HP ProLiant MicroServer owners' thread

Found some affordable ram for the Microserver (even works in N36L) which actually works - 16GB / 2x8GB UDIMMS

You can get it in the UK here.

KVR1333d3N9-8G

And yes, it does work just fine and is cheap and cheerful

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I was thinking of upgrading from 8 to 16, but in all honesty I've wondered what possible benefit I would get from it? I'd assume I'd be pretty much processor bottlenecked unless I ran some app that just needed gobs of ram and not much CPU.

I have two of these machines, one running Win7 and acting as a HTPC and the other running Server 08 R2 which I use for my work VMs.

I not questioning anyone, I'm asking, where/why would I see the benefit with such a lowly CPU?
 
does it boot up cleanly every time with 16gb?

Funnily I had no issues with the N36L - installed Centos, Windows 2008R2 and then ESXi to test and it never lost the Ram. I just installed the 16GB in one of my N40L and it only saw 16GB once and since reboots with 8GB.

I did however find out (based on multiple reports) that the issue is the current bios of the N40L (2011.07.29) - which all mine are running.

Based on the report the bios version 2011.04.02 does not have the problem, which I will revert to tonight. Although it seems the N36L has also the latest bios so not sure why the 40L is so bonkers - we'll see, I put the dims in when I was about to leave the house so might not be seated properly :)


I was thinking of upgrading from 8 to 16, but in all honesty I've wondered what possible benefit I would get from it? I'd assume I'd be pretty much processor bottlenecked unless I ran some app that just needed gobs of ram and not much CPU.

I have two of these machines, one running Win7 and acting as a HTPC and the other running Server 08 R2 which I use for my work VMs.

I not questioning anyone, I'm asking, where/why would I see the benefit with such a lowly CPU?

Depends what you are doing with it. All my Microserver are in an ESXi lab and there I don't care about CPU - One box with 8GB Ram is running three VMs, Windows 2008R2, Linux and one Windows 8 VM - memory is at 100% as expected. CPU is at 10%.

If you expect to convert Blu-Ray movies or render a massive CAD project, then yes, forget about the Microserver :)
 
Getting an N40L, can anyone recommend a cheap 2x4GB kit? Not sure what I need to look for in terms of RAM.

Saw this, but don't know if I really need ECC?

Would something like this work?
 
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It never hurts to go with ECC and the price difference is not that big. I'm using som

I bought this: KVR1333D3N9K2/8G

Matej
 
You are fine with non-ECC up to 8GB but you need ECC if you want to run 16GB. Non-EC causes it to be unstable and sees only half the ram half the time.
 
Need details of how to mount 2x3.5 drives in ODD space. I purchased a Nexus Doubletwin but since the cage does not slide out, how do I mount the bracket. I can't figure out how to screw the mount into the sides of the cage..

Thanks!
 
I was under the impression that the 16Gb RAM issues were related to motherboard revisions rather than BIOS versions.

Not sure I'm allowed to do this but here's a link to the most relevant post by Professor_K on AVForums with further links to OCAU

It'd be really handy if every microserver thread could be combined into one. Searching 8 or so daily is so taxing :)

http://www.avforums.com/forums/17939340-post988.html

Quote:
Originally Posted by EMM386
Over on OCAU one of the guys who had an N36L and 2 x N40Ls tried 16Gb of RAM. It consistently worked fine on the N36L and 1 of the N40Ls but not on the other. It "looks" like newer N40Ls may have lost the ability to use 16Gb.

Quote:
Originally Posted by professor_k
There was talk of creating a list of serial number / motherboard revisions which work and which don't
Indeed, my fear too is that "newer" N40L's have lost the ability to use 16GB (based on my experience of course ) although I thought any change would be bios related but from the examples I've seen, most seem to be ok with latest stock bios 07/29/2011 (US date format), so indeed could be motherboard related.


Quote:
Originally Posted by NEM
The ram is CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 x2.
It appears to be important to run the correct bios version and i read in another place that there is a bios setting for ecc (iirc) that needs to be either set to enabled or auto.

