How to build a home server to run VMware ? (HP DL380 Gen9)I need help !

Geoff Bartlett

Geoff Bartlett

Geoff Bartlett

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27 Oct 2021
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Location
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Hello all,
I have been lucky enough to save an HP Gen9 DL380 form the skip at work.
I don't have all the specs yet as I haven't spun it up yet but in summary:
  • Twin CPUs
  • 128GB Ram
  • DVD bay and 8 x 300GB SAS drives in an 8 drive bay
I also have 6 4TB SAS drives but alas they are 3.5 drives. They are in caddies already as they came out of a Gen8 DL380 server - I am wondering if I could get a "cage" for the gap in between the current drives and the DVD unit or whether to exchange them for larger 2.5 form factor SAS drives via a popular online auction site ?

My ultimate goal would be to have a Linux OS booted from internal USB running VM software.
The 8 drives would be set up in Raid of some description and I would like to eventually have the following working on the server:
  • Windows 10 VM
  • Storage for Family photos and Videos - with access to those from any device on the network
  • Storage for a few days of IP CCTV footage (I don't have a CCTV system yet - looking to install four cameras at gutter level connected to a PoE switch in the loft - then a lan cable down to the server
  • Plex server to stream stored films to the TV
Any pointers would be much appreciated - especially on how to start with the Linux/VM install on the USB drive (is this even possible?) I dabbled with Ubuntu on an HP Micro server a few years back (54NL I think, or similar sounding)
I have a 6TB External drive that I would use for backup - and the only items that would need backing up would be the family photos and videos, all the other "stuff" would be backed up if there were space available.

Many thanks in advance - looking forward to this immensely !

Regards

Netrix
 
Proceed with caution, some of what you have picked up is actually OK and worth a few quid if working, but some of it is power hungry, hot, noisy e-waste.

The CPU's and RAM are likely reasonably modern V3 or V4 Xeon's, power consumption shouldn't be awful, but noise, heat etc. are not really home or family friendly. Those SAS drives are low capacity and 7.2-10K drives are noisy/hot, you would be better ditching them all, but beware: Unfortunately being HP all BIOS/firmware/drivers are paywalled and as a general rule anything not certified will result in the fans being cranked to 100% 24/7, this can happen even on some drives (buy the genuine HP carriers to go SSD (HP part #651687-001), but check before doing anything that the drives you buy are known not to cause the fans to go to 100%. To give you some context, if you need to transcode in Plex or encode in BI or do any advanced analysis, those CPU's have to do it in software, and that's inefficient which means more power, more heat and more noise, you may be able to get round that with an Nvidia GPU, but it depends how it's passed through and that varies on ESXi/Proxmox or whatever route you go. Of course, if you hate whoever pays the power bill, are everyone is profoundly deaf and you also happen to have a broken heating system, then you're in luck ;)

USB wise any decent quality branded stick will work exactly as it did for the N54L, then just set-up/install as normal.

You could easily sell what you have (prices on the 'bay are strong at present and you could clear a few hundred depending on spec) and buy something more suited to what you want to do which would use a fraction of the power and do the job easily, run Win10 bare metal on much more efficient hardware along with Blue Iris for CCTV and Plex with the benefit of iGPU using less power and being near silent. As for family photo's and video's that's what iCloud and Google Drive are for, they cost less than the power bill for your local server and offer a lot of other functionality as well.
 
Thanks for all that detail Avalon - much appreciated. I did wonder about trying to sell it - my employer was happy to donate it to my "home lab" I'm not sure how they'd feel if they knew I'd outed it on the 'bay (they would, of course, only know that if I told them !)
Would you have any thoughts on the setup route you suggested - ie is there an off-the-shelf solution or would it be best to buy the components and build from the case up ?

Thanks again

Regards
Netrix
 
Not disagreeing with anything Avalon said, but I'd suggest if you've got the server already, at least get it running and play with it for a few days/weeks. Might as well get some free learning out of it - then stick it on the bay and get something more home optimal.
 
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