HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen 8 Color Kit Option

More Interesting MicroServer Links

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HP ProLiant N54L G7 MicroServer & Sans Digital TR4M+BNC at HSS Meet-up 2013

September 21, 2013, 3:05 am

≫ Next: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer G1610T Performance First Look

≪ Previous: HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer with HDMI Video Card at HSS Meet-up 2013

By: JohnStutsman

One of the machines that I demonstrated at the Home Server Show Meet-up 2013 was an HP ProLiant N54L MicroServer running Windows Home Server 2011 (“WHS-2011”) with a Sans Digital TR4M+BNC.

Parts List (as demonstrated at Meet-up 2013):

HP ProLiant N54L G7 MicroServer
8GB RAM: ECC 8GB KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G
BIOS-Mod
Port Multiplier Mod
Icy Dock DuoSwap MB971SP-B (plus: Molex to SATA power connector & using 2 of 4 SATA cables that came with 640L)
HighPoint Rocket 640L (for OS Drive)
OS Drive: Crucial M4 256GB SSD
OS: Windows Home Server 2011
OS Add-Ons: StableBit Scanner; StableBit DrivePool
Data Drives: Five (5) WD1500HLHX HDD’s
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 213T
Keyboard/Mouse: USB Dell Keyboard & USB MicroSoft Mouse
Sans Digital TR4M+BNC 4 Bay eSATA Port Multiplier
- Data Drives: Two (2) WL320GSA872 HDD’s & Two (2) VB0250EAVER HDD’s
Icy Dock Docking Station
- Server BackUp Drive: ST3750630AS

You can read more about how I followed Alex’s instructions to Successfully Enable Port Multiplier on MicroServer eSATA Port.

Then follow along in the video below as I demonstrate how to add 3TB HDD’s in WHS-2011 with Disk Management on a N40L MicroServer with the Sans Digital attached. During the video I also created RAID1’s with the 3TB drives in the MicroServer and the Sans Digital.

In this next video, follow me as I tear-down the Sans Digital TR4M+BNC then put it back together attaching it to the N40L, the same N40L demonstrated in the above video, and powering the whole system up.

I had been testing the N40L MicroServer and Sans Digital together for over two weeks with WHS-2011 and the add-ins StableBit Scanner & DrivePool. Then, before the Meet-up 2013 I switched my production and test WHS-2011’s on the N54L and N40L respectively, much like I did in Moving My Windows Home Server 2011 to the HP ProLiant N54L G7 MicroServer, but in reverse, enabling me to bring the N54L to the Meet-up 2013 to demonstrate with the Sans Digital TR4M+BNC. After the Meet-up 2013, I will restore the production and test WHS-2011’s to their proper MicroServer’s.

Many thanks to “Alex” for his excellent posting on how to enable the port multiplier on the MicroServer.

Please join us in the HSS Forums with comments on the above and other threads.

References:

MicroServer hardware Links

ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Links Message #8

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HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer G1610T Performance First Look

December 8, 2013, 1:37 pm

≫ Next: The Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer First Look

≪ Previous: HP ProLiant N54L G7 MicroServer & Sans Digital TR4M+BNC at HSS Meet-up 2013

By: John Stutsman

Figure 1 — My G1610T HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer with External DVD Drive Attached – Note: Power draw on meter is 35.8 Watts

Until recently, the relative performance ranking of the Celeron G1610T in the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer had been unavailable for our analyses.

The purpose of this report is to update previous reports (included in the References at the end of this posting) where I used PassMark CPU index scores to compare the performance for a variety of devices including the HP MediaSmart series, the earlier MicroServer series (N36L, N40L, & N54L) and the new Gen8 — plus many confirmed as well as potential CPU replacements for the Gen8.

With an average CPU PassMark score of 2,324 (based on 3 reports) the G1610T scores 66% over the performance of the N54L that was in the previous generation MicroServer. The CPU PassMark on my G1610T MicroServer was significantly higher.

Table 1 — Comparison of CPU PassMark Performance Indices

When I ran the PassMark test suite on my G1610T HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer it scored a CPU Mark of 2,476 and overall rating of 265.

My system configuration:

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Celeron G1610T
16GB RAM – Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G (this RAM had previously been in my N40L MicroServer)
OS Drive: HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX (the physical drives were attached to SATAIII [6Gbps] Ports 0 & 1)
OS: Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard
Fans are running about 6% (information provided by iLO) — see Figure 2 for Temperature Distribution

Figure 2 — Temperature Information (iLO4 ProLiant MicroServer Gen8)

You can find my PassMark system summary, with an overall system rating of 265, at PassMark loaded here: http://www.passmark.com/baselines/V8/display.php?id=16737660989

Figure 3 — PassMark Disk Speed – Reading

Figure 4 – PassMark Disk Speed – Writing

Figure 5 — ATTO Disk Read/Write Performance

Overall, I’m very pleased with the performance of this MicroServer. It is noticeably “snappier” than my N54L plus it has the potential to upgrade the CPU for even greater performance. The iLO is a pleasure to work with and contains an extensive set of tools for self-testing the MicroServer’s hardware.

Just for Fun

A week earlier, while testing the G1610T MicroServer just to see how things worked, I loaded Windows Server 2012 R2 Data Center onto the G1610T HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer with two Corsair 60GB SSD’s in RAID0 for the OS drive and achieved some astounding ATTO Performance:

Figure 6 — ATTO Disk Read/Write Performance — Just for fun

This looks like something to dig deeper in a future blog posting.

Questions?

Join us in the HSS Forums with any questions and/or comments on the above and other threads.

References

Performance Comparison of Rumored HP ProLiant G8 MicroServer CPU’s G630T & G530T

HP ProLiant MicroServer CPU Performance Index Comparisons

Performance Measurement of the HP ProLiant N40L and N54L G7 MicroServer and Other NAS Devices

HP MS G8 2.5” drive bracket prototype

↧

The Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer First Look

December 16, 2013, 7:00 am

≫ Next: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Xeon E3-1265LV2 CPU Upgrade

≪ Previous: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer G1610T Performance First Look

By: John Stutsman

Not long ago, Schoondoggy asked a few of us to beta test preproduction versions of his drive mount bracket for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer. Except for the placement of the holes to attach the Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount (“SGDM”) to the PSU – which was easily fixed with my Dremel – the SGDM is perfect in design simplicity coupled with high flexibility. With the SGDM I could mount two 2.5” drives (like VelociRaptors or the 2.5” WD Red’s), or 2.5” SSD’s, or a single thin 3.5” drive – all the while still leaving the ODD bay open for the Optical Disk Drive or one or two SSD’s! I can disconnect the drive cage SAS cable and attach a SFF-8087 to the system board giving me two SATA III ports (SATA cables 1 & 2 off the SFF-8087) and two SATA II ports (SATA cables 3 & 4 off the SFF-8087) all controlled by the HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID Controller. The now free HP SAS cable to the drive cage could be attached to an add-in card (such as an HP P222) providing functionality for four 3.5” drives in the drive cage.

The HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer is a fun machine to work with — but the SGDM takes it to a whole new level! Thanks Schoondoggy! In my opinion, if you have a Gen8 MicroServer — you are going to want a Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount.

Background

In early August, 2013, Schoondoggy announced in the HSS Forums that he had a prototype of a drive mounting bracket to enable him to mount two additional 2.5” drives in the recently introduced HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer. Many on the Forums were encouraged by Schoondoggy’s efforts to refine his design and bring his bracket to production. His idea would enable the option of two drives within the Gen8 case in addition to the main 4 drive bay and the ODD.

Figure 1 — Schoondoggy’s Prototype Drive Bracket for Gen8 MicroServer from HSS Forums

At the Home Server Show Meetup 2013 Schoondoggy displayed his HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer prototype drive mounting bracket and I was amazed to see how he had fit the additional drives in the available space and came up with a cooling solution. This was one of the highlights of the Meetup for me and I took several pictures of Schoondoggy’s display which are included in the MeetUp 2013 Wrap Up Photos section.

Figure 2 — Schoondoggy’s Gen8 MicroServer Prototype Drive Bracket at MeetUp 2013

Beta Test Preproduction Copy – Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount

Recently, Schoondoggy sent me a Best Test Copy of what I’ve decided to call in this write-up the Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount (“SGDM”). I will now address my unboxing, installation, and testing of the SGDM.

Unboxing

Figure 3 — The SGDM Unboxed and displayed next to HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

The SGDM unboxing is recorded in the following video:

Figure 4 — The Two Arrows show the Location to use the 2 Longer, Supplied, Screws to Attach the SGDM to the Gen8 MicroServer PSU

Figure 5 — SGDM Attached to Gen8 MicroServer without Drives

Figure 6 — Location of Mounting Holes for 2.5″ Drives/SSDs

Figure 7 — Location of Mounting Holes for Thin 3.5″ Drive

Figure 8 — Additional Parts Needed: 8 Drive/SSD screws & 8 Neoprene washers

Additional Parts Needed:

8 — 2.5” Drive/SSD Mounting Screws (if mounting a 3.5” drive only 2 screws are necessary)
8 – Insulated (Rubber or Neoprene) washers – I used 3/8” OD w 5/32” ID

Figure 9 — Back of SGDM with 8 Drive Mount Holes Counter Sunk

Figure 10 — Bit used to Counter Sink Drive Mount Holes — work slowly and carefully and check often if hole is counter sunk enough

Mounting 2.5” VelociRaptors (without Ice-Pack) to the SGDM and attaching the SGDM to the MicroServer

Mounting Two 2.5” VelociRaptors is shown in the following video:

Figure 11 — Note the Air Gap Created by using the Insulated Washers between the SGDM and the 2.5” drive (VelociRaptor in this case) — Air Flow from the Blower in this Air Gap will help cool the VelociRaptor (Note that the screw holes to mount the drives to the SGDM have not been counter sunk yet in this photo)

Figure 12 — 2.5″ VelociRaptors attached to SGDM and screws have been counter sunk

Figure 13 — The only Modification that was necessary on the SGDM was to use a Dremel to grind out the PSU Attachment holes towards the end of the tab to line up with the PSU mounting bracket holes — future production units will have this corrected

Mounting 2.5” SSD’s to the SGDM

Mounting Two 2.5” SSD’s is shown in the following video:

Mounting 3.5” Thin Hard Drive to the SGDM

One 3.5” Thin Hard Drive can be mounted to the SGDM as shown in the following video:

Power & Data Connection for Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount (“SGDM”)

Parts Used:

1 Athena Power Cable-YPHD 8” Molex Y Splitted Power Cable
1 Nippon Labs SATA Adapter Molex 4-Pin PC Power Cable to 2 x SATA Converter Cables for SATA 1 and SATA II Hard Drive Model POW-SATA-2
1 4-Pin Molex to 4-Pin Molex & 2-wire Fan Power Adaptor (I have several of these that were included with my HAF & Lian-Li cases over the years – this is the first time I got to use one)
2 Male 22awg quick connector (over kill for this build but I had these in my parts box – I had gotten them at Menard’s some time ago – the best way would have been to attach a fan connector to the SGDM Blower and then just plug it in)
2 Female 22awg quick connector (over kill for this build but I had these in my parts box – I had gotten them at Menard’s some time ago – the best way would have been to attach a fan connector to the SGDM Blower and then just plug it in)
1 Black electrical tape (I had this in my parts box)
1 Red electrical tape (I had this in my parts box)
1 Package Heavy Duty Velcro (picked up at Menards)
1 StarTech Model SAS8087S450 19” (50cm) Serial Attached SCSI Cable – SFF-8087 to 4x Latching SATA

Figure 14 — Parts for Connecting Power to Drives on SGDM

Steps:

1. Review the material on page 46 of the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Server Maintenance and Service Guide.

Figure 15 — Page 46 of the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Server Maintenance and Service Guide

2. Disconnect the 4 pin Molex connector from the PSU to the power cable underneath the ODD area frame.

Figure 16 — the 4 pin Molex connector underneath the ODD area frame has been disconnected in this picture

3. Between the now open connections attach a 4 pin Molex Y connector – Attach terminals A and B shown in Figure 14 above.

Figure 17 — See Figure 14 above and attach terminal A and B

4. On the extra free 4 pin Molex connection attach a 4 pin Molex to Molex pass through connection with a 2 wire Fan auxiliary connector.

Figure 18 — See also Figure 14 above on how this connected

5. On the free 4 pin Molex connection attach a 4 pin Molex Y to 2 SATA Power connectors

Figure 19 — See also Figure 14 above on how this is connected

6. Attach the SATA Power connectors to the drives attached to the SGDM

Figure 20 — In Figure 14 above the SATA Power Connectors are labeled Terminals C & D

7. Remove the Fan auxiliary connector (on 4 above) and attach 2 quick connect on the wires

Figure 21 — in Figure 14 above the fan connector is labeled Terminal E

Figure 22 — These are the connectors I used to attached the fan

Figure 23 — Two connectors have been attached

8. Attach 2 quick connect on the wires on the SGDM blower

Figure 24 — Two Connectors have been attached to the Fan cables

9. Place heavy duty Velcro on the frame to secure the aux blower

Figure 25 — Measuring for length to cut Velcro too — Velcro shown in Figure 14 and Next Figure

Figure 26 — Heavy Duty Velcro used to attach Fan to MicroServer Frame

Figure 27 — Velcro cut to size of Frame Attachment

Figure 28 — Velcro Attached to Frame

10. Attach the Quick Connects from the SGDM blower (see 8 above) to 7 above – be sure to match the wire color codes. Use electrical tape to cover the exposed connections.

