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

TallPaul_S · 28 Apr 2015 at 19:05

rickjames said:
Howdy,

Would the G1610T with an extra 8gb of RAM be good enough for studying for the Server 2012 MCSA? I'm planning on creating some sort of lab like this http://www.msexamguides.com/freeresources/build-mcsa-test-lab/

Cheers

Yes, that's one of the reasons I bought mine. You may want to upgrade the CPU to a Xeon, and I'd say 16GB of RAM (Kingston value ECC stuff fits) is also good, especially if you're gonna be running a few VMs.

I have Server 2012 installed and then I'm running hyper-V within this, one VM for my Xpenology machine, then the rest will be Server 2012 instances.

Have a read through the thread, quite a few people are running multiple virtual machines on these.

rickjames · 29 Apr 2015 at 10:23

So I can ignore the HP stuff about Smart Memory and all that nonsense? 8gb at £120 odd did seem rather expensive.

CraigN · 29 Apr 2015 at 10:27

You do need the correct ram for the latest generation. Normal non ECC will not work like it did with the old microservers.

IT Troll · 29 Apr 2015 at 11:02

You definitely need non-registered ECC RAM. However it doesn't need to be HP certified "Smart Memory". In iLO it will flag that it is not Smart Memory but it will still work.

I use Kingston in mine. Part codes are KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G and KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G for the 8 and 16 GB kits.

covenantuk · 29 Apr 2015 at 11:19

I just stuck in two old 2GB sticks of HP ram from a DL380 in it and it worked fine.

nutcase · 29 Apr 2015 at 13:38

I have the 16gb I used in my g7 and it works fine.

bulletv1 · 30 Apr 2015 at 15:55

Playing with my gen8 and having great fun. Just wondering if you lot got ilo licenses for them and i quite like the remote connection etc it has. If not what software do you use instead?

crinkleshoes · 30 Apr 2015 at 18:11

For what do you need the extra features that the ILO license adds?

The basic/free/included ILO functionality is all I require... the extra is just a nice bonus, I suppose... but I can't see any real benefit for home user.

nutcase · 30 Apr 2015 at 21:16

I got an ebay one - use it all the time.

ANDARIAL · 30 Apr 2015 at 21:18

Probably been posted,but exactly what extra does the license give you ?

crinkleshoes · 30 Apr 2015 at 22:18

I just found a comparison:

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/servers/ilo/index.html#
You can get a 60 day trial from this link too... I might give one a go just to have a look.

Very basically... it enables vKVM

- virtual Keyboard Video and Mouse

In a data centre environment this can be extremely useful as it allows you to edit the bios and install operating systems remotely very easily.

- power measurement

I guess that might be a nice to have... show how much power the system is using... but hardly a necessity for me

- Active Directory integration and authentication

Add user groups through your AD network (useless for home users, generally...)

- SIM authentication integration (login data passthrough)

Different login protocol

That's all I can find for the license fee... please someone tell me if I've missed something.

The vKVM could come in quite useful... but it's up to you if you really need that. Once they're setup for home users, you're rarely going to need to re-install the operating system. Even if you do, is the "hardship" of hooking up and keyboard and monitor worth the license fee? It's up to you...

IT Troll · 1 May 2015 at 01:36

The two key features of the enhanced iLO for me are:

The Remote Console - so I don't ever need a keyboard or monitor connected. The basic license does a little of this but doesn't cover all scenarios.

Virtual Drive - Being able to mount a remote ISO or even just a folder so that it appears as a drive. Very useful for installations and diagnostics.

I agree that it is not worth spending a lot of money for these but nice to have if you can get hold of a cheap or free licence.

ANDARIAL · 1 May 2015 at 05:46

Thanks for the info guys.

bulletv1 · 1 May 2015 at 09:06

I just want it for the remote console as i tend to tinker a lot and i'm putting it under my stairs which is a bit awkward to get to. Seem to be able to get it for £50-60 but i may try and find one on ebay.

ANDARIAL · 1 May 2015 at 09:08

bulletv1 said:
I just want it for the remote console as i tend to tinker a lot and i'm putting it under my stairs which is a bit awkward to get to. Seem to be able to get it for £50-60 but i may try and find one on ebay.

Mail Me

Matt_Hirst · 1 May 2015 at 10:58

Think I may have my boot disk about to die on me, what options do I have?

Can I clone it to a usb and boot from that or does it have to be another disk?

Matt

Frozennova · 1 May 2015 at 17:13

Matt_Hirst said:
Think I may have my boot disk about to die on me, what options do I have?

Can I clone it to a usb and boot from that or does it have to be another disk?

Matt

Pop it into another system and clone to an image file?

crinkleshoes · 1 May 2015 at 17:18

It depends on what operating system you are running... ideally... clone to another disk

Frozennova · 1 May 2015 at 20:36

CloneZilla will do drive to image and vice versa regardless of the Operating Systems involved

crinkleshoes · 1 May 2015 at 21:21

Frozennova said:
CloneZilla will do drive to image and vice versa regardless of the Operating Systems involved

He was asking specifically about boot drive and being able to boot from USB drive.

That depends on combination of operating system and hardware.

For example, Windows will not allow you to boot directly from a USB drive like that.

Many version of Linux however, now problem...

But yes... Clonezilla will do the imaging.