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

the.m · 9 Mar 2011 at 14:13

Now down to £99 exl vat with the cashback thats available, bargain.

HarryPainful · 9 Mar 2011 at 14:14

WHS v1 is 32bit only, nothing over 4GB will be seen.

It also uses Drive Extender so using a RAID setup with it is pointless.

If you want it to see all your memory any run a RAID array then WHS vail is the better choice.

bremen1874 · 9 Mar 2011 at 14:21

chenko said:
I didn't look at the BIOS before I did the flash - so can't tell the differences.

Do you see the ports 0 to 5 (6 options) under AHCI?

Unless I'm just not looking in the correct place, the ports aren't listed individually by number. I've just got the original option to choose between IDE, AHCI and RAID mode.

RoyMi6 · 9 Mar 2011 at 14:22

HarryPainful said:
WHS v1 is 32bit only, nothing over 4GB will be seen.

It also uses Drive Extender so using a RAID setup with it is pointless.

If you want it to see all your memory any run a RAID array then WHS vail is the better choice.

Ah, just looked up Drive Extender to see what you're talking about.

I'm not adverse to using it over RAID. As long as my data is backed up I'm not that bothered how it's done. Also, 4GB rather than 5GB is no real loss.

Saying that, might as well make the most of what I've got. Is WHS v2 (I assume this is what WHS Vail is?) out yet? I can't seem to find it anywhere for purchase.

EDIT: Answered my own question - no release date confirmed. Just RC. How are people finding this? Stable enough for important data?

Oh also, I always assumed it came without an OS. Is this correct? - EDIT: Yes, there is no OS pre installed

Jakus · 9 Mar 2011 at 14:39

Guys, I've been playing with freeNAS and now WHS, You know I think freeNAS might be for Me

I just love it's low system resources and running from a little flash drive inside the case is amazing !

Anyone else tried both and got any views ?

Jakus · 9 Mar 2011 at 15:03

bremen1874 said:
Unless I'm just not looking in the correct place, the ports aren't listed individually by number. I've just got the original option to choose between IDE, AHCI and RAID mode.

Sounds strange, assuming a single controller surely can't have multiple options on the ports ?

bremen1874 · 9 Mar 2011 at 15:39

JAKUS said:
Sounds strange, assuming a single controller surely can't have multiple options on the ports ?

From the AMD SB820M Southbridge Databook...

2.5 Serial ATA Controller

The integrated Serial ATA controller processes host commands and transfers data between the host and Serial ATA devices. It supports six independent Serial ATA channels. Each channel has its own Serial ATA bus and supports one Serial ATA device. With respect to the transfer rate, the integrated SATA controller supports First generation (1.5 Gbit/s), Second generation (3.0Gbit/s), and Third generation (6.0 Gbit/s) SATA ports. Figure 8 is a diagram for the SATA block.

The SATA controller can operate in three modes:

All six channels are configured as SATA AHCI mode.

All six channels are configured as IDE mode. In this configuration, the SATA controller is configured into two IDE controllers, with the programming interface of channel 0 to 3 under the first IDE controller, and that of channel 4 and 5 under the second IDE controller.

Four channels (channel 0 to 3) are configured as SATA AHCI and two channels (channel 4 and 5) are configured as IDE mode. In this configuration, the programming interface of channel 4 and 5 are under the IDE controller.

HP have obviously chosen the third mode. It makes sense as it keeps the swappable (and RAIDable) bays separate from the other two SATA connections. The unfortunate side effect is no hotswap for the eSATA connection.

Jakus · 9 Mar 2011 at 15:54

bremen1874 said:
From the AMD SB820M Southbridge Databook...

HP have obviously chosen the third mode. It makes sense as it keeps the swappable (and RAIDable) bays separate from the other two SATA connections. The unfortunate side effect is no hotswap for the eSATA connection.

Wow !, what will we have in raid mode, any idea ?

Jakus · 9 Mar 2011 at 16:13

I found the white paper, no mention about all the ports in raid, may give you what You want on the eSata.

Has anyone worked out the assigned port numbers in the case ?

Al Vallario · 9 Mar 2011 at 16:49

the.m said:
Now down to £99 exl vat with the cashback thats available, bargain.

Thanks for the heads-up. I've had one for a couple of months now, but at this rate I might have to get another!

You would have to be a total muppet not to buy one of these now! I'm powerless to stop recommending these every time someone posts in Networks & Internet Connectivity asking which NAS device to drop £300/400 on

Jakus · 9 Mar 2011 at 17:41

modded Bios fix for AHCI all ports

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1555868&page=7

chenko · 9 Mar 2011 at 17:44

This has already been mentioned, along with an official HP bios.

I have tried them both, HP first, Russian mod second with no luck myself - hoping someone else can confirm its working as even on the Russian site no one else does so either.

Burnsy2023 · 9 Mar 2011 at 18:39

Just to confirm, I can put a bog standard DDR3 stick of RAM in and it'll work?

Jakus · 9 Mar 2011 at 19:15

chenko said:
This has already been mentioned, along with an official HP bios.

I have tried them both, HP first, Russian mod second with no luck myself - hoping someone else can confirm its working as even on the Russian site no one else does so either.

What happens if You set Enable "raid" so it loads the on board raid bios, but do not actually set up raid ?

We could all actually do with knowing which main slots are paired or affected with this limitation anyone ?

WILD9 · 9 Mar 2011 at 19:26

Burnsy2023 said:
Just to confirm, I can put a bog standard DDR3 stick of RAM in and it'll work?

Yes but dont mix it with the ecc its either or not both together.

chenko · 9 Mar 2011 at 21:10

JAKUS said:
What happens if You set Enable "raid" so it loads the on board raid bios, but do not actually set up raid ?

We could all actually do with knowing which main slots are paired or affected with this limitation anyone ?

Don't exactly want to change to RAID so no idea.

Ports 4 and 5 are the single internal SATA and eSATA

0-3 is pretty much the front bay, from left to right.

If you want to setup raid, and not confuse drives - insert only the drives to raid first. sorted.

topher · 9 Mar 2011 at 23:07

I take it a standard sata drive will slot into the 4 bays without having to purchase rails or caddies?

Only asking because the company I work for is looking to purchase a few of these, so I got a quote (wont say where from) but in the quote they had included caddies!!! so I gave them a call and they say to fit a sata drive it needs a caddy!

cheer
Topher

bremen1874 · 9 Mar 2011 at 23:13

topher said:
I take it a standard sata drive will slot into the 4 bays without having to purchase rails or caddies?

Only asking because the company I work for is looking to purchase a few of these, so I got a quote (wont say where from) but in the quote they had included caddies!!! so I gave them a call and they say to fit a sata drive it needs a caddy!

cheer
Topher

The four caddies and the mounting screws are included.

topher · 9 Mar 2011 at 23:15

cheers, thought as much....

they wanted a extra £137 for a 500GB sata drive and caddy! lol

smargh · 9 Mar 2011 at 23:15

Are you sure they quoted for the correct product? Or, perhaps they're just idiots.

The Microserver comes with the caddies for the four bays.

I can recommend the SuperMicro M14T if anyone wants to fill in the 5.25" bay with 2.5" disks, perhaps with an Adaptec 3805. The only down side of using a RAID card with the built-in 3.5" bays is that there are no status lights to indicate which have failed. It's DIYable, but a bit of a faff. Obviously it would need dual power supplies to be a proper business NAS though.