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HP Proliant Microserver

S

ShaneBunting

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 10, 2009
161
0
United Kingdom
Hi guys, planning on buying an HP Microserver in the UK like the one for sale here:

http://www.serversdirect.co.uk/Hewl..._N54L_NHP_250GB_EU_Svr_704941-421/version.asp

Anyone with expertise in this area would be of great help over the next two days as I order and all...

- Will I need Windows on a disc.. if so.. will Windows standard editions (non-server) work okay or am I going to need Server to even enable the hardware to function?

- Can the processors in these be upgraded or are they soldered?

- Could two MB Airs be backed up with Time Machine to this kind of server?

- Would an Apple Wireless Keyboard work?

- Could this host a decent Minecraft Server? (yeah.. i know.. lol)

- Anything else you could tell me about owning one of these for the first time in a home environment.

When I get to University, I hope to study a degree in ICT / Server Management, so I think this would be a perfect hobby to get into the basics for now!
 
I have the N40L, but it's pretty much the same as the N54L. I don't have 'expertise' but I can answer a few of your answers here:

Haven't read about people upgrading or considering upgrading the CPU on it.
Seems like you can install at least Windows 7 on it, including the Home Server editions.
If you install a flavour of Linux, here a couple of guides I use under Ubuntu to get it all going. I used this one but here's another.
Doesn't come with bluetooth on the board, so the keyboard won't work OOTB.
Can't say anything about being an MC server.

I use mine for a TM backup, and a general fileserver over SMB. I used to run Plexmediaserver on it, but eventually just turned it off and went to PS3MediaServer (it will happily transcode high bitrate 1080p).
It's a rudimentary znc and http server. Nothing really intense really.
 
I have so many questions for you then!!

Can I have one HDD with Windows, then another with Linux.. and assign each of the 3rd and 4th as a backup drive for the MacBook Airs?

I'll ask one at a time, if this is ok with you?
 
I'll try to answer your questions, but most of my understanding is secondhand because I used to follow a big Microserver users thread.

I'm not a tinkerer of hardware. I tried to use the Microserver to get my hands a little dirty but I couldn't get into it much, so again, I'm pretty much making educated guesses here and what google tells me.

I've not messed with multiple OS', especially not Windows and Linux. Although I'm sure you can easily switch the boot order from BIOS, and they'll have to be on separate drives. I personally run Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on a 'high performance' 16GB USB2 thumb drive which is plugged into one of the on-board USB ports. I basically threw out the 250GB hard drive (waste of a drive bay) and have 2x3TB and 2x2TB without any RAID or disk aggregation on them.

How are you backing up your Macs? If you're using Time Machine, then why have them on separate drives? Just make sure there's enough space for the both of them to have decent backup history on the one drive.
 
Basically, I'm sick of having only 128GB on my MBA, and having to plug in an external to backup.. But then, maybe NAS would be better?

Would NAS and a massive ass TV be a better solution to this problem?

This server seems too good to be true lol
 
Maybe you can get a router (if necessary) that has a USB port so you can plug your hard drive into that.
 
ShaneBunting said:
Hi guys, planning on buying an HP Microserver in the UK like the one for sale here:

http://www.serversdirect.co.uk/Hewl..._N54L_NHP_250GB_EU_Svr_704941-421/version.asp

Anyone with expertise in this area would be of great help over the next two days as I order and all...

- Will I need Windows on a disc.. if so.. will Windows standard editions (non-server) work okay or am I going to need Server to even enable the hardware to function?

- Can the processors in these be upgraded or are they soldered?

- Could two MB Airs be backed up with Time Machine to this kind of server?

- Would an Apple Wireless Keyboard work?

- Could this host a decent Minecraft Server? (yeah.. i know.. lol)

- Anything else you could tell me about owning one of these for the first time in a home environment.

When I get to University, I hope to study a degree in ICT / Server Management, so I think this would be a perfect hobby to get into the basics for now!
Click to expand...

I've got a N40 with FreeNAS running Plex (Media Server & Connect) and ownCloud. Not sure on some questions, but the ones that I know...

- Processor and motherboard are one!
- I've got 2 MBAs and an iMac backing up to mine using TimeMachine
- Pretty sure it don't have built-in Bluetooth, so can't see a Apple Keyboard working. You can get a cheap USB keyboard for less than £10 no no big problem
- For the money (especially with the cash back) these are great machines. Low power, very quiet (even with 4 disk installed) and pretty solid build quality
- I've learned loads since buying mine, getting to grips with FreeBSD, ZFS, etc. so can see it being a great workbench for developing your IT/Networking skills

eBuyer also have them on cash back, although not sure which is cheaper after VAT, but go get one NOW!
 
ShaneBunting said:
£100 for the HP, or £250 for the Time Machine :S that's the problem
Click to expand...

Really? Wow, that's quite the deal. It starts at USD $389 on the HP site, a good bit more than the TC with a lot less storage.

Keep in mind though that the £100 config only has 250GB of storage - if you'll be using it for backups you'll likely want more than that. And on the serversdirect page, just adding an extra 256GB more than doubles the price. It's £115 - for a total of £215 for only 500GB. If my primary concern is backing up a couple Macs I'll pay the bit extra for 2TB. Plus the excellent 802.11ac access point functionality.

Edit - oh, I forgot about the MC server, never mind, sorry!
 
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If you do get it, you might think about installing a modified bios to allow hard drive hotswapping.

Not sure if you will need to install more ram for running windows and a minecraft server. Mine is running linux, and just being used as a web/file/torrent/timemachine/cloud server, I have as my stats: 3.75 GB total, 797.29 MB used. It might use more when it is doing video transcoding for web streaming my movies, but I haven't noticed.
 
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