Figure 29 — Blower attached to Power via connectors and wrapped with electrical tape

11. Position the SGDM blower. Secure to the Velcro.

Figure 30 — Blower attached and positioned ot optimize around Drives and across side of PSU

12. Disconnect the SAS fan out cable that goes to drive cage from System Board

Figure 31 — HP SAS cable to Drive Cage SATA Ports to be disconnected from System Board

13. Attach SFF-8087 to System Board

Figure 32 — SFF-8087 to be attached to System Board where HP SAS cable had been attached

Figure 33 — SFF-8087 Attached to System Board

14. Attach SATA 1 & 2 from SFF-8087 to Drives on SGDM

Figure 34 — SATA cables 1 & 2 from SFF-8087 attached to Drives on SGDM — Note that these are the two SATA III (6Gbps) Ports from the System Board and are controllable from the HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID Controller

Tidy up the wiring and close the cover.

iLO Stats

Figure 35 — Temperature Graph via iLO with cover off and system up for several days

Figure 36 — Temperature Graph via iLO – same as Figure 35 above except with Cover On.

Figure 37 — iLO information on the two VelociRaptors attached to the SGDM in RAID0 for the OS Drive for Windows Server 2012

Figure 38 — Windows Server 2012 installed with HP Intelligent Provisioning on HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

My System Configuration As-Built:

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Celeron G1610T
16GB RAM – Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G
OS Drive: HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
OS: Windows Server 2012 Standard
Beta: Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount (plus parts listed above to provide power and data to drives on the SGDM)

Figure 39 — Loading Windows Server 2012 using Intelligent Provisioning

Overall, I’m very pleased with the performance of the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer with the Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount. I am planning many more tests in the future using the SGDM in my Gen8 MicroServer.

Questions?

Join us in the HSS Forums with any questions and/or comments on the above and other threads.

References

Meetup 2013 & Meetup 2013 Wrap UP

HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Links

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn2DhE-6J02RpMF4bJDh-m-y8GlDi1WOO

↧

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Xeon E3-1265LV2 CPU Upgrade

January 21, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Lapping the CPU Heat Sink

≪ Previous: The Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer First Look

By: John Stutsman

Figure 1 — My Intel Zeon E3-1265LV2 shortly after it arrived and before it was installed in place of the Celeron G1610T in my HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

When the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServers were introduced my attention was caught by the LGA1155 Intel Socket for the Gen8’s CPU offering the potential of upgrading the processor.

In a number of threads in the HomeServerShow/Forums we speculated on the compatibility of CPU’s and later we noted those that had been successfully used as an upgrade in the Gen8 MicroServers. During that discussion I started thinking seriously about the Xeon E3-1265LV2 – its 45W TDP was higher than the 35W of the G1610T & G2020T but I believed that was manageable while jumping from two to four cores with 8 hyper-threads was exciting to have such power in that little box. Sometime after unboxing my HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Celeron G1610T I decided if I could find a Xeon E3-1265LV2 for under $300 I’d jump on it – with Lone Wolf’s help I found one well below that price on eBay.

Table 1 shows the relative performance of the Celeron G1610T and the Xeon E3-1265LV2 to each other as well as to other CPU’s used in the Gen8 and earlier MicroServers.

Table 1 — Comparison of CPU PassMark Performance Indecies

To change out the CPU of the Gen8 MicroServer the best resource begins with the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Maintenance and Service Guide that is included on the DVD with the MicroServer. The Removal and Replacement Procedures begin on page 21 and that entire section should be a must read for every MicroServer owner. What I really like about the Removal and Replacement Procedures is that I can use it as a step-by-step check list as the work proceeds. To change out the CPU we will need the Removal and Replacement Procedures for:

System Board Assembly – pp. 28-30
Heat Sink – pp. 49-51
Processor – pp. 51-53

Additionally, before beginning any work on the MicroServer go to the HP Customer Self Repair Services Media Library – Media Selection Page. Under 1. Product Category SELECT Servers. Under 2. Product Family SELECT HP ProLiant MicroServer. Under 3 Product Series SELECT HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8. When you make your final selection that page will look like Figure 2 below.

Figure 2 — HP Customer Self Repair Services Media Library — Media Selection => The place to start before doing any work on the MicroServer

After making your selection illustrated in Figure 2 => hit RETURN and you will go to the Remove/Replace Videos selection menu shown in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3 — HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Maintenance Videos => IMHO, MUST VIEW before any MicroServer Maintenance

The video Removal and Replacement Procedures should be a must view for every MicroServer owner. Before replacing the CPU be sure to review, at a minimum, the videos:

System Board Assembly
Heat Sink
Processor
As well as the Precautions, Tools and materials, Preparation procedures, and System battery considerations.

Material Requirements for changing out the CPU that I followed

HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Maintenance and Service Guide removal and replacement procedures for: System Board Assembly, Heat Sink, and Processor
Review HP Customer Self Repair Services Media Library Videos on: System Board Assembly, Heat Sink, and Processor as well as Precautions, Tools and Materials, Preparation procedures and System Battery Considerations.
Arctic Silver Arcticlean Thermal Material Remover and Surface Purifier CAN-60ML
Arctic Silver 5
Q-Tips
Coffee Filters
Old Credit Card or similar plastic Card
Arctic Silver Thermal Compound Application Method – Vertical Line
Xeon E3-1265LV2
Torex T-15 (a T-15 and T-10 is also available inside the MicroServer Service door)

Installation of the Xeon begins with the unboxing

Installation Pictures

NOTE: To make your rebuild easier — Be sure to take pictures of all cable placement and connections before disconnecting or removing anything!

Figure 4 — Picture recording wire placement before disconnecting wires and cables to remove system board – note the placement of the SFF-8087 in the System Board SAS connector attached to the VelociRaptors mounted on the Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount (“SGDM”)

Figure 5 — Picture recording wire placement before disconnecting wires and cables to remove system board

Figure 6 — Cables and wires disconnected and set out of the way — note that the SFF-8087 that was attached to the SGDM has been completely removed and the SATA power Connectors to the SGDM have been disconnected to provide better clearance

Figure 7 — Sensor Connector disconnected

Figure 8 — Fan Connector Disconnected

Figure 9 — System Board Assembly partially removed from MicroServer

Figure 10 — System Board Assembly completely removed from MicroServer

Figure 11 — Heat Sink removed from System Board Assembly exposing Celeron G1610T CPU — Note Xeon E3-1265LV2 is in Anti-Static bag on Right

Figure 12 — Thermal Material was only partially on Celeron G1610T CPU Top and Bottom

Figure 13 — Thermal Paste pattern on Celeron G1610T is duplicated on Heat Sink

Figure 14 — Using old Newegg Rewards Card to scrape old thermal material from Heat Sink (Q-Tips were also used to clean off thermal material) – thermal material was also removed from the Celeron G1610T.

