HP ProLiant MicroServer / NAS 4 Bay £212.07 @ Dabs (+ £100 HP Cash Back / Quidco)

[ManofScience]

until u have a server, you don't realise how u can develop it.

i put a windows server 2008 R2 in at home about 4 months ago to hold the family photos/videos/music for streaming to the media centre, Pc's and laptops. now, it streams music to my Squeezebox. I've implemented a backup on it too. more recently, i've added the print server role to it so even the imac in my daughter bedroom can access the printer. Currently looking into having it as the main broadband gateway to help manage security/internet filtering

it does sound nerdy/overkill but if you're serious about home networking, there's so many way to expand and improve how it all works

 

[oneman]

Currently looking into having it as the main broadband gateway to help manage security/internet filtering

That's what I am using my w2k8 server for. Had a play with ISA server but having problems as apparently you need a static IP for your internet connection. Currently using RRAS which is built into W2K8 and that is fine.

 

[ManofScience]

just downloaded the 'Vail Preview' which looks quite nice so dunno whether to continue developing the w2k8 or wait for the full release of the new windows Home Server Premium - even if people are up in arms about the removal of drive Extender!

 

[gsmtech]

i've got 4 gig RAM on the way for the server on the crucial 15 quid offer...will probbaly pick up 2 x 2TB drives this week sometime..and have a play with FreeNAS.
Got my Invoice from IT247 as well so will be sending off the cashback claim...

 

[deedie]

you can email the claim to them also. saves it getting "lost" in the post.

just scan the claim form and send them a copy of your invoice

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

good cus i sent the wrogn thing off, i sent a copy of email invoice. hey ho, you never know

if your messing with freenas, these have an internal USB slot, so you can install freenas to it and keep it in the machine out of harms way, as freenas takes only about 50 meg ( i think even less) you can have it on a usb drive and then tell it to power down all the hdds !!! plus you can really mess around with OS`s as well.


have only just managed to stick windows server 2008 on it but had to stop playing as building a zoneminder system for someone...............................

 

[ManofScience]

careful with the freenas raid settings - i managed to lock a couple of 500GB sata drives when setting up a test freenas box then wiping it - but the hard disk settings were writting to the drives/PC BIOS and it was a mare to sort out.

 

[Mick]

Just wanted to say thanks for this, what a fantastic deal!

I can't believe what you get for just over a 100 quid!!!

they have also extended the cashback until jan 31st!

If anyone was thinking about setting up a nas or a win server this is ideal, you could setup a really good linux firewall with this as well!!!

Regards
Mick

 

[IAmATeaf]

I've been resisting this over the Xmas break but finally gave in and placed an order with IT274 yesterday. Have been thinking of upgrading my Lacie 1tb NAS for ages and was thinking of getting a Synology 4 bay jobbie but with this only costing just over a ton I'd be mad not to go with this.

On the suggestion front, what OS/media serving software do people recommend, I'm after media serving to the PS3 and would really like to be able to stream MKVs to the PS3, this really is a big bug-bear of mine that the PS3 doesn't natively support MKVs.

 

[Shaggy]

Guess what's arrived at my door today...roud:
I am looking at putting Windows server on to it.
Going to use it to store all of the kids films and family photos and also for backup.
What would be the best way to get it to stream the films to the PS3?
Have heard that 'Twonky' is pretty good?
Any other suggestions are more than welcome.
Also I see there is a Slot for a Optical drive. Could I put a DVD burner in there and use it to burn stuff?

 

[The Dentist]

Guess what's arrived at my door today...roud:
I am looking at putting Windows server on to it.
Going to use it to store all of the kids films and family photos and also for backup.
What would be the best way to get it to stream the films to the PS3?
Have heard that 'Twonky' is pretty good?
Any other suggestions are more than welcome.
Also I see there is a Slot for a Optical drive. Could I put a DVD burner in there and use it to burn stuff?

What actually comes with this?
You get a box, processor already in there, 1 gig ram? do you get a hdd already in there and what size?
same as above really i've been putting it off but more i think about it more im tempted.

 

[Shaggy]

Bought mine from Misco.
Full Specs are HERE

Basics are as Follows:
HP ProLiant MicroServer - Server - ultra micro tower - 1-way - 1 x Athlon II Neo N36L / 1.3 GHz - RAM 1 GB - HDD 1 x 160 GB - Gigabit Ethernet

 

[MikeS]

the problem with NAS is that they are limited to what they are intended to do

gigabit lans well yeh in theory looks good but you will never utilize that amount of throughput due to hard drive controllers being able to read / write data - for example sata 2 150mbps or 270mbps raid 0

 

[oneman]

the problem with NAS is that they are limited to what they are intended to do

gigabit lans well yeh in theory looks good but you will never utilize that amount of throughput due to hard drive controllers being able to read / write data - for example sata 2 150mbps or 270mbps raid 0

You realise that hard drives are measured in MB and that networks are measured in mb ?

SATA = 150MB/s or 1.5gb/s
SATA2 = 300MB/s or 3gb/s

Due to protocol overheads and some other jigger pockery, expect around 500 to 600mb/s with gb lan, so around 50 to 60MB a sec.

BTW, I believe the HP server comes with 2 gb LAN with hardware encoding (less CPU overhead in networking) so would be good as a gateway/router.

 

[The Dentist]

You realise that hard drives are measured in MB and that networks are measured in mb ?

SATA = 150MB/s or 1.5gb/s
SATA2 = 300MB/s or 3gb/s

Due to protocol overheads and some other jigger pockery, expect around 500 to 600mb/s with gb lan, so around 50 to 60MB a sec.

BTW, I believe the HP server comes with 2 gb LAN with hardware encoding (less CPU overhead in networking) so would be good as a gateway/router.

Ah so many possibilities. Think I will have to place an order. None in stock currently tho.

 

[Joe1989]

Anyone comment on how loud this is? For example is it quite enough not to be noticed over a PS3?

Thinking of getting this as a Network media center for PS3/XBOX

Also do you need to add a grapics card in order for it to stream HD video to PS3/Xbox?

 

[Joe1989]

Also does anyone know where to get a "half length" Video card for HD media?

 

[oneman]

Anyone comment on how loud this is? For example is it quite enough not to be noticed over a PS3?

Thinking of getting this as a Network media center for PS3/XBOX

Also do you need to add a grapics card in order for it to stream HD video to PS3/Xbox?

I think its rates at 40w so I imagine its going to be pretty silent.

If you want to stream from it then no you don't need a video card, however if your app is transcoding then you might find it lacks power to do that as its a AMD Neo chip. Anybody tried it ?

As for a suitable video card, by the looks a ATI 4350HD (fanless) half height card should fit for playback. The only problem might be there is no HD sound support so you will be stuck with stereo for audio.

 

[oneman]

Ah so many possibilities. Think I will have to place an order. None in stock currently tho.

Seeing as the offer is extended to Jan 31st, I may order one to play around with but I have plenty of machines already as you may have noticed, lol

I have a couple of friends interested so will let them know.

 

[Joe1989]

Thanks oneman, No just going to load it as a file server and use Windows Media Player to stream the files (I dont think that does transcoding anyway?)

Might get one i'll need to think about it, Loads more stuff needing to buy as well but i know this deal wont live for ever lol.