Microservers

Streeteh

Streeteh

Streeteh

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Hi guys,

I've been looking into some form of RAID setup to give me more data security (at present I've no real form of protection against hardware failure). This led me to look at NAS drives, but from there i've started to look at Microservers. These seem like far better value for money to me, you end up with a system that has a larger HDD capacity, room for expansion with ram and a faster processor all bundled in. Am i right in thinking with a NAS you are simply paying extra for simplicity and ease of use?

The issue comes down to software. What are some of the more popular operating systems to set up a file server on your home network? Is there anywhere i could find a guide to help me configure it etc?

Also, i'm currently looking at the HP Proliant N36L MicroServer, it seems like a good bundle. Is there anything else that would offer better value for money? I'd like something that i can invest in two drives, but expand the number of drives at a later date without having to reformat them, is this even possible? I know so little about Raid.

Thanks for any advice that can be given.
 
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The N40L is the current model of HP Microserver the N36L is discontinued. Just bung Windows Home Server 2011 on and it is very simple to set up some shared storage.
 
Thanks gents. Will look into the NL40 instead.

Are there any good guides for running/maintaining a raid setup on Windows server 2011 or is it a matter of learn by doing?
 
The RAID you will want to run from the BIOS.

You can only run RAID 1 or 0.

Once the RAID is setup you can't expand it unless you format the drives.

What do you want the microserver to actualy do?
 
At present it'll be used a storage backup and to run newsgroups/torrent overnight. In the future I will likely hook it straight up to my TV (my pc is currently in the same room, however when i move i aim to have the PC in a study) and run XBMC/similar. I'd also run a music server on it in the future.

Storage is my biggest issue tbh, as my capacity usage constantly grows. The RAID1 limitation is a bit of a concern, i was under the impression you could expand RAID5 by swapping out drives which would be better for my needs.
 
To get RAID 5 you would need a pci e raid card.

If you got one of those you could not install a graphics card which throws XBMC out the window.

I think you are best off with Windows 7 as you don't want it to do backups, if you wanted it to do backups then you should go WHS.

The only reason i'm on WHS is because of the backups.
 
If you stick FreeNAS/Openfiler/Solaris/Linux on there you can do software Parity RAID at a decent click. My Flavor of choice is Ubuntu Server with ZFS RAID-Z for its advanced features (snapshotting, deduplication) and avoidance of the RAID-5 Write Hole issue.
 
Streeteh said:
At present it'll be used a storage backup and to run newsgroups/torrent overnight. In the future I will likely hook it straight up to my TV (my pc is currently in the same room, however when i move i aim to have the PC in a study) and run XBMC/similar. I'd also run a music server on it in the future.

Storage is my biggest issue tbh, as my capacity usage constantly grows. The RAID1 limitation is a bit of a concern, i was under the impression you could expand RAID5 by swapping out drives which would be better for my needs.
Click to expand...

If you got another 2 drives in the future you could create another RAID1 array along side the one you initially setup. For example i have 6 drives in my Microserver on 3 RAID1 arrays.
 
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