HP ProLiant MicroServer Owners Club! (Attempting to sell here will result in bans)

[evlcookie]

Since these little bad boys seems to support 3TB drives, Does anyone think that will actually guarantee that 4TB and higher will be supported in the near future?

I'm still thinking of picking one up but with the HDD price increases, I only want to pick one up to mess around with. To try different raid solutions on old drives, see how they perform and get a feel for it.

Not supporting 4TB isn't a huge issue. I can't see myself using 9TB of storage (4x3) anytime soon but it would be nice to know!

[nogi]

Not sure if anyone's posted the layout of the N40L board but here is mine:



Pretty much looks the same.

On another note, was going to play around with ESXi and XenServer but neither seem to have a OSX management client

[bsbozzy]

Originally Posted by nogi

On another note, was going to play around with ESXi and XenServer but neither seem to have a OSX management client

http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/openxencenter/

I haven't used it though

[mouth]

Originally Posted by nogi

and a NC360T dual gig nic on the way.

Where did you source that from?

Originally Posted by nogi

This box will be my virtual server running either ESXi or XenServer. <- jury still seems out, fair comments from both sides so far. My management PC is OSX Lion so that may help decide which one to pick in terms of admin client app support.

Same management client (OSX Lion). Both ESXi and XenServer require Windows machines for their management client/application, so I have an XP VM running on the MicroServer that I remote desktop into, and also a local (on OSX) VirtualBox install with the same XP VM, in case.

[nogi]

Originally Posted by mouth

Where did you source that from?

eBay for around $90ish delivered, although I have to convert it to x1 if I want to use it as I've also got a P410-512 on the way too.

Originally Posted by mouth

Same management client (OSX Lion). Both ESXi and XenServer require Windows machines for their management client/application, so I have an XP VM running on the MicroServer that I remote desktop into, and also a local (on OSX) VirtualBox install with the same XP VM, in case.

Well that sucks. I need a VM in order to load the VM management tool so that I can create and manage another VM. LOL

[nogi]

H guys, wouldn’t mind getting some feedback on what I’m thinking of doing. I’ve currently got 3 microservers (2 x N36L and 1 x N40L). N36L #1 is running FreeNas (8Gb ECC RAM, 4 x 3Tb (7K3000) + NC360T + on-board in LAGG mode + RAC card) so not an issue. With the remaining 2 boxes, I’m wanting to build a 2nd NAS to be a backup for the first NAS and a VM server to run around 3 VMs.

What I have to play with:

• 1 x N36L
• 1 x N40L
• 1 x 8Gb ECC RAM Kit
• 1 x 8Gb Non-ECC RAM Kit
• 5 x 2Tb HDDs
• 4 x 3Tb HDDs (7K3000)
• 2 x NC360T
• 1 x P410-512Mb Storage Array card
• 1 x Remote Access Card (RAC)
• 2 x 8Gb USB sticks

What I’m thinking of doing:
Backup NAS

• 1 x N36L
• 1 x 8Gb ECC RAM Kit
• 4 x 3Tb HDDs (7K3000)
• 1 x NC360T
• 1 x Remote Access Card (RAC)
• 1 x 8Gb USB stick running Solaris Express + Nappit (thinking of upgrading the FreeNAS to SE as well)

Virtual Server

• 1 x N40L
• 1 x 8Gb Non-ECC RAM Kit
• 5 x 2Tb HDDs – for virtual machines, a bit of an overkill but these are spare drives collecting dust
• 1 x P410-512Mb Storage Array card
• 1 x NC360T – dremeled to fit in x1 slot (hope this works)
• 1 x 8Gb USB stick running VMWare ESXi – couldn’t get XenServer to install on USB on a trial run

Any thoughts?

[syper]

Anyone know where I can find a cheap passive graphics card that will fit one of these? I want to spend the least amount possible... I've been looking for 5450's, but most of them don't come with a metal bracket that will fit (i.e. just HDMI and DVI ports).

[NoCarrier]

Originally Posted by nan0wbr

Hey man, I'm on the same situation here... LSI Controller + N36L Microserver...
Can you please post your modded BIOS?

Thank you so much!

Here you go (link expires in a month).

Its based on the latest firmware from HP (O41) for N36L
Just enable Int19, CTRL-C at the LSI prompt, wait till POST is complete, and create your RAID volumes. You should be able to select it as default boot volume in the BIOS.

Changes:
- SATA 4/5 IDE Mode disabled by default
- Int19 Capture (Main -> Boot Settings Configuration)
- SouthBridge debug options:

- Power management options
- eSata multiplier FIS option
- Gigabit Ethernet (GEC) options

Disclaimer: This is what I use on my N36L, I take no responsibility whatsoever if you.

[King Colbra]

Originally Posted by syper

Anyone know where I can find a cheap passive graphics card that will fit one of these? I want to spend the least amount possible... I've been looking for 5450's, but most of them don't come with a metal bracket that will fit (i.e. just HDMI and DVI ports).

I picked this up from eyo for ~$35
http://www.eyo.com.au/269355_sapphir...66-07-41r.html

[noober69]

Originally Posted by syper

Anyone know where I can find a cheap passive graphics card that will fit one of these? I want to spend the least amount possible... I've been looking for 5450's, but most of them don't come with a metal bracket that will fit (i.e. just HDMI and DVI ports).

Not as cheap as a 5450, but I bought and use a HIS HD6450, which is $45 @ MSY. I believe it has a low profile bracket, with just hdmi and one othe port, dvi from memory. I think the normal bracket has 3 ports, including vga.

It just fits and is passively cooled. Been using for several months now without issue. 6450 is a bit more powerful, not sure whether that is needed normally.

[kambo_rambo]

Originally Posted by syper

Anyone know where I can find a cheap passive graphics card that will fit one of these? I want to spend the least amount possible... I've been looking for 5450's, but most of them don't come with a metal bracket that will fit (i.e. just HDMI and DVI ports).

Im using the GT210. It has a small fan on it, but fits perfectly.

[TripleJ85]

Originally Posted by nogi

[LIST][*]1 x N36L[*]1 x 8Gb ECC RAM Kit[*]4 x 3Tb HDDs (7K3000)[*]1 x NC360T[*]1 x Remote Access Card (RAC)[*]1 x 8Gb USB stick running Solaris Express + Nappit (thinking of upgrading the FreeNAS to SE as well)

I've never had much luck trying to run Solaris off a flash drive - I ended up running it off a 2.5" SATA drive in the end.

[teksavvy]

Originally Posted by nogi

H guys, wouldn’t mind getting some feedback on what I’m thinking of doing. I’ve currently got 3 microservers (2 x N36L and 1 x N40L). N36L #1 is running FreeNas (8Gb ECC RAM, 4 x 3Tb (7K3000) + NC360T + on-board in LAGG mode + RAC card) so not an issue. With the remaining 2 boxes, I’m wanting to build a 2nd NAS to be a backup for the first NAS and a VM server to run around 3 VMs.

Hi Nogi
Since you have N36 already running FreeNAS, how about setting up second N36 as another FreeNAS for backup and set them up as rsync client and rsync server respectively. You may even consider setting the other one at a different location (friends/family/relative place). If you haven't bought your RAM already, you may even consider drop in 4GB in secondary NAS to save some money (if performance is not the priority there..and its just a backup)
Just a thought...

[Dux]

These seem to have gone up a decent amount since I looked around last.

What's the place to go for a good deal on a MicroServer these days?

[evlcookie]

Looks like these have gone up another $20 at the supplier. I'm guessing it's either due to low stock or the hdd price increases have been added, even though it's only a 250GB drive.