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

[digizone]

I'd say a sea container, or perhaps a few of these were delivered a while back to wholesalers. That stock has almost run dry so prices have shot up.

Until another sea container hits australian shores the price on these things will not go down again. Hopefully the next sea container to arrive will be an updated model, although that could be quite some time.

[heisdeadjim]

Originally Posted by aza2001

Still costs way way too much... $230ish is as high as I would go

Yeah... but then I decided I could wait forever until the price was "right" so I bit the bullet.

Heck of a lot of reading here. *Gulps*. Let's start with the basics - mainly because this will be my first server. What OS? I have Technet so I can get WHS 2011. Or Linux something?

[Tozmo]

I started a table on the Wikia that is an attempt to continue the OC Google doc of everyone's configurations. Wikia has a crappy built-in table ability, and the page doesn't really "work" because all the right side crap can't be removed from a free page.

Please add your own configs to the table, and update the new Expansion Card page so that we know what does and doesn't work for port multiplying and the like.

http://n40l.wikia.com/wiki/Owner_Spreadsheet

Thanks!

[mitsimonsta]

Originally Posted by digizone

I'd say a sea container, or perhaps a few of these were delivered a while back to wholesalers. That stock has almost run dry so prices have shot up.

HP was sitting on way too many of these, mainly as they were overpriced. They then dropped the prices and got a buzz about the product. Disties bought and passed on the rebates to retailers. The last big shipment really forced the prices down as supply was plentiful, the issue was getting all the units to retailers, or dropshipping them at the Disties end.

Originally Posted by digizone

Until another sea container hits australian shores the price on these things will not go down again. Hopefully the next sea container to arrive will be an updated model, although that could be quite some time.

There is no whispers of an updated model yet, I have my ear to the ground on this. If there is a new model, it won't be released until the new Windows Server is released, and you can expect it to be based on the AMD Trinity platform.

I am not so certain the HP will continue them. While they have built up a massive following, the 'scare' they had with stock levels before they started discounting means that a good product was overpriced. I do hope they go for a second generation (MicroServer G2?) and leverage the community and demand for such a flexible product (Server, NAS, ESXi Host, HTPC).

The WebOS tablet clearance is a good example of strange decisions that HP make.

[chip]

Originally Posted by mitsimonsta

I am not so certain the HP will continue them. While they have built up a massive following, the 'scare' they had with stock levels before they started discounting means that a good product was overpriced.

It's almost like HP want to fail. They could sell truckloads of these at the $200-250 price point, but I suppose the fear of them cannibalising their low end pedestal servers prevents them from doing so.

[mitsimonsta]

Originally Posted by chip

It's almost like HP want to fail. They could sell truckloads of these at the $200-250 price point, but I suppose the fear of them cannibalising their low end pedestal servers prevents them from doing so.

Completely agree. But then again, look at the rebates being offered in the UK on ML110's compared to the nothing we have here. They are a much more capable box in terms of virtualisation and storage, but there is no need for many businesses to run anything more that one MicroServer with SBS or Foundation Server (if running GoogleApps/Office365).

Home users love the MicroServer for the low power draw. It's very much a hobbyist machine, the CPU is underpowered today but at release was pretty good. It has spawned a new category and if they were smart they could actually expand the MicroServer range into a number of smart pricepoints and make MORE money.

Would you like to see a 'Storage' MicroServer with 8x HDD bays and a p410i RAID card included?

A 'HTPC' MicroServer with 1x 2.5" bay and one 3.5" bay only, BluRay Optical drive, and a GT210 included with 2GB of RAM?

An 'ESXi' MicroServer with 4 RAM slots, a better/faster CPU (ie N40L CPU instead of the N36L), and a couple of in-built NICs??

[aza2001]

Qustion for all out there... has anyone got a P400 (not a P410) in there system yet?

Reason being is I am sick of highpoint controllers and do want to upgrade...

[wmmartin]

Is there anyone in Perth looking to buy (another) N40L? I'm considering it and was wondering if someone would like to go halves on shipping? PM me.

[MarkDon]

back then there are rumors the new HP CEO wanna drop the low end PC market & aim more on Enterprise/Services market(like IBM), that's why the strange price drop on the WebOS tablet & other low end stuff! (that's what I heard, it might not be right)

but heard it somewhere that HP decided that they won't drop the PC market, so...chances are we probably won't see any further price drop, unless it's a clearance or competition!

[pcd]

I have just installed 2 * KVR1333D3N9/8G modules and now have one of my N40L's running ESXi w/16Gb, will be off next w/e to get 2 more sets.
pcd

NB Old memory being sold off (See in the For Sale section.)

[gbh]

Has anyone found a sensible permanent way of mounting SSD's in those drive sleds yet?

[Kevlarman]

Originally Posted by aza2001

Qustion for all out there... has anyone got a P400 (not a P410) in there system yet?

Reason being is I am sick of highpoint controllers and do want to upgrade...

No, but I could try. Only problem is that I need an adapter cable to connect the controller and the existing bays.

[jimbobba]

I've got one of the HP N36L models with P410/512MB BBWC and it works great. I'm actually looking at selling it, so if you want to know more let me know.

Anthony

[Hyram]

Originally Posted by gbh

Has anyone found a sensible permanent way of mounting SSD's in those drive sleds yet?

Sure, several.

The King of the Hill is the IcyDock MB982SPR-2S which is a case with exactly the same physical characteristics of a 3.5" HDD, right down to the positioning of the SATA connectors. This $100 beauty takes twin 2.5" mechs and offers them up as self-contained RAID0 or RAID1. Not sure who carries these locally, but they're not hard to find and import, and they've popped up in this epic thread more than once.

There is a not insignificant amount of complaints about this IcyDock on the web, though, ranging from the device mysteriously taking itself offline only to reappear a second later, through to totally trashing the mechs housed therein. Do your research.



The Apple Mac Pro is another machine that's got fixed-mount (so-called hot swap) SATA 7+15's for the four side-mounted 3.5" bays, and they have their own slimline, passive 2.5"-to-3.5" adaptor frames that ensure the 2.5" mech lines up perfectly and is also kept cool. Apple part number 922-9629 is about $50 a pop.



Taiwanese outfit CRU do something similar with their precariously-named 5220-0000-02 2.5” to 3.5” Adapter Bracket which looks like some cheap sheet steel bent into the right shape in a jig and had some holes added for the mounts. No local sellers, but these too are almost $50 a pop if you order in yourself.



As you've no doubt discovered through experimentation, a 2.5" mech of any kind just can't fasten to the Microserver's caddy frame, and if you try and use one of those $15 OCZ trays we see all over the place, the SATA connectors won't line up, which defeats the purpose. We have buckets of space, let's do some modding! Take your average shitty OCZ frame, even out the side bar height with standard 3.5" mount spacings, and the coup-de-grassy, a simple passive circuit-board with the correct SATA-spec positioning that your 2.5" mech plugs into, keeping the mech closer to the center of the frame for better ventilation and vibration isolation. A solution so mind-bogglingly simple it took Mac peripherals company Newer Technology to come up with the AdaptaDrive. No local sellers, but hey, A$20 on Amazon is a steal.

[gbh]

awesome, many thanks.