Why have a MicroServer instead of pc or or network hdd ?

If the new ones are like mine then they have no sound device so you would need a gfx card supporting audio over hdmi or a sound card as well.

I have one of these: http://www.itpro.co.uk/630898/hp-proliant-microserver-n36l-review

At the moment i'm finding the speeds from it across my gigabit network are quite slow (about 30Mb/s) but its also quite old so the newer ones could well perform better. It has 2 mirrors. Would be good to hear some of the speeds others are getting.

Like everyone else said they are worth it though, I dont have to worry about my data and its easy access from any device.
 
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Hi first of thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my questions.

its hard to explain but its a bit complicated for me, some may have had the same issues, I hope you can help me with my decision.

What do you guys use your Micro server for ?
 
4. That's a difficult one to answer. What exactly are your requirements? It sounds like your are looking for a HTPC with a lot of storage. That is a common use for the microserver but you would need to fit a better graphics card. The built-in one is no good for media playback.
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@IT Troll thanks for answering all my listed questions.



requirements non

The reason I thought about it was because micro servers have popped up a lot around the forums and I wanted to know the benefits over a pc.
I did think of a cheap media storage device which can stream movies music and I could watch them on my devices. but that was only £40-£50 inc large storage. but im assuming I will be able to do much more with this.

2. For the best experience you would need something that could run client connection software. Typically this would be a small form factor computer, tablet or smart phone. However you could setup remote desktop access which works in a browser. So as long as your TV has a reasonable browser this should work.
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Any other ways ?
I don't really want to invest in this and then still need to buy pcs for other areas of the house to use it.

4. Within reason. You would need to setup your router for external access. Then the scope of what you can do will be dependent on your broadband upload speed.
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basic adsl 11mb download 0.6 upload

My points

1. I only use a desktop pc, I no longer bother with using tv :D unless I need to watch something on a larger screen, so im not sure if it would be a benefit to me, I store all my files on my pc and having no issues. so it would just be a storage device for me, at least to start with.

2. Rest of the family (parents. brother, sister) are not computer savvy, but have there own laptops. tabs. nothing connected to the tv, no one else would really care if it was in place or not, but like with everything they would start using it I assume.


3. I was thinking if there was home hub, I could have all my data connected in the house, to stream movie's and music, the same as us would with netflix, spotify, and have it as backup drive for my data. I'm sure there must be other uses.

connect to it via my laptop even if there was no pc device in place

4. I have 4 nephews who come round a lot and can cause a lot of damage.


My issue
My router is next to my pc and thats were I would like to keep the micro server if I got one (safe out of the way).

1. Doing this how could I stream to the TV's in my house without buying more PCs ?

2. How could I connect other devices to it, i'm assuming it has no wifi and I would need a lot of cable to connect it via cable or get it to areas of the house with low wifi signal.

3. more cables more mess

My questions

1. Could I justify the cost (it would be just storage for now) ?
2. We will be renovating the house soon, would be worth getting now or after the renovation (2-3 months time).
3. what do you guys use it for
4. if I got a MS what would be the min upgrade I should get, the basic cpu must be quite slow. would i need a graphics card to stream ?
 
I have a HP N54L microserver and its the best thing i ever purchased. I can access my films and music from anywhere with wifi of a good mobile signal.
 
2013 said:
My points

1. I only use a desktop pc, I no longer bother with using tv :D unless I need to watch something on a larger screen, so im not sure if it would be a benefit to me, I store all my files on my pc and having no issues. so it would just be a storage device for me, at least to start with.

2. Rest of the family (parents. brother, sister) are not computer savvy, but have there own laptops. tabs. nothing connected to the tv, no one else would really care if it was in place or not, but like with everything they would start using it I assume.


3. I was thinking if there was home hub, I could have all my data connected in the house, to stream movie's and music, the same as us would with netflix, spotify, and have it as backup drive for my data. I'm sure there must be other uses.

connect to it via my laptop even if there was no pc device in place

4. I have 4 nephews who come round a lot and can cause a lot of damage.


My issue
My router is next to my pc and thats were I would like to keep the micro server if I got one (safe out of the way).

