I want windows 8.1 as I don't want to destroy the data on my drives and install on a USB drive that's in the machine is possible. Server apparently wipes all the drives. I may need to get a ssd drive as a spare drive but don't fancy hacking any power cables and joining them to fit one.
Good Cheap Server - HP Proliant Microserver 4 BAY - OWNERS THREAD
- Thread starter dragonuk
- Start date
I want windows 8.1 as I don't want to destroy the data on my drives and install on a USB drive that's in the machine is possible. Server apparently wipes all the drives. I may need to get a ssd drive as a spare drive but don't fancy hacking any power cables and joining them to fit one.
I want windows 8.1 as I don't want to destroy the data on my drives and install on a USB drive that's in the machine is possible. Server apparently wipes all the drives. I may need to get a ssd drive as a spare drive but don't fancy hacking any power cables and joining them to fit one.
I'm looking to take advantage of the current £80 cashback offer and upgrade my N40L to the Gen8.
The only thing that has me a little worried is the problems with using an SSD as a boot drive in the 5th ODD SATA port.
Is there a way to do this with no compromise at all (e.g. ACHI mode with TRIM, without the fan issues some workarounds are causing)??
If not would simply adding a PCI SATA card to run the boot SSD off of be an option??
The only thing that has me a little worried is the problems with using an SSD as a boot drive in the 5th ODD SATA port.
Is there a way to do this with no compromise at all (e.g. ACHI mode with TRIM, without the fan issues some workarounds are causing)??
If not would simply adding a PCI SATA card to run the boot SSD off of be an option??
Permabanned
- Joined
- 9 Jun 2009
- Posts
- 11,924
- Location
- London, McLaren or Radical
Windows 8.1 / Server 2008 / Server 2012 are effectively the same... none of them will wipe the data from your drives unless you specifically tell it to.
It's only really Synology OS that force-wipes the first drive installed... then you can even connect and read from NTFS formatted drives.
You don't need to hack any power cable to use an extra hard drive with the 5th port... you only need one of two cables you can buy from many pc component shops.
- 4-pin floppy power -> sata power adapter
- standard 4-pin molex slitter + sata power cable
It's very easy to do and no cables need to be butchered.
Those problems are over a year old... the June 2014 bios update took care of the fan issues... now you only get fan trouble if you stick something in the pci slot that the server can't get the temperature from.
The onboard raid is pretty good... I would recommend using it over windows or linux software raid as it'll be more reliable.
A PCI sata card is more likely to kick the fans into high gear unless you buy a proper P410 or similar... but there is really no need to.
I was in the same boat two weeks ago. What I found was that the HP B120i raid controller is pretty unobtrusive, by that I mean you can just encapsulate each of the drives as a RAID0 volume which then presents it to the OS as a simple drive. I had Oracle Linux 6 (RHEL clone) on my N40L with the OS on an SSD and 2 x 3GB WD Reds which were formatted with btrfs. All came across with the data completely intact, nothing to do at all. I think all that RAID0 does is register them with controller, nothing is written to the drive. Obviously if you do any other RAID level that will be a different story though.
The fan noise is significantly less then the N40L.
Edit: I forgot to add, the SSD OS disk is in the ODD bay, the only difficulty I had was power and mounting. I found a molex splitter for the power but the drive is still lying loose in the bay, not a big problem as it's not going anywhere.
Pete
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 21 Jan 2003
- Posts
- 7,062
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Hey sportg,
So you were able to put drives into the server and register each one as raid 0 and data was kept intact?
If so that's excellent news for me as I have two gen8s at home one running whs2011 which I am looking to move away from. The other is Server 2012r2 essentials. If I can just move the drives over that's a result. Obviously I will test this with a drive I'm not to worried about losing first, but your comments above give me hope of a smoother transition as it were
Sorry if the above is gibberish posting at work on the sly using my phone!
So you were able to put drives into the server and register each one as raid 0 and data was kept intact?
If so that's excellent news for me as I have two gen8s at home one running whs2011 which I am looking to move away from. The other is Server 2012r2 essentials. If I can just move the drives over that's a result. Obviously I will test this with a drive I'm not to worried about losing first, but your comments above give me hope of a smoother transition as it were
Sorry if the above is gibberish posting at work on the sly using my phone!
Deleted member 138126
Deleted member 138126
@Datamonkey, this works on my P410, so I would expect it to work the same on the built-in RAID of the Gen8.
It does work with the built in the controller as it is what i did myself.
Love my Gen8 though upgraded to a Xeon e3-1230 with a little active fan on it, 16GB of RAM this thing is a beast.
BTW one cool overlooked spec is that the UK gen8 comes with a 200w PSU not the 150w that the US spec comes with.
One thing i dislike though is the bug that does not allow the iLO to read the proper temperature of the upgraded CPU.
Notice the temperature difference iLO and realtemp in the above pic.
Love my Gen8 though upgraded to a Xeon e3-1230 with a little active fan on it, 16GB of RAM this thing is a beast.
BTW one cool overlooked spec is that the UK gen8 comes with a 200w PSU not the 150w that the US spec comes with.
One thing i dislike though is the bug that does not allow the iLO to read the proper temperature of the upgraded CPU.
Notice the temperature difference iLO and realtemp in the above pic.
Last edited:
It's a good fit - doing the two mounting screws up does need a very short screwdriver though!
Thank you.
I have some spare DDR3(non ECC) stuff so thought of the possibility of getting rid of my N54L and getting a gen8, but sad panda now
Hi people. I have a question about adding HDDs to the new microserver.
They were just standard single drives in my N40L and I want to connect them somehow to the server so I can re organise the data. However when I use a SATA to USB it's asking to Initialize the disc. Do I have to configure them as a single RAID 0 array if I want to add them and will that wipe the data?
They were just standard single drives in my N40L and I want to connect them somehow to the server so I can re organise the data. However when I use a SATA to USB it's asking to Initialize the disc. Do I have to configure them as a single RAID 0 array if I want to add them and will that wipe the data?
Was going to buy a Gen8 today but can't find one for sale anywhere (i.e. no stock). I noticed the T&C also states the unit needs to be delivered by the 30th of June. If I eventually find somewhere stocking the unit will I be able to claim the cashback?
How often do the cashback deals come along?
How often do the cashback deals come along?
Just had a quick look as well as i thought it was about time i upgraded my old n40l so that i can have a machine with a bit more grunt.
Looks like they have discountinued the model as it doesnt seem to be in stock anywhere. As HP are starting to push the Gen9 server models out to enterprise there may be a refresh on the horizon?
I really hope so as i would like to get an upgrade
Looks like they have discountinued the model as it doesnt seem to be in stock anywhere. As HP are starting to push the Gen9 server models out to enterprise there may be a refresh on the horizon?
I really hope so as i would like to get an upgrade
The normal pattern is that they run the cash back scheme until stocks get very low in preparation for the new model. I would expect the new model to use the same chassis but with newer CPUs and perhaps support for more RAM. The price will be higher though and there won't be any cash back.
You might find that the Gen8 offer comes back after a month or two for a final clearance. That is was happened last time with the N54L.
You might find that the Gen8 offer comes back after a month or two for a final clearance. That is was happened last time with the N54L.
What fan is that? Is it just powered from the drive bay?
My E3-1265 hasn't needed anything yet but that might change in the heat wave.
A few places have added stock this morning (usual places) hence ordered one today. Hopefully the invoice will be raised today as well!