Figure 15 — Heat Sink was cleaned with ArcticClean Thermal Material Remover and coffee filters — Celeron G1610T was also cleaned (even though the Celeron G1610T was being removed I felt it was important to clean it now and when I removed it I’d store it in a clean condition)

Figure 16 — Heat Sink was then cleaned with ArctiClean Thermal Surface Purifier and coffee filters — Celeron G1610T was also cleaned

Figure 17 — Heat Sink was Tinted per Arctic Silver Instructions using a plastic card and coffee filters — see Arctic Silver Instructions

Figure 18 — Celeron G1610T was removed and replaced by Xeon E3-1265LV2. The Xeon was then cleaned with ArctiClean 1 (Thermal Material Remover) & 2 (Thermal Surface Purifier)

Figure 19 — Applying Arctic Silver 5 in X pattern based on Puget Systems Thermal Paste Application Techniques used in Zalman Replacement on GA-X58A-UD3H — see references

The HP Removal and Replacement Procedures recommended on page 53 of the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Maintenance and Service Guide that the thermal paste be applied in a 5 dot pattern. Based on the Puget Systems Thermal Paste Application Techniques and the performance improvement I saw using the X pattern with an i7-930 I chose to try the X pattern on the Xeon E3-1265LV2 as illustrated in Figure 19.

Figure 20 — Heat Sink installed and System Board Assembly ready to insert into MicroServer

Figure 21 — Xeon E3-1265LV2 is seen by the System during Posting

Figure 22 — System Information shows Xeon E3-1265LV2 installed

PassMark Performance tests of the Xeon

When I ran the PassMark tests on the MicroServer the Xeon E3-1265LV2 gave me a CPU Mark of 8142.

The CPU BenchMark for the Xeon E3-1265LV2 that represents a combination of the scores submitted to PassMark can be found at CPUBenchMark.net.

OS Drive C: Performance Tests

Figure 23 — PassMark Disk Speed Reading

Figure 24 — PassMark Disk Speed Writing

Figure 25 — HD Tune Pro 5.50 BenchMark on 300GB Logical Volume C:

Figure 26 — Drive C: Crystal Disk Mark Performance

Testing of temperatures under heavy load, and remediation actions taken, will be discussed in a subsequent report.

My system configuration As-Built:

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2
16GB RAM – Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G (this RAM had previously been in my N40L MicroServer)
Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount (“SGDM”)
OS Drive: HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX (the physical drives were attached to SATAIII [6Gbps] Ports 0 & 1 and are SGDM mounted)
OS: Windows Server 2012 Standard
iLO 4 Advanced

Figure 27 — As-Built: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2 – Note power draw on meter is 42.7W

Questions?

If you want to learn more about the Gen8 MicroServer a good place to start is ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Links and the MicroServer SubForum of the HSS Forums where you are welcomed to join us with any questions and/or comments on the above and other threads. Be sure to check out the References at the end of this post.

References

Intel Compare Xeon E3-1265LV2 and Celeron G1610T

HP MicroServer Gen8 Processor FAQ

ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Links Message #8

The Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer First Look

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer G1610T Performance First Look

Arctic Silver Thermal Compound Application Method – Vertical Line

References I referred to about thermal compound use

Puget Systems Thermal Paste Application Techniques

Updating a Gigabyte X58A-UD3H and Unboxing a Zalman CNPS9900 MAX (Blue) CPU Cooler

Repurposing an Acer Aspire Revo AR3610-U9022 Net-Top with a SSD and Windows 8

Updating a Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H and i7-3770 in a PC-KW9X with a Zalman CPU Cooler

↧

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Lapping the CPU Heat Sink

January 27, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: SGDM-SDM Pre-Production Review: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

≪ Previous: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Xeon E3-1265LV2 CPU Upgrade

By: John Stutsman

Figure 1 – Lapped CPU Heat Sink set to reflect the Intel Zeon E3-1265LV2 and other parts on the System Board of HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

At the completion of HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Xeon E3-1265LV2 Upgrade I had completed the upgrade and successfully powered on my Gen8 MicroServer.

Figure 2 — System information showing CPU upgrade to Xeon E3-1265LV2

Afterwards I did some testing of core temperatures using iLO and Open Hardware Monitor. When heavily loaded with Prime95 I found it alarming that the core temperatures would rise steadily to about 85 degrees C in Open Hardware Monitor. The system fan speeds (the fan had been set to Optimal Cooling in BIOS) would also rise steadily from 6% to 21% where the temperature rise was arrested with iLO CPU temps of 60C.

Figure 3 — Open Hardware Monitor showing individual Core Temperatures of CPU Cores as well as other useful data.

I became concerned about the pattern of the thermal paste on the CPU (Celeron G1610T) and the CPU heat-sink when I first disassembled the MicroServer in HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Xeon E3-1265LV2 CPU Upgrade and posted my concerns in Anyone Who Has Changed the Heat Sink on a Gen8 MicroServer.

I decided to again pull the System Board Assembly and check the thermal paste and CPU heat sink. In particular I wanted to check to see if the face of the CPU Heat Sink was flat.

I used all of the procedures and steps outlined in HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Xeon E3-1265LV2 CPU Upgrade plus the additional preparations listed below to check the Heat Sink for flatness and for lapping the Heat Sink.

Preparation

Have handy and review Removal and Replacement Procedures beginning on page 21 of the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Maintenance and Service Guide and especially review the sections:

System Board Assembly on pages 28-30,
Heat Sink on pages 49-51, and (if you plan to replace the CPU)
Processor on pages 51-53

Go to HP Customer Self Repair Services Media Library – Media Selection Page. Under 1. Product Category SELECT Servers. Under 2. Product Family SELECT HP ProLiant MicroServer. Under 3 Product Series SELECT HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8. Hit RETURN to go to the Remove/Replace Videos selection menu. Watch HP’s

System Board Assembly Remove/Replace Video
Heat Sink Remove/Replace Video, and (if you plan to replace the CPU)
Processor Remove/Replace Video

Review blog post HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Xeon E3-1265LV2 CPU Upgrade at http://homeservershow.com/
For Cleaning the Heat Sink & CPU:

Arctic Silver Arcticlean Thermal Material Remover and Surface Purifier CAN-60ML
Arctic Silver 5 (needed later when replacing the Heat Sink)
Q-Tips
Coffee Filters
Old Credit Card or similar plastic Card
- To scrape off excess thermal material during removal
- To spread thermal material around with during “tinting” of CPU Heat Sink
Arctic Silver Thermal Compound Application Method – Vertical Line (White Paper from Arctic Silver – download the PDF and keep as a permanent reference)

For Checking the Heat Sink Face for Flatness

Metal Straight Edge (Clean the straight edge before touching the Heat Sink with it – use both sides of the straight edge to be sure the straight edge is “straight”)
Light Source

For Lapping the Heat Sink Face

See/Review: How To Lap a Heat Sink at http://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/lapping/
See/Review “Klips” posts in thread: E5200 Lapping? Anyone Tried It? At http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7531
12” x 10” piece of glass (available at Menards) and painters tape to attach sandpaper to glass
Liquid soap (borrowed from kitchen)
Sandpaper, wet/dry type, starting at 400 grit, 800, 1000, 1500, & 2000. If you want you could add 600, 1200, & 2500 to that mix. Start with 400 and when Face is Flat THEN work your way up to achieve a mirror finish.

