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

[El Pew]

Just think I'm probably going to get frustrated with the Gen8 pretty quickly as I will be moving to 4k for media and want to host more VMs for lab usage.

The Gen10 boxes are fine little machines, definitely an improvement over the Gen8s which are getting very long in the tooth now. The normal Gen10s will take 32GB of RAM, the Gen10+ will take at least 64GB I believe so a lot more overhead for running VMs comfortably. The downside is that they are considerably more expensive than the older ones as HP withdrew all the discounts that meant you could get the Gen7/Gen8 boxes for peanuts.

I have an X3421 Gen10 (non-plus) which I use as a combined fileserver and docker host, primarily for fairly intensive things like running CI/CD workloads and building containers. It's been completely faultless in the 3 years I've had it and has handled everything I've wanted to throw at it.

 

[Armageus]

The Gen10 boxes are fine little machines, definitely an improvement over the Gen8s which are getting very long in the tooth now. The normal Gen10s will take 32GB of RAM, the Gen10+ will take at least 64GB I believe so a lot more overhead for running VMs comfortably. The downside is that they are considerably more expensive than the older ones as HP withdrew all the discounts that meant you could get the Gen7/Gen8 boxes for peanuts.

I have an X3421 Gen10 (non-plus) which I use as a combined fileserver and docker host, primarily for fairly intensive things like running CI/CD workloads and building containers. It's been completely faultless in the 3 years I've had it and has handled everything I've wanted to throw at it.

While I love the Microservers, unless you specifically need the small form factor, or the enterprise style features/support (iLO, standardised parts availability), these days they are overpriced and underpowered.

In terms of CPU performance, all of the Microservers are outclassed by low-mid range desktop CPUS (e.g. Ryzen 5600 or i3-13100). Even factoring in build cost for a full PC, versus a Microserver, the PC will likely come in cheaper, and power consumption these days is probably similar.


Comparison of G8 CPU, G10, G10 Plus + 5600 and i3-13100

Intel Xeon E3-1220 @ 3.10GHz vs AMD Opteron X3421 APU vs Intel Xeon E-2224 @ 3.40GHz vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600 vs Intel Core i3-13100 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

www.cpubenchmark.net

 

[Trig]

Loved my Microservers, Gen7 and Gen8, the 10's, well, I'm glad I went down the self-build route instead, they seemed to move away from the 'Homeserver' side of things, they were less flexible, support behind a paywall, no discounts, killed them IMHO..

I'm currently on an iTX build with a 3400G in it, 32Gb RAM, some spinners and some nvme drives, x570 board though so when I can get a decent CPU (5700G would be nice) I'll swap that out, its a much nicer more flexible box, but its a Node 304 case, so huge when compared to a Microserver, however I am in on the Storaxa NAS on Kickstarter, so could be dropping size soon'sih as well as moving to a Ryzen 5825U...

 

[El Pew]

While I love the Microservers, unless you specifically need the small form factor, or the enterprise style features/support (iLO, standardised parts availability), these days they are overpriced and underpowered.

Well yeah that's the entire point of these things...

One other thing you missed though is the build quality. I've done the DIY thing and I've also bought pre-made Synology boxes in the past, with varying degrees of success and failure. Nothing else has struck the same combination of support for common OS (missing from Syno/QNAP et al) and reliability (missing from DIY generally). There's a reason why these boxes hold their value so well on the secondary market, they're as solid a piece of hardware as I've ever owned.

 

[Infidelus]

Still running my Gen7 & 8 servers, specifically for the small form factor, but would like something a little more powerful but with a similar TDP.

 

[CaNsA]

My trusty gen7 hasnt failed me after all these years, the only issue I had was a sata cable which decided to give up and die.
It is a file server, runs my Home Assistant vm and backs up my desktop pc.

 

[Trig]

Gen8 was a money pit for me, some bits I couldn't find used, so ended up with a proper HP Controller card, the better heatpipe heatsink for it, CPU, wasn't cheap by the time I had finished lol

That said, if it would have taken 32Gb I would probably still be running it now..

 

[quickshot89]

I've got a spare G8 that isnt really being used these days. Was meant to have it setup in order to use as a backup solution but the time and effort just isnt worth it for me.

Do they hold a resale value well still?

 

[Trig]

Depends on spec, but generally yes, upgraded ones tend to go for mu=ore, but not as much as you'd like if you were selling it with the updates lol

 

[Tee Hee Johnson]

I still have my Gen8 microserver.

Bought from HP new with a massive rebate, was £180 and got £70 of it back.

SSD on the optical SATA cable... 250GB, cant remember the brand. Upped the RAM to 16GB and CPU to a E3-1240 v2. 2x8TB and 2x2TB for now.

Used for backups, document store, image store, sql server, source control, Plex and other odds n sods.

Still pretty awesome to me

 

[brakeinup]

I have recently obtained a Gen 8 and it had a 2 core Celeron CPU. This was upgraded to a Xeon E3-1265L V2. It already had 16GB RAM so all good.

Mine is running Win 11 (yeah I know, I could use a whole bunch of different free OS systems) but I run Blue Iris which is Windows only and is a Plex server.

What is the best route to upgrade the CPU heatsink? I would rather have it active. I've seen some articles online about certain coolers, but they are years old.

 

[Trig]

These days you could probably 3d print a bracket to fit some sort of aftermarket active cooling or ducting.
There was a heatsink for the Gen8 that had heatpipes on it and was rated to 65w rather than the stock 35w block but I had to buy mine new and still had to wait a while for it to arrive.
If you trawl through the FS threads there's one for my thread when I sold my Gen 8, there might be a part number for the heatpipe version...

 

[a1ex2001]

Can’t believe I’ve had one of these since 2011 and it’s still in use must be the longest lived but of tech I have ever owned, windows home server is probably a bit of a security risk these days for most though!

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Can’t believe I’ve had one of these since 2011 and it’s still in use must be the longest lived but of tech I have ever owned, windows home server is probably a bit of a security risk these days for most though!

Has it been running 24/7 since 2011?

 

[Gundam God]

Just found the paperwork and I bought mine in December 2010. It's been running 24/7 since then and still is.
Shame the new ones are stupidly expensive.

 

[Mel_P]

Shame the new ones are stupidly expensive.

Certainly are - mine (bought 2014) will be my first and last. Not a "home price" any more and everything is extra!

 

[w1lliam]

Can you fit 2 ssds into one hdd slot with an adaptor?

I'm kinda musing with faliing ssd prices

 

[Mel_P]

Physically yes but there is only 1 drive connector / slot?

 

[visibleman]

Can you fit 2 ssds into one hdd slot with an adaptor?

I'm kinda musing with faliing ssd prices

You probably would be better off looking at a 2.5" drive adaptor for the 5.25" bay and then opting for a PCI sata card or using the ODD + eSata ports (need modded Bios i believe).

 

[Trig]

I ended up getting a different controller card for my Gen8 and then used the onboard controller for other drives.