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In early September, I began planning and building my first home lab system. Â My system is largely based on the specs of the Baby Dragon from Phil Jaenke (@RootWyrm)Â and taking advice from Chris Wahl’s (@ChrisWahl)Â builds. Â I decided to add my own twist to the project by modding a PowerMac G4 case to accommodate the SuperMicro motherboard. Â For the project, I purchased:
Modifying the case proved to be really fun and easy. Â I had not attempted anything like this, but it was a good opportunity to break out the dremel and enjoy a cool afternoon on my back porch working on the case. Â All of the case mods were done within just a few hours. Â I ended up having to run and pickup new stand-offs from Radio Shack, but otherwise, I had everything I needed at home.
One of the nice surprises I found was being able to reuse the power assembly from the PowerMac G4 to power the new motherboard. Â A post from tonymacx86 forums gave me great tips on how to solder the necessary pins so that the power button would work without the programmable chipset on the board. Â And its been a long time since I’ve soldered anything – but it proved very easy to do.
So, after its all said and done, the things that bug me about this build are:
The actual motherboard and server all came together very nicely. Â Overall, I ran into relatively few problems – however RAM proved to be my biggest issue and delayed actually using the system by a couple weeks. Â I initially ordered incompatible RAM from Amazon and had to go through the process or returning and ordering the correct DIMMs – but once that was done, it was smooth sailing.
So my MacMod Home Server project is still a hobby at this point. So, maybe there’ll be a followup in the coming months as I have time to tinker around the holidays. Â I hope to have this in production and usable soon.
Its been two months since my HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 arrived and I’ve had an opportunity to run it in a couple different configurations. Â Out of the box, Windows Server Essentials 2012 came pre-installed on my eval unit and on first boot, configuration kicked off to setup and configure an Active Directory domain and setup all the basics of a small office deployment.
First, I am really glad that HP chose to move to Intel processors for the Gen8 model of the MicroServer.  Their AMD processors in the G7 model was probably the only reason that I did not purchase one of those units before.  For some reason, I along with many other administrators just have a disposition towards Intel processors instead of AMD.  When speaking with Shad Madina, Group Manager for Portfolio Planning and Solutions at HP, he also shared that HP found the AMD processors to be a sticking point with domestic buyers, although the AMD processors seemed to be well accepted in Europe.
The processors in the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 are more along the lines of desktop processors rather than the normal Xeon processors normally found in servers.  The lower end server features Intel Celeron processors and the higher end Gen8 model features a Pentium processor.  Both models feature dual core models but unfortunately there is not even an option for a quad-core model at this time.  As I covered earlier, the Gen8 model raises the RAM limit to 16GB which helps to accommodate a wider range of opportunities in the market, including small virtualization farms.
I knew from the spec sheets that the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 included a SATA RAID controller in the unit, however, during boot and the initial OS load, I noticed that it did not mention anything about Smart Array or offer a management interface to access and provision RAID sets like the larger Proliants do. Â This is simply because the embedded SATA controller is turned on by default and the RAID SATA controller is not enabled. Â A quick trip through the BIOS turned up the option to enable the Dynamic SATA controller and after a reboot and POST, I was able to login to Intelligent Provisioning and create RAID sets from the drives I had installed.
When I spoke with Madina, he was quick to point out that HP purposefully decided when designing the MicroServer to have a different set of trade-offs than were normal. Â The normal trade-offs were basic functionality, like RAID, cut for the sake of saving money. Â With the MicroServer, one of the trade-offs is the lack of hot-swappable hard drives and bays. This is a bit of a bummer but its a small price to pay when HP didn’t want to compromise other basic necessities.
HP touts the quietness of the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 saying that it is quieter than a laptop. Â This is certainly the case. Â Today, when I walked into my office, I actually had to check and ensure that it was on and running because I could not hear any noise coming from the unit. Â Now, this is after the MicroServer has been on and settled down. Â At boot, like its big-brothers, the Proliant MicroServer sound like a jet ready for take off – but after POST completes and the system begins booting, things quiet down to a negligible level.