For Cleaning & Installing the Heat Sink & CPU:

Arctic Silver Arcticlean Thermal Material Remover and Surface Purifier CAN-60ML
Arctic Silver 5
Q-Tips
Coffee Filters
Old Credit Card or similar plastic Card
- To scrape off excess thermal material during removal
- To spread thermal material around with during “tinting” of CPU Heat Sink
Arctic Silver Thermal Compound Application Method – Vertical Line (White Paper from Arctic Silver – download the PDF and keep as a permanent reference)

Figure 4 — Cables disconnected from System Board Assembly before removal

In this Video (Video 1: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer System Board Assembly Removal) I remove the System Board Assembly:

Figure 5 — Preparing to Remove the Heat Sink from the CPU (Xeon E3-1265LV2)

In this Video (Video 2: CPU Heat Sink Removal: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer) I removed the CPU Heat Sink:

Figure 6 — Preparing to Clean the Heat Sink & CPU then test the Face of the Heat Sink for Flatness

In this Video (Video 3: Clean Heat Sink & CPU: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer) I clean thermal material off of the Heat Sink & CPU, then I confirmed that the face of the CPU Heat Sink was not flat:

Figure 7 — By lifting the Heat Sink up and looking along the face of the Heat Sink with the metal Straight Edge across the Heat Sink and the overhead lights behind the Straight Edge and Heat Sink I confirmed that the Heat Sink face was NOT flat. See Figure 8 & Video 3.

Figure 8 — By lifting the Heat Sink up and looking along the face of the Heat Sink with the metal Straight Edge across the Heat Sink and the overhead lights behind the Straight Edge and Heat Sink I confirmed that the Heat Sink face was NOT flat. See Figure 7 & Video 3.

Figure 9 — Preparing to Lap the Heat Sink using wet/dry sandpaper

Figure 10 — 12″ X 10″ piece of glass to be used as base for the Sandpaper during lapping

Figure 11 — Mirror finish on Heat Sink after Lapping

In this Video (Video 4: Lapping the Heat Sink: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer) I will begin Lapping the CPU Heat Sink:

Figure 12 — Preparing to install the Lapped Heat Sink

Figure 13 — Arctic Silver 5 applied to Xeon E3-1265LV2 and Heat Sink face reflecting System Board components

Figure 14 — Another view of System Board and CPU with Thermal material applied

In this Video (Video 5: Install Heat Sink: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer) I INTSALL my Lapped CPU Heat Sink:

Figure 15 — Preparing to install the System Board Assembly & Power-Up

In this Video (Video 6: Install System Board Assembly: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer) I Install my System Board Assembly & Power-Up my Gen8 MicroServer:

Figure 16 — 7 Day (168 hours) break-in run with Fans set in BIOS to “Increased Cooling” resulting in fan speeds from 36% to 41% during that period.

Additional testing of temperatures under heavy load will be discussed in a subsequent report.

Conclusion

I removed and tested the CPU Heat Sink from my Gen8 MicroServer and found that it was not flat. I then lapped the Heat Sink until it was flat and reassembled my Gen8 MicroServer. I’ve allowed it run at different power levels during the 200 hour break-in period for Arctic Silver 5, after which, I will do some additional temperature testing and response to heavy loads.

My system configuration As-Built:

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2
16GB RAM – Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G (this RAM had previously been in my N40L MicroServer)
OS Drive: HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX (the physical drives were attached to SATAIII [6Gbps] Ports 0 & 1 and are SGDM mounted)
OS: Windows Server 2012 Standard
iLO 4 Advanced

Figure 17 — As-Built: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2

Questions?

If you want to learn more about the Gen8 MicroServer a good place to start is ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Links and the MicroServer Forum and MicroServer Gen8 Sub-Forum of the HSS Forums where you are welcomed to join us with any questions and/or comments on the above and other threads. Be sure to check out the References at the end of this post.

References

Xeon E3-1265LV2 Upgrade in HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

MicroServer Gen8 Sub-Forum

Anyone Who Has Changed the Heat Sink on a Gen8 MicroServer

The Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer First Look

MicroServer Forum

Arctic Silver Thermal Compound Application Method – Vertical Line

References I referred to about thermal compound use

Puget Systems Thermal Paste Application Techniques

Updating a Gigabyte X58A-UD3H and Unboxing a Zalman CNPS9900 MAX (Blue) CPU Cooler

Repurposing an Acer Aspire Revo AR3610-U9022 Net-Top with a SSD and Windows 8

Updating a Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H and i7-3770 in a PC-KW9X with a Zalman CPU Cooler

↧

SGDM-SDM Pre-Production Review: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

February 3, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: HP’s New Rules to Access Firmware & Driver Downloads

≪ Previous: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer: Lapping the CPU Heat Sink

By: JohnStutsman

I had the good fortune to test out Schoondoggy’s Pre-Production version of his SDM (Schoondoggy Drive Mount) that can be used to mount two additional 2.5” drives or one 3.5” drive inside the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer next to the PSU. I have reviewed the Beta Test version of the SGDM (Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount) in The Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer First Look last December, 2013.

I was convinced that the Beta SGDM was as nearly perfect as could be achieved but Schoondoggy proved me wrong by making 4 significant improvements that he incorporated into the Pre-Production version of the SDM:

Tabs have been lengthened
Tabs have been move down slightly to move the top of the SGDM/SDM to the Gen8 frame
Screw slots in Tabs have been lengthened to allow for adjustment of SGDM/SDM placement next to the PSU
Drive holes have been countersink

Read about it and check out the pictures at (message #70 in the Home Server Show Forums thread HP MS G8 2.5″ Drive Bracket Prototype):

http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/5960-hp-ms-g8-25-drive-bracket-prototype/?p=76824

The As-Built for my Gen8:

Machine

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2
16GB ECC RAM (Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16)
OS: Windows Server 2012 Std
OS Drive: OS Drive: HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Pre-Production: Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount

Questions?

Join us in the HSS Forums with any questions and/or comments on the above and other threads.

References

The Schoondoggy Gen8 Drive Mount for the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer First Look

HP MS G8 2.5” drive bracket prototype

HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Links

Gen8 MicroServer Forum

MicroServer Forum

HP’s New Rules to Access Firmware & Driver Downloads

↧

HP’s New Rules to Access Firmware & Driver Downloads

February 10, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: HP ProLiant MicroServer BIOS Flash with SP64420

≪ Previous: SGDM-SDM Pre-Production Review: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

By: John Stutsman

HP has announced a new policy for Firmware Update Access for HP ProLiant Servers.

