BUILD HP Microserver Gen8

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Martin Aspeli

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Jan 13, 2016
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Hi,

I wanted to share a few tips on my recent build based on the HP Microserver Generation 8, in case anyone finds it helpful.

What I was after:
  • Reasonable price
  • 2-4 disks
  • Reliable installation, little guesswork
  • Sufficient performance to run 1-2 Plex streams (some transcoding), ownCloud, various services
What I ended up with:
  • Total price ca £400
  • A rock solid FreeNAS setup
Things I bought:
  • HP Microserver Gen8 chassis + motherboard. There are various models, which basically differ in what they come pre-installed with. I went for the basic version, which has an Intel Celeron G1610T CPU (plenty fast enough, it rarely breaks a sweat in my use cases) and 4Gb RAM pre-installed (which I threw away...). The CPU can be upgraded to a Xeon if desired, but I doubt I will.
  • 2 x 8Gb Kingston ECC RAM. I originally bought one and planned to have 8+4=12Gb, but the memory that shipped with the Microserver isn't compatible with the Kingston RAM so that didn't work. I ended up buying another to fill the second slot, so I now have 16Gb RAM.
  • 2 x 2TB WD Red disks. I use these as a mirrored pair for 2Tb usable storage. Very quiet and fast. The Microserver has four drive bays, so if I need to, I can install another two disks either as another mirrored pair or move to RAIDz.
  • A tiny 64GB USB stick to run the OS. The Microserver has USB ports on both the back and front, and one directly on the motherboard inside the chassis. I used the internal one for this to keep the exterior tidy.
I had looked at a few other options, ranging from a pre-built FreeNAS system (similar spec, £100-150 more expensive) or a complete DYI setup (still more expensive, and a lot more confusing to figure out what might work well together), so I'm pretty happy with this setup.

There are a few quirks to setting up FreeNAS on the Microserver. It ships with what HP calls an iLO unit ("integrated lights out"), which is basically a tiny computer with its own Ethernet port that can used to manage the hardware remotely. I did all the setup via this, over my home network. You can also use a USB keyboard and mouse and a VGA monitor, which I suspect would remove all quirkiness, but I didn't have any.

The iLO is nice, though, because you can also use it to do things like shut down and start up the server remotely, and to mount an ISO as a virtual CD drive. This is how I installed FreeNAS, because in spite of what picture you may see on the Internet, the standard Microserver does *not* come with a CD drive, only a slot for one.

The iLO can be accessed over SSH, Telnet or web console. Basically, you plug an ethernet cable into the iLO ethernet socket (there are three ethernet sockets on the back, two normal NICs and one for the iLO; if you want to use the iLO you need two ethernet cables plugged into a switch/your router/something else), and then it grabs an IP address via DHCP. You can then open this in a web browser, or SSH into it. The details of the iLO (hostname, username, default password) are printed on a small tag that comes with the server.

The basic iLO is free to use, and this will let you use a "VSP" virtual serial port for remote access, as well as the basic commands for startup, shutdown, mounting media etc. However, to make life easier for yourself during setup, you can get a free trial for HPs "enterprise" iLO offering, which basically lets you use a remote console (Java or .NET applet) via a web browser or mobile app (see the app store). This is a lot more user friendly. If you access the iLO web interface you can find the details for how to get this trial. It should last plenty long enough to set everything up. Even if it expires, the VSP command line console or an external monitor + keyboard will mean you have everything you need, though. You can also get through the basic boot sequence (including accessing the BIOS) in the iLO console even without a license, which is pretty much all you need after the initial installation.

I didn't comprehensively document it as I set it up, and there was a bit of trial-and-error, but here are some key points:
  • The disks are really easy to install, but they are not hot-swappable, so turn the machine off before you pull them out.
  • Equally, the chassis is easy to get off (there is a little tool inside the door, so you don't need any tools) and the layout is pretty straightforward. Swapping the RAM out takes only seconds.
  • Get into the BIOS first time you boot and set the date/time (press F2 on boot, from memory). It was set far in the past for me, and when I changed it, my iLO trial license showed as expired! You can actually get around it by "resetting" the iLO from the iLO web interface, but it was confusing when this happened.
  • Disable the on-board SmartRAID controller and use standard AHCI mode, also in the BIOS. ZFS will manage your disks.
  • The VSP didn't work for me initially so I couldn't do any setup from the terminal. There is a setting in the BIOS where you can choose which serial port is hooked up to the VSP. It should be COM1 from memory. I've heard of others that didn't have to flip this setting, but if you are trying to use the VSP and it isn't showing anything, this could be the reason.
  • The Java applet console works OK in Safari, but not in Chrome. Java applets are problematic anyway. I did use it to set things up the first time, but I since discovered that the iOS app is actually easier to use.
  • You can mount an ISO as a virtual CD drive in the SSH console or via the web interface, and play with the boot order. The web interface is a lot easier. You can get it to boot from the FreeNAS installer ISO this way, so there's no need for a second USB stick to install from.

All in all, it took me about half a day of fiddling to get the basic installation on there, and then a few more days to set everything up like I wanted.
 

Mirfster

Doesn't know what he's talking about
Joined
Oct 2, 2015
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All in all, it took me about half a day of fiddling to get the basic installation on there, and then a few more days to set everything up like I wanted.
Need to tack on at least a couple weeks for proper Burn In. :D
 

ovizii

Patron
Joined
Jun 30, 2014
Messages
435
quick question:

I have a a Gen7 using 4 disks + 1 connected to the port formerly used by the CD-ROM and 1 connected to the e-sata port.

I have found a few websites stating that Gen8 has the following limitations:
- there are only 5x SATA isntead of the 6 of the Gen7
- eSATA is no longer available

Can you confirm this? I was thinking of replacing my Gen7 with a Gen8 but would like to keep my 6 disks running.
 

Martin Maisey

Dabbler
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
34
quick question:

I have a a Gen7 using 4 disks + 1 connected to the port formerly used by the CD-ROM and 1 connected to the e-sata port.

I have found a few websites stating that Gen8 has the following limitations:
- there are only 5x SATA isntead of the 6 of the Gen7
- eSATA is no longer available

Can you confirm this? I was thinking of replacing my Gen7 with a Gen8 but would like to keep my 6 disks running.

Correct on both counts. There is a free PCIe slot so you could add a SATA/eSATA card into that, although generally accepted wisdom on this forum is that they're of variable quality.

I also had a perfectly good experience with the Gen8 and FreeNAS, albeit with only 4 drives + an SSD in the top of the case for SLOG + USB boot. They are great value for money. I have now upgraded to something a little more roomy (12 bay 2u), partly because I found it awkward to expand the capacity of my mirrored pool without a spare bay. With 6 disks already, it might be worth looking at something with 8 bays... more expensive though.

Alternatively, keep your existing Microserver as a replication target for backup and just fill a Gen8 with bigger disks :smile:


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