My first week with the MicroServer was a slightly different story, however. Â When I first received the unit and powered it up, I thought it was fairly noisy, especially for someone touted to be under 20db of noise. Â But, my first week’s experience was a fluke of some kind – because once I shut it down to explore inside and then booted it again, the noisiness was nowhere to be found.
I will go on to say, that after testing the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 and comparing it with my home-built server, I prefer the MicroServer hand-down and big reason is how much quieter this unit is than my server.
After a month of exploring the MicroServer while running Windows Server Essentials 2012, I reinstalled the server to run ESXi and this is how I plan to keep the system running in the future. Â The demo unit I received came with the maximum 16GB of RAM loaded. Â This is a very welcome configuration for running a lab ESXi install. Â I was able to install the HP OEM version of ESXi onto the MicroServer which included additional agents inside the OS.
ESXi installs flawlessly onto the MicroServer Gen8. Â There were no special drivers or hoops to jump through to make it work on this hardware.
Even though the MicroServer Gen8 received a RAM limit boot, I wish still it had gone higher or that it accepted 4 x 8GB DIMM instead of two. Â 32GB of RAM and even better 64GB would greatly broaden the virtualization use cases for many customers. Â Still, 16GB is sufficient for many test and lab environments to be able to test many solutions.
One of the nice surprises in the unit is the inclusion of a full iLO4 chip on the motherboard. Â This replaces the optional remote management card which came with the G7 models of MicroServer. Â The iLO4 is much more capable and potentially useful than the previous remote management cards, however the one let-down was the unit comes with iLO Standard only, which does not support virtual media and remote console, except during boot. Â To get the additional features, an iLO Essentials or iLO Advanced license is needed.
HP has introduced iLO Essentials licensing and targets it directly at SMB users who want remote management. Â iLO Essentials license includes fully functional remote console, virtual media and email alerts for $129. Its a small tax to get basic remote management functionality and its better than the requirement to purchase iLO Advanced license for $299, since most small businesses would not use the additional features that iLO Advanced brings. Â iLO Advanced brings features like recording remote console sessions, authentication from directory services, multi-user remote console (for collaboration) and advanced alerting options. (For a full comparison of licensing levels and features included, see this PDF from HP).
iLO Standard is not useless, however. Â There is a lot that iLO does with no additional license — agent-less hardware management, remote support, remote power buttons, and the embedded health systems. Â The onboard system integrates with HP’s Insight Online service to allow administrators to manage and view all their systems and health through a central portal for free.
But, I will say I expected remote console and virtual media to be included, so it was let-down here. Â However, here is a pro-tip for you – make sure to check secondary markets (eBay) for these licenses. Â It may be possible to pickup iLO Advanced license for less than you can buy the iLO Essentials license.
I am really happy with the PS1810-8G switch.  I like the way that it compliments the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 and its space saving for my home lab.  8 ports accommodates three home servers easily and allows for some room to grow.  The VLAN support helps partition traffic among my servers so that I can segment video traffic away from web and management traffic and then keep my normal browsing, Netflix and home operations separate from my lab environment.
Pricing for the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 starts at just $449 with an Intel Celeron G1610T processor and 2GB of RAM. Â The higher end server is priced at $529 and comes with an Intel Pentium G2020T processor and 2GB of RAM. Â Bundles are available with the PS1810-8G switch and are priced at $634 and $714 respectively directly from HP.
I would score the HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 a solid 8.5 out of 10.  On the plus side, it is quiet, power-efficient and well suited for out-of-datacenter uses that most  businesses have.  I think there are so many remote-office and branch-office uses for the server beyond just the small and medium business markets.
On the downsides, I wish the processors were quad-core instead of dual-core. Â I also wish the RAM could be expanded beyond 16GB. Â But the downsides really stop there. Â Dual gigabit NICs are very capable and if you required more, there is a PCI expansion slot that could accommodate up to an additional 4 ports. Â The PCI slot could also be used for HBA or other peripherals as required.
The pricing of the systems also puts this in a sweet spot for many small businesses who don’t have dedicated IT budgets. Â I’ve worked with a lot of small business and for entry level servers, its a hard sell with a $1,200 to $1,500 server. Â The MicroServer represents a very compelling additional option for a lot of use cases.