HP Vice President Mary McCoy explained last Friday (2/7/2014) in Customers for Life the new policy:

This week, HP announced that effective February 19, 2014, we will provide firmware updates through the HP Support Center only to customers with a valid warranty, Care Pack Service or support agreement.

This decision reinforces our goal to provide access to the latest HP firmware, which is valuable intellectual property, for our customers who have chosen to maximize and protect their IT investments. We know this is a change from how we’ve done business in the past; however, this aligns with industry best practices and is the right decision for our customers and partners.

Our customers under warranty or support coverage will not need to pay for firmware access, and we are in no way trying to force customers into purchasing extended coverage. That is, and always will be, a customer’s choice.

At the end of the day, we want you to know that you can continue to count on HP. And we will continue to provide an easily accessible way for our customers to download firmware updates. Our intention is to offer differentiated and long-term value in the products and services we provide. ….

Please join us in the HSS Forums posting HP’s New Rules to Access Firmware and Driver Downloads for additional information and updates as they become available as well as actions you may take to best make your constructive opinions and feelings known to HP.

↧

HP ProLiant MicroServer BIOS Flash with SP64420

February 17, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: HP P222/512 FBWC Unboxing/Installation HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

≪ Previous: HP’s New Rules to Access Firmware & Driver Downloads

By: John Stutsman

Figure 1 — C: Prompt after the new BIOS has Successfully Flashed (SP64420 2013.10.01 (A) (15 NOV 2013))

A year ago in HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer Build and BIOS Modification Revisited I wrote about some of the things I learned in flashing my MicroServer BIOS with the modified BIOS from BIOS-MODS and different ways I had built-out my MicroServers.

Last fall HP release a new BIOS (System ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade 2013.10.01 (A) (15 NOV 2013) (Download File: SP64420.exe) for HP ProLiant MicroServer) to address problems with installing Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials on the HP ProLiant MicroServer. This new BIOS also addressed some problems seen with the installation of Windows 8.1 on the HP ProLiant MicroServer.

= = = = = =

HP N40L ProLiant MicroServer

The HP N40L ProLiant MicroServer’s I purchased came with 2GB of RAM, a 250GB Seagate HDD, and a 150W power supply. One was part of a combo package that included Windows Home Server 2011.

System Configuration

Before I flashed the new BIOS from SP64420 my HP N40L ProLiant MicroServer was configured:

Computer Name: Defiant

HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer – BIOS-MOD 2011.07.29 (25 AUG 2011) SP54344
4GB ECC RAM
OS: Windows 8 Pro
OS Drive: System Board Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Data Drive: Software RAID1 made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Rocket 640L
Icy Dock DuoSwap MB971SP-B – both ports attached to Rocket 640L SATA III (6Gbps) – no drives were in the DuoSwap

Flashing the BIOS

Caution: This isn’t a project for the inexperienced or faint of heart because you may easily destroy or brick your entire system. Proceed with the steps in the following Video & reference links at your own risk.

At HP’s webpage, Systems ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for HP ProLiant MicroServer (For USB Key-Media), download the file SP64420.exe to your laptop or desktop and follow HP’s instructions to create a USB that can flash your BIOS.

HP Installation Instructions (changes made to improve clarity (at least from my viewpoint), check the WEB Page above for the full text):

USB Key – HPQUSB.exe is a Windows-based utility to locally partition, format and copy necessary files to a USB flash media device (“USB Key”) through the Windows environment. The created USB Key is made bootable and ready to locally restore and/or update the firmware (“BIOS”) on the system.

Obtain a formatted USB Key.
Download the SoftPaq to a directory on a Microsoft Windows system and change to that directory.
From that drive and directory, execute the downloaded SoftPaq file: Simply double click on the SP64420.exe file and follow the installation wizard to complete the SoftPaq installation process. At the end of a successful installation of the SoftPaq a web page will automatically appear to provide you with a link to create a USB Key – alternatively, after the successful installation of the SoftPaq you could change to the directory the SoftPaq was installed to (default is C:\SWSetup\SP64420) and either execute start.htm in that directory or HPQUSB.exe in either C:\SWSetup\SP64420\Flat Files or C:\SWSetup\SP64420\USB Key directories.
Insert this USB Key into the USB Key port of the system to be updated and power the system on to boot to the USB Key.

Caution: DO NOT power down the MicroServer before you see the C: prompt.

Video 1: BIOS Upgrade for HP ProLiant N40L/N54L G7 MicroServer

After you’ve powered down the MicroServer then power it back up (or simply hit Cntl-Alt-Del to restart the MicroServer) and hit the F10 Key to get into the BIOS and confirm the new BIOS Version.

As I stated in the video, I created multiple USB Keys at the same time – partly to illustrate that some USB Keys will not work and by creating multiple Keys if one didn’t work, for any reason, I had alternatives available that I could turn to without having to run HPQUSB.exe again.

Figure 2 — The two USB Keys on the left did not work while the three Keys on the right did work in Flashing the BIOS – the USB Key on the far right I have labeled SP64420 and will save it for future use in my MicroServers while the other 4 USB Keys I will format and use elsewhere.

Conclusion

After I flashed the new BIOS from SP64420 to my HP N40L ProLiant MicroServer I successfully updated my OS from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 8.1 Pro and my configuration was then:

Computer Name: Defiant

HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer – BIOS 2013.10.01(A) (15 NOV 2013) SP64420
4GB ECC RAM
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro
OS Drive: System Board Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Data Drive: Software RAID1 made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Rocket 640L
Icy Dock DuoSwap MB971SP-B – both ports attached to Rocket 640L SATA III (6Gbps) – no drives were in the DuoSwap

Later, I started a project on another computer where I wanted to use the VelociRaptors from my N40L but I wanted to preserve my Windows 8.1 Pro on Defiant. I have Defiant connected to my WHS2011 (that is running on a N54L MicroServer) so I removed all of the VelociRaptors and replaced the OS drives with two VB0250EAVER’s in Hardware RAID0 and did a Bare Metal Restore of Defiant from my WHS2011 changing my configuration to:

Computer Name: Defiant

HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer – BIOS 2013.10.01(A) (15 NOV 2013) SP64420
4GB ECC RAM
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro
OS Drive: System Board Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VB0250EAVER (these are the original drives that came in MicroServers)
Data Drive: Software RAID1 made with two (2) physical drives WL320GSA872
Rocket 640L
Icy Dock DuoSwap MB971SP-B – both ports attached to Rocket 640L SATA III (6Gbps) – no drives were in the DuoSwap

This was described in Another Bare Metal Restore Success with WHS2011.

Figure 3 — N40L MicroServer with Updated BIOS 2013.10.01(A) (15 NOV 2013)

Join us in the HSS Forums with any questions and/or comments on the above and other threads.

