Cashback deal available with this product until 31st Mar 2016 (£55)
Claim an additional £25 when purchased with 3 Year Next Business Day Parts Exchange (H1RM7E) Click here to learn more
The HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 is a small, quiet, and stylishly designed server that is ideal as a first server solution for small businesses. With a form factor that is easy to use and service, it helps small businesses drive down their expenses while improving productivity, efficiency, and security. HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 comes with HP iLO4, providing access to innovations like Intelligent Provisioning for quick and simple installation and setup.
Instant out-of-box server set up and deployment
Ideal first server for a small or home office scenario using Windows Server 2012 Foundation software
Tool-less access to hard drives, memory, and PCI slots for simple installation or upgrade
Improved serviceability with features such as icon-based status display and system health status LEDs
Two up-front USB ports allow for easy deployment
New iLO Essentials license provides ability to connect media from your client device to your server and receive email alerts regarding server events
Small, quiet, energy efficient, and can be placed anywhere
Stylish blue LED light bar for at-a-glance system health status
Stackable managed switch creates clean, elegant look for networking and compute
Compatible with HP PS1810 Switch - unique chassis design for the 8-port managed switch that enables physical stacking
Cash back extended to 30th April 2016, still £55 with a purchase price of £164.99.
- Blue70
Top comments
Elevation
10 Mar 167#7
A microserver. How long do chicken nuggets take to cook in this thing?
sJohnson23 to Elevation
10 Mar 163#21
N/A but it is good at Micro Chips.
goonertillidie
10 Mar 163#2
Better server than EA :smiley:
All comments (95)
BuzzDuraband
10 Mar 16#1
Cashback deal available with this product until 31st Mar 2016 (£55)
Claim an additional £25 when purchased with 3 Year Next Business Day Parts Exchange (H1RM7E) Click here to learn more
goonertillidie
10 Mar 163#2
Better server than EA :smiley:
stevej1976
10 Mar 16#3
Tempted, im looking at making my first media nas running plex, I did fancy a Qnap but this looks a great deal.
Anyone know how well this will transcode plex.
psykix to stevej1976
10 Mar 161#5
G1610T CPU isn't great but it will do a couple of transcodes.
I added a E3-1265LV2 to mine, but that CPU is almost 3 times the price of the server!
jai47 to stevej1976
10 Mar 161#6
I know this isn't a direct response to your question - I am running Plex on the older N54L model and its flawless.
I have added a 1GB half-height graphics card and I also have 8GB of RAM.
CyDoNiA to stevej1976
10 Mar 16#8
If you are using it locally you just need a device that supports the video formats and DLNA/UPnP then transcoding isn't needed. Alternatively you can now "optimize" items in your collection for devices and so if you know you are going to be away you can optimize media for your mobile etc in advance.
a8smith to stevej1976
10 Mar 16#10
It will largely depend on what device you're serving to.
If you're talking about playing videos on something like a Roku or an Android Kodi box on your home network (e.g. bedroom tv and lounge tv) then it is very unlikely it will need to transcode because they play almost everything natively and you will have the bandwidth to not need need to compress.
If you're talking about full bluray rips to your mobile over 4g then it will have to work hard and likely struggle.
Franken to stevej1976
10 Mar 161#37
I bought this last May exactly for the same purpose. Its been running pretty much 24/7 since then with the CPU on eco mode to save even more juice and it handles transcoding without any issues at all. Didn't buy anything extra for it other than HD's obviously. You won't be disappointed.
Markgranto to stevej1976
10 Mar 16#57
as mentioend it will do ok, but have a look at this. get some extra ram etc and some hadr drives and will probably fare better.
A microserver. How long do chicken nuggets take to cook in this thing?
sJohnson23 to Elevation
10 Mar 163#21
N/A but it is good at Micro Chips.
Sp0oner
10 Mar 16#9
Such a weak cpu I wouldn't waste my money.
Dodge62 to Sp0oner
10 Mar 16#13
What would you spend your money on, then, if you wanted a compact, economical server with plenty of disk slots to do low-CPU activities?
Minstadave to Sp0oner
10 Mar 16#35
It's more than quick enough for what it's designed for - backups/media serving/file server. It's a full dual core system for £100, what more could you want?
mrew42 to Sp0oner
10 Mar 16#39
lol that's good. that's one more for those that know what they're getting
thekanester to Sp0oner
10 Mar 161#48
Don't then, but there's no reason to tell us about it.
A passmark score of 2348 makes it perfect for serving files, running as a git server and consuming little power. In fact this server is probably way more capable than what most home users would use it for.
If you're after something that'll be running 8 VMs then this is not the server for you.
dabooj
10 Mar 16#11
Is this a good system to use as a media NAS? Storing data, mainly movies and MP3s and streaming several of them to Chrome Cast & Now TV box simultaneously?
If not, could someone recommend a speedy NAS which has 2 drive storage capacity for RAID and is configurable by a mid-level user?
I have done lots of searches but I find the details very confusing regarding which is best as a media server / NAS.
Thanks.
nipstyler to dabooj
10 Mar 16#20
If you want a simple setup I would advise one of these and use a copy of windows 7. I have to admit I went for Windows home server and it was a bit of a nightmare to set up properly. However I'm glad I did in the end as I know know a lot more about setting up servers and issues with networking. Windows 7 has a pretty simple to set up software raid. Then it's all about setting up static in addresses in your router. That sorts most common communication issues. You can then use remote desktop to go into the server to make changes etc. I can control my server through the firewall on my phone when I'm travelling.
mikejbry to dabooj
10 Mar 161#66
i have the gen 8 with 4gb ram and 4 x WD Red 3TB hard drives, its running Xpenology as the OS.