1. Doing this how could I stream to the TV's in my house without buying more PCs ?

2. How could I connect other devices to it, i'm assuming it has no wifi and I would need a lot of cable to connect it via cable or get it to areas of the house with low wifi signal.

3. more cables more mess

My questions

1. Could I justify the cost (it would be just storage for now) ?
2. We will be renovating the house soon, would be worth getting now or after the renovation (2-3 months time).
3. what do you guys use it for
4. if I got a MS what would be the min upgrade I should get, the basic cpu must be quite slow. would i need a graphics card to stream ?
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1) You can install Windows or Linux on the Microserver, then put Plex on it for managing your media collection, and then just chuck a Chromecast in your TV - job's a good 'un!

2) Buy some homeplugs and use those for areas of your house with poor wifi.

3) Not really many more cables... power from the wall socket to the Microserver and an ethernet cable from the router to the Microserver. Not excessive at all.
 
2013 said:
basic adsl 11mb download 0.6 upload
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Within the house you will be OK. But you will struggle to stream anything above standard definition video whilst away from home.

2013 said:
so it would just be a storage device for me, at least to start with.
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It works well as a NAS. In which case you would just need to add disks. Then you still have the option to upgrade and explore other uses if you choose to.

2013 said:
1. Doing this how could I stream to the TV's in my house without buying more PCs ?
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You need something to act as a streaming client. Some Smart TVs have a built-in client or have one available as an app. Failing that you would need some kind of small streaming TV device like the ones from Google or Amazon.

2013 said:
2. How could I connect other devices to it, i'm assuming it has no wifi and I would need a lot of cable to connect it via cable or get it to areas of the house with low wifi signal.
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It has no wi-fi so you would be best to wire this into your router. Then clients would connect over wireless via your router. For poor signal areas you would need to look into wi-fi extenders or PowerLAN adapters that use your mains wiring.

2013 said:
1. Could I justify the cost (it would be just storage for now) ?
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The microserver plus disks is no more expensive than a decent NAS. Obviously you can get a cheaper external USB drive if you just want basic storage and nothing else.

2013 said:
2. We will be renovating the house soon, would be worth getting now or after the renovation (2-3 months time).
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The current cash back offer is good. In 2-3 months time the offer may not be on or could be even better, who can say. HP may be planning to release a Gen 9 and so could be clearing stock of the current model. There haven't been any information leaks on a new model though and it would be more expensive (launch price of the Gen 8 was £379). To claim the current cash back offer you need to have taken delivery by the end of April.

If you are renovating the house how about laying some Ethernet whilst the work is being done?

2013 said:
4. if I got a MS what would be the min upgrade I should get, the basic cpu must be quite slow. would i need a graphics card to stream ?
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The standard CPU is good for storage and light streaming work loads. If you start having multiple clients which want to simultaneously stream and/or transcode HD media then it might start to struggle. However I would hold off upgrading the CPU just now and see how you get on with it. You won't need a graphics card for streaming. You would only need this is you were using it as a HTPC directly connected to a TV.

Setting the microserver up as a NAS with streaming is fairly straightforward - you can install something like XPEnology and the job is done.

However if you want to get more advanced and run multiple operating systems for storage, desktop, downloading etc. then it does take a lot more setup. You need to be prepared to put int the work to research and configure all this yourself. If you are looking for something that is just plug and play you may need to look elsewhere.
 
1. It's the cheapest 4-bay storage device on the market, by a big margin with the current cashback scheme... to buy something like a Synology DS214j (dedicated NAS with 4 hard drive bays)... you would pay in the region of £300 without any hard drives.

2. The £60 cashback deal will only last a month or two, it may even expire at the end of this month... buy it now and leave it in a box if you don't want it out before your renovation. At the moment you get it for £120 after cashback and they only run these cashback deals when they are getting ready to release a new model, so it'll only last until stock has gone.