I’m very impressed with the system overall. Â I think its a fantastic choice for a lot of small business and remote office use cases. Â I’m impressed enough that I plan to buy a second unit for home to use as a lab system in the near future. Â I’ll discuss why I’d choose this over a whitebox build in a later post another day.
Its your turn now to win a bundle just like my eval bundle for your home or small office or your remote office needs. Â Its very easy to win – just head over to our Giveaway page for all the details on the contest and you could be a winner. Â And keep in mind, there are two other bloggers giving away the same bundle the same time as Techazine – make sure to go and enter there too.
Disclaimer: HP provided me with both the HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 and the HP PS1810-8G for review at no charge. Â The opinions and views of the hardware written here are entirely my own and HP had no say in what I choose to write. Â The hardware came with no strings attached. Â Â
When I unboxed my MicroServer several weeks ago, I was surprised to find an unexpected second box inside.  The surprise turns out to be an HP PS1810 8-port gigabit switch to compliment my Proliant MicroServer. The PS1810-8G is specifically manufactured to sit perfectly on top of the Proliant MicroServer Gen8.  Its the epitome of “made for each other.”  Its kind of like butter and popcorn.
But don’t mistake this as style over substance – the PS1810-8G is a very capable switch in its own right. Â With 16Gbps of throughout, this unit features 8 RJ45 Gigabit copper Ethernet ports. Â It is web managed and supports VLANs, link aggregation trunking, Spanning Tree (STP), flow control and can be optionally powered by an upstream PoE switch. Â The wide feature set ensures that the switch can be used as part of a growing infrastructure or fit into an existing infrastructure seamlessly. Â While many small businesses rely on unmanaged switches for their needs, there is an increasing need for advanced features as systems converge.
The PS1810-8G also includes a number of green features, including Energy Efficient Ethernet settings.  Administrators can configure low-power idle on ports, auto port power down and cable length detection all to save power.  It can be configured to turn off LED lights on ports based on a specific schedule. All of these features are intended to save power, but I’m not sure how much impact it really makes over the course of a year.
Based out of the 3COM lineage, the PS1810-8G uses a web management interface which is intuitive and easy to use.  The web management interface makes a lot of sense for a small business who probably has very little in-house networking expertise, but the PS1810-8G will provide any IT pro with the necessary features to get the job done.  The PS1810-8G switch also includes an automatic Proliant discovery interface which senses and registers Proliant servers onto a page so that the admin can quick-launch into the iLO interface.  This provides the end-user and end-administrator with a quick management interface to see all the Proliants connected – not just MicroServers.  While the discovery is nifty, its not a very deep integration at this point, but it does show potential. In addition to the Proliant server discovery, the switch also features Link Layer Discover Protocol (LLDP).  This discovered my third party remote management interface on a whitebox server.
In terms of security, by default, management is only enabled for HTTP and not HTTPS. Â Options are available within the switch to upload a custom certificate or generate a self-signed certificate and enable HTTPS. Â There is also only a single password for the switch and it is not a username and password combination – just a single password.
All in all, this is a solid home office or small office switch. Â 8 ports will accommodate a number of offices and use cases. Â The switch comes with many of the necessary enterprise features that would come in handy in a small office. Â Priced at $185 direct from HP and generally available for around $160 elsewhere, the PS1810-8G is an affordable managed switch option.
Disclaimer: HP provided me with both the HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 and the HP PS1810-8G for review at no charge. Â The opinions and views of the hardware written here are entirely my own and HP had no say in what I choose to write. Â The hardware came with no strings attached. Â Â
I’m a big fan of product history, how products develop and come to life.  This is the story of how the HP Proliant MicroServers came to be.  I spoke with Shad Madina, Group Manager, Portfolio Planning and Solutions at HP and he offered a bit of insight on how HP developed its MicroServer.
When the folks at HP began looking at the market, it saw a large amount of growth in the small to medium business market and that sparked the question – how does HP target this fast growing segment? Â According to Madina, HP staff began researching small and medium businesses and found that most of the server options they had within their price range were stripped down versions of larger servers, which often removed great functionality for the sake of price. Â HP also found that the majority of small businesses bought their technology through channel partners or as a bundled solution along with software and services while looking to solve a particular problem.
