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

Avalon said:
Gen8’s tend to be over priced relative to what they are and can do. Shield is a great client for plex, but it’s a really crappy server, especially as you scale up. If you want to transcode, you want a PlexPass and an iGPU or get used to the noise of fans and heat/power, the other option is something NVEnc based, you can skip the PlexPass if you can use JellyFin. The micro server is not an ideal candidate for this as it doesn’t support iGPU functions, even if they are present on the chip, an M2000/P400 is slot powered and could work, but in all honesty iGPU is a better bet and a used full SFF PC will cost less than a used Quadro. Lenovo/Dell desktops are ideal for this sort of job, 6th gen or newer, quiet, cheap, efficient, alternatively 8th gen onwards has a lot going for it in terms of performance/increased core count, bit at a slight premium.
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Realised my post wasn't totally transparent... I have a N40L server running MS Server Essentials which serves up data and does network backups, and the only heavy lifting I need is Plex and video transcoding, which my Shield handles well (files all on the N40L). I actually rate the Shield highly as a Plex server. It would be nice to have a server powerful enough to transcode, which would be more elegant than my 2 component setup, but my current setup works nicely.
 
Cyber-Mav said:
What sort of vpn throughput can gen7 microserver do? Can it max the gigabit ethernet?
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That really depends on the local connection/utilisation/resources available, the protocol/encryption type, the other ends connection/utilisation/resources etc. Will it do near line speed OVPN? That’s a hard no. Wireguard will likely do a few hundred mbit though.
 
Hi,
I've had one of these for years - its been running 5.1 forever and I have only just had to update it due to Plex no longer talking to my TV.
So it is now running 6.1 quite happily. I want to further update Xpenology as far as I can, along with adding a gigabit network card and CPU along with extra memory.

Does anyone know if I am better to do the software update first or the network card?

Also, can someone point me to a guide on how to install and configure the network card - I've ordered a 2nd-hand HP NC360T - I am struggling to get anywhere with google :(

Thanks
 
Cyber-Mav said:
i thought you been there, done that, got the t-shirt too? :D
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I don’t need to do this one to know the likely outcome, and as I said previously, if I know the answer, im happy to share it, but if I don’t then I won’t misrepresent my opinion as fact.

As you don’t seem interested in trying it for yourself, while I haven’t felt the need in the last decade to try running a firewall on an N36L, I have run several on an APU24C, it uses the comparatively more modern Jaguar core, the same family as found in the PS4 CPU, all be it at 1Ghz and 4 rather than 8 cores. Thing is, the APU2 will struggle to NAT at 1Gbit, depending on the OS and your optimisations, you’re looking anywhere from 750Mbit to 950Mbit and 100Mbit VPN per core/tunnel on OVPN, but it’s got twice the CPU cores of the Turion II in the N36L and is more modern, but slower in raw MHz terms.

The only times I would consider running a firewall set-up on a N36L or similar is if it’s on a slow connection, such as FTTC, or for backup purposes such as CARP or HA (unusual in a home environment), that way if the primary is taken offline, you have a backup and likely don’t care about outright speed, just the fact that you still have connectivity to fix the other instance. Would I ever think to run even bare metal as a primary router on something like your symmetrical FTTP? No, not unless the supplied ISP router broke and I was out of other options, but as I said, you’re welcome to prove me wrong.
 
Stu said:
Realised my post wasn't totally transparent... I have a N40L server running MS Server Essentials which serves up data and does network backups, and the only heavy lifting I need is Plex and video transcoding, which my Shield handles well (files all on the N40L). I actually rate the Shield highly as a Plex server. It would be nice to have a server powerful enough to transcode, which would be more elegant than my 2 component setup, but my current setup works nicely.
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I have the exact same setup as you. :DI came to the thread to see if there's anything new, low power but faster as I'm tempted to get my hard drives in some kind of resilience, and also try out Blue Iris CCTV solution which is CPU heavy.
 
steinooo said:
I have the exact same setup as you. :DI came to the thread to see if there's anything new, low power but faster as I'm tempted to get my hard drives in some kind of resilience, and also try out Blue Iris CCTV solution which is CPU heavy.
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You may find it easier to use something with an iGPU to do the heavy lifting, you can always have it dump to the N40L for storage. £60-£100 buys you a reasonable SFF, but if you're going that direction, consider if your money would be better spent on a decent NVR with onboard processing, keeping things separate can have its advantages.
 
Avalon said:
You may find it easier to use something with an iGPU to do the heavy lifting, you can always have it dump to the N40L for storage. £60-£100 buys you a reasonable SFF, but if you're going that direction, consider if your money would be better spent on a decent NVR with onboard processing, keeping things separate can have its advantages.
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Thanks, yes a decent NVR is also high in my considerations as a lot of them have PoE ports which means one less thing to purchase for my new cameras I'll buy eventually
 
I've looked at cameras too and am definitely leaning towards an NVR, and keeping it totally separate from my server (TBH, I don't think the N40L would cope at all, and I don't want to commit one of the 4 drives to CCTV).
 
NVR is the way to go, you should be able to pick up something from the bay easily enough, as long as it has decent ONVIF support and h.265 would be nice, I like the Honeywell units as their app and Windows manager work well, but you know more than I do regarding your budget and requirements etc
 
Has anyone elses microserver just become really loud? I have a N54L and the hum/whine is getting to me. Iv seen some cheap China made replacement PSU's on ebay but dont really want to risk it...are there any over proven options?

Its pretty old so half expecting it, but tempted just to bin it all and make a little server from scratch if there isnt a direct replacement part/reputable manufacturer available. Its a lot of hassle with the likely reinstall of win server but the noise is literally driving me mad
 
iamtheoneneo said:
Has anyone elses microserver just become really loud? I have a N54L and the hum/whine is getting to me. Iv seen some cheap China made replacement PSU's on ebay but dont really want to risk it...are there any over proven options?

Its pretty old so half expecting it, but tempted just to bin it all and make a little server from scratch if there isnt a direct replacement part/reputable manufacturer available. Its a lot of hassle with the likely reinstall of win server but the noise is literally driving me mad
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Yep I bought one for my N36l when I had it - will dig through my post history to find the part no as I'm sure I posted it here
 
Got the new psu installed. Worth pointing out for anybody looking to do this that I also had to use a motherboard power extender as the one on the PSU was too short, but other than that it was a straightforward swap.
 
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