It hosts all my media over my network, which I stream to a raspberry pi behind my tv.
I can access it remotely from any browser on the move via the DNS I have set up.
its a great piece of kit that I would recommend to anyone.
It's also very quiet, its on 24/7 in my lounge and I don't notice it.
modelman
10 Mar 16#12
Just out of curiosity what is the benefit of this low spec device over an old disused PC running Plex and/ or Server software?
just-me to modelman
10 Mar 161#14
Uses less power and quieter will run happily 24/7 for years :¬}
Astec123 to modelman
10 Mar 162#15
Low power usage. The old N36l and N40L models used about £40 of electricity a year with 24/7 use. There are many other advantages but this will be the primary benefit to you as they pay for themselves within a few years compared to something more power hungry. I remember someone (not sure if it was on HUKD or Reddit) wanted to use an old P4 machine as their server to stream media. I did the number crunching and it was about £90 of electricity in the first year that it would use, considering that it isn't much more to buy the microserver it quickly makes it a no brainer.
Yes, it should do the job fine but be more flexible to expand as your needs change in the future. The main downside is that unlike a NAS it will not be as quick to set up and you will need to get it working, however as you say, tinkering sounds like it wont be an issue to you.
- Size
- Power Consumption
- Potential 3yr warranty if you need it
- Noise (or lack of)
Those are the main ones.
nipstyler to modelman
10 Mar 16#18
As already stated larger fan runs slower and quieter. Doesn't run hot. My N40L has been on for about 5 years. Works a treat as a media server. On thing to make everyone aware is that these gen 8 machines require EEC ram which can be pricy. The last of the gen 7s the N54L didn't. If you want a very cheap capable server I'd look to pick up a second hand N54L which will likely have extra drives and been upgraded to 8gb of ram. They are bomb proof. Also it's a good idea to add a small ssd to the optical bay if you plan on having it wake on demand and this also frees up one of the 4 storage drive bays. The units support hardware and software raid 0 and raid 1. And as long as the latest firmware update has been put on it there is no limit of drive size. Originally they only supported 2tb drives but I have 4 4tb drives running fine in mine.
msharif911 to modelman
10 Mar 16#45
Much much more reliable. Lower power usage/noise etc. Can be stacked with an awful lot of storage and has onboard RAID too.Can boot off a USB stick. Is the be all and end all for Home Servers. I've have one for more years than I can remember, I've had VMWare running on mine and will probably turn mine into a SuperNAS once my outdates DNS320 finally dies.
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Claim an additional £25 when purchased with 3 Year Next Business Day Parts Exchange (H1RM7E) Click here to learn more
The HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 is a small, quiet, and stylishly designed server that is ideal as a first server solution for small businesses. With a form factor that is easy to use and service, it helps small businesses drive down their expenses while improving productivity, efficiency, and security. HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 comes with HP iLO4, providing access to innovations like Intelligent Provisioning for quick and simple installation and setup.
Instant out-of-box server set up and deployment
Ideal first server for a small or home office scenario using Windows Server 2012 Foundation software
Tool-less access to hard drives, memory, and PCI slots for simple installation or upgrade
Improved serviceability with features such as icon-based status display and system health status LEDs
Two up-front USB ports allow for easy deployment
New iLO Essentials license provides ability to connect media from your client device to your server and receive email alerts regarding server events
Small, quiet, energy efficient, and can be placed anywhere
Stylish blue LED light bar for at-a-glance system health status
Stackable managed switch creates clean, elegant look for networking and compute
Compatible with HP PS1810 Switch - unique chassis design for the 8-port managed switch that enables physical stacking
Cash back extended to 30th April 2016, still £55 with a purchase price of £164.99.
- Blue70
Top comments
All comments (95)
Claim an additional £25 when purchased with 3 Year Next Business Day Parts Exchange (H1RM7E) Click here to learn more
Anyone know how well this will transcode plex.
I added a E3-1265LV2 to mine, but that CPU is almost 3 times the price of the server!
I have added a 1GB half-height graphics card and I also have 8GB of RAM.
If you're talking about playing videos on something like a Roku or an Android Kodi box on your home network (e.g. bedroom tv and lounge tv) then it is very unlikely it will need to transcode because they play almost everything natively and you will have the bandwidth to not need need to compress.
If you're talking about full bluray rips to your mobile over 4g then it will have to work hard and likely struggle.
Dell PE T20 for under £100.
A passmark score of 2348 makes it perfect for serving files, running as a git server and consuming little power. In fact this server is probably way more capable than what most home users would use it for.
If you're after something that'll be running 8 VMs then this is not the server for you.
If not, could someone recommend a speedy NAS which has 2 drive storage capacity for RAID and is configurable by a mid-level user?
I have done lots of searches but I find the details very confusing regarding which is best as a media server / NAS.
Thanks.
It hosts all my media over my network, which I stream to a raspberry pi behind my tv.
I can access it remotely from any browser on the move via the DNS I have set up.
its a great piece of kit that I would recommend to anyone.
It's also very quiet, its on 24/7 in my lounge and I don't notice it.
Yes, it should do the job fine but be more flexible to expand as your needs change in the future. The main downside is that unlike a NAS it will not be as quick to set up and you will need to get it working, however as you say, tinkering sounds like it wont be an issue to you.
Some useful resources
http://www.hotukdeals.com/misc/official-hp-microserver-owners-thread-1160929
HUKD Owners thread
http://n40l.wikia.com/wiki/External_Links
Microserver Wiki
- Power Consumption
- Potential 3yr warranty if you need it
- Noise (or lack of)
Those are the main ones.