan to start using it as a FILESERVER, can I just install WHS2011 on the stock 250GB drive - with the OS as well as data shares residing on the same drive?
And when I have some money to spend/my needs grow I would invest in 2 x WD RED's (currently retailing £85 in UK - which is not cheap). The differential in 2TB and 3TB is £30 - but 2TB is HP recommended-although I know members here run 3TB's.

Bottomline: I need a clarification - whether I *need* to invest in extra HDD's now, before I install the WHS, or I can start experimenting with the stock 250GB and later add more HDD's in bay's and MOVE my shares? :confused:

Also, another point on HDD's in context of backup plans: I know backup plans must exist- RAID1 is NOT backup etc etc.
Members here have reco'd - running Drivepool with 2 (or more) drives in bays with folder duplication - so that copy exists on other drive if one fails.

PLAN A - as above : 2xWD REDs + Drivepool if I am able to rob my wife's purse. :rolleyes:
PLAN B- Given I am short of cash (and may start with just the 250GB stock) - but if I extend my own wallet a little- I may invest in just ONE 2 TB WD RED in one bay, install OS on 250GB stock HDD and use the new 2TB WD RED as share. Then, as a backup plan - I will use an external 2TB USB2.0 brick which hopefully WHS can (?) backup the data offline as a job.

RECOMMENDATIONS please - Plan A or Plan B - wherein Plan A does not give offline backup and Plan B gives.
Also, if I go with plan B, I save money on drivepool, which I can invest later when I add more drives.

3. MEMORY: Can I run WHS on the 2GB ECC which came in the box if using it just as a fileserver? People are investng in 8/16GB I know, but well I am short of cash now. Uk ebay sells extra 2GB for £10 (people flogging the stock HP RAM which came with box).

I PROMISE when I have £££/$$$ I will have a fire-breathing-horse running 16GB and 20 disks (and what not!) - BUT as of now I need a 'barebones file server' to serve my puny needs of centralised data on a barebones budget, the lesser the better.

Queries on 1/2/3 and Plan A vs B welcome- so that I can start making effective use of the nice piece of hardware HP made.

Thanks to all forum members/contributers in anticipation!
 
Howard - I'm also on a ridiculously tight budget so I know where you're coming from.

You can usr the supplied disk to start off with. WHS will take 60GB for itself and use the rest for a separate partition for shares.

Get the extra 2GB RAM if you can. It'll really help.

Option B would work. WHS can do a full backup of the server to an external drive (or internal if you set it up right, but external is potentially safer for your data) . Your current 500GB drive would be perfect for that until funds allow expansion.

Mine's currently running WHS 2011 on the supplied drive and backing up to a 300GB WD passport until I can afford some big drives.
 
Swarfega said:
Damn. Built my VMware lab but can't vMotion. There are no EVC options to get an N36L and N54L working together :(
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I was curious about this and went a'googling. There is real lack of information about EVC and microservers, presumably because no-one is running a full virtual center environment on mixed gen boxes, except for you :p

I found 1 post that suggested that the N36 is classed as a Gen 1, but it was vague at best.

As you've surmised, I'm pretty sure the ESX hosts that are getting 'downgraded' need to be clear of VM's. I did it at work when we added new servers to our cluster, but can't remember whether a reboot was also needed
 
The host cannot be admitted to the cluster's current Enhanced vMotion Compatibility mode. Powered-on or suspended virtual machines on the host may be using CPU features hidden by that mode.
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It said the above for both servers. But since turning off all VM's on one of them it doesn't moan about that one anymore. I cant do th rest though until I am at home :)
 
HowardRoark said:
I know I will be advised to read a thread here-and-there: which I have, as a starter; thats why even able to post the queries :rolleyes:

I am massively impressed by the specs of the microserver owners here and applaud the knowledge being shared.

