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

[Infidelus]

I've recently started using Plex and find it amazing. It was really simple to setup and I'm able to stream videos at 720p through remote wifi and can even get it at 720p with a decent 3G connection

It's a shame it won't (currently) play DVD format files, which is what my movie collection mostly consists of. Reading the forums it seems it used to, but for some reason doesn't at the moment, be it a bug or otherwise.

 

[Marky]

It's a shame it won't (currently) play DVD format files, which is what my movie collection mostly consists of. Reading the forums it seems it used to, but for some reason doesn't at the moment, be it a bug or otherwise.

Yeah that is a shame But they seem to have amped up their development a lot in the last year or so - I remember trying it a couple of years back and it's totally changed from what I remember it.

For sheer ease of use and being able to take your videos wherever, I've not come across anything better.

 

[Pete1989]

Had my 54L arrive on Friday, hopefully have 4x3TB WD reds arriving tomorrow, along with a current 1x3TB. Modding the BIOS and upgrading to 16GB. Going to be running FreeNAS and installing some jails.
Im looking forward to it

 

[Yaayuh!]

Been thinking about FreeNAS. What's the best way to backup Windows clients with it? Also, does it support RocketRAID cards?

 

[Frozennova]

Been thinking about FreeNAS. What's the best way to backup Windows clients with it? Also, does it support RocketRAID cards?

AFAIK FreeNAS does support rocketRAID cards.

As for backups it depends how easy or difficult you want the setup.

I'm using Rsync to backup my main pc to my FreeNAS server using Delta Copy. But you could do it using the built in Windows backup tool.

 

[Yaayuh!]

AFAIK FreeNAS does support rocketRAID cards.

As for backups it depends how easy or difficult you want the setup.

I'm using Rsync to backup my main pc to my FreeNAS server using Delta Copy. But you could do it using the built in Windows backup tool.

Sweet, will have to go and google my exact model compatibility before pulling the trigger.

Basically want a weekly scheduled incremental backup.
Baremetal/system states would be good but i think that would be Windows built in only, which i won't be able to use over the network with the laptops as they're on home edition which doesn't allow Windows Backup over the network.

 

[PaulC2K]

Im wondering if i can get some helpful advice before doing something stupid...

I've got WHS2011 installed on my server and unfortunately im looking like i need to reinstall the OS on my *gaming* pc, am i better off doing a system restore using the DVD and the backups from the server, or doing a fresh OS install onto this machine and then connecting it to the WHS client.

I've had issues with connecting to the client in the past, and while i dont want to revert to a state say 1wk ago, i'd like a fresh OS but maintain the connection and access to all the backups because i've also had issues doing that too and i think that was from a fresh client OS install.

Does anyone have any experience to be able to say what would be the best move for me? Fresh OS (W7) and re-connect to the dashboard (would need to guarantee i'd get access to my account - i'd use same OS username etc) or use the WHS2011 disk to restore to Sept '12 which the backup only excludes some non-essential folders and 99% of stuff is backed up daily (that being the earliest).

Cheers.

 

[SaltandSauce]

N40L with a 1.5tb Green WD hard drive, running server 2008R2, with reasonable power settings in a low use scenario is ~30 watts. This translates to about 0.72kwh a day, 21.6 a month.

That's about £2.1/month, or about £26 a year.

I'll have numbers for a N54L in a week or two, once I've uncrated them.

Thanks very much for the heads up! I've decided to change my power plan to 'Power Saving' since the large majority of time, my server just sits idle. There isn't a great deal of need to have it set to anything higher.

I really was under the impression that it would have cost far more than that to run the server!

 

[Yaayuh!]

Just received my cashback confirmation email, but i have a query.

The claim form states "Company name (cheque payable to)", so i entered my full name. Then it states "Company address (where cheque will be sent)", so i entered the delivery address for the cheque, which i have put down as my work because i will be moving in the next couple of weeks.

Now, the email i received states:

Cheque payable to:
Ross *surname*
*work name*
*work street*
*work town*
*work postcode*

But i can't have it payable to my company as it wasn't a business purchase. I assume i can't pay in a cheque that has a different address to my registered account address on it? I've only ever paid in cheques with my full name on only.

I have replied to tell them to sort it out, but has anyone received the cheque and can tell me how it's written out please?

 

[joey1211]

Just says my name on mine. No mention of the company

 

[beavis]

Can anyone get back to me on this one? I'm planning on picking one up tonight once I get in from work.

2 Port USB3.0 USB 3.0 to PCI-E PCI Express Card Adapter Converter w/ Motherboard 20P 20 pin Connector & Low Profile Bracket, NEC Renesas D720201 Chipset.

Picked up one of these for use with the NL54 and Ubuntu LTS Server, although I've not got around to trying it yet.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Just says my name on mine. No mention of the company

Brilliant thanks.
Ross

 

[GSXRMovistar]

I installed media browser 3 the other evening to my N54L which now servers up media to the majority of my devices (iDevices, htpc). Running this opposed to media browser 2 on just my htpc and its amazing.

Can now access all media with full meta data either at home or away from any device via simple web access. Most impressed.

 

[joelk2]

I installed media browser 3 the other evening to my N54L which now servers up media to the majority of my devices (iDevices, htpc). Running this opposed to media browser 2 on just my htpc and its amazing.

Can now access all media with full meta data either at home or away from any device via simple web access. Most impressed.

that media browser thing looks good. what have you got it running on?

is it easy to set up for external access? can you restrict what items are available via a seperate user account etc?

 

[GSXRMovistar]

that media browser thing looks good. what have you got it running on?

Server aspect now runs on my home server. Client installed on my HTPC which is pretty much our main family TV device (running Win7 MCE with twin tuner).
Then use iPad for late night viewing in bed, or iPhone/iPad when away from home.

is it easy to set up for external access?

Very easy, home server domain provides the public address and then a single firewall rule to point the port communication to the actual home server.

can you restrict what items are available via a seperate user account etc?

Yep, multiple accounts each with their own assigned media collection and viewing preferences/logging.

 

[413x]

So what am I missing out on guys

Have whs2011 on system
Use plex for android so it can get various media from anywhere
Have sync me on phone to that let's sync a folder on my phone with one on server
Have mapped various drives on clients
All backups including server and client all work
Use wmc with media browser for playing mkvs etc with full meta data


Unfortunately I could not put a tv tuner in it as don't have aerial socket near by

What other geeky/cool stuff can I do?

Is media browser 3 a new version?

 

[Prophet]

Can anyone recommend some free cloud software to run on my server?

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Is media browser 3 a new version?

Fairly new yes, the bulk of the app now sits on the server side opposed to a client install keep track of everything.

 

[413x]

Fairly new yes, the bulk of the app now sits on the server side opposed to a client install keep track of everything.

Does it still integrate with wmc effectively?

Any major new features you've found not in the faqs etc?

I took me quite a while to get it setup way I like it with wmc. Reason I still use wmc over xbmc is the effective and simple live tv

 

[joelk2]

Can anyone recommend some free cloud software to run on my server?

owncloud gets mentioned a lot.

tried installing it on whs11 and couldnt get it to work.