Storage The HP Micro Server Thread

when you make the raid array build the array first then transfer the data from the old HDDs. easiest over network of HDD dock. (eSata is the fastest dock connection)

 

Its in 1 of the 4 bays. If and when i convert over to ubuntu the blu-ray drive is coming out which free's up the internal SATA port. Which will then allow me to install ubuntu to my 60Gb SSD and run 4x2Tb drives in software RAID 5.

(Don't start with 'software RAID' hate, its just so much easier to rebuild in any machine, not dependate on the physical sata controller, and speed simply isn't a factor in this case since my friends microsever with software RAID saturates his Gbit lan)

 

@Burnout21: don't forget about the modded BIOS for HP Microserver, which allows you to set AHCI mode for the ODD SATA port.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/netw...6l-microserver-updated-ahci-bios-support.html

The difference between IDE and AHCI mode was measurable (IDE mode limited my Corsair Force F120, once i switched to AHCI mode it goes full speed).

 

Okeydokey, my server has just been delivered and it looks like a lot of awesome.

So, what do I do now???!!!

I guess I need to put an OS on it. It'll be used for streaming and serving so until I get round to buying Windows Home Server please could someone recommend a free OS and a brief guide how to install it to the server? Sorry for the noobishness - I'm great with Windows PC's but this is totally alien to me...

 

I converted my microserver to a HTPC and Burnout was correct that it blows my old atom based HTPC out the water. I have fitted a low profile HD5540 1GB that I had spare at work, installed the 250Gb HDD into the optical bay as the OS drive with 4x2TB drives in a RAID 5 style array using flexRAID.

Snapshot RAID is fine for my needs as my files don't change very often and I don't need stellar read/write performance for what I'm doing either. This all runs on Windows 7 btw.

 

Do you have your Windows install media ? Then install it, but don't activate it. With rearming you got 90-120 days of trial version ?

 

I do but I'm toying with putting Ubuntu or Debian or some other Linux thing on it until I get round to buying a proper new Windows license. Would prefer to continue along this path...

Thanks for the thought anyways

 

+ 1 for microserver awesome-ness.

Bought mine to replace ageing laptop I was running as a home server (Ubuntu 11.04, Sab/Sickbeard/ushare(DLNA)). My plan was originally to rebuild with the same setup, on the new version of Ubuntu desktop 11.10..

After spending half a day hacking all the desktop GUI / optimisation stuff off the install, I'm switching to server version. Any recommendations for other Linux distros (headless)? (i'm running out of Ubuntu love..) Anyone run sab/sickbeard on different platforms?

For those considering just having the micro server as NAS box, might want to consider unRAID. Heard allot of positive feedback for it + has some neat plugins

 

Debian 6 (Squeeze I think) installing as I type. This includes Gnome, the GUI. Once up and running my first job will be to install the things (packages) I need like print server, DLNA server, etc... then I'll see if I can stream to my Linn DS and WDTV Live.

What a great box for £150! If only HDDs were at last years prices

*EDIT* If I can learn how to get on with Debian I'll not be bothering with Windows Home Server. Through just a couple of hours Linux forum gazing I'm feeling the kind of geekery I've missed since MSDOS and building my first Pentium 100.

 

Ok, help needed please!

I'm using GNome as the GUI on Debian on the HP, and I've downloaded miniDLNA.
Now I don't know what to do to install it!!!

The instructions say "MAKE" but I can't see a file called "MAKE" in the download. I guess I need a command prompt or something but I have no idea

Help greatly appreciated - all these years of GUI OS's have fuddled my clever brain!

 

You need the kernel (I dont know loads about ubuntu so will leave a lot to the others) but using the MAKE command in kernel should do it

 

make is a command for building programs using Makefiles. You have a file named Makefile, just run the make and then make install commands in that directory.

 

OK, largely given up with trying Debian on the server. I managed to get it running but have been unable to successfully install a media server. Also can't access files on my USB backup drive, wrong FAT by the looks of it...

I know I should persevere and that Linux is groovy but I probably should have tackled this in my late teens

Will be ordering another copy of Windows 7 shortly...

 

Can't you get a HP bundled Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation for cheap ? I got it for 1 euro extra .

 

OK, after all my tribulations I found a distro of OpenMediaVault, installed it to USB and configured the N40L from that. Dropped in an unformatted/FAT'd drive and used OMV to configure/mount it.

Then installed the miniDLNA OVM plugin (32 bit version worked, 64bit did not), set share permissions and I'm happy as Larry. Just copying my tunes across and will test it for a few weeks before buying some 2TB drives.

Will also need to suss out how to use this as a file/print server. May be tricky since my OMV distro is pretty specific in it's use, but I'll have a bugger about and feedback...

 

I installed Windows Home Server 2011, it is around £40.00 nowadays.

 

Finally got mine fully running win7 64 bit.
specs:
4x2TB in raid
1x1TB OS + nonessential
GT520 1GB from EVGA (the model with 10 year warranty)
8GB RAM (Vengeance LP)

Loads of great tips here:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=958208

I think they have info on just about every thing. Would be nice to have a copy here on Bit.
Keep in mind that for 250 you can build a faster system around an E-350 motherboard.

 

Except it won't be that small and it won't have removable hard drive trays like Microserver has.

 

I have a few questions before I pull the trigger on a Microserver to use as a backup machine to my current server (custom box with two R5 data arrays and one R1 OS array):

Is anyone here running a third party storage controller in their Microserver, allowing the storage and drive capacity to be increased? If so, how many drives have you got in it and which controller are you using?

Did I see someone here with a 1x optical bay to 4x2.5" bay adapter in their microserver a while back? Who was this and how did they have it connected- was that part of an array or an array in itself?

Has anyone tried ESXi on it yet? Is it capable of handling a few VMs with a RAM upgrade? I'd be running a couple of Linux VMs and a Windows server/Windows XP VM on it.

I'm asking these questions because I need to use the Microserver to backup a lot of data from my main server. It's got well over 4TB of data on it at the moment and it's ever filling up. I'd like to be able to use the microserver as a stand-in whilst I rebuild the main server in a couple of months time. I'll be adding a more powerful CPU and more RAM so it can encode videos faster, and also changing the storage configuration a little.

I had one of the older 1.3GHz models of these before, but I barely had it out of the box and running two days before I realised I was going to have to spend a lot more on it to get it doing what I wanted and needed, so I sold it on to a customer and beefed up my main box instead. I need one now to stand in for my main box though, and with the slightly improved spec on the newer model, the cashback offer being extended til the end of Janurary and my backup situation approaching critical, it's as good a time as any to buy one. The only thnig that puts me off is having to fill it with hard drives at current prices.

 

I guess you checked the 28 page thread here :
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1555868

AFAIK any low profile card with one mSAS (SFF-8087) connector should work. But it must use less than 25W (the power limit of the PCI-E x16 slot in Microserver).