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

I've put an LSI 8888ELP card in my box, but it wont let me use the Ctrl-H webbios, so I can't configure the Vdisks, I had to boot into windows on the ODD SATA and then run the Megaraid manager to make the arrays so I can use them in esxi. It's a lot of faffing around to create arrays, so I might just take it out.
When only using Raid1, would a hardware controller really make much difference compared to the onboard raid?
 
Lanz said:
I've put an LSI 8888ELP card in my box, but it wont let me use the Ctrl-H webbios
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Not near my Microserver at the moment, but I seem to remember there's an 'addon card bios' setting in BIOS somewhere. You might also want to consider completely disabling the onboard SATA to see if that helps.
 
I did look through the bios, but didn't see anything about add-on cards, nor could i disable the onboard sata :(
 
I had a quick flick through the manual but it didn't go into detail on the BIOS. I'll take a look at the weekend if no-one else gets back to you before hand.

edit - it might be worth checking that the IDE mode is set to IDE (i.e. not RAID or AHCI).
 
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Up 25 days so far. I love my MicroServer :D

uptimeu.png
 
Hi all, saw this thread and bought one. Filled it with 8gb of ram and 4 x 250GB Seagate drives.

It's use (for now) is to file and print serve a small workgroup of about 8 x win 7 clients and 4 x network printers. Total storage usage across the workgroup is a laughable 30gb (yet i've instaled 1tb!). But we're future proofing of sorts. :)

My dilemma is,:
1. shall i go for WHS and have it backup to one of the 4 drives, then also backup to usb attached storage (for removing daily)
2. Server 2008 R2 Standard; install OS onto disk0, then raid the remaining 3 in raid 1+0 (seems more resilient that 0+1).
3. Server 2008 R2 Standard; and use all 4 disks in Raid 5?

If you think option 2, can you advise on how to create the array once in windows? Is it a matter of going into computer management?
Unsure how to do this as it offers stripe or mirror, but not both. Unless i'm supposed to create the mirror (or stripe) first, then create the stripe (or mirror) of the first array, if you get my meaning? :confused:

Any help appreciated, thanks.
 
So I actually got round to removing the box from my car boot today, only been sat in there for three weeks lol.

So I have it running Unbutu 10.10 on the 160Gb drive migrated upto the top bay, I have not filled the main case yet. Have the stock 1Gb of RAM in it

Installed XBMC latest version of their website, copied over some movies/tv and had a quick play with the onboard video, running 720p Kung Fu Panda was smooth very smooth no jerking or anything. Then tried a 1080p Gone in 60 and that stuttered a little bit but would be liveable.

I have though ordered a GT210 low profile which will work very well in Linux so I am told and has HDMI with audio so I will test that later and see what difference that makes.

Though I will need to find a way to reduce the mega spot light that is the HP logo

Kimbie
 
Further to my previous post, i've now installed Server 2008 R2 standard.
I'm sure i read that you can't do raid5 on this box, yet it offered the option in computer management so i took it and now have 3 x 250gb hdd's in raid 5, offering 465gb of storage (which is about right for raid 5 (n-1).
It's onboard raid (not hardware) but its worth a go, see how it performs.
The other hdd has the OS on it as just a single and simple volume.
 
Banzai_Joe said:
Further to my previous post, i've now installed Server 2008 R2 standard.
I'm sure i read that you can't do raid5 on this box, yet it offered the option in computer management so i took it and now have 3 x 250gb hdd's in raid 5, offering 465gb of storage (which is about right for raid 5 (n-1).
It's onboard raid (not hardware) but its worth a go, see how it performs.
The other hdd has the OS on it as just a single and simple volume.
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Did you consider Server 2008 R2 Foundation?
 
Nikumba said:
Though I will need to find a way to reduce the mega spot light that is the HP logo
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If you want a gentle blue glow, just stick some masking tape over the light-disk thing on the inside. No light - just stick some black electrical tape over it. Worked for me :D
 
I have installed Server 2008 R2 Standard on it with just the 1GB RAM installed, currently, and it seems pretty good. Installation was nice and straight forward, and surprisingly fast, which was a pleasant surprise.

I've got some RAM and more drives on order, at which point I will install ESXi on it and see how that fairs. I'm expecting it to cope fairly well, not expecting spectacular results... but it's a nice toy, all the same!

I have to say, I am very impressed with the build quality. When I picked up the box when I got home, I was very surprised at the weight of it. Even more surprised when I felt the case, feels solid. Well done, HP.

Cashback forms went off yesterday, so hopefully it won't be long!
 
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Banzai_Joe said:
Not really. I'm even less familiar with that as i am Standard, and i need to sort this out pretty quick.

Can you advise on the benefits please?
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The main benefit is the cost. Unless I'm looking at the wrong part it's available for well under £200 for the HP ProLiant OEM.

It only supports a single processor socket and 8GB of memory, but neither of these is an issue if you're using a Microserver.

It's also limited to 15 users, but you don't need to buy any CALs.

There are some other limitations, but they're all detailed on Microsoft's pages.
 
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kae2 said:
If you want a gentle blue glow, just stick some masking tape over the light-disk thing on the inside. No light - just stick some black electrical tape over it. Worked for me :D
Click to expand...

Good plan not thought of that, I take it you stuck it on the inside?

Kimbie
 
Anyone know how i can select which drive to boot from without going into BIOS?

On my current machine i use F8 this allows me to pick a drive to boot from.
 
Would someone familiar with the MS server versions basically just post the key advantages/disadvantages of the versions, obviously with regard to this lower powered server and essentially home use.

Sure all this info is available but it would be very helpful to myself and many on this thread

Thanks Guys
 
i went back to windows 7 home premium from server 2008 std/ent on mine.

mainly because i wanted windows media player to do my media sharing i dont want to install loads of software to share media to different devices.

Windows 7 HP does this by default so im jsut using that again.
 
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