If i remember at work tomorrow i can post the sources for my findings

Quote:
Originally Posted by professor_k
With respect to bios settings, I think this had been discussed on the homeservershow forum, it was believed that altering the parity checking parameter changed the ability to recognise 16GB RAM however, that parameter is not in the stock bios. Discussion http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3640-ram-has-anyone-tried-using-a-2x8-kit-with-the-n40l/page__st__40

The RAM that was recommended on the last page of that thread (Patriot) I have in my Microserver but I have not had 16GB success of my own with this.

Over on Overclockers Australia (OCAU), they came up with a list with respect to compatibility Compatibility list http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=958208
 
Thinking of using this box for VMware and running freenas and WHS. Anyone do anything like that?
 
I've finally bought my N40L and the 4 off WD30EFRX (Western Digital Red 3TB ) hard drives, will be putting it together tonight with OI/Napp-it.

However, i'm having no end of trouble trying to get 8GB ECC UDIMM's for it - has anyone in the UK found a reliable source? I'm awaiting a delivery of KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G from Novatech, originally told 2 days, now at 2 weeks :/

Wanting the 16GB as i'll be running 2 virtual machines on it, 1 for Development, and 1 for an internal standalone webserver, so a light load. Will be supporting a laptop, xbox, ps3, and family PC for streaming movies/archiving raw image captures.
 
Does 16GB reliably show up on the n40l? Last I saw it was hit and miss.

I have a similar setup, except with 8gb total, and 5 WD reds and 1 2.5" laptop drive for the OS (openindiana). Works well.
 
Does 16GB reliably show up on the n40l? Last I saw it was hit and miss.

I have a similar setup, except with 8gb total, and 5 WD reds and 1 2.5" laptop drive for the OS (openindiana). Works well.

I think the 16GB issue is if you are not using ECC UDIMMS, but not sure. With that many TB running on a ZFS, i thought the more memory the merrier so to speak.

W
 
Is anyone running Plex (both the client and the server) on the N40L? Is it powerful enough to run both?

I am hoping it wouldn't be doing any transcoding as all playback would be local using GPU acceleration for playback? Such as an AMD 6450?
 
I picked up my N40L several weeks ago at NewEgg's Shell-Shocker sale. Just getting it set up now to replace my beloved, aging MediaSmart 490EX.

Current hardware config:
HP ProLiant N40L Microserver (of course), upgraded to 8GB of RAM
HP ProLiant Microserver Remote Access Card
HP P410 Smart Array RAID controller card with 256MB cache
(3) Samsung EcoGreen HD204UI 2TB drives, (1) WD Red 2TB drive in a single 6TB RAID-5 array (note: the three Samsungs were from my Mediasmart, as I can't get more due to Seagate relabeling crappy drives of their own as this model, I'll slowly swap over to WD Reds as needed)
HL DVD-ROM drive on the onboard SATA port
(1) external Hitachi 2TB 7200rpm eSATA drive for backup (also from the MediaSmart, to eventually be replaced by a 3TB when needed)
APC Backup ES 750VA (protecting my cable modem, router, 8-port gig switch, external drive, and the server, connected via USB)

As I have a TechNet Pro subscription, I'm putting Server 2012 Essentials on it; I was torn between WHS 2011 and this, but with Windows Home Server support fading and me wanting some additional learning anyway, this seems to make the most sense. I'm working on that install today during some time off. Still determining whether I'll use a domain setup, as I've seen an article or two that indicates you can connect client workstations with connector software and still back them up without making domain members. I need that, and the media center setup for sure, and beyond that everything is still experimental.

I'll be setting up Dynamic DNS to allow access to the HP RAC card. Hoping to make WS2012E as low-maintenance as possible, my only disappointment is not being able to run RSAT on Windows 7 (I loathe Windows 8), but I can live without it due to the RAC and RDP.

I'm going to have to do more reading on this thread, but excited to join y'all.
 
Thanks very much for the response!
I guess HP doesn't sell the right card for the Microserver and thus the impossibility of getting an answer from them.
-Thanks again for taking the time, I'll look into that card and be sure to post back if/how it works out.
HP does sell a card that may work just fine for you, the HP Smart Array P212. One internal, one external connector (uses mini-SAS), and supports full RAID. Big advantage --you can reconnect the internal mini-SAS connector of the drive housing to the P212 and instantly have hardware RAID. Had I known a little more, I might have gotten the P212 instead of my P410 (which has two internal mini-SAS connectors and no external).

