HP ProLiant ML10 Gen9

[5star]

I got into FreeNAS with enthusiast hardware because I didn't think it mattered. Then I put a bunch of data that I care about onto it. Then I read the guide from @cyberjock and learned a lot. I have a pretty decked out 30GB RAM (non-ecc) i7 x58 build that I now think is going to need to go to ebay.

I am looking at this system to finally get a server CPU and some ECC RAM: https://cukusa.com/hp-proliant-ml10-gen9-tower-server-desktop.html
So, here's my question(s):

It seems to come pretty highly recommended, but as you can see on the page... as you upgrade it it doesn't say that the RAM is ECC. Does that mean it's not? Or is it implied because it's server grade?

I'm fine with spending $500 so is there much benefit to upgrading the CPU?
Do I need to buy more RAM from somewhere else to get ECC?
Is this place a legit place to buy from or is there a better recommendation?
Is the 300W powersupply good? Will this machine be really hot?
For $500 should I be looking at another machine? This will be a home NAS and I want to have a good mix of performance, but most importantly is stability and handle the 4 disk x 4TB Z2RAID well for home use.

 

[gpsguy]

It's ECC RAM.

A few of us have purchased the i3-6100 with 4GB RAM variant from TigerDirect. Depending on the week, the price runs about $169-$199 - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5038747

FreeNAS needs a minimum of 8GB RAM, so you'll have to add some. I'd buy a 16GB stick of ECC RAM to start with. If your monitor doesn't support DP, you'll need to get a dongle for video output. I bought the HP DP->VGA one.

Search the forums for a couple of threads on it.

 

[5star]

Thanks for the tiger direct link, and I was aware of the dongle, but should I plan on the RAM that comes with it being ECC?

 

[Chris Moore]

Thanks for the tiger direct link, and I was aware of the dongle, but should I plan on the RAM that comes with it being ECC?

Because the page on Tiger Direct does not say, I wouldn't count on it, but it should be ECC.

 

[Jailer]

Thanks for the tiger direct link, and I was aware of the dongle, but should I plan on the RAM that comes with it being ECC?

Yes, other users have reported that it's ECC and HP specs ECC RAM.

https://www.hpe.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c04922962.pdf

 

[Chris Moore]

Is the 300W powersupply good? Will this machine be really hot?

The included power supply is fine for up to four hard drives. The complaint that I have heard is that that is all the connections there are. If you want more drives, you will probably need splitters for power and an add-in controller card to connect the drives.

 

[gpsguy]

There are 6 onboard SATA connections. Yes, to add more drives 5 & 6 to the system, one needs a splitter for power. Not only to split it, but for the added cable length to reach the bottom two drive bays.

If you want more drives, you will probably need splitters for power and an add-in controller card to connect the drives.

Since the TigerDirect deal includes a slim DVD drive, one might need a different drive cage to hold a traditional hard disk. Yes, extra $$$'s for some of these options.

But, for someone who needs an entry level server with a couple of drives, it's a fantastic deal. The i3-6100 CPU @ Newegg costs $120 by itself.

 

[5star]

You guys have been very helpful. Thanks. So here's the shopping list:

Server: Recommended above
16GB Unbuffered ECC RAM Stick: Cheapest unbuffered ECC I could find
Dongle: Cheapest I could find
Extra drive mounting hardware + power? I have a 5th drive for FreeNAS

Total Price: $381 + possible mounting hardware

Will use 4 x 4TB HDDs + 1 Small SSD for FreeNAS (I wasn't sure what hardware I would need for the extra drive for FreeNAS) Should I move FreeNAS to a thumbdrive maybe or are there performance problems with that?

Can I use the 4GB stick that comes with the server with the 16GB stick for 20GB or is there a parity problem?

It feels weird to pay more for the RAM stick than everything else, but just let me know if there is another way of doing this better. It still seems like a great deal.

Is the power still fine for this setup?

What's the point of the optical drive? Is there a nice way to take it out and use it for HDD with a case cover plate? Is that in the box or need to be purchased separately? It seems like I could just pull it and put my SSD in there, but it might get a bit warm... Should I worry about that?

 

[BigDave]

For that server, Kingston's memory search recommends this module
that was found in stock here.

Can I use the 4GB stick that comes with the server with the 16GB stick for 20GB or is there a parity problem?

That is doubtful.

 

[gpsguy]

Optical drive - that's the way this server is preconfigured. I am actually running Server 2012 R2 on mine, but I bought thinking it might be a great budget Server for FreeNAS. Unfortunately they don't include a case cover plate to plug the hole.

You should be able to use the 4GB RAM with the new RAM. Purists will say not to mix sizes, but it's just a server - not a gaming machine.

For the dongle make sure it's an "active" version.

