HP ProLiant MicroServer owners' thread

Yeah not surprising given the email I got back from Transparent.

Sound like they sourced some super cheap N40Ls from non-Uk stock.

But in a unusual and very brilliant way (for consumers) would doctor the invoicve so it appeared you paid full price therefore fulling HP into thinking it was UK stock.

But the enquiry to Outbound obviously got them to check the Transparent site and discover the cheap price.

I was going to order 1 if not 2 but have sadly run out of funds. Bought too many 4tb hard drives this month
 
Some people should something just shut up .. but either way ... if you buy Transparent ones and don't get the cashback - you are down about £25 per device (Transparent and no cashback vs. "licensed supplier" and cashback).

But yea - cheers for pointing Outbound to the site :mad:
 
Yeah I was hesitant with posting this here myself but figured if they've already said they're not eligible i wasnt doing any harm and It would just be handy to fill others in that weren't in the loop.

Sorry if your 4 don't pay out
 
To be fair - they are so cheap there is just a £25 difference .. so I guess you could see this as a fee for getting your cash back early without paying upfront.

I have noticed another issue with this company though. I'll post / update you guys in time, I just want to give them a chance to response before I make this public :)
 
Sorry, but the cheap price has nothing to do with it.

Misco and Insight are both approximately £200 before cashback. Servers Plus had them for £195 before cashback the other day.

It's about where the servers are sourced from. It's clearly very easy for Outbound and HP to know if it's UK sourced stock before paying out on the cashback (which have affected people's orders from Amazon and Lambdatek).

If you can't get the cashback from one supplied from Transparent it goes from a good deal to a bad one. Surely it's best to know that upfront.
 
It does though - as a consumer it does matter.

Whether I pay 250 and get 100 cashback or pay only 150 to begin with ... as a consumer I still pay the same price ...
 
But not if you pay £200 from Misco or Insight, get a £100 cash back, so they only then cost you £100...
 
I'm hoping all this UK pricing starts making it over here to the states. I need another one.
 
Yeah but I checked with Transparent who had sold these same MicroServers at this cheap price but doctored the invoice so Outbound didn't realise the stock source and paid out cash back

I honestly don't think hp or outbound know they're arse from their elbow when it comes to stock source

Can't praise outbound enough by the way

Everyone reckons they can tell by serial number but every time they refused its been on price. Too cheap. Cheaper than its supplied to UK resellers. Never seen this is a non-Uk serial number

Transparents claim about previous pay outs due to doctored invoices support this
 
Let's just hope these bottom dollar prices means a faster model soon. I'd kill for a USB3 version with about 30% more CPU grunt.
 
Hey guys, I need some help please.

I have found so many threads and tutorials but non of them are really current and some are not clear.

I have the older N36L Server and here is what I need to do:

1) Add a 5th 3.5" 3tb drive into the optical drive bay
2) I currently have a 2.5" 250gig laptop drive that I would like to use as the OS drive for WHS 2011. I read people connecting it using the ESATA --> SATA cable from the back of the unit?

-Can you guys please link me to the exact cage that I need to get for this? I am in the U.S.
-Also, the exact cables that I will need, with the correct length (I'm assuming some of you have done this, I don't want the cable to be too long to cause cable management issues).
-Is it a good idea to use that drive connected to the ESATA as the OS drive for WHS 2011?
-Is there a current cage that allows a 3.5" and a 2.5" to fit? Or do you just find a space on the inside of the case and leave it just free inside the case somewhere?


Thanks so much in advance guys.
 
Okay,
So after much more reading it seems like I will be able to get fit (2) 3.5" drives in the optical drive bay with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-DoubleTwin-Drive-Vibration-Absorber/dp/B001AZHS04
correct? It will be a perfect fit? Nothing will be protruding anywhere right (I want to keep the nice form factor of this little box)?

SO, which power cables do I now need and which SATA cables should I order? I will jsut got with the (2) 3.5" drives in there for a total of 6 drives.

Thanks again in advance.
 
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I was going to type a how-to on the wiki because I did this last month.

