HP MediaSmart Celeron 2.2GHz Home Server $390

Seems like a good deal, but probably could build something a little better for cheaper if you want to roll your own.
 
You wouldn't be able to build one that has those harddrive trays and a small form factor for under $400.
If you were building an ATX one you'd be able to hit that price, but I doubt it'd be much cheaper.
I think HP also come with some software, good or not I don't know.
 
I replaced a home-built WHS box with this exact model, and couldn't be happier. It is smaller, quieter, and uses less power.
 
I had the first model (AMD version) it was good, it was even better when you put in a dual core with 2gb of ram. :p I'm sure these are better now too.

its a good WHS boxes, If I didnt have my big server I would use this again.
 
hl3395 said:
I think HP also come with some software, good or not I don't know.
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DeaconFrost said:
I replaced a home-built WHS box with this exact model, and couldn't be happier. It is smaller, quieter, and uses less power.
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Deacon, could you confirm this but I think the HP software is some of the best that is integrated into a box like this. A bunch of really good management tools and access accessories from HP for people who don't want to mess with add ins.

And this has the 64bit Celeron so you will be good to go when Vail comes out whenever Microsoft is done baking it.
 
I love my EX495 and I loved my EX485 before that.

I had someone taking me to task on another forum, that a home-built 8 bay tower is so much better. I disagree with that 100%. As much as I prefer my own builds for the desktop, HP has absolutely nailed the EX4xx MediaSmart series.

The form factor is outstanding. They are small, quiet, efficient. I love the simple hard drive mechanism. Their software is value-add stuff, not crapware. I've also had cause to use their support team, which was also pretty good. The guy working my case asked what time was convenient for me to receive updates on their progress. He ended up calling me daily at 10PM to give me a brief update. Good stuff.

Edit: These properly support port replication on the E-SATA connector. You can expand this down the road with a Sans Digital 5 bay unit, which is commonly on sale for $160. That might be the only reason you'd want to roll your own, if you knew up front that you needed 8+ bays. But if you're unsure, there is a simple path for expansion that works well.
 
Kenworth said:
Deacon, could you confirm this but I think the HP software is some of the best that is integrated into a box like this. A bunch of really good management tools and access accessories from HP for people who don't want to mess with add ins.
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I'll have to do some checking when I get home to see what this has that a standard, vanilla WHS install doesn't. I can tell you that most add-ins and software makes the assumption you have an HP box, so it is definitely the most common, compatible setup. You are also correct that it comes with a 64 bit proc, in the Celeron 2.2, so Vail is a go for this product as well.

Now that I think of it, off the top of my head, the HP box comes with some media streaming software, along with media conversion software. I personally don't use the media software, as I do everything on my quadcore using Handbrake. I still haven't found a free, compatible AV software package, though.
 
The mediasmart servers also have nice ipod/iphone functionality (streaming photos and videos to your iphone) as well as the ability to manage TIVO recordings.

HP really makes the best WHS around. I just wish I could use one....I need more hard drive bays and a better CPU.
 
jebo_4jc said:
The mediasmart servers also have nice ipod/iphone functionality (streaming photos and videos to your iphone) as well as the ability to manage TIVO recordings.

HP really makes the best WHS around. I just wish I could use one....I need more hard drive bays and a better CPU.
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well for a better cpu you can upgrade to a E8200. I seen a few do it. for HD bays get a external enclosure.
 
jebo_4jc said:
The mediasmart servers also have nice ipod/iphone functionality (streaming photos and videos to your iphone) as well as the ability to manage TIVO recordings.

HP really makes the best WHS around. I just wish I could use one....I need more hard drive bays and a better CPU.
Click to expand...

More hdd bays? This supports up to 17GB already...
 
17GB? Not sure how that correlates to HDD bays, but you should be able to connect these together with multiple boxes I think.
 
Yeah it has 4 drives and you can add an additional eSata box with up to 4 drives.
 
These HP WHS boxes are probably the best WHS machines out there. The software HP includes is very good and truly adds value to the base WHS software. At 390 it is a good value especially with future support for Vail assured.
 
These HP units are pretty much the only game in town for the WHS world; however, HP quality is hit and miss. I had to go through a couple units before I received one that worked reliably, so YMMV. If you are fortunate enough to have a pristine unit, then you are golden! Since then, I have switched to Synology, but I have been contemplating purchasing another HP WHS.
 
You can upgrade to an E5200 and basically have the EX495 without the extra 500GB of extra space though
 
WHS Vail is coming out before long. It supports video streaming with on-the-fly transcoding, so you'll want a CPU better than the Celeron.

I would be very interested to hear any stories about the E5200 or E8200 upgrades
 
hl3395 said:
You wouldn't be able to build one that has those harddrive trays and a small form factor for under $400.
If you were building an ATX one you'd be able to hit that price, but I doubt it'd be much cheaper.
I think HP also come with some software, good or not I don't know.
Click to expand...

For giggles I tried to price what I've spent for my fileserver (which is Ubuntu 10, Rackmount, with 10 hot swap bays). The chassis was $200 for the hot swap cages, $100 for the case, but the hardware itself outside of the drives only totalled to be about $300 (I don't need RAID at this point so I just went with a cheapo XFX board, E7200, and 2 gigs of RAM). I've had it since last year and the only times it's ever rebooted was when I had to upgrade it or the power went off. Plus, this flavor of linux is such that I can easily upgrade the cpu/mb without reinstalling the OS.

I guess if you wanted a regular box with a hot swap cage you could maybe get it below $500 and use Ubuntu - but not much lower than that. So, if you don't want to deal with the weight of a rackmount system and losing screws for hot swap bays then this is a decent deal.

Granted, I love my rackmounted servers, but they're not exactly small, certainly aren't light, and weren't that cheap :)
 
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