Reply to: Server Recommendations

[stek]

I'm sure there are people more qualified to answer this than me but for starters; it's designed to be left on all the time, it's quiet, it has on board RAID and remote management software. I'm sure there's plenty more.

Isn't the general consensus software RAID is preferable on boxes like these? In the enterprise the RAID is generally done on the SAN, but even so RAID1 or 5 on a single controller isn't that great....

Does it have a LOM/FSP? Proper busy-box on a wee card controlling the power?

I had an HP Microserver, hated it, even my son wouldn't have it, don't even know where it is now. Bought a quarter rack if IBM bit sight unseen for £200, there was an X3550 in there with 128gb, doesn't draw a huge amount, about 150w last time i had the meter on it, not as frugal as these PC's-with-knobs-on, but a good compromise for me.

In that rack there was a couple more IBM X-series more powerful but less specced, and DS3400 and EXP3400, TS3100 and an IBM (Brocade) 16 port Fibre switch all ports licenced, sweet...

There was even 16 LTO3 tapes in the TS3100 with the former owners data on.

[Lockhouse]

Dumb question but that just looks like a regular PC to me. How is it a "server"?

I'm sure there are people more qualified to answer this than me but for starters; it's designed to be left on all the time, it's quiet, it has on board RAID and remote management software. I'm sure there's plenty more.

[d000hg]

Dumb question but that just looks like a regular PC to me. How is it a "server"?

[Lockhouse]

The biggest problem with cloud is that you need fibre, the ADSL broadband pathetic excuse of an upload is a deal breaker.

You can get T150 from ServerPlus - This is the one with cashback. I have used them before and satisfied with the service.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm just chatting with Lenovo as the TS150 is new to the UK and some of the internal adaptor kits and memory for the spec I'd like seem to be difficult to get. I may be able to get away with generic ones though.

[sal]

Not really thanks. I'm not comfortable with that to be honest plus I'm not sure it'll do what I want. Big learning curve for me as well.

I'm probably going to go for the TS150 which is the Lenovo TS140 replacement but I'm not sure if it's officially been released in the UK. The upgrade parts I'd need don't seem to be available here yet.

Still researching.

The biggest problem with cloud is that you need fibre, the ADSL broadband pathetic excuse of an upload is a deal breaker.

You can get T150 from ServerPlus - This is the one with cashback. I have used them before and satisfied with the service.

[Lockhouse]

Have you considered going cloud?

Not really thanks. I'm not comfortable with that to be honest plus I'm not sure it'll do what I want. Big learning curve for me as well.

I'm probably going to go for the TS150 which is the Lenovo TS140 replacement but I'm not sure if it's officially been released in the UK. The upgrade parts I'd need don't seem to be available here yet.

Still researching.

[newmove]

Have you considered going cloud?

[Lockhouse]

Have you had a look at the ThinkServer TS140? I managed to get one with 150 Cashback, so in the end was just over 200 notes for Xeon core (much faster than my old HP 54L Proliant.)

qh

I had seen the TS140. I wanted a small footprint server originally but I'm now wavering towards the TS140 as I accept the Gen8 has CPU limitations even though there are lots of hacks out there. Research continuing.

[quackhandle]

Have you had a look at the ThinkServer TS140? I managed to get one with 150 Cashback, so in the end was just over 200 notes for Xeon core (much faster than my old HP 54L Proliant.)

qh

[Lockhouse]

Does it have to be a server? I know I am talking linux but my home server - dev-box-before-I-went-macbook-pro - Plex server, backups, fileserver etc is just a home-build i5 with 32GB RAM and decent quality disks in the RAID. Stuck the OS on SSDs and the data on SATA drives. Would have thought things in the Windows world worked the same way or am I missing something out in terms of server spec?

Unfortunately yes it does have to be a server, but I have thought about it. The 3rd party software I work on is SQL Server\Windows Server based and I'd like to replicate that environment as closely as possible. Plus that's where all my own expertise lies also - learning new stuff makes my brain hurt.

[Lockhouse]

The Gen.8 Microserver especially is exceptionally good value for money for £110 + £10 for SD card + FreeNAS that even a non-techie can install you get high end NAS that would cost you north of £600 from the likes of QNAP/Synology. Throw in some more memory and replacement CPU and if you want a HW RAID controller and you can get an Enterprise grade NAS at consumer grade prices.

I think what I'll do is buy the Gen 8 for peanuts, kit it out with an SSD and four 3TB Red drives then when the new box comes out, assuming it does, lose the box and swap all the drives to the new one. Might not even need to do any reformatting. If a CPU comes my way then consider doing the upgrade.

[sal]

Does it have to be a server? I know I am talking linux but my home server - dev-box-before-I-went-macbook-pro - Plex server, backups, fileserver etc is just a home-build i5 with 32GB RAM and decent quality disks in the RAID. Stuck the OS on SSDs and the data on SATA drives. Would have thought things in the Windows world worked the same way or am I missing something out in terms of server spec?

The thing with HP Microserver / ML10, or Dell T20 etc. is that after cashback they are cheaper (£110-130) than anything you could assemble on your own and you still have server level warranty like advance shipment of replacement parts etc. Granted this is the price with a Celeron/Pentium CPU and 4-8GB RAM, but you can't really get MB+CPU+RAM+Case+PSU for that amount of money if you go for home-build

The Gen.8 Microserver especially is exceptionally good value for money for £110 + £10 for SD card + FreeNAS that even a non-techie can install you get high end NAS that would cost you north of £600 from the likes of QNAP/Synology. Throw in some more memory and replacement CPU and if you want a HW RAID controller and you can get an Enterprise grade NAS at consumer grade prices.

[administrator]

Does it have to be a server? I know I am talking linux but my home server - dev-box-before-I-went-macbook-pro - Plex server, backups, fileserver etc is just a home-build i5 with 32GB RAM and decent quality disks in the RAID. Stuck the OS on SSDs and the data on SATA drives. Would have thought things in the Windows world worked the same way or am I missing something out in terms of server spec?

[Lockhouse]

Thanks for the responses. That bears out exactly where I am. I was aware of the Gen8 CPU upgrade and also that it's getting on a bit and hard to find. I was also hanging on for a Gen9 type Microserver but as you say, with the state of HPE it's not looking that likely and there are no rumours or leaks on the web that I could find.

[redgiant]

The basic HP Microserver Gen8 comes with Celeron G1610T which is on the low end and not really suitable for CPU intensive tasks. Not sure what you SQL server is doing, if it's just an idle instance to play with - should be fine. I swapped the CPU on mine with Xeon E3-1265L v2 (v2 bit is important) which is 4-5 times faster, yet only 10W more heat so you can keep the passive cooling heatsink (PITA to fit active cooling in the cramped case). Unfortunately they are hard to come by as they are Ivy bridge based circa 2012 and only available 2nd hand. I'm really hoping for a refresh with more modern CPU

The best part of the Microserver is that it's dirt cheap, yet still have iLO and dual NIC, unlike it's bigger brother ML10, that is missing iLO and only have since NIC, but you can get ML10 gen9 with Pentium G4400 (Skylake) CPU for £150 after cashback and if you later find the CPU inadequate upgrade it with much faster CPU as the case is big enough for active cooling.

I have a old (5yrs) HP Microserver 40L that acts as my NAS and print server but it's way too slow for streaming, VMs etc. I'm hoping that there is a gen9 version of the Microserver but with all the cuts in HPE over the past few years I am very doubtful anything will come. HP ML10 or Dell T30 are the only alternatives that come close but you do loose dual NICs and iLO as Sal mentions.