First update bios
Then install OS
Then use the nexus double twin with these cables

Link
Link

The double twin will fit, you have to express the microserver sides outward to get it to drop in from the top.
I had already done some rewiring of the 4bay drives. The first two bays were pushed to the side (I cut the white zip ties). The second two bay cables went under the proliant's canal on the right (when looking at it from the front). I also installed an external USB 2.5" drive under the double twin, behind the blue light. This connects to internal USB.
 
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Do you not screw the drives to the double twin

Then the 5.25 screws from the front door and then slide it in from the front like a normal 5.25 optical drive?
 
AbRASiON said:
Let's just hope these bottom dollar prices means a faster model soon. I'd kill for a USB3 version with about 30% more CPU grunt.
Click to expand...

Don't know what the prices are elsewhere but in the UK the price of a ML110 G7 has on occasions been nearly the same as the Microserver (after cashback) - example £129.99 here - http://www.ebuyer.com/320819-hp-proliant-ml110-g7-g840-tower-server-470065-612

CPU better, not USB3 (why not?!) but more potential to grow. I guess more electricity costs. Choices choices :)
 
haileris said:
Don't know what the prices are elsewhere but in the UK the price of a ML110 G7 has on occasions been nearly the same as the Microserver (after cashback) - example £129.99 here - http://www.ebuyer.com/320819-hp-proliant-ml110-g7-g840-tower-server-470065-612

CPU better, not USB3 (why not?!) but more potential to grow. I guess more electricity costs. Choices choices :)
Click to expand...

Also get a better software raid...
Same raidstack as the hardware cards... it just runs on the chipset... its actually quite quick.
USB3 does not have Serverside pickup yet...Direct access is not the norm.
 
Patriot said:
Also get a better software raid...
Same raidstack as the hardware cards... it just runs on the chipset... its actually quite quick.
USB3 does not have Serverside pickup yet...Direct access is not the norm.
Click to expand...

Interesting to know on the RAID card front - trying to resist buying one at the moment, not that I need it of course. The only real advantage to me in buying a Microserver with the cost between the two so narrow is that the wife won't spot it and so won't know that I have bought a new PC :)
 
haileris said:
Interesting to know on the RAID card front - trying to resist buying one at the moment, not that I need it of course. The only real advantage to me in buying a Microserver with the cost between the two so narrow is that the wife won't spot it and so won't know that I have bought a new PC :)
Click to expand...

Gen8 blurs the lines some more...
they have cache you can add for the "software raid"
and 2 levels, 1 on chipset 2nd on LSI HBA .... the 2nd level supports SAS.

but G7 servers get the b110i , sata only but still quite nice.
It is definitely not consumer software raid.

(disclaimer: I have interned on both the linux and windows teams responsible for the drivers for those controllers)
 
Patriot said:
but G7 servers get the b110i , sata only but still quite nice.
It is definitely not consumer software raid.
Click to expand...

It's just Intel's PCH running HP firmware :confused:

Pretty 'consumer' if you ask me, although absolutely fine for software RAID / ZFS.

And at least HP's BIO/UEFI has a clear option to disable/enable drive write caches which works as it should.
 
msitpro said:
It's just Intel's PCH running HP firmware :confused:

Pretty 'consumer' if you ask me, although absolutely fine for software RAID / ZFS.

And at least HP's BIO/UEFI has a clear option to disable/enable drive write caches which works as it should.
Click to expand...

Just the first line shows it isn't lol.
Enterprise tested raid stack is the firmware...

It uses the standard RIS that HP's hardware raid cards use. So resetting the bios will not erase settings on the drives and you can break a mirror and rebuild it on another system.
This also means you can migrate the drives to an HP hardware raid controller if you want to upgrade.

While it does not have its own dedicated processing unit & cache for handling raid...
There is quite a bit more to it than a consumer-side software raid.
 
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Does anyone have Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB x 2 (for 16GB total) in an N36L with the latest official HP BIOS? (Or any 2 8GB DIMM's working in an N36L or is it just N40L with unofficial 16GB support?)
 
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I have a N36L and it looks like the power supply failed. Unfortunately, the warranty expired. Does anyone know the part number?
 
HP part number 630295-001
Spare part number 620827-001
Delta electronics DPS-150TB A rev 00

.
 
