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+--- Thread: HP Proliant MicroServer (/showthread.php?tid=87469)
HP Proliant MicroServer - BEKO86 - 2010-12-13
Hey, forgive me if this has already been discussed, long story short I was looking into a new NAS for storage and a seperate system for XBMC revo or Boxee. I am fed up with PS3's, 360's, WDTV's, I want to go back to the good old days of XBMC ( I remember the switch from XBMP to XBMC and stuck with the xbox1 until the days of 720p MKV's became the norm).
Anyway I came across the HP ProLiant MicroServer for a very reasonable price £222.07 minus cashback etc brought it down to £103.59 including £100 HP cashback. I have come across people discussing the posibilities to use it as an HTPC, it just needs a memory boost and a HDMI graphics card (with sound).
Its able to boot from USB internally which is nice.
Anyway I thought I would put a post up to see what people think, would save me the cost of a revo / boxee.
link to spec's - http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13716_na/13716_na.html#Technical%20Specifications
- poofyhairguy - 2010-12-13
It has a half height PCIe 16x slot. So this would work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187114
I would add a little more RAM too, at least 2GB worth...
- BEKO86 - 2010-12-13
Thanks for the feedback, thats the sort of card I was looking at, although would prefer a passive one. You definitely recommend the 210?
Ram I may as well go for 4gb, (2x2gb).
Ive ordred a 16gb USB stick for the OS.
I am a linux noob, what would you recommend?
- ion_man - 2010-12-13
If you are going to use Linux then 1GB is perfectly enough, you won't gain anything by adding more RAM, just get the graphics card.
Also don't get a passive graphics card (the one poofy recommended is fine), the case looks cramped, it wouldn't get enough air to stay cool.
- poofyhairguy - 2010-12-13
Three things:
1. DON'T GET A PASSIVE CARD!! That box is gonna be noisy no matter what you do- too much heat in too small a space. If you get a passive card it will fry.
2. 1GB of RAM is fine with Linux. Maybe 2GB at most.
2. I would much rather have (in Linux) 1GB of ram and a SSD OS drive than 4GB of ram and a USB OS drive. The controller card on a SSD will make a pen drive booting OS look like a dinosaur stuck in a tar pit.
If you REALLY want to keep sata slots open for HDs then I would rather booting off a REALLY GOOD (as in high speed, high dollar) Compact Flash card and a CF to usb adaptor.
You are underestimating how slow it will be booting off a regular pen drive. I tried recently for fun and it made my old IDE HDs seem like speed demons on boot (like WAY over a minute). And I got a pretty high dollar pen drive. High speed CF is way better, and a SSD is way better than that.
- BEKO86 - 2010-12-13
Fair point I wont be able to buy the RAM this side of christmas anyway. So will just go for the card.
Do Newegg ship to the UK as I am having trouble sourcing that card or a similar one, most seem to be DDR2 for more money.
The search continues, any suggestions on what version of linux / XBMC to go for?
- BEKO86 - 2010-12-13
Thanks for that additional info, OS booting not an issue as I intend to run pretty much 24/7. But fair point on the SSD, perhaps a future upgrade alon with a bluray drive using something like this - http://www.byteccusa.com/product/adapter/Bracket-535/Bracket-535.htm
- BEKO86 - 2010-12-13
Best card I have found so far - http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=503425&CatId=2696
Verdict? Y/N
- Targettio - 2010-12-13
BEKO86 Wrote:The search continues, any suggestions on what version of linux / XBMC to go for?
Which linux distro/version is very much your choice but you will probably get the most support from using Ubuntu or just XBMC live.
I would always aim to use the most up to date XBMC version, but some people prefer to wait for stable releases, it depends how 'involved' you want to be with the setting up and maintaining of the system.
- poofyhairguy - 2010-12-13
BEKO86 Wrote:Best card I have found so far - http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=503425&CatId=2696
Verdict? Y/N
Looks good!
- Xeijin - 2010-12-14
The Proliant doesn't seem to have an audio out, I'm guessing you will need a USB or PCI sound card to fix this.
- ion_man - 2010-12-14
Xeijin Wrote:The Proliant doesn't seem to have an audio out, I'm guessing you will need a USB or PCI sound card to fix this.
Why? He will be using hdmi audio out, the Nvidia 2xx series has on-board audio, no need for a separate audio card.
- Xeijin - 2010-12-14
ion_man Wrote:Why? He will be using hdmi audio out, the Nvidia 2xx series has on-board audio, no need for a separate audio card.
Thanks didn't know that was the case, might go for this myself. Are there any problems getting the sound working on Linux?
- ion_man - 2010-12-14
Xeijin Wrote:Thanks didn't know that was the case, might go for this myself. Are there any problems getting the sound working on Linux?
Haven't tried it myself, but AFAIK recent distro versions support at least the 210 and the 220, I'm not sure about the 240 (but then you certainly wouldn't put a 240 into the HP Proliant MicroServer).
- poofyhairguy - 2010-12-14
Stick to a GT210, 220 and sound works out of the box in Dharma (maybe not menu sounds, but certainly playback sound).