But my requirements from the acquired N54L at this point are very limited and I am on a small budget, hence the queries, the answers to which may allow me to make some good use of the microserver, acquired at just £75 in the UK with the £100 cashback promo going on. (That's why it was hard to resist!) :)

I DON'T have any massive data requirements currently. No huge video bak's, no streaming requirements- infact my current backup is on a 500GB WD USB - which resides any critical docs/pics from the three laptops I own.
THUS I was thinking of centralising all data into one location - thought of barebones 500GB/1TB NAS - when stumbled upon £75 N54L deal.

Queries:
1. OS: I plan to use WHS2011 as more of windows person and the fact it gives one an option to access the box remotely from the internet (I have a domain). £35 is the investment I can surely do to make box worthwhile! Unless a reco comes to even save this cost and use alternate OS like NAS4Free from a USB?
2. HDD: Given I dont have massive data requirements currently AND I just plan to start using it as a FILESERVER, can I just install WHS2011 on the stock 250GB drive - with the OS as well as data shares residing on the same drive?
And when I have some money to spend/my needs grow I would invest in 2 x WD RED's (currently retailing £85 in UK - which is not cheap). The differential in 2TB and 3TB is £30 - but 2TB is HP recommended-although I know members here run 3TB's.

Bottomline: I need a clarification - whether I *need* to invest in extra HDD's now, before I install the WHS, or I can start experimenting with the stock 250GB and later add more HDD's in bay's and MOVE my shares? :confused:

Also, another point on HDD's in context of backup plans: I know backup plans must exist- RAID1 is NOT backup etc etc.
Members here have reco'd - running Drivepool with 2 (or more) drives in bays with folder duplication - so that copy exists on other drive if one fails.

PLAN A - as above : 2xWD REDs + Drivepool if I am able to rob my wife's purse. :rolleyes:
PLAN B- Given I am short of cash (and may start with just the 250GB stock) - but if I extend my own wallet a little- I may invest in just ONE 2 TB WD RED in one bay, install OS on 250GB stock HDD and use the new 2TB WD RED as share. Then, as a backup plan - I will use an external 2TB USB2.0 brick which hopefully WHS can (?) backup the data offline as a job.

RECOMMENDATIONS please - Plan A or Plan B - wherein Plan A does not give offline backup and Plan B gives.
Also, if I go with plan B, I save money on drivepool, which I can invest later when I add more drives.

3. MEMORY: Can I run WHS on the 2GB ECC which came in the box if using it just as a fileserver? People are investng in 8/16GB I know, but well I am short of cash now. Uk ebay sells extra 2GB for £10 (people flogging the stock HP RAM which came with box).

I PROMISE when I have £££/$$$ I will have a fire-breathing-horse running 16GB and 20 disks (and what not!) - BUT as of now I need a 'barebones file server' to serve my puny needs of centralised data on a barebones budget, the lesser the better.

Queries on 1/2/3 and Plan A vs B welcome- so that I can start making effective use of the nice piece of hardware HP made.

Thanks to all forum members/contributers in anticipation!
Click to expand...

1) WHS will work fine. You could swap to something like Zentyal or Amahi and get the same featurs, but £35 isn't a lot if you'd prefer a comfortable windows environment. You're entrusting your data to this thing, you want to be convinced you know how to use the OS... so I don't see why you'd need to switch to another OS unless you want to save the £35

2) That plan sounds fine, 250GB for the OS and data to start with then just copy it across to the 2TB when you have it. Just make sure you keep two copies at any given time. Ideally I'd get the first 2TB and the external 2TB immediately. As for 3TB drives - if you're not going to be pushing a single 2TB drive, I don't think you're going to be needing 4x3TB anytime soon. Just add drives at the rate it makes sense to you.

3) WHS will run on 2GB, but you'll have a much nicer time if you double that. £10 for another stick is decent value - I bought mine off someone who'd removed their stock 2GB stick while upgrading to 16GB. If you're running a lot of VM's then 16GB is useful - for general purpose NAS/Home Sever/Streaming duties, 4GB will do you nicely. You'll only be wasting an extra tenner if you upgrade to 8GB/16GB later anyway.
 