3. Just storage for me, but then I already have had my own-built HTPC sitting under the TV for 7+ years. The HTPC has been upgraded a couple of times along the way though & is now a completely silent, fanless unit. Others have used them for media streaming, but usually with a graphics card upgrade. Some upgrade the RAM and CPU and use them as fully-fledged home servers... but I already built my own which is more powerful.

4. It depends entirely on the type of streaming you are wanting to do. If you are looking to use it as a home theatre PC, connected directly to your TV... then yes, you will want to replace the graphics card - although you may well be able to do that well with the included RAM & CPU, so you might not have to upgrade those.

Many TVs for quite a while now have built in DLNA streaming capabilities... for this, you would not need a new graphics card as the server would only be operating as a file server and the TV would be the display device using it's own "graphics card". But that depends on your TV. PS3/Xbox360/PS4/XboxOne devices can also do this kind of streaming, so if any of the other TVs have those devices, they wouldn't need anything else.

https://www.google.co.uk/chrome/devices/chromecast/

Chromecast dongles are cheap and supposed to be good, so maximum would you need would be one of those per TV.

Although you may like to look at Raspberry Pi, which is not much more expensive. But more full-featured... there is also Apple TV and other types of media player units.
 
I ran a Synology 2 bay NAS for years, I replaced it with a HP MicroServer last month for a few reasons really.

1. I needed a 4 bay device, a NAS 4 bay will cost at least £300 - any brand. HP server costs £120
2. HP Server is far more powerful in terms of spec against the double the price same bayyed NAS box. Dual Core Celeron 2.7GHz with 2GB EEC DDR3 RAM on the HP vs Atom based 800mhz dual core and 512MB RAM.
3. The HP server can be upgraded, CPU, RAM etc, even has a PCI-E slot for a dedicated RAID card - no NAS box can be upgraded
4. Various OS options

I actually use the Synology DSM OS on my HP server, mostly because I'm so used to it, but there is a wealth of different OS's you can choose from, including Windows Server.



Reasons to use either a NAS or Server over just putting the files onto my main PC.
1. Access remotely anywhere in the world using the net: so I leave my server on 24/7 - my PC can do this but as my PC uses 300w idling, but my server uses 32w its a big difference
2. Server OS's, whether its windows or one of the FREE or synology/Qpad OS, makes setup easy as hell!
3. I dont want my family to be accessing files from my PC when I'm gaming etc, as it will affect my PC performance, Son and wife both can be accessing data at the same time.
4. Streaming music on my phone using the DS audio app on android (or iOS) as long as tyou have an internet connection
5. There will be more, but cannot think of them off the top of my head
 
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I use my Microserver with the Synology DSM software too.

It's basically the same as a Synology NAS but cheaper, more powerful and more flexible. You can still use the Synology Apps on your phone, use Synology updates etc.
 
Thank everyone, Ive just ordered one hoping I make the most out of it,

I may need help to set it up, where do I request the help ?
 
What software should I be looking at for my requirements,
Any and all suggestions welcome.

I don't know much about micro servers, So I would be glad if you could help me a little more, Im am looking around forums to get ideas but its not sinking in yet.



I dont know everything I will be using it for till I get a understanding of what's possible and available. For now I want to lay the ground work for the future.

What I know I will be using it for at some point, for now.
1. I want to be able to access it from anywhere.
2. Stream movie's, music, images, ext from anywhere.
3. Keep backups of all my data, movie's music photos, docs ext, and upload files from anywhere similar to dropbox.
4. I will be using a windows apps to do some of my office work, this will run all the time, till I stop it. uploading data.
5. downloading so i dont need to on my pc.

I think I will need
1a. A good OS
2a. Something to upload download files
3a, Something to organise the files
4a. something to stream with.


Ive come across some of these software, not 100% sure what to use


also Is there a way to have 2 OS running at the same time without vm ware
 
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2 OSes without VMWare? There are alternatives to VMware, but not really... No.

The Synology OS would do you well from the sounds of your requirements... Plus you can use an old USB drive as your OS drive very easily... Look up XPEnology
 
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