Microserver or Nas box?

[Scottio200]

I'm looking to get a HP ProLiant Gen 8 Microserver, the G1610T version.

What I'm looking to do with it are as follows :

Install either VM Ware ESXi or Hyper-V on this and run a couple of virtual machines (3 or 4 max)

Install a HDMI compatable PCI graphics card and use one of the virtual and a XMBC client for my TV (the box will be in my living room in my TV cabinet, next to my internet connection and router)
Use this as a NAS box to serve as a media server, and a time machine backup for my iMac and Macbook pro
Have a spare OS for testing different applications and servers for work (MDM servers, File Access servers, personal clouds)

I am all ready aware I will need to install more ram into this machine, and will be looking to upgrade this to 16gb as soon as I get the thing.

Currently all my media is on 2 2tb external drives connected to my iMac which is then shared to my apple tv. Now I don't want my iMac on all the time as it is now, as I want to bee able to shut it down when needed and have it available to use in bootcamp whenever. Currently if i do this then the media server side stops.


Would i be better off with this sort of setup, or just get a nas box, transfer the media and get a XBMC/Kodi box to replace the apple tv?



Many Thanks

Scottio

[prezzy]

Only had my HP microserver for a week or so and love it, it does well for my needs - have windows server 2012 r2 basically running as a file server / running pc backups / sabnzb / couchpotato / nzbdrone - I have stuck 16GB RAM in it which isn't cheap at £75 notes per 8GB stick

Also added a PCI-E SATA3 card so I can use 4 drives in the HDD bays and an SSD in the ODD bay for OS - only one PCI-E slot so can't install a better RAID card like the P222 which I probs would have done if more slots available - the built in HP B120i controller is not the best

Don't have mine running in RAID using the hp controller but AHCI and drivepool installed for duplication / backups

It will let you use EXSi and Hyper-V but I haven't tried either

You can also upgrade the CPU on the microserver which I may do at some point, again not cheap

Great bit of kit for the money depending on your needs - may be better gettting a pc case with capacity for a load of drives / low powered mobo / gpu etc and using that for a homemade option?


Have to say the microserver works great for me on my network aound 5tb of movies and tv streamed well to 5 pc's/laptops plus tablets and phone access - for £149 it is quality just needs a bit of upgrading to get it working really well

[prezzy]

Oh to answer your question I would go with a microserver over a dedicated pre-built nas box - loads more options

[rgb1]

I faced the same needs and in the end I opted for a qnap nas that did all that off the shelf.
If you like tinkering then go with the HP microserver.

[evilsatan]

I went for a ReadyNAS ultra 4 as my first device and got a Microserver after. Microserver is much better due to the options and I like to tinker, cheaper too.

[Scottio200]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.

I think I'm going to go with the Microserver, but not put the graphics card in, and get a raid card for it instead. Then get an Amazon Fire TV as a XBCM/Kodi host to connect to the server.

The only problem I will appear to have is that currently my 2 2tb hard drives are formatted for mac in MacOS Extended, getting the data from those onto a windows box could be a pain right?

Thanks

Scottio

[Undertaker]

why not seperate the the NAS aspect from your virtual?
I would build a low powered NAS running something like unraid and get a cheap xbmc box like Zotac ID81 , think unraid will do all your backups etc via plugins

[Scottio200]

I am ever so slightly leaning towards a nas box now to be honest, quite like the look of the Q-Nap TS451 however its £380 without and disks and 1gb ram. The micro server will be £140 diskless and 2 gb ram

What are peoples opinions? Nas or Microserver?

Thanks

Scottio

[Rick Sanchez]

Server without a shadow of a doubt. In a years time you might need it and then you'll have to fork out again.

I run UnRAID

[Mystical_2K]

used to have a ReadyNAS NV+ which was my first NAS and it was a great bit of kit, i now have 3x HP microservers with each running Windows Server 2012 and each has 4x 2TB drives running in a storage pool (raid 5), these are much better than the ReadyNAS in my opinion however im still looking for something better.
However im running out of space fast and i have been looking at some of the Synology NAS boxes, they do some 12 Bay ones that can handle 6TB drives and can be expanded with an expansion box which i think adds another 8 drives, problem is its about £1100 for the main box and £800 for the addon box, then add the 6TB drives at £200+ each and it gets expensive really quickly, im saving up!

[akimba]

for £149 it is quality just needs a bit of upgrading to get it working really well

£149 for the box + Drives + cards + ram = ££££

I have a microserver N54L setup similar to prezzy, the other thing I changed was I put a PCI Network card in as the onboard one says its a "something something gigabit" but actually will only go up to a 100mb so put in a dedicated network card to give the extra bandwidth for streaming films etc.

[OurPuma]

Go for the microserver, Gen 8 one. It gives you more options.

[Rick Sanchez]

Or build your own like I did:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/ind...?topic=32818.0

Any questions let me know. Docker was a pain in the ass to get working! DeJaVu helped me loads to get it working. I'll be updating to 6.0 when it has been released and tested by the hardcore fans

[rgb1]

I am ever so slightly leaning towards a nas box now to be honest, quite like the look of the Q-Nap TS451 however its £380 without and disks and 1gb ram. The micro server will be £140 diskless and 2 gb ram

What are peoples opinions? Nas or Microserver?

Thanks

Scottio

If you go that route you may as well get the Qnap TS-453 quad core for the extra thirty quid over the dual core TS-451
Then at a later date upgrade the ram upto 16gb if you so wish.

[OurPuma]

HP Microserver is now even cheaper on Ebuyer - it's £139.99 after cashback...until 30th January.

[Over Carl]

A NAS drive can always be used as a NAS but can never be used as a proper server (a few high end NAS drives have functionality getting you some of the way).

A server can be very easily set up to be only a NAS drive, but can also be reconfigured to be a full blown server.

If the costs are similar that makes it a no brainer to go for server to me.

HP Microservers are very popular as they are small, cheap and don't take much power. If you can put the server in another room/garage etc, and don't mind paying more for your electric, 2nd hand servers can be found very cheap on eBay as they tend to become worthless when the warranties expire and newer kit is available.

[Teajunkie]

If you are happy with an nas box I still recommend going for the hp microserver.
i started with a wd mybook live and moved onto a dedicated freenas box (sort of micro pc) then after all the hassle moved to the hp.

wish I had just gone straight to the hp so much better, faster and expandable.
i have installed xpenology on mine so it has the same functionality as the synology high end boxes but with better performance and more options. not to mention it's used as a web & VPN server and mediaserver for plex.

I didn't get on with server 2012 but I soon found xpenology so bloody easy I have never looked back.

[Geko]

I had a QNAP. Didn't compare to my microserver.

[blacksheep]

Unraid is really good but you have to pay if you want to use over a certain number of disks.

[Scottio200]

Just wanted to update everyone on this,

I went for the Microserver, got the G2020t version with 2x 1TB HDD's, 4GB Ram (1x4gb) and the ODD. Came to £350+vat - should be here tomorrow!

Will be looking to add to the ram first I thing, but was wondering if I can add an 8gb stick to the 4 thats in, or does it need matched pairs?

Will also be looking at getting some WD Reds for this and in the future putting a xeon cpu in it.

Im still not sure how to tackle the hard drive situation. With my current drives formatted in Mac OS Extended, what will be the best way to get the data off these drives and onto the storage in the Gen8?

Thanks

Scottio