Very tempted to pick up an N54L to replace my Raspberry Pi Xbmc media center. (Would be useful to have the add processing power and option to integrate a dvd drive)

I am wondering though whether I'd be better off waiting a while for a cashback deal on the new Gen 8 microservers?
 
archer_dan said:
Very tempted to pick up an N54L to replace my Raspberry Pi Xbmc media center. (Would be useful to have the add processing power and option to integrate a dvd drive)

I am wondering though whether I'd be better off waiting a while for a cashback deal on the new Gen 8 microservers?
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It looks like the G8 will be significantly more money. If you can afford that then yes. If you want one under £100 I'd get the current offer.
 
Thanks both paintguy and Audigex: Your replies are almost consistent / similar to what I was planning.

1. Yes WHS is almost a given choice. £35 is cheapest in the UK and I don't reckon I want to wait longer to get it cheaper :rolleyes:

2. Paintguy suggested 'starting' with stock 250GB with both OS+data shares on the same (and only drive) - and 'replicating' for BOTH (?) OS and data shares for offline backup on the 500GB external WD I have. That seems a good to start as I dont have to do anymore investment than the £35 WHS, and I am good to go with offline backup strategy of both OS and data on the external 500GB. :)

3. But getting greedier- as Audi also suggested wisely- invest in 'atleast' one WD RED (2TB perhaps or strech a little 3TB) AND an external 2TB or 3TB USB external backup (depending on whether I go with 2/3TB WD Red).

That will provide data share on the WD Red + OS on the 250 GB and offline backup on the external USB brick.
(What about OS backup stragey then? Is that a must? What if OS crashes/server falls?)

I am considering below retailer for a 2TB external for £60 or 3TB for £78.
http://www.******.com/412333-toshiba-2tb-stor-e-canvio-external-hard-drive-hdwc120ek3j1

- That is, £18 extra for a TB (external).
- And for the box, WD Red's 2TB (£83) or 3TB (£113) which is £30 more for a TB, from amazon.

Which means : £190 (for a 3TB box+bak) solution or £133 for 2TB solution

4. RAM- I will see how 2GB stock goes, unless I get a £10 2GB stick soon.

Thanks for suggestions - I *know* decision is mine - whether to stick to 250GB + 500 GB (bak) solution or full blown 3TB + 3TB (bak), which is my dream if wifey gives in.
Still, more suggestions welcome...:)
But for the above I have to take permissions from wifey which is a BIG challenge. :(
Audigex said:
1) WHS will work fine. You could swap to something like Zentyal or Amahi and get the same featurs, but £35 isn't a lot if you'd prefer a comfortable windows environment. You're entrusting your data to this thing, you want to be convinced you know how to use the OS... so I don't see why you'd need to switch to another OS unless you want to save the £35

2) That plan sounds fine, 250GB for the OS and data to start with then just copy it across to the 2TB when you have it. Just make sure you keep two copies at any given time. Ideally I'd get the first 2TB and the external 2TB immediately. As for 3TB drives - if you're not going to be pushing a single 2TB drive, I don't think you're going to be needing 4x3TB anytime soon. Just add drives at the rate it makes sense to you.

3) WHS will run on 2GB, but you'll have a much nicer time if you double that. £10 for another stick is decent value - I bought mine off someone who'd removed their stock 2GB stick while upgrading to 16GB. If you're running a lot of VM's then 16GB is useful - for general purpose NAS/Home Sever/Streaming duties, 4GB will do you nicely. You'll only be wasting an extra tenner if you upgrade to 8GB/16GB later anyway.
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Well considering I purchased it at about 10 last night, Im once again shocked at how fast it got to me buy another company I dont think I can say :)... 9am this morning it arrived!

Happy so far.. just trying to setup FreeNas on a usb through VSphere (confused) and already gone out and got 8gb Ram for it!..

Will update again soon! (ask for help)
 
As I say, I'm currently doing #2 on that list but will be moving to #3 soon.

The "server backup" in whs also backs up the os.I'm pretty sure that whs can only back up partitions up to 2tb so if you go for a 3tb drive it will split it up. No real hassle but I'm going to stick to 2tb drives for that reason.
 
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