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

SirJinks · 25 May 2018 at 08:50

I've got an unused GEN8 I'm thinking of turning into a second pc, have a few q's around upgrading -
1) Can you use normal DDR3 ram safely as opposed to the low voltage variety?
2) Looking to change the proc to a Xeon E3-1265L v2, are there any pitfalls to avoid when looking on auction sites or is it all a bit pot-luck?

Snapshot · 25 May 2018 at 11:03

I've been running 16GB of standard 5V Crucial ECC RAM in one of mine for almost two years so I reckon it's probably safe.....
As you're not worried about ECC RAM you could consider an i5-3570T instead of the e3-1265L. I know it hasn't got the power of the Xeon* but at least it can be bought cheaply from UK vendors. Mine was actually a genuine HP part but obviously not from a Gen8.

*Single thread performance is very similar and the 32% increase of the Xeon over the i5 is exactly what you'd expect from hyperthreading.

whiskycycle · 25 May 2018 at 11:35

@SirJinks @Snapshot I grabbed a 3470T for one of mine, bargain on the cesspit buying site... works a treat and speedy enough as well.

Snapshot · 25 May 2018 at 12:34

Yes, I've got a 3470T in one of mine too as it's the best of the 'T's that handles ECC RAM. Unfortunately, the 3570T won't boot with ECC RAM but should be good with 'standard' RAM and, being a proper 4-core i5, has a good performance increase over the 3470T.

Trig · 25 May 2018 at 13:22

If anyone is worried about cooling I have the newer SKU's heatpipe heatsink thats no longer in use since I sold my Gen8

Snapshot · 25 May 2018 at 14:06

I'd love it but you'd better offer it in the MM rather than here or the mods will get grumpy.

Armageus · 25 May 2018 at 14:10

#grumpymod

Trig · 25 May 2018 at 17:00

Tried to sell it ages ago before the Gen10 came out, no bugger wanted it despite me tying to sell it at half price when they're as hard as rocking horse poop to find in the first place...

UberGinge · 1 Jun 2018 at 08:25

Has anyone got CentOS 7.5 installed whilst using the b120i RAID? I'm looking at moving over and everything I'm seeing suggests there isn't a driver available for the 7.5 kernel version and it will cause kernel panics

. Failing that, I will likely just switch over to AHCI, any reports on the noise levels as a result? I've read some things suggesting that without the b120i driver the fans turn up a bit.

Daaaavvveee · 1 Jun 2018 at 08:30

UberGinge said:
Has anyone got CentOS 7.5 installed whilst using the b120i RAID? I'm looking at moving over and everything I'm seeing suggests there isn't a driver available for the 7.5 kernel version and it will cause kernel panics . Failing that, I will likely just switch over to AHCI, any reports on the noise levels as a result? I've read some things suggesting that without the b120i driver the fans turn up a bit.

I thought the fan issues were resolved by the firmware updates?

UberGinge · 1 Jun 2018 at 08:38

Daaaavvveee said:
I thought the fan issues were resolved by the firmware updates?

Oh really? That would make it much better!

Daaaavvveee · 1 Jun 2018 at 08:48

UberGinge said:
Oh really? That would make it much better!

Pretty sure there was, check out the forums for them, not sure if im allowed to link it on here, but a quick Google should suffice

maj · 10 Jun 2018 at 17:24

Trig said:
Why RAID?
You'll lose disk space as well as it not really being backup if thats your train of thought.

Look at Stablebits stuff, drivepool will allow you to pool together any sort of disk, from there you can set duplication of specific folders over multiple disks, plus it doesnt mess with the FS like RAID does, you can simply take a drive out of the pool and put it into another machine and theres your stuff, doesnt split files so no worries about half a file being on one drive and the rest on another, then if you get Scanner as well it'll watch the disks, when/if a disk fails it'll pick the fault up and Drivepool can evacuate the data from the damaged disk on to other drives in the pool...

I'll check Stablebits stuff out. Sounds interesting just never used it before to get it all setup and working. Essentially I just want a NAS but with extra functions (like hosting an FTP) and maybe one or two virtual servers for a few projects.

Quartz said:
I have hardware RAID 1 on my server: 4x 6TB drives arranged in 2x 6TB mirrored arrays.

Did you use the on-board RAID controller? During POST I don't get any raid controller listed (It should be F5 to access it) but not sure if it's due to me booting from a SSD in AHCI. The B120i the Gen 8 is supposed to come with apparently does Raid 10 which, if I go down that route, is recommended over Raid 5.

Quartz · 10 Jun 2018 at 17:31

maj said:
Did you use the on-board RAID controller?

No, I bought an additional RAID controller, the P212 IIRC.

maj · 10 Jun 2018 at 19:33

Quartz said:
No, I bought an additional RAID controller, the P212 IIRC.

Does yours have a battery? I've noticed some come with or without. I'm guessing I'd need the smaller bracket to fit the gen 8 too?

Quartz · 10 Jun 2018 at 20:08

Yes, it does have a battery attached. And it already had the low profile rear bracket.

lcg · 10 Jun 2018 at 20:25

Quartz said:
Yes, it does have a battery attached. And it already had the low profile rear bracket.

Does it require extra cooling? I've bought a P222 and am just waiting for the low profile bracket to arrive. I've read that the controller gets very hot, so I'm trying to find the most ideal way of cooling it.

Quartz · 10 Jun 2018 at 20:29

I just plugged it in and left it. I can hear the fan now and then.

maj · 10 Jun 2018 at 20:34

What happens when the battery runs out? Will card still function or just not at full speed?

lcg · 10 Jun 2018 at 20:42

maj said:
What happens when the battery runs out? Will card still function or just not at full speed?

From what I've read caching operations are disabled. The following message is displayed on POST:

Caching operations such as Expansion, Extension, and Migration are temporarily suspended until the batteries/capacitors are replaced.