They also have SAS expander cards that might work. Your answers you are getting from HP are probably what they are because HP never expected people to use the ProLiant Microserver in the manner you would like to (or for that manner, that many of us would like to). I don't think they counted on enthusiasts or IT Pros actually trying to build a small box like this with a mild-to-medium enterprise role, or tinkering to the level that some of us do.
 
Hey,

Does anyone know if the onboard HP 107i NIC has Jumbo Frames support? It isn't an option in the latest Server 2008x64/Server 2012 driver from HP; I'm kind of surprised.

Right now, I'm working on ways to reduce CPU utilization; it seems that network I/O or disk utilization on the mainboard SATA channels relies on the CPU a bit more than I'd like. I've made sure to find native drivers (which in some cases has been a pain). I'm using the AMD 785E SATA driver from their website rather than the Microsoft AHCI one. I know the CPU isn't a racehorse and it doesn't have a ton of cache, but if anyone has suggestions, I'd be interested.

Abrasion, I agree I'd like to see a version of this server with an N54L CPU (2.2GHz instead of 1.5GHz) which ought to be a simple change for HP. I'd also like to see a newer firmware update for the Remote Access Card; it's OS isn't as stable as I'd like. I'd consider using a different (i.e., Intel) NIC, but with my RAID controller and the RAC, I'm out of slots, and those are more important.
 
Hey,

Does anyone know if the onboard HP 107i NIC has Jumbo Frames support? It isn't an option in the latest Server 2008x64/Server 2012 driver from HP; I'm kind of surprised.

Right now, I'm working on ways to reduce CPU utilization; it seems that network I/O or disk utilization on the mainboard SATA channels relies on the CPU a bit more than I'd like. I've made sure to find native drivers (which in some cases has been a pain). I'm using the AMD 785E SATA driver from their website rather than the Microsoft AHCI one. I know the CPU isn't a racehorse and it doesn't have a ton of cache, but if anyone has suggestions, I'd be interested.

Abrasion, I agree I'd like to see a version of this server with an N54L CPU (2.2GHz instead of 1.5GHz) which ought to be a simple change for HP. I'd also like to see a newer firmware update for the Remote Access Card; it's OS isn't as stable as I'd like. I'd consider using a different (i.e., Intel) NIC, but with my RAID controller and the RAC, I'm out of slots, and those are more important.

Unless there's a new firmware out there the HP 107i doesn't support Jumo Frames. I tried getting Jumbo Frames working in ESXi but no go.

Adding an Intel NIC reduced CPU Usage quite significantly and enabled for Jumbo Frames. And that's with the cheap Intel GT Desktop adapter, I can imagine that a server card will yield ever better results.
 
Thinking of using this box for VMware and running freenas and WHS. Anyone do anything like that?

Loads doing that, but no H/W virtualisation on the AMD Turion chips, so bear in mind you'll be limited to single core per VM. This is a NAS with grunt, not a cheap server.
 
Loads doing that, but no H/W virtualisation on the AMD Turion chips, so bear in mind you'll be limited to single core per VM. This is a NAS with grunt, not a cheap server.

The Turion chips support AMD-V. And assigning 2 CPU/Cores to a VM works fine.
I have a bunch of virtual Linux servers on mine and they work great. But a MS 2008 R2 Server installation wasn't a very nice experience...
 
I stand corrected! Although I've only tried Windows 8 (with OracleBox) and Ubuntu (with VMPlayer) both on top of Windows 7 Ultimate, so I'm no expert but neither gave me the option of assigning 2 cores (or so I thought!)

Maybe ESXi is more flexible?
 

Doesn't look cheap...

HP Canada have both models included on their current price list (http://www.hp.com/canada/utilities/pricing_lookup/data/list_price.xls). The 704941-421 250GB line is listed at $491 CAD with the 708245-425 Diskless edition listed at $444 CAD.

Supposedly sucks more power too (25W) from another commentor.
 
Doesn't look cheap...

HP Canada have both models included on their current price list (http://www.hp.com/canada/utilities/pricing_lookup/data/list_price.xls). The 704941-421 250GB line is listed at $491 CAD with the 708245-425 Diskless edition listed at $444 CAD.

