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

For anyone interested in really loading up the Microserver, I can report that you can fit a Lindy SAS/SATA backplane in the 5.25" bay, load it with 6 x 2.5" disks, fit another 4 x 3.5" disks into the main enclosure and connect both to a HP RAID adapter to give you better RAID options.

We've currently got this plus an iLO card, 4GB RAM and 4 x 2TB drives (RAID 5) plus 2 x OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB drives for OS (RAID 1) and another 4 2.5" bays free for future expansion. Runs Win 2008 R2 and acts as our small office AD controller, DHCP, DNS and file server. Does so much more quietly than a normal tower server.

Neat piece of kit this, might buy one for myself.
 
IPAddis said:
For anyone interested in really loading up the Microserver, I can report that you can fit a Lindy SAS/SATA backplane in the 5.25" bay, load it with 6 x 2.5" disks, fit another 4 x 3.5" disks into the main enclosure and connect both to a HP RAID adapter to give you better RAID options.

We've currently got this plus an iLO card, 4GB RAM and 4 x 2TB drives (RAID 5) plus 2 x OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB drives for OS (RAID 1) and another 4 2.5" bays free for future expansion. Runs Win 2008 R2 and acts as our small office AD controller, DHCP, DNS and file server. Does so much more quietly than a normal tower server.

Neat piece of kit this, might buy one for myself.
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Interesting idea, just wondering which model of the HP Raid adaptor you are using?
 
just put an Areca 1880i in and will be hopefully putting an Intel 1000CT in tommorow. These are a very neat solution for home small office. A really good peice of kit. I'm getting some good numbers from Intel Nas benchmark too.

Anyone thinking of buying one will be pleasantly surprised at the value and neatness of this little server.

@ Tiger Had thought same regarding placement of Pico Psu inside. might at a later date try that. I think it would sit quite nicely. Maybe you ought to try moving the fan on the psu to the inside blowing air out a friend says it's much quieter.
 
IPAddis said:
For anyone interested in really loading up the Microserver, I can report that you can fit a Lindy SAS/SATA backplane in the 5.25" bay, load it with 6 x 2.5" disks, fit another 4 x 3.5" disks into the main enclosure and connect both to a HP RAID adapter to give you better RAID options.

We've currently got this plus an iLO card, 4GB RAM and 4 x 2TB drives (RAID 5) plus 2 x OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB drives for OS (RAID 1) and another 4 2.5" bays free for future expansion. Runs Win 2008 R2 and acts as our small office AD controller, DHCP, DNS and file server. Does so much more quietly than a normal tower server.

Neat piece of kit this, might buy one for myself.
Click to expand...

Mind. Blown.

So basically it's pretty easy to turn this thing into a 10 bay array?

Suddenly the Synology DS411j I was going to buy soon seems rather.... expensive. 10 bay, using unRAID you can mix different drive sizes. I think I need to make a shopping list!
 
I just got this beautiful thing today but it does not detect my SATA HDDs? The BIOS does not detect any of them, including the one that it came with!!?? Hmm I tried changing it from AHCI to IDE but nothing, and any OS I throw at it does not detect them either..

Does anyone know where I could have gone wrong?!
 
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Somnambulist said:
Cashback has been extended to the end of July btw. :)
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Knew this was going to happen.. They've been extending it since 2010.

This could be an organised campaign to get small businesses and homes familiarised with the HP brand for network solutions using this entry level server. This could be a fantastic move actually, there's a gap in the home network market, most computer manufcaturers are fighting hard in a saturated market to sell laptops and netbooks. And we're using more and more devices each day.. How do you collaborate all that data between the computers? Simples. Use a HP microserver.
 
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TheBiznes said:
The PicoPsu I have looked at also matched with a FSP power block would be a very good solution and very efficient power wise also. My friend has found that the power supply fan is a lot of the noise, and has removed the fan from the psu and mounted it inside in front of the grill. This is near the hotter parts of the PSU and cools as well, but the sound of the fan is quieter this way. might be worth trying. He also has bought the Apache fan.
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Found a UK ITX specialist and cancelled my order with the Americans and went with the UK supplier. Can't wait to get them, hope I get them on Saturday.

For anyone else attempting the picopsu, it's not a cheap solution.. the PSU kit can set you back £75. You'll need to pay for a 24pin mobo power extension (the picopsu is a bit too tall to slot into the mobo directly), the 90W fit with a tiny 0.5mm clearance but they get taller as you go higher up in the wattage. I'd recommend a higher quality 24pin extension that's rounded so that it maximises airflow and looks tidy.

You'll also need some molex splotters. a quad splitter, or double molex, and double molex from sata splitter.

For my next experiment I'm going to try and passively cool the system, install larger heat sinks onto the CPU. I'll compile a large blog post on my silencing project, and report my adventures.
 
Wow I had no idea that they had been extending it for that long. Is there any wiki or a page with collection of cool efforts that have been done with this?

My fedora installation failed with some random error at the end, grr.. :rolleyes:
 
Mikoyan said:
Interesting idea, just wondering which model of the HP Raid adaptor you are using?
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The wrong one! :( I bought one with a single internal port and an external port. Hence we're currently running the RAID 1 array from the onboard controller!

We're currently using "Smart Array P212/256" but I need to locate the alternative version that has multiple internal connectors. You also need a suitable breakout cable.
 
I seem to have a problem with the AHCI drivers under WHS 1 ( 2003 32 Bit )

Using 4X 2TB Samsung F4 Eco's. Transfer is fast initially ( 50MB+ ) then drops to 1-2MB after a minute. Tried installing the latest 8.86 AHCI drivers doesn't seem to make any difference.

I am using the latest hacked BIOS and AHCI is enabled in the BIOS.

Under device manage I have

AMD SATA controllers - Version 1.2.1.275 dated 11/11/2010

There is low CPU load, Network load is low so it looks like the SATA is bottlenecking the system.

If I set the mode to IDE I'm getting 45-100MB sustained transfer depending on the file size. CPU load is 33% but I now have perfornace. Looks like an issue with either the Hacked BIOS or AHCI drivers.

Any thoughts?
 
Update.

Tried manual updating the AHCI drivers, no effect. CPU load just dies 30 seconds into a file write which is when the performance nose dives. It's like the AHCI driver is failing but nothing in the event log. Strange.

Back to IDE and 75MB per seond sustained.
 
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The Asgard said:
I reckon that would fit with a low profile bracket. How much?
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I seen from most sites around £160 which aint too bad considering its for 8 ports!

Think this may be the one I will go for when I get a bit of free cash :D

edit: just seen card it says low profile on their site, so I guess it is.
 
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Sorry for this daft question but I know very little about Raid and have never used it but now is the time to do so but can I ask why some of you guys are wanting to purchase expensive Raid cards?

What will this give you and if so, is it something worth adding to the microserver which is for home use or is that over the top?

If you are going to spend a few hundred pounds on a raid card, would you not want it in a server which has a lot more power?

Again sorry for the questions, just trying to get educated in this stuff.
 
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