Reference

Since writing this paper HP has announced changes to their Driver and Firmware update policy. See: HP’s New Rules to Access Firmware & Driver Downloads
MicroServer Hardware Links
More Interesting MicroServer Links
Another Bare Metal Restore Success with WHS2011
Flashing HP MicroServer BIOS Video Playlist
HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer Build and BIOS Modification Revisited
HP MicroServer N40L Build and Bios Modification <= The Original
The Icy Dock 5.25” Hot Swap Drive Caddy for a 2.5” and a 3.5” SATA Drive – DuoSwap MB971SP-B in a MicroServer

↧

HP P222/512 FBWC Unboxing/Installation HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

February 18, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Installing WHS2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer with AHCI Enabled

≪ Previous: HP ProLiant MicroServer BIOS Flash with SP64420

By: JohnStutsman

Figure 1 — HP P222/512 FBWC with Low Profile Bracket attached that I made with the help of my Dermel

While it was delayed by the great storm in the Southeast during the end of January, 2014, my HP P222/512 FBWC finally arrived safe and sound in early February.

Read about it and check out the pictures and performance runs in the HSS Forums at Unboxing/Installing my P222/512 FBWC in my Gen8.

Figure 2 — Installing Windws Server 2012 with Intelligent Provisioning

The As-Built for my Gen8 (as pictured in Figure 2):

Machine

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2
16GB ECC RAM (Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16)
OS: Windows Server 2012
OS Drive: HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives Corsair Force 3 60GB SSD
Test Data Drive: HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID1 Drive made with two (2) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Pre-Production: Schoondoggy Drive Mount
Test Data Drive:: HP Smart Array P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller – Logical RAID10 Drive made with two (4) physical drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
iLO4 Advanced
Samsung slim external USB DVD RW drive

Note: In Figure 2 with 6 HDDs, 2 SDDs, an external USB DVD drive and the P222 installed the power meter shows 80.2 Watts.

Questions?

Join us in the HSS Forums with any questions and/or comments on the above and other threads.

Handy References

SGDM-SDM Pre-Production Review: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

Gen8 MicroServer Temperatures: active & passive cooling of CPU

HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Links

Gen8 MicroServer Forum

MicroServer Forum

↧

Installing WHS2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer with AHCI Enabled

March 13, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Installing WHS2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer using the B120i and P222

≪ Previous: HP P222/512 FBWC Unboxing/Installation HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

By: JohnStutsman

Figure 1 — Loading WHS2011 onto my Gen8 MicroServer

Last Tuesday night, on HSS255 (“Average Server Size Please, on Home Server Show 255”), we discussed how the average user could install MicroSoft Windows Home Server 2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer simply with SATA AHCI Enabled in the BIOS, thus avoiding the need for RAID.

I wrote up a step-by-step guide on how I did it with an SSD for my OS drive and two Western Digital 1TB Red drives for my data. Check out the Video that goes with the guide:

)

Parts List:

MicroSoft Windows Home Server 2011
HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer
OS Drive: I used a SSD but you could cut costs by using a Western Digital VelociRaptor or other high performance drive. Save yourself some extra work and get an OS Drive bigger than 160GB. You could use something like the EZConvert to load 2.5” drives in the 3.5” slots of the MicroServer drive bay (see References).
Data Drive(s): I used two 1TB Western Digital Red drives in my testing. Going with NAS rated drives may prevent future problems.

You can read more about how I prepared for and implemented the installation in my Step-by-Step guide in message #61 of the Forum thread: Has Anyone Loaded & Run WHS-2011 on a Gen8. There you will also find performance charts of my OS drive and my Data drives in different configurations.

Please join us in the HSS Gen8 Forums with any question and/or comments on the above and other threads.

References:

How to Install Windows Home Server 2011

Windows Home Server 2011 Screen Walkthrough

Icy Dock EZConvert

Installing WHS-2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer using the B120i and P222

New MicroServer: Where to Start

A First Time Build with Windows Home Server 2011 and HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer — Part I.

A First Time Build With Windows Home Server 2011 and HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer — Part II.

↧

Installing WHS2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer using the B120i and P222

March 14, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Installing Windows Server 2012 R2 on My HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

≪ Previous: Installing WHS2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer with AHCI Enabled

By: JohnStutsman

Figure 1 – Preparing my Gen8 MicroServer for Installation of WHS2011

Recently, I loaded MicroSoft Windows Home Server 2011(“WHS2011”) onto my HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer using the HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller and P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller to manage my OS and Data drives.

Attached to the HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller I used two Crucial M4 256GB SSDs in RAID0 as my WHS2011 OS drive (seen on the top in the ODD space in Figure 1) and tested two Western Digital WD1500HLHX’s as Data drives mounted on the Schoondoggy Drive Mount (seen on the side of the MicroServer in Figure 1). Attached to the HP Smart Array P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller were four more Western Digital WD1500HLHX’s as Data drives mounted in the main four drive bay in the front of the MicroServer.

I used Western Digital WD1500HLHX as Data drives simply because I didn’t have any large capacity drives available to do my test’s with.

I wrote up a step-by-step guide on how I did it including pictures and videos.

The As-Built for my Gen8 (as pictured in Figure 1):

Machine

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2
16GB ECC RAM (Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16)
OS: MicroSoft Windows Home Server 2011
OS Drive: HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical RAID0 Drive made with two (2) physical drives Crucial M4 256GB SSD
Test Data Drive: HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Various Logical RAID Drive’s made with two (2) physical Western Digital drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Schoondoggy Drive Mount
Test Data Drive: HP Smart Array P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller – Various Logical RAID Drive’s made with four (4) physical Western Digital drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Samsung slim external USB DVD RW drive (not in the picture but used to install WHS2011)

You can read more about how I prepared for and implemented the installation in my Step-by-Step guide in message #59 & #60 of the Forum thread: Has Anyone Loaded & Run WHS-2011 on a Gen8. There you will also find pictures, videos, and performance charts of my OS drive & my Test Data drives in different RAID configurations.

Please join us in the HSS Gen8 Forums with any question and/or comments on the above and other threads.

References:

How to Install Windows Home Server 2011

Windows Home Server 2011 Screen Walkthrough

Installing WHS-2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer with AHCI Enabled

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Configuration

Playlist: WHS2011 on Gen8 MicroServer

SGDM-SDM Pre-Production Review: HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

↧

Installing Windows Server 2012 R2 on My HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer

May 12, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Supplemental Cooling for my Gen8 MicroServer and P222

≪ Previous: Installing WHS2011 on the HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer using the B120i and P222

By: John Stutsman

Figure 1 – Preparing my Gen8 MicroServer for Installation of Server 2012 R2

Recently, I loaded MicroSoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (“Server 2012 R2” or “S2012R2”) onto my HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer using the HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller and P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller to manage my OS and Data drives.

