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

Guru · 9 May 2011 at 16:34

Myocardial Inf said:
Router with an additional Nic, pico-psu and USB stick. What happened to it that it needed replacement?

That's what I'd use it for as my current router is a playing up.

Wobbly VGA port

gam3r · 9 May 2011 at 21:51

I'm thinking of buying one of these but I'm worried about the noise, I currently have a nas and I want to replace it with something more scalable and versatile like this. Hopefully I will use it as a media store mainly streaming to xbmc. Hopefully I can install a blue ray drive and stream to xbmc on the fly? Is that possible?

Also, would it be possible to swap in my drive from the my old nas easily? I will probably install Linux, on another drive. The drive from the nas is formatted using ext3.

rp2000 · 9 May 2011 at 22:27

gam3r said:
I'm thinking of buying one of these but I'm worried about the noise, I currently have a nas and I want to replace it with something more scalable and versatile like this. Hopefully I will use it as a media store mainly streaming to xbmc. Hopefully I can install a blue ray drive and stream to xbmc on the fly? Is that possible?

Also, would it be possible to swap in my drive from the my old nas easily? I will probably install Linux, on another drive. The drive from the nas is formatted using ext3.

Noise wise I can recommend this machine as it is very quiet. Quieter than a HP ML115 G5 I have, and quieter than a D-Link DNS-323 NAS I have as well.

After 24 hours in use downloading files it was still barely audible from a few feet away in a silent room.

rp2000

agent_paul · 10 May 2011 at 08:39

So has no one got both the 5th and 6th (esata and internal) port working together? I've spent a while using a number of different BIOS combinations and my HD on the esata wasn't recognised.

I'm wondering whether it doesn't work or if I have a dud esata cable.

Generious · 10 May 2011 at 17:58

agent_paul said:
So has no one got both the 5th and 6th (esata and internal) port working together? I've spent a while using a number of different BIOS combinations and my HD on the esata wasn't recognised.

I'm wondering whether it doesn't work or if I have a dud esata cable.

I'm using a hdd in the optical bay attached to the fifth sata port onboard with a esata disk hanging off the back and the drive cage fully populated works fine.

Make sure your bios is at the latest version.

gam3r · 10 May 2011 at 22:01

rp2000 said:
Noise wise I can recommend this machine as it is very quiet. Quieter than a HP ML115 G5 I have, and quieter than a D-Link DNS-323 NAS I have as well.

After 24 hours in use downloading files it was still barely audible from a few feet away in a silent room.

rp2000

Thanks. What about my existing ext3 driven with data on it?

I've never really tinkered with servers but I have a good background with unix so maybe that can help with setup. I'm going to order one of these things tomorrow hopefully!

rp2000 · 10 May 2011 at 22:36

gam3r said:
Thanks. What about my existing ext3 driven with data on it?

I've never really tinkered with servers but I have a good background with unix so maybe that can help with setup. I'm going to order one of these things tomorrow hopefully!

Pass, not a *nix expert so can only offer generic advice. But from a logical point of view, if you install a *nix OS (or a CD/USB live image) and have 2 drives in the machine you should be able to copy data across if the OS can read write to both partitions/disks, I think EXT3 should be accessible from Linux etc.

Also, could you not just put another disk into the microserver and copy the data from the NAS over the LAN (presumably it can be accessed via SMB or NFS etc?)

rp2000

Demon · 11 May 2011 at 08:44

agent_paul said:
So has no one got both the 5th and 6th (esata and internal) port working together? I've spent a while using a number of different BIOS combinations and my HD on the esata wasn't recognised.

I'm wondering whether it doesn't work or if I have a dud esata cable.

I struggled to get the eSata going, I thought I'd given the details of what I did earlier in the thread, but alas, I can't find them.

I think I remember that I had to have the eSata drive plugged in at boot, and it was picked up by the bios, then it worked.. I may have also switched modes in the Bios, but it perplexed me for ages until finally I realised it needed to be plugged in at power up!

agent_paul · 11 May 2011 at 09:47

Demon said:
I struggled to get the eSata going, I thought I'd given the details of what I did earlier in the thread, but alas, I can't find them.

I think I remember that I had to have the eSata drive plugged in at boot, and it was picked up by the bios, then it worked.. I may have also switched modes in the Bios, but it perplexed me for ages until finally I realised it needed to be plugged in at power up!

Thanks. Im currently running on the BIOS with the Russian hack stated in the other forum referenced here (Tim's 7TB media server thread). I know that theres a newer BIOS but I dont think theres a hack for that one.

I've also tried to boot the server up with the esata drive plugged in and that doesn't work. It doesn't even register in the bios

gam3r · 11 May 2011 at 10:02

rp2000 said:
Pass, not a *nix expert so can only offer generic advice. But from a logical point of view, if you install a *nix OS (or a CD/USB live image) and have 2 drives in the machine you should be able to copy data across if the OS can read write to both partitions/disks, I think EXT3 should be accessible from Linux etc.

Also, could you not just put another disk into the microserver and copy the data from the NAS over the LAN (presumably it can be accessed via SMB or NFS etc?)

rp2000

Thanks, sounds good. I could copy over the LAN but its 2TB of data and its uber slow at 4mb/sec so i'd rather not!

agent_paul · 11 May 2011 at 12:37

agent_paul said:
Thanks. Im currently running on the BIOS with the Russian hack stated in the other forum referenced here (Tim's 7TB media server thread). I know that theres a newer BIOS but I dont think theres a hack for that one.

