Intel Entry Storage System SS4200-E NAS Server $150

Two Questions
1) Is there are certain reason you can't use 1.5 or 2 TB drives?
2) I know on similar NAS setups (can't remember the model but it was a fujitsu) you can load windows home server via flashdrive, is there any reason this wouldn't work on this setup?
 
According to Intel, you can flash WHS on it, but you need a LOT more than a flash drive:

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/ss4200ehw/howto.htm
http://download.intel.com/support/m...200ehw/sb/ss4200ehw_whs_integration_guide.pdf

It also came branded as "Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo Home Server" with WHS already on it.

Apparently that version also has UPNP media server and USB Print Server functionality, might be worth a litte extra $ over the Intel version:

http://www.legendmicro.com/store/75...anded--Scaleo-Home-Server-SS4200E.lmsp?RID=23
 
If you look around online there are guides to make self installing WHS packages on thumb drives that work with this thing.

That way you do not need all the extras like the PCIe risers and such to get video.
 
I'm running a 1.5 gig Samsung in mine. It's also running WHS. I think the original EMC SW can't handle larger drives but this isn't a limitation of the HW.
 
In for one - got some egg gift cards and have been waiting for a useful shell shocker deal.
 
Is anybody concerned that Intel discontinued these? I'd like to buy one but don't want to be left in the dust. But it's good to see how customizable they are. Guess all I really need is hardware support from the warranty.

Edit: Also, I see some folks running 1.5TB drives, but what about 2TB drives in raid5?
 
mryerse said:
Is anybody concerned that Intel discontinued these? I'd like to buy one but don't want to be left in the dust. But it's good to see how customizable they are. Guess all I really need is hardware support from the warranty.

Edit: Also, I see some folks running 1.5TB drives, but what about 2TB drives in raid5?
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Not really anything to be concerned about, they will still support them. Intel has some of the best support in the industry.
 
fireburster said:
back to 199 now. i should have bought one.
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Regular price on eBay is $170 or less, BIN with free shipping, and 8% Cashback means $156. You didn't miss out on much- in fact, with NewEgg's NJ tax, I would've been better off with eBay even during the sale.
 
Here's what I did:

1) Install Ubuntu to a RAID-5 array on a desktop and get everything setup the way I want it.
2) Put the drives in this system
3) Nothing else, all done.

This was the best $149 I ever spent back when I got it last october-ish. The built in software is goofy and flaky, but it performs awesomely as a home server with linux.
 
I have one running 4x2tb drives in raid 5 without a single problem on stock settings. Everything works really well and transfer speeds are great.
 
3 won't work. The drives need to be new or the boot sector zero'd. The Western Digital lifeguard free utilities work nicely.
 
Also, look out for better deals. I bought two from amazon.com for $135.00 each mid-January. Prices should stay pretty low as these have been discontinued.
 
I assume the unit is so cheap since it doesn't have software or any drive included with it. Any issues with only having 1 lan port? I already have 3 TB of drives I would like to use in a WHS, but dont have a box or the software. Most of the cheaper NAS boxes are too limited in drive capacity as I want to have 4 drives minimum.
 
I love mine. Run WHS, ugraded to a "pentium" dual core, 2gb of ram.

MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL *ALL* OF THE PROPER DRIVERS

Many of these drivers are very hard to locate, and just as hard to install (they often have to be forced) but the result was my WHS ss4200-e uses like 14 watts at idle (with 4 1.5 tb drives running!) and is quite fast. I can upload my own custom driver pack that took me hours to put together if someone reminds me later.
 
The movies I watch have a bitrate of about 40mbps. If there were two such streams, could this array keep up?
 
mavalpha said:
Never tried with only three disks, by any chance?
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I'm running a 3 disk raid-5 and a single standalone disk for backup (replication, so it's kind of a RAID 51) with no issues, but I'm running ubuntu on mine, which was brain-dead simple to install. Just install the OS on the drive from another machine, then put the drive or array in the box, and treat it like a normal server - login w/ ssh and do whatever you like to it.

The built in software only supports a single logical container. So you can put 3 drives only, but you'll never be able to add a 4th without wiping all data, from what I understand.

I found the built in software to be stupidly limiting, so I only used it for about 5 minutes out of morbid curiosity.
 
MChief said:
I'm running a 3 disk raid-5 and a single standalone disk for backup (replication, so it's kind of a RAID 51) with no issues, but I'm running ubuntu on mine, which was brain-dead simple to install. Just install the OS on the drive from another machine, then put the drive or array in the box, and treat it like a normal server - login w/ ssh and do whatever you like to it.

The built in software only supports a single logical container. So you can put 3 drives only, but you'll never be able to add a 4th without wiping all data, from what I understand.

I found the built in software to be stupidly limiting, so I only used it for about 5 minutes out of morbid curiosity.
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How hard is it to remote into from a Windows machine?
 
Bah you guys are gonna make me buy one. I need to replace the behemoth I am using with something like this.
 
Deadjasper said:
How hard is it to remote into from a Windows machine?
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Very easy. open Remote Desktop, put in server name (or) IP address and connect. Login using Administrator and whatever password you set when configuring it.
 
MatreX said:
Very easy. open Remote Desktop, put in server name (or) IP address and connect. Login using Administrator and whatever password you set when configuring it.
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Is that for WHS after reinstalling, or the default installation as well?
 
fyi: The PSU's in these things are VERY sensitive. I went through 3 of them in 2 months, thankfully under warranty. RMA'd the first unit completely though, which was $20 out of my pocket in shipping. The second one after I did my homework, I had them ship me a new PSU directly.
 
SunnyD said:
fyi: The PSU's in these things are VERY sensitive. I went through 3 of them in 2 months, thankfully under warranty. RMA'd the first unit completely though, which was $20 out of my pocket in shipping. The second one after I did my homework, I had them ship me a new PSU directly.
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I know some people have had PSU failures but I have 3 of these, 2 intel branded and one Fujitsu-Siemens branded. All 3 have been running 24/7 for about 3 months now without a glitch. So I guess it's YMMV as far as the PSU is concerned. I hope so anyway. Time will tell.
 
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