In addition to buying habits, HP also found that most small and medium businesses placed these servers under a desk or on a tabletop and that they were not found in a datacenter or server room. Â This made traditional servers an imperfect fit because of the noise and heat they produce was not well suited for where they were being placed.
So HP began developing a new server with different trade-offs. They wanted to create a server that would meet small and medium business needs without compromising function. The new server would need to be quieter than a normal server, be channel friendly, and be power and heat conscious.
With this information, HP introduced the first Proliant MicroServers in 2010. Equipped with AMD Athalon N36L, N40L, and N54L processors as options, each unit could add up to 8TB of storage (4 x 2TB drives) and 8GB of DDR3 ECC RAM.  It included 6 USB 2.0 ports, 1 eSATA port and 1 Gigabit Ethernet portand  an optional remote management card akin to iLO.  The first MicroServer was quiet, touting less than 21db of noise emitted and it ran on standard 110 power.
While the units met all of HP’s objectives, they were not a huge hit in the US. Â They proved to be much more successful in Europe but the decision to equip them with AMD processors was often a sticking point for domestic customers.
HP learned a number of lessons from customers with the first models of MicroServer. Â Customers found use cases beyond HP’s original intentions, with many IT professionals choosing to use the MicroServer as a virtualization hardware for small deployments or home labs.
This past summer, HP introduced the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 to the public. Â The new model integrated a number of lessons learned from the previous models. For the new generation, HP moved to Intel processors, choosing a dual-core Celeron processor for the low-end and a Core i3 processor for the higher end model. Â The standard RAM configuration is 2GB with a higher RAM limit at 16GB to better accommodate the virtualization use cases and needs for more RAM in database or other uses. Â The Gen8 MicroServer also include dual Gigabit network adapters onboard with one expansion PCI slot. Â The new model still comes with 4 drive bays, but now supports 3TB SATA drives for up to 12TB of total storage. Â With these changes, HP is betting on better results domestically by accommodating more uses it’s customers found with the previous generation.
HP added an on-board iLO port as standard configuration on each unit.  Unlike the optional remote management card, the iLO would be the same iLO 4 that HP features across the entire Proliant Gen8 line.  They also introduced a licensing level called iLO Essentials for $149 which gives MicroServer and small to medium business customers core iLO functionality they want without the increased cost of iLO Advanced licensing.  iLO Essentials includes remote console, virtual media and email notifications from the system.  iLO4 is also the underlying technology which allows the MicroServer Gen8 to connect with Insight Online, HP’s cloud support service, and enables HP Insight Remote Support.
HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 on display at HP Discover 2013. In the foreground, there are 3 color options available for the door, including the standard silver found on all Proliant Gen8 models.
The entire Proliant Gen8 line has a prominent design feel featuring aluminum bezels on each model that cover the drive slots and indicators. Â That design was carried over to the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 model with HP going further by introducing optional colored bezels for the MicroServer. Â While intended for simple design flare, customers found the colored bezels were useful in the field for standardizing and identifying hardware for particular use cases. Â Madina said that one customer uses the bezel to “color code based on the task to allow uniform identification” by color.
Disclaimer: HP provided me with both the HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 and the HP PS1810-8G for review at no charge. Â The opinions and views of the hardware written here are entirely my own and HP had no say in what I choose to write. Â The hardware came with no strings attached. Â Â
This week kicks off the first two of seven opportunities to win your own HP Microserver and an HPÂ PS1810-8G. Â Over the next month, seven different bloggers and sites will be giving away a combination HP Microserver and companion switch. Â I have been blogging about the pair of HP products for the last several weeks. Â I’ll be posting my final review in a couple weeks, but its not too early to get in on the giveaways that my peers are starting. Â Each site will have their own content with its own rules for entry. Â I’ll keep this page updated as we go with links to each giveaway.
Updated x4 >> Delighted Robot (Jake Ludington’s) giveaway is live.  Techazine.com’s giveaway is also live. And for readers in LA/Orange County area, TechBizTalk has a third chance to win!