Stanza33 said:
HP part number 630295-001
Spare part number 620827-001
Delta electronics DPS-150TB A rev 00

.
Click to expand...
HP's Maint/Service Guide (c02473845) lists two PSUs: the (above) DPS-150TB A and DPS-200PB-177A. Specs (size etc.) on each are same, except the latter is rated @200w steady state power (vs 150w).

In an older spec sheet for the N36L (only the 1.3GHz CPU was listed), the DPS-200PB-177A is the only PSU listed. I "suspect" the two PSUs are interchangeable, with 200w vs 150w max being the difference.
 
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Thanks for the info guys.

If I look for part number "620827-001" the cheapest I can find it for is $140. Part number "630295-001" is $240. Searching by using the power supply model numbers does not return anyone selling it.

This is the second NAS that has died on me in the past two years. I am beginning to think I should just build one with off-the-shelf parts instead so that I can replace anything that goes bad more easily.
 
coolrunner84 said:
Thanks for the info guys.

If I look for part number "620827-001" the cheapest I can find it for is $140. Part number "630295-001" is $240. Searching by using the power supply model numbers does not return anyone selling it.

This is the second NAS that has died on me in the past two years. I am beginning to think I should just build one with off-the-shelf parts instead so that I can replace anything that goes bad more easily.
Click to expand...

You should be able to replace it with a psu of similar dimensions. Its not completely proprietary as far as I can see.

Something like this I think. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Athena-Powe...X-ATX-ATX12V-80-PLUS-/320968993930#vi-content
 
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I am in need of a small Vmware server and i was wondering if Microserver is a good candidate.
It is really cheap and with some additional components performance can be good.
I just want to run some testing environments not for production use.
 
svizi said:
I am in need of a small Vmware server and i was wondering if Microserver is a good candidate.
It is really cheap and with some additional components performance can be good.
I just want to run some testing environments not for production use.
Click to expand...

There have been plenty here that use them...
I wouldn't but I tend to be a performance nut.

on Sale for $280 right now...
http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-59-107-052-_-09282012_1

but I would suggest a ml110 over it ... you can grab those for $450...
 
In Europe price of ML-110 xith Xeon E3-1220 is 370 euro and MIcorserver N40L is 160 euro.
The double cost justifies the performance difference?
 
svizi said:
In Europe price of ML-110 xith Xeon E3-1220 is 370 euro and MIcorserver N40L is 160 euro.
The double cost justifies the performance difference?
Click to expand...

It depends how much extras you are adding...
It was noted in this thread that the ML 110 will go on sale occasionally for the same price as the microserver...
 
Patriot said:
It depends how much extras you are adding...
It was noted in this thread that the ML 110 will go on sale occasionally for the same price as the microserver...
Click to expand...


ML 110 G7 is On sale now for $299 at Newegg with code "HPSER927". Just got one and 16GB of ram for $404.
 
svizi said:
In Europe price of ML-110 xith Xeon E3-1220 is 370 euro and MIcorserver N40L is 160 euro.
The double cost justifies the performance difference?
Click to expand...

Depends on what kind of stuff you're going to run on the box. I use my N36 as a fileserver ESXi 5 with a virtual Ubuntu Server and get 100+ MB/s over SMB which is fine for me.

But I wouldn't virtualize a MS 2008 Server they need some more grunt :)
 
Hi All,

I finally took the plunge on a N40L last week, and now sitting here thinking "What do I do with it"...
I want it to store files ( 50% movies, 30% pictures, 20% docs) and i'm stuck at how to set it up.

I've got 2 x 2TB new Samsung F4s (Built in china, so thinking of returning them as 1 year warranty = pants) , and 2 x 1TB used WD EADS drives currently, and looking at either FreeNas for a simple solution, or Ubuntu Server with ZFS for a more flexible solution, or pay for WHS 2011.

Really, it's only going to be used as a NAS, but i want this as a reasonably reliable backup machine ( Will backup the really important stuff to external hard drive as well).

What are people's thoughts ?

Ta
 
OpenIndiana + nappit or if you don't want to go with Solaris, FreeNAS. I would avoid Ubuntu server since I'm not sure ZFS is mature as it is on Solaris where it originates from...

WHS is probably not a bad idea as well, but it costs. I'm running 5 OI+nappit servers and they work like a charm, most of them with uptimes over 300days and no errors...

Matej
 
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