HP Proliant Gen8 Microserver or Custom build? Help please

[storm45]

Hi,

I want to invest in a home server which will be used for plex media and also to play around with virtual machines. I have seen the HP Proliant Gen8 microserver but not sure because it works out to a £150 difference compared to a custom build.

Option 1

HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G1610T
RAM upgrade to 16gb
4TB HDD
SSD

= Around £500

Option 2

Gigabyte Z97M-DS3H Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i3 4130T 2.90GHz
GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
EVGA 500W 80 Plus Power Supply
BitFenix Colossus M Micro ATX
Intel 730 Series 240GB SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Internal Solid State Drive
Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM

= £650

(PS. I'm a bit of a noob so I have no idea whether the parts I have listed in the custom build are compatible so if someone could clarify this as well I would be grateful)

Do you think the price difference is justified by the increase in performance? (if any)

I don't mind spending the extra money but in your opinion is it worth it?

thanks in advance

 

[CinderzFTW]

IF you are going to build a server, you want two hdds in raid 1.

Raid 1 allows you to mirror HDDs. So say your first 2tb dies, you have a 2tb with the exact information on it ready to boot with... if you have one hdd and that dies, you're screwed.

i3 will be fine, due to the hyper threading cores.

SSD???? hmm depends on how much it will be used and if the server will be on 24/7...

I would opt for 2 x 2tb hdds for raid 1 and maybe a smaller 60gb ssd for the boot device... would be safer in the long run.

Plus that HP microserver is using a celeron for petes sake... running VMs on that will be too slow!

16gb ram is a good idea, depending on how many VMs you will be using (if using vms, get a copy of vCentre, its free)

500w PSU will not be needed. A 350W would do the job perfectly.

Case... change it... it may look nice but the cooling is pitiful. look at the prodigy.. better airflow, especially if the server will be on for long periods