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

[silent]

I just installed Server 2012 onto the gen8 no problem. All I did was to copy the iso to a usb stick with rufus 2.2, then pluged the usb stick into the port on the front of the Gen8.

Then I loaded up the Drive config utility, set my single drive as a raid0 and made sure it was set to be allowed bootable. restart and then the install started automatically.

I made sure I copied the HP drivers for the SATA controller onto the disk. I just put them into a directory on the install usb partition and pointed the install to them when needed and it found the disk and that was it.

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.

 

[silent]

I just installed Server 2012 onto the gen8 no problem. All I did was to copy the iso to a usb stick with rufus 2.2, then pluged the usb stick into the port on the front of the Gen8.

Then I loaded up the Drive config utility, set my single drive as a raid0 and made sure it was set to be allowed bootable. restart and then the install started automatically.

I made sure I copied the HP drivers for the SATA controller onto the disk. I just put them into a directory on the install usb partition and pointed the install to them when needed and it found the disk and that was it.

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.

 

[fugigas]

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??

 

[crinkleshoes]

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.

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.

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??

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.

 

[sportq]

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??

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

 

[Datamonkey]

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!

 

[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.

 

[DIABLO]

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.

 

[nutcase]

I've ordered one of those schoondoggy drive mount and cd-rom mounts for my gen8. But as it was the same price shipping for 1 of each or 4 of each I went for all 4 so if anyone wants a pair I'll be selling them at cost when I get them to help people out who want to add more drives.

It's a good fit - doing the two mounting screws up does need a very short screwdriver though!

 

[idmanager]

Upgraded the 54L with a extra 4 drives on my raid card

Has anybody put there 54L into a server case ?
If so what case did you get

 

[Avathar77]

Does gen 8 take normal DDR3 ram or dose it have to be ECC?

 

[DIABLO]

Does gen 8 take normal DDR3 ram or dose it have to be ECC?

ECC

Google part number:KTH-PL316E/8G

Works as intended

 

[Avathar77]

ECC

Google part number:KTH-PL316E/8G

Works as intended

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

 

[Tobes]

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?

 

[Furton]

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?

 

[chokedoke]

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

 

[IT Troll]

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.

 

[div0]

On that note, I just recently received the cashback into my account

 

[IT Troll]

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.

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.

 

[Furton]

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

A few places have added stock this morning (usual places) hence ordered one today. Hopefully the invoice will be raised today as well!