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

swain90 said:
@Doctor McNinja When RAID is enabled, you can use the sata port on the mobo to boot from, when set to AHCI, that sata port is not bootable. There is a method of making server boot from the disk which uses that port however I think it might just be a Windows bodge. If you're wanting to have AHCI enabled, you will have to use Bay 1 to host your OS then use Bays 2,3,4 for storage (and what ever storage you have left after installing on the OS drive).
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I'm not really interested in using the fifth SATA port as my usage case won't benefit from a 2.5" disk. My main interest is in sound levels as (for what ever reason), the Gen8 uses a lower fan speed when RAID is enabled. It's a moot point now though as even at the low fan percentages that the system uses when RAID is in use, it's still not quiet enough for my needs.

Now I've just got to decide what disks to use... which brings me back to fan speeds. Is anyone using 8TB Ironwolfs in their server and if so, do they make the fans ramp up (as can happen with disks that don't report their temps)?
 
IF you have a USB caddy you can clone to that, the tool will pickup Samsung drives in those as well which is useful on laptops etc..
 
How many hdds could I use in the gen8,safely power off the original psu I mean?
Was looking to expand the storage with an external caddy of some sort and a few extra hdds plus a sata expansion card of some sort :)
 
Indeed it is, mine was on eBay a few weeks ago and hit £51, then the guy that won it decided to say he hadnt read the fact it was collection only and withdrew his bid lol
 
Thanks for the pointers, now successfully upgraded my old N54L which now has a new lease of life. I did the following

1) Upgraded to the modified BIOS using this guide http://blog.chrispomfret.com/2013/0...-guide-allow-hot-plug-sata-and-5th-sata-port/
2) Enabled the spare internal SATA port using http://blog.chrispomfret.com/2013/0...t-full-speed-on-hp-n54l-proliant-microserver/
3) Added the new Samsung SSD to the spare internal SATA port
4) Cloned the O/S drive (in slot one) using the Samsung tools
5) Popped out the old 250Gb O/S drive and dropped in a 3Tb replacement

All nice and simple, only mistake I made was realising I had a spare 250Gb SSD laying around only after I completed the above so wouldn't have had to but the Samsung. :p
 
What CPU should I be looking for under a 100 quid, or there abouts. I am finding myself using 2012r2 a lot and want this thing to be much snappier than it currently is, also decode movies with handbrake etc. I've been following second hand xeon 1230 v2's for a while, is this the best CPU upgrade for my price range? What about cooling, can you chuck a stock i7 cooler I have lying around on it?
 
squarepusher said:
What CPU should I be looking for under a 100 quid, or there abouts. I am finding myself using 2012r2 a lot and want this thing to be much snappier than it currently is, also decode movies with handbrake etc. I've been following second hand xeon 1230 v2's for a while, is this the best CPU upgrade for my price range? What about cooling, can you chuck a stock i7 cooler I have lying around on it?
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It's really difficult to swap the processor in the Microserver because there is very little clearance for a cooler. The G1610T has a TDP of 35W, and the E3-1230 v2 has a 69W TDP, so essentially double the amount of heat that the Xeon will pump out. Getting rid of 34 additional Watts of heat may sound trivial, but it's not. You will need a beefier heatsink, and probably a fan directly on the heatsink, given there is no shroud around the heatsink to channel the air. You may find that it works fine under normal conditions, but if you ramp up the CPU utilisation, the amount of heat will quickly increase.
 
There are a fair number of guys that run 45w CPU's under the stock heatsink, I was running an E3-1260L and that was fine for a while, although I did end up getting the newer 65w heatpipe heatsink eventually.
Stock i7 cooler, or any other off the shelf unit wont fit properly, the mounting is different.
Rather than a Xeon, try and i3 or i5, there are quite a few that will fit and be better than the stock CPU, depends what you want grunt wise..
 
I'm using an i5 2390T. It has the same TDP as the Celeron so didn't need to worry about cooling. 4 cores instead of 2 as well :)
 
benjo said:
I'm using an i5 2390T. It has the same TDP as the Celeron so didn't need to worry about cooling. 4 cores instead of 2 as well :)
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That's not a bad little upgrade (slightly less than twice the performance). How much did you pay for it?
 
benjo said:
I'm using an i5 2390T. It has the same TDP as the Celeron so didn't need to worry about cooling. 4 cores instead of 2 as well :)
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I have this but it's still dual core just with HT. I can't say I've noticed a massive improvement but I only use mine for Plex and some folding. Doesn't go above 70C on full load.
 
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