I attached to ports 1 & 2 of the HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller (“B120i”) two (2) Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSDs in RAID0 partitioned into two (2) logical drives: 1 as my OS drive and the 2^nd as a test data drive (seen on the top in the ODD space in Figure 1). Attached to ports 3 & 4 of the B120i were two (2) Western Digital WD10JFCX’s in RAID1 as a test data drive – both drives mounted on the Schoondoggy Drive Mount (“SDM”). Attached to the HP Smart Array P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller (“P222”) were four more Western Digital WD1500HLHX’s as Data drives mounted in the main four drive bay in the front of the MicroServer.

I used Western Digital WD1500HLHX as Data drives simply because I didn’t have any large capacity drives available to do my test’s with. The 5^th generation WD1500HLHX have enabled me to load the P222 and test different configurations.

Figure 2 — Installed Firmware Version information via iLO4

Figure 3 — As shown in iLO4 I have upgrade my CPU to a Xeon E3-1265L V2

Figure 4 — My OS drive (Disk 0 in Figure 10) was configured with a ~120GB Logical Drive carved out of 2 Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD’s (seen Figure 1) in RAID0 on the B120i RAID Controller

I installed Server 2012 R2 using HP’s Intelligent Provisioning 1.6 after creating a 120GB Logical Drive 01 in the B120i that would be my OS Drive (see Figure 4). Later, I created additional Logical Drives on the B120i and P222 (see Figures 5, 6, 7 & 10).

Video 1 — Installing Server 2012 R2 on My Gen8 MicroServer Using IP 1.6:

Figure 5 – I carved out a 2^nd Logical drive (Disk 1 in Figure 10) out of the ~356GB remaining on the 2 Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD’s (in Figure 1) in RAID0 on the B120i RAID Controller

Figure 6 – For my Logical Drive 03 on the B120i I put two 2.5” WD10JFCX’s in a RAID1 (Disk 2 in Figure 10)

Figure 7 – For my Logical Drive 01 off of the P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller I put 4 2.5” WD1500HLHX’s in RAID5 (Disk 3 in Figure 10)

Figures 8 & 9 demonstrate my successful installation of Server 2012 R2 with HP’s Intelligent Provisioning 1.6.

Figure 8 – As shown: Windows Server 2012 R2 successfully installed by HP’s Intelligent Provisioning 1.6

Figure 9 – Another confirmation of Windows Server 2012 R2 successfully installed by HP’s Intelligent Provisioning 1.6

Figure 10 – A view of the partitions (Drives) in the Gen8 with Computer Management, Disk 4 is a 3TB external USB 3.0 disk drive to be used for Server Backup. The size of the Drive C Volume has been reduced from the original size of slightly under 120GB to 117.11GB shown for Disk 0 in order for Server Backup to work correctly (see Figure 11).

In December 2013 I had issues installing Server 2012 R2 with an earlier version of Intelligent Provisioning and rather than do a manual installation I tried, successfully, installing Server 2012 with Intelligent Provisioning, or so I thought. At the time I was experiencing errors with Server Backup until I learned in the Technet Forums that by shrinking the C drive with Windows’ Disk Management it corrected a mismatch between what Intelligent Provisioning said the OS drive size was and what Server Backup was seeing.

After I finished the installation of Server 2012 R2 with Intelligent Provisioning 1.6 I set up Server Backup and got the same type of failures (see Figure 11) I was seeing in December 2013 with Server 2012 installed with the earlier version of Intelligent Provisioning. After shrinking the C drive with Windows Disk Management by about 2.5GB (see Figure 10) I found that Server Backup worked as shown in the successful entry in Figure 11 (and it has continued to work since then).

HP’s Intelligent Provisioning is a great tool that speeds up the installation of an OS by automating the updating of firmware and installation of all drivers but based on my experience with Server 2012 and now Server 2012 R2 – it appears that in order to get Server Backup to work successfully it is necessary to shrink the OS (i.e. C Drive) drive in Windows’ Disk Management. I have seen no other issues with Server 2012 R2 installed with Intelligent Provisioning.

In the future I plan to test to see if an Intelligent Provisioning install produces the same Server Backup issue with Server 2012 R2 Essentials. If it does this may be problematic for home users if they are not planning for the need to “shrink” the C drive slightly after their Intelligent Provisioning install of Server 2012 R2 Essentials in order for Server Backup to work properly.

Figure 11 – Initially Server Backup failed but after reducing the volume of the OS drive I began seeing successful server backups.

One of the things I wanted to check out on this setup was the performance of two (2) Samsung 840 Pro’s as my OS drive – or in this case a Logical Drive made out of a 120GB portion of the two (2) Samsung 840 Pro’s in RAID0. As figure 12 illustrates the performance was excellent and it is noticeable to me compared to using a single SSD as an OS drive. The responsiveness was wonderful, in my opinion. I certainly want to do some more testing with this concept. As always, Your Mileage May Vary (“YMMV”).

Figure 12 – Performance of the OS drive (Drive C) was excellent. (Disk 0 in Figure 10)

Figure 13 — Performance of the Data Drive F. (Disk 1 in Figure 10)

Figure 14 — Performance of the Data Drive E. (Disk 2 in Figure 10)

Figure 15 — Performance of the Data Drive G. (Disk 3 in Figure 10) I believe because of the enabled cache on the P222 the ATTO readings were meaningless so they were not included in the Figure. Data Drive G was made up of 4 WD1500HLHX 150GB Drives in RAID5 on the P222/512 FBWC giving me a logical drive of 450GB.

Figure 16 — Seagate 3TB USB3 External Drive performance with HDTune — used for Server Backup (Disk 4 in Figure 10)

Figure 17 — Temperature Results after several days operation at Idle conditions. This is with the Fan Mods described and shown in the HSS Thread P222 Temperature in Gen8

The As-Built for my Gen8 (as pictured in Figure 1 and Figure 18):

Machine

HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer Xeon E3-1265LV2
16GB ECC RAM (Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16)
OS: MicroSoft Windows Server 2012 R2
OS Drive: HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical Drive 01 made with 120GB partition of RAID0 of two (2) physical drives Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD
Test Data Drive: HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical Drive 02 made with balance of remaining partition (approx. 392GB) of RAID0 of two (2) physical drives Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD
Test Data Drive: HP Smart Array B120i RAID Controller – Logical Drive 03 made with Full 1TB partition of RAID1 of two (2) physical Western Digital drives WD10JFCX
Schoondoggy Drive Mount
Test Data Drive: HP Smart Array P222/512 FBWC RAID Controller – Logical Drive 01 made with 450GB partition of RAID5 of four (4) physical Western Digital drives VelociRaptor WD1500HLHX
Fan Mods described and shown in the HSS Thread P222 Temperature in Gen8
Samsung slim external USB DVD RW drive (used to install S2012R2)

Figure 18 — During install with External DVD Drive attached

Please join us in the HSS Gen8 Forums with any question and/or comments on the above and other threads.

NOTE: These are the details of my installation of S2012R2 onto my Gen8 MicroServer that I have talked about in many previous write-ups and discussions in the Forums and on the Blog of HomeServerShow.

References: