HP ProLiant N40L vs LIAN LI PC-Q08B

[chip]

I have been thinking of going with an Unraid build. Some good prices out there right now.

 

At Newegg they have the HP ProLiant N40L Ultra Micro Tower Server System AMD Turion II Neo N40L 1.5GHz 2C 2GB (1 x 2GB) 1 x 250GB LFF SATA 658553-001 for $249.99

 

Otherwise there is a Lian Build - http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=109453

[CASE] LIAN LI PC-Q08B Mini-ITX ($110 + $10)

[MOBO+iGPU] ZOTAC GF6100-E-E AM2+/AM2 nForce 430 MCP Mini-ITX ($45 + $0)

[CPU] SEMPRON 145 SDX145HBGMBOX 2.8GHz Single-Core AM3 45W ($43 + $0)

[PSU] CORSAIR CMPSU-430CX 430W 80Plus certified ATX12V ($45 + $0)

[RAM] Kingston ValueRAM 1GB (1x1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800Mhz CL6 ($13 + $0)

TOTAL: $256

 

Though if you bought this today from Newegg it would be $214.99 with 2 seperate $20 MIR bringing it down to 174.99. Then you would still need to buy a 2 or 4 port sata card from say Monoprice.

 

As of right now it would be used to serve music/movies/pictures. The only thing I could think of installing on it would be serviio, squeezebox server.

 

Any reason to go with one over the other. I like both for there sizes.

 

 

Also would it be beneficial to swap out the CPU above with a AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W for $61.99 which makes the total $196.96 after rebates.

 

 

 

 

 

[Johnm]

the HP is a nice all in one system and runs right out of the box. just add drives...

 

the do it yourself method is upgradeable... in 2 years you can swap the CPU or case if you outgrow it... the HP. it is still the same HP and always will be..

 

it depends on your comfort level and what you see a year or two from now.

[chip]

Good suggestion....I build most of my PCs but somewhat newer to unraid so just looking for thoughts...ideas on a smaller build.

[something fishy]

The LIAN LI case is nice and will hold more HDDs, seven if you repurpose the ODD at the top.

 

However faced with the same sort of question I went with the HP's predecessor the N36L. I was motivated by

1) I like the design - 4 externally accessable HDDs plus the ODD that can be repurposed with a hot swap drive bay.

2) I like the fact that it has an internal USB drive expressly designed for an OS to boot off.

3) Its quiet out of the box (theres a review on SPCR that tells you how to use a lower noise fan, but I couldn't be bothered, stock its in the ambient noise of my office).

4) Its very low power consumption.

5) I could get one very cheap (60% of component cost of building an equivalent)

6) There is a lot of discussion on various message boards about unraid and freenas that gave me confidence the HP would work.

 

In fact I have only good things to say about the HP. It does work out the box with unraid (almost, if its like the N36L you should flash it with the "russian bios" to enable AHCI on the ODD connector) and I get preclear/parity check/transfer rates that seem better than most acheive in unRaid using other hardware. Also WOL appears to work fine. I run unraid 5.14, plus unmenu with transmission and flexget and have never had any problems.

 

I would do it again (in fact I have, a second that I use as a backup server - it backs up the main server once a month) however if I'm honest I would have been happier still if it offered another couple of disk slots as this would give me the option of using a cache drive and fully using my Unraid plus licenses. I don't need either of these, I use 5x 3Tb HDDs and they give me enough speed and storage even with Transmission writing to one of the array drives but if the option is there...

 

The proliant was the first PC in a long time that I haven't built and to be honest I found it quite nice not having to bother.

[Rajahal]

I would go for the Lian Li just because I enjoy building servers.  Plus, it is easier to repurpose the Lian Li into a desktop computer or HTPC in the future if you ever want to upgrade your server to a larger box.

 

My only suggestion is that you might want to consider a modular PSU.  The Lian Li is a tiny case, so any space you can save by using a modular PSU will allow for better airflow and a generally easier build.  At Greenleaf we use the COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 for these small form factor builds.

[shanehm2]

My opinion is go the DIY route for the following reasons:

- It's more expensive to replace parts in a branded system whether it's a laptop or server or desktop.

- You don't require ecc or registered ram for the Lian-Li route, where as I believe you do need it for the HP.

- You can easily upgrade any parts in the Lian-Li system.

- You can fit more HDD's in the lian li with out modifying the case.

 

However I think the one plus of the HP is that it has swappable HDD cages.

[neilt0]

My opinion is go the DIY route for the following reasons:

- It's more expensive to replace parts in a branded system whether it's a laptop or server or desktop.

- You don't require ecc or registered ram for the Lian-Li route, where as I believe you do need it for the HP.

- You can easily upgrade any parts in the Lian-Li system.

- You can fit more HDD's in the lian li with out modifying the case.

 

However I think the one plus of the HP is that it has swappable HDD cages.

 

1) In the UK (and maybe to a degree, with deals, the U.S.), the HP Microserver is so cheap that you could buy another one rather than replace any major parts. The whole server doesn't cost much more than a good motherboard and CPU.

 

2) There's no special RAM required. You can use ECC if you wish, or cheapo generic non-ECC. It's very cheap to upgrade to 5GB or 8GB RAM.

 

3) Why would you want to upgrade parts? unRAID runs well on ten year old hardware. For most server tasks, the Microserver is fine. I think it's only transcoding is where you need more grunt.

 

4) How many drives can you fit in the Lian Li case? It's pretty easy to put 6 in the Microserver.

[naxiand]

The LIAN LI case is nice and will hold more HDDs, seven if you repurpose the ODD at the top.

 

However faced with the same sort of question I went with the HP's predecessor the N36L. I was motivated by

1) I like the design - 4 externally accessable HDDs plus the ODD that can be repurposed with a hot swap drive bay.

2) I like the fact that it has an internal USB drive expressly designed for an OS to boot off.

3) Its quiet out of the box (theres a review on SPCR that tells you how to use a lower noise fan, but I couldn't be bothered, stock its in the ambient noise of my office).

4) Its very low power consumption.

5) I could get one very cheap (60% of component cost of building an equivalent)

6) There is a lot of discussion on various message boards about unraid and freenas that gave me confidence the HP would work.

 

In fact I have only good things to say about the HP. It does work out the box with unraid (almost, if its like the N36L you should flash it with the "russian bios" to enable AHCI on the ODD connector) and I get preclear/parity check/transfer rates that seem better than most acheive in unRaid using other hardware. Also WOL appears to work fine. I run unraid 5.14, plus unmenu with transmission and flexget and have never had any problems.

 

I would do it again (in fact I have, a second that I use as a backup server - it backs up the main server once a month) however if I'm honest I would have been happier still if it offered another couple of disk slots as this would give me the option of using a cache drive and fully using my Unraid plus licenses. I don't need either of these, I use 5x 3Tb HDDs and they give me enough speed and storage even with Transmission writing to one of the array drives but if the option is there...

 

The proliant was the first PC in a long time that I haven't built and to be honest I found it quite nice not having to bother.

You run flexget? Any info how to install it in unraid?

Sent from my Optimus 2X using Tapatalk

[shanehm2]

My opinion is go the DIY route for the following reasons:

- It's more expensive to replace parts in a branded system whether it's a laptop or server or desktop.

- You don't require ecc or registered ram for the Lian-Li route, where as I believe you do need it for the HP.

- You can easily upgrade any parts in the Lian-Li system.

- You can fit more HDD's in the lian li with out modifying the case.

 

However I think the one plus of the HP is that it has swappable HDD cages.

 

1) In the UK (and maybe to a degree, with deals, the U.S.), the HP Microserver is so cheap that you could buy another one rather than replace any major parts. The whole server doesn't cost much more than a good motherboard and CPU.

 

2) There's no special RAM required. You can use ECC if you wish, or cheapo generic non-ECC. It's very cheap to upgrade to 5GB or 8GB RAM.

 

3) Why would you want to upgrade parts? unRAID runs well on ten year old hardware. For most server tasks, the Microserver is fine. I think it's only transcoding is where you need more grunt.

 

4) How many drives can you fit in the Lian Li case? It's pretty easy to put 6 in the Microserver.

Ok with the specials in the UK and the US yes, its cheaper but that is based on a supply basis... you have to rely on knowing that some place has stock and that they have it on special at the time and in Australia thats not the case. But personally I am person who prefers to not rely on specialty power supplies etc.

 

Second I have seen on sites with the N36L in particular that it does require ECC ram, but maybe I might be wrong I am happy to acknowledge that if I am wrong I am wrong.

 

Third point you might want to upgrade to a motherboard that has more sata ports or expansion wise.

 

Fourth point you can fight 6 drives natively (3.5inch) then you can fit whatever will go into the cd rom bay and there is room for a laptop size hdd under the cdrom as well, I am not sure how much further you can modify it as I don't own one myself or know anybody personally that owns one.

 

All aside at the end of  the day I want something where I can go out and build it and replace anything and everything in the system that isn't soldered onto the board (onboard sata lan etc).

[neilt0]

Ok with the specials in the UK and the US yes, its cheaper but that is based on a supply basis... you have to rely on knowing that some place has stock and that they have it on special at the time and in Australia thats not the case. But personally I am person who prefers to not rely on specialty power supplies etc.

 

Second I have seen on sites with the N36L in particular that it does require ECC ram, but maybe I might be wrong I am happy to acknowledge that if I am wrong I am wrong.

 

Third point you might want to upgrade to a motherboard that has more sata ports or expansion wise.

 

Fourth point you can fight 6 drives natively (3.5inch) then you can fit whatever will go into the cd rom bay and there is room for a laptop size hdd under the cdrom as well, I am not sure how much further you can modify it as I don't own one myself or know anybody personally that owns one.

 

All aside at the end of  the day I want something where I can go out and build it and replace anything and everything in the system that isn't soldered onto the board (onboard sata lan etc).

 

Based on a supply basis? I don't even know what that means! The offer has been running for over a year in the UK, and people have been buying cheap Microservers in Oz from May 2011 to date. There are suppliers offering the N40L today for AUD$243 -- I subscribe to the thread on overclockers.com.au .

Yes, the offer may go away, but purchase decisions are made when they are made, not over time, or at some theoretical point in the future.

 

Yes, you're wrong. I have ECC and non-ECC in mine. Plenty of people are running 8GB non-ECC and it's listed as compatible.

 

When you want to add more SATA ports, you generally don't buy a new motherboard, you buy a PCI-E card, so that's an odd argument.

 

At the end of the day, if it's cheaper to buy 2 Microservers that can hold between them 12 to 14 drives, than to build 1x DIY machine that holds 8, I'll probably buy the Microservers. Or, as I've done, buy 1 Microserver and 1x DIY machine that holds 22 drives.

[something fishy]

@naxiand

You run flexget? Any info how to install it in unraid?

 

I keep meaning to set it down on paper but haven't got around to it yet, sorry.

 

Stupidly I didn't make explicit step by step instructions when I did it and I haven't had the chance to do a repeat install on my backup server.

 

However I do recall a few general points

1) I just installed java from unmenu; set to install every boot.

2) I then downloaded and installed easy_install as per the instructions here http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools

3) add the equivalent line in the go script to replicate on every boot

4) Download the flexget program to a directory you've created on your flash drive using the instructions on this page http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#installing-on-un-networked-machines (search the page for install in un-networked machines).

5) Test install flexget at the command prompt, again its on http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#installing-on-un-networked-machines (look for "install in un-networked machines") and then add this line also to your go script to install at every boot.

6) Download the transmission rpc libary as per described in http://flexget.com/wiki/Plugins/transmission using the same process for un-networked machines as above

7) test load at the command prompt and add the line in the go script that so that this install at every boot also

8.) Reboot to make sure that everything is installing as you think it should.

9) test using flexget -V in a putty session

10) create a configuration file (*.yml). My recommendation is to put this on a HDD (flexget writes its log to the same directory) and specify it explictly with

flexget -c /path/to/config.yml

11) when you're sure its running fine schedule with cron (the flexget website has examples).

 

Sorry if I've missed stages out, this is from memory but the install instructions on the flexget website (for Linux/BSD) are very good. Thye're what I started with and I have zero linux experience so I just carried out each step, reflected in the go script so that it would repeat at boot up and then tested before moving to the next step.

You can follow the flexget instructions verbatim if you don't mind having the go script access the internet and download new versions of flexget and transmissionrpc every boot. If you don't want this then the instructions above remove the need by adding a little more initial setup complexity.

 

BTW the flexget configuraton file is IMO a pain, edit it using a programmers text editor with display whitespace turned on and never use tabs. Plus always test, nearly all errors in a config file will stop flexget from downloading anything not just the line where the error is made.

[something fishy]

One more point for the microserver. You can install a remote access card if you want to run it headless. Details are

http://www.livingonthecloud.net/2011/08/hp-microserver-remote-access-card.html

Cheers

Eric

[chip]

I saw some of the N36L on ebay for like $250 shipped.....decisions.