October 27th – November 3rd
November 3rd – November 17th
November 17th – December 1st
Welcome to Techazine, the new brand for my IT blog. Â The content is all still the same, but the name has just changed. Â Over the next several months, you will notice small and incremental changes as I roll out the Techazine branding. Â Unfortunately, my previous blog name, Tech Talk, had become far too generic since so many companies and blogs use it for their podcasts and web presence. Â I hope to keep all of the changes transparent to the reader and focus on building a name for the blog that people will remember.
Thanks for visiting and please follow in Twitter, LinkedIn for the latest updates.
~Philip
This weekend, I was able to get the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 setup and powered on in my lab. Â Its currently burning in and I’m doing some testing with it. Â What do I think? Â Well, you’ll have to wait until I have had more time with it before I share my impressions. Â But that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about use cases.
Beyond the stylish exterior, the HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 can fit into a lot of possible environments and use cases. Â The first one that comes to mind is my own – the home lab. Â As an IT professional, its become imperative that I have a lab environment at home where I can test software and solutions. I have gotten lots of offers for trials and software from blogging and for solving my problems at work.
Many of my peers build their own whitebox systems and I have attempted recently, too. Â I hadn’t built a computer in close to a decade. And my first experience trying to build a whitebox has been bumpy. Â I’ll admit, I have enjoyed using a soldering iron again, but it can be frustrating trying to piece together a compatible solution. Â I’d prefer to buy something ready made and that makes the MicroServer Gen8 really compelling to me. Â Time is valuable, so the time I’ve spent tinkering could have been more productive if I just bought a ready-made system.
With four drive bays, the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 is capable of up to 12TB of storage on board with 3TB drives in each bay.  That makes it a viable candidate as a NAS solution for home or business.  There are so many implementations like FreeNAS and Openfiler to turn the MicroServer into a NAS appliance.
In addition to just file sharing, these software storage solutions have lots of add-on functionality to take basic file storage and make it useful in the home for being your media repository of movies, TV shows and music and being the source for streaming to your TV-connected box, your Android or iPhone or even some home stereo systems. Â Add-on a VPN solution and it becomes your personal media cloud when you’re away from home, too. Â FreeNAS can also serve as a destination for TimeMachine or other backup software solutions, so now not only primary storage but backup of your PCs and Macs.
Even again in a home lab situation, NAS distributions support iSCSI and NFS, making the MicroServer a viable storage target for VMware and other virtualization in a lab environment. Â The NAS proposition has uses in so many ways. Â In a lot of ways, this use case of a Proliant MicroServer offers a better performing and possibly lower cost alternative to a Synology or Drobo NAS device. Â And if your needs change, you can alway repurpose or hand-me-down this server, where the others are only ever capable of being a NAS.
Running a hypervisor on the MicroServer should just be reserved for the lab – its capable of prime time. Â A lot of small businesses don’t have space or need for racks, rackmount hardware or even pedestal servers. Â In many cases, these small businesses run on three to five physical servers anyways, so consolidating these aging physical servers to two or three MicroServers would allow the business to save power and footprint.
The Proliant MicroServer Gen8 has a remarkably small footprint, low power consumption and small heat output. Â Â It can easily sit on a desktop or a shelf and is not nearly as obtrusive as a tower, pedestal or rackmount server. Â While not as condensed as a blade, it could serve a similar purpose in a small business environment.
There are a lot of one and two person businesses and the number of micro businesses seems to have exploded in recent years. Â Perhaps its a combination of the Internet lowering the barriers of entry and the terrible economy pushing people out of traditional jobs. Â These businesses still have traditional needs and while many use the cloud, the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 offers a compelling self hosted solution at a price point that is competative to many cloud solutions. Â A micro business may need to file or print share, have a VPN or prehaps run Remote Desktop to host a local accounting or line of business application. Â And a MicroServer hosted onsite provides those features – along with the ability to access a Remote Desktop session from a mobile device on the road.
A lot of small businesses who have either outgrown or need more tailored solutions than Quickbooks and those accounting packages usually require databases and other shared access. Â This server is more than capable of running SQL Express or full Microsoft SQL and an application on bare metal along with the application. Â Then there are all the customized line of business applications – from hotels, to legal, to doctor’s offices, restaurants and even mechanics. Â While a lot of these have cloud solutions, many companies still rely on installed, local software to run their business and a MicroServer fits nicely. Â Specifically thinking about point of sale in restaurants as a use case – having deployed several of those in my time – a compact server like this would be a welcome platform – especially at the price of these boxes.
Then, there is always the business whose growing beyond the two or three person mark and needs to begin thinking about accounts, security and enforcing policy and automating some management. Â The Proliant MicroServer is great for a basic AD implementation, too. Â With a domain controller deployed, accounts and policy becomes possible, file shares can be more tightly secured and controlled and systems can be tied down to accounts that offer access from multiple devices. Â I implemented so many of these small office when I was a consultant. Â Managers or owners needed to lock down systems or ensure that only certain employees had access to some resources and AD makes that all possible. Â Add solutions like WSUS and patch management becomes streamlined and managed.
But the biggest competition for the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 is cloud, possibly more than the bigger Proliants in the portfolio. Â Cloud adoption may be least resistant in the small business where the MicroServer aims for adoption. Â There are certainly a lot of businesses who are abandoning their client-server applications in favor of cloud solutions, but its not for everyone. Â But the days of client-server are far from over.
Disclaimer: HP provided me with both the HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 for review at no charge. Â The opinions and views of the hardware written here are entirely my own and have not been influenced or outlined by HP. Â The hardware came with no strings attached. Â Â
I teased you earlier that I had a special product coming to review and, today, I’m glad to announce that my HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 has arrived.  Since I had other things going on yesterday evening, I didn’t even get to unbox it, but it will be soon. So, you may be wondering – what is the Proliant MicroServer?
HP introduced the Proliant MicroServer line in 2010 as a general computing server platform aimed squarely at the micro to small business and home office markets.  In June, the company released the Gen8 model which features a nice facelift and changes under the hood.
Like all of the Proliant Gen8 hardware, the MicroServer got a little bling treatment with an aluminum grille/door – making it a very sleek-looking unit.  While the previous version looked like a generic half-sized tower, the Proliant MicroServer Gen8 is almost a perfect 9″ cube.  It is equipped with either a Celeron G1610T or Pentium G2020T processor and can scale up to 12TB of storage and 16GB of RAM.  Preconfigured models come with 2GB of RAM.
The Proliant Microserver Gen8 features a tool-less chassis, four cold-swap drive bays, a DVD drive, several USB ports inside, on the front and on the back of the server. Â Even though the form factor deviates from the norm, the inside of the Microserver is still very serviceable, upgradable and accessible.
And one of my favorite things with the MicroServer is, just like all other Proliant servers, it includes iLO – or Integrated Lights Out management for those who may not be as familiar with HP.  iLO is HP’s flavor of an IP management interface (IPMI) and its a solid implementation for remote management for a server.
I’m very curious how this little guy compares to the ML, DL and BL Proliant models that I run in the datacenter. Â I’m curious to know if the iLO is as robust or scaled back, how the unit performs and how easily I will be able to integrate this into my ESX home lab.
I got my first look and feel at HP Discover earlier this year and I’ve posted a few photos below that I took of the show floor to whet your appetite. Â Don’t forget, one of these could be yours, too. Â More to come…
Disclaimer: HP provided me with the HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 and also sponsored my trip to HP Discover this year.  The opinions and views of the hardware written here are entirely my own and have not been influenced or outlined by HP. While they provided me with opportunities, those opportunities came with no strings attached. Â
That’s right readers. Â I’m expecting something to be delivered any day now for me to review. Â I’m incredibly excited to get my hands on this particular hardware and I have been admiring it since it was released this summer. Â I’ll give you a clue – I work with this particular hardware’s big brothers every day in the datacenter, but this particular item is built for the small office or home office. Â I imagine there are lots of inventive ways this thing can be put to use. Â And best of all, not only do I get a review unit, but you’ll have a chance to win one, as well. Â Stay tuned…