Supposedly sucks more power too (25W) from another commentor.

And with the same power supply...

I think it might be a sit and wait till they hit the market. I'm thinking I'm happy with the lower powered N40L and what appears from PassMark to have little difference in performance. Although I am taking into account the current cash-back that might be lost with the new model.
 
And with the same power supply...

I think it might be a sit and wait till they hit the market. I'm thinking I'm happy with the lower powered N40L and what appears from PassMark to have little difference in performance. Although I am taking into account the current cash-back that might be lost with the new model.

imo, not the next gen just a speedbump of current one.

I have a feeling there will still be a New one.
 
Just picked up one the N40L's with the 2GB ram upgrade from Newegg on their hot deals. Going to order 8GB of RAM instead and try to decide if I want to run WHS2011, FreeNAS or OI/NappIT. Also have to figure out what drives to use, do I want an SSD for the OS, and how I plan on jamming all of this in there lol
 
It's easy to get 5 3.5" drives in there plus a 2.5 ssd or laptop drive for an OS.
 
Yeah Im thinking SSD for the OS and the rest in either JBOD or RAID 5.

Maybe JBOD with something like this unless the N40L can support JBOD alone, but I haven't seen anything that points to that. Still possibly contemplating a RAID card and I've seen a lot of people talking about the HP Smart Array P212 but I know the bare card needs the RAM/battery upgrade to support RAID5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816117157
 
If you go with FreeNAS or OI/nappit, JBOD is the preffered way since those osses need raw access to the disks. Microserver by itself support JBOD mode.
 
I've read a good bit of this thread but i'm still not sure, sorry if this has already been answered. Will the N40L hardware max out gigabit with raidz2 for samba transfers (solaris,bsd,linux, doesn't matter)? 110MB/s+ sustained read+writes? That's all i'm looking for before purchasing it and 5 2TB drives.
 
N54L announcement a big disapointment, no S3 support, no official 16gb still, no USB3. Talk about milk it and the price looks to be initially at least $399 US - madness.


In other news, does anyone know the best 2.5" to 3.5" adapter / bay which you can put an SSD in and it'll line up perfectly in the port at the back?
Ideally the cheapest!
EDIT: I've had an IcyDock and an AdaptaDrive recommended - both of which seem to introduce un-necessary circuitry to the equation.
 
Last edited:
Hi everybody,

Is it possible to do link aggregation (LAGG LACP) using the network card on the motherboard and an Intel NIC PCIe x1 (Intel Pro/1000 CT) ?

I know there are dual-port version (Intel Pro/1000 PT Dual Port) but I want to keep the PCIe x16 for the moment.
 
I may be wrong, but I don't think you can if you're using Windows, as LAG is a driver feature rather than in higher layers. In Linux, doing LAG over NICs from different manufacturers is no problem at all. For other operating systems, I have no idea.
 
I may be wrong, but I don't think you can if you're using Windows, as LAG is a driver feature rather than in higher layers.

You confirm what I thought for Windows.

In Linux, doing LAG over NICs from different manufacturers is no problem at all.

This is exactly what I wanted to know ! So I hope it will work.

Nobody tried ?
 
You confirm what I thought for Windows.



This is exactly what I wanted to know ! So I hope it will work.

Nobody tried ?

You can get something that is similar in windows if its connected to a switch that supports it. You can Bridge the nics together in windows then configure the ports on the switch as LAG ports and the result should be amount the same.
 
Hi. I'm having difficulty with an N40L with OI/Napp-it/Servio with 16GB of ECC ram/4x WD30EFRX drives with CPU utilization - Anybody able to help me diagnose the issue?
 
I would like to report that I put 2 x Transcend 8GB 1333Mhz into the N40L with modified bios and it recognizes 16GB only 6 out of 10 reboots. Good thing I hardly reboot this system but annoys me that I always check to see 16GB gets recognized else I reboot it again till it gets it right. 16GBs is awesome for VMs though.
 
Newegg has a promo deal for the Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter--$6 shipped. Promo code is EMCJHHB55. [link] (limit 5 @promo price--expires next year 1/1/13).

Inexpensive way to get basic audio on the MicroServer. Reviews are great. Note: output is stereo (2ch) but input is mono (1ch).

--UhClem
 
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