For your use case I would use a SSD for the boot device. It's far more reliable than a flash drive. If you didn't have any spare SATA ports, I'd recommend mirroring a pair of flash drives.

 

[5star]

For that server, Kingston's memory search recommends this module
that was found in stock here.

Thanks! Even better pricing and it's prime :)

That is doubtful.

Doubtful that I can use the stick or doubtful that it will have parity problems?

You should be able to use the 4GB RAM with the new RAM. Purists will say not to mix sizes, but it's just a server - not a gaming machine.

For the dongle make sure it's an "active" version.

For your use case I would use a SSD for the boot device. It's far more reliable than a flash drive. If you didn't have any spare SATA ports, I'd recommend mirroring a pair of flash drives.

Ok, cool. So as long as I'm not a purist doesn't mean I have to leave 4GB of RAM sitting out on the sideline :) Hopefully the purists don't laugh if it does have some sort of negative side effect.

Oh thanks for that about the dongle. I wouldn't have known about that.

Ok, so I will just pull the optical drive and put my ssd in there with a hole in the case. That should mean I don't need another HDD mounting kit or cords right? Also, do you think I'd need to work about cooling in that situation?

 

[gpsguy]

No guarantee that the two sticks of RAM will coexist, but you can try it. Download the docs for it and see what it says regarding memory configurations.

Sorry, I can't tell you if the SSD will fit as is in the ODD bay.

There's at least one build thread for this system on the forums. You might find more answers there.

One guy even went so far as transplanting the system in another case. If I needed more than 4-6 hard drives, I would buy a Supermicro X11 board.

 

[BigDave]

Doubtful that I can use the stick or doubtful that it will have parity problems?

Doubtful that you can use the sticks together and have system stability.

Hopefully the purists don't laugh if it does have some sort of negative side effect.

If it corrupts your data, I will not be anything but sorry for you :(

 

[danb35]

Doubtful that you can use the sticks together and have system stability.

Disagree here--I'd be very surprised if there were any system stability problems related to having mismatched sticks of RAM. Performance would take a slight hit, but the performance gain from the additional RAM would outweigh any loss in performance from the mismatch.

 

[5star]

I found the thread mentioned about fitting this into another case and beefing it up with more drives. It’s incredibly useful and I’m thinking it proves that this case and backbone I want to use for my situation. I’m still a little concerned about the psu size. But I think it should work ok. How will I know if my psu is underpowered?

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-hpe-proliant-ml10-gen9-freenas-server.56763/

 

[Chris Moore]

I found the thread mentioned about fitting this into another case and beefing it up with more drives. It’s incredibly useful and I’m thinking it proves that this case and backbone I want to use for my situation. I’m still a little concerned about the psu size. But I think it should work ok. How will I know if my psu is underpowered?

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-hpe-proliant-ml10-gen9-freenas-server.56763/

The PSU in the ML10 is a good 300 watt unit, the limiting factor to what you can do with it is the amount of voltage to start the drives, not the amount needed when the drives are running. I would not try to run more than six drives from that 300 watt unit, even though it is good, but I saw a youtube video on how to create an adapter to make this system board work with a standard PSU and the person making the video put the board into a rack mount chassis. It worked for them. It is a decent board, but if you had the money for it, I would just go with a Supermicro build from the start.

 

[5star]

Thanks for the feedback, Chris. Although, I ended up pulling the trigger on this from the original Computer Upgrade King link:

Once I added up the i5 upgrade for an additional $45 and getting 2 16GB sticks for the price of one (a $195 upgrade) right out of the box it just started making a ton of sense. As you can see I stayed below my $500 budget and ended up with an i5 + 32GB of RAM. I can only assume that it will be unbuffered ECC and that they are sending server grade stuff with a server or even the HP spec stuff, but if they end up not sending that I'll just have to return it and head over to the other shopping list. I feel that I got a great deal + parity + something that will work for a long time. The dongle will have to come from Amazon, but this seems to follow the logic of the previous feedback in the thread. I'll post in here as I get this going.

 

[Chris Moore]

Once I added up the i5 upgrade for an additional

i5 is a bad move in FreeNAS because it does not support ECC memory. Not all the i3 Intel CPUs do either. The upgrade path would be to a Xeon CUP

 

[5star]

It just occured to me that I don't even know what type of search term to look for to figure out how to convert my boot drive over to the new machine when I get it. I would love to have all my settings and everything port over when I switch boxes. Is that a thing? Can I just put my drives in and install via USB for the new drivers when I switch?

I realize this is probably already posted in here, but there's got to be a name for this "Switching process" and I just don't know what it's called.

 

[5star]

i5 is a bad move in FreeNAS because it does not support ECC memory. Not all the i3 Intel CPUs do either. The upgrade path would be to a Xeon CUP

Oh crud. Thanks SO MUCH for letting me know. I will figure out how to modify the order!