I've also tried to boot the server up with the esata drive plugged in and that doesn't work. It doesn't even register in the bios

Looks like there is a hack for the latest bios afterall

found on the we got served forum here, with the patch here.

instructions, copied from the post:
- execute the original and let it prepare your USB stick
- copy the PATCHED.ROM file (after extracting from the zip file) to the same USB stick
- copy the "flash.bat" file onto itself in the same directory and rename it say "ahci.bat"
- open "ahci.bat" in a text editor and replace the ORIGINAL.ROM filename with the PATCHED.ROM filename, save
(should look like this: kbd /"flash O41_ahci.rom -r 100000,10000 -r 1e0000,10000;q")
- put the USB stick in a USB port, and make sure you have a KB and Moitor attached to the server
- restart server and let it go through updating the BIOS with the original automatically
- at the command prompt enter AHCI, Return - this will execute flashing with the patched BIOS
- remove USB stick
- restart machine, enter BIOS with F10 and load defaults, save, restart and renter BIOS to configure your machine.

gayleard · 11 May 2011 at 12:39

2 queries on the MicroServer

I've ordered an Intel Gigabit CT (EXPI9301CT), but I'm not sure if this will come with a half-height backplate.
Can one get the Intel half-height backplate anywhere?
Or can anyone recommend a source for an ethernet adaptor that will definitely fit in the Microserver?

2. RAM:
Is there a noticeable difference between 2x2GB matched modules, and a 4GB module?

I have two MicroServers which I am using as home servers (in two places),
runnning CentOS-5.6.
I'm very pleased with them; they fill the bill perfectly.

[timko] · 11 May 2011 at 13:04

gayleard said:
I've ordered an Intel Gigabit CT (EXPI9301CT), but I'm not sure if this will come with a half-height backplate.

It comes with a low profile bracket in the box, just unscrew the full height one, attach the shorter one and you're good to go

rp2000 · 11 May 2011 at 13:08

gayleard said:
I've ordered an Intel Gigabit CT (EXPI9301CT), but I'm not sure if this will come with a half-height backplate.
Can one get the Intel half-height backplate anywhere?
Or can anyone recommend a source for an ethernet adaptor that will definitely fit in the Microserver?

2. RAM:
Is there a noticeable difference between 2x2GB matched modules, and a 4GB module?

I have two MicroServers which I am using as home servers (in two places),
runnning CentOS-5.6.
I'm very pleased with them; they fill the bill perfectly.

I have bought 3 of that Intel NIC (2 a couple of years ago, and one about 1 month ago for the Microserver). I checked the site I ordered from and it is definitely the same model number as yours (I bought the OEM version).

It definitely has the backplate you need as my newest one is in my Microsoerver at the moment, the site I bought it from even advertises that the half-height backplate comes with it.

rp2000

DJMK4 · 11 May 2011 at 20:52

I am so tempted by this deal at the moment...

HP ProLiant MicroServer (250GB Model) now with £100 cashback!
Manufacturer Part Code: 633724-421
Order Code: SVHEW-633724421

Athlon II Neo N36L 1.3GHz Dual-Core CPU, 1GB DDR3 ECC UDIMM (8gb max), Internal SATA Cold Plug SATA 250GB Hard-Drive, Embedded RAID 0/1, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 200W PSU, 1 Year Warranty

Total - £199.95
Cashback - £100

So your paying £99.95, all I would need to do is add some RAM

EDIT: hmmm, missed the VAT

the above price is excluding VAT

AbsenceJam · 12 May 2011 at 05:15

DJMK4 said:
I am so tempted by this deal at the moment...

Umm, you realise that everyone in this topic has done the same thing?

It's a fantastic bargain. Just look at the cost of off the shelf NAS's, you can get 6 drives in one of these.

DJMK4 · 12 May 2011 at 06:54

AbsenceJam said:
Umm, you realise that everyone in this topic has done the same thing?

It's a fantastic bargain. Just look at the cost of off the shelf NAS's, you can get 6 drives in one of these.

I know, hence why I posted it in here

however the deal you guys had, expired didn't it back in December?

This is from another retailer, but still getting the cashback from HP

AbsenceJam · 12 May 2011 at 07:26

DJMK4 said:
I know, hence why I posted it in here however the deal you guys had, expired didn't it back in December?

This is from another retailer, but still getting the cashback from HP

HP have kept on renewing the cashback offer and updated it for the newer model so it's been going for months. You can order it from any retailer (just about) and get the cashback.

Al Vallario · 12 May 2011 at 09:05

DJMK4 said:
I know, hence why I posted it in here however the deal you guys had, expired didn't it back in December?

This is from another retailer, but still getting the cashback from HP

As AbsenceJam said, HP have consistently been extending the offer for another month; see the cashback page on the HP website.

The cheapest at the moment, as far as I'm aware, is £229.97 including delivery, or £129.97 after cashback

DJMK4 · 12 May 2011 at 09:55

Al Vallario said:
As AbsenceJam said, HP have consistently been extending the offer for another month; see the cashback page on the HP website.

The cheapest at the moment, as far as I'm aware, is £229.97 including delivery, or £129.97 after cashback

I have found £221 deal inc VAT & delivery, or £121 with cashback