Personal computing discussed
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absurdity wrote:Neat. What are you going to do with it?
LoneWolf15 wrote:Purchased and installed the not-officially-supported (but compatible with the mini-SAS connector of the server) HP P410 SmartArray RAID controler with 256MB cache:
Thoughts?
LaChupacabra wrote:I do have the 256MB cache module; I thought (according to HP docs) the 256MB would work without the battery, just in write-through mode only.LoneWolf15 wrote:Purchased and installed the not-officially-supported (but compatible with the mini-SAS connector of the server) HP P410 SmartArray RAID controler with 256MB cache:
Thoughts?
Looks good, but there are a few things with the P410. Without the added cache you can't do RAID 5, and without the battery the extra cache won't be activated. The battery plugs into the memory (so you have to buy the HP stick) and without the HP raid management tools you won't be able to do a running rebuild. If it's not an HP server you may not be able to install the tools.
satchmobob wrote:As long as you have the cache module fitted you can do RAID5. Battery is not required for this. You just have to press F8 during post for the RAID config and create your array.
As a side note, I would get an extra 2TB drive and have raid 5 over 4 drives. Take out the optical drive you fitted and retro fit your 1tb drive as the OS drive.
MadManOriginal wrote:Is there any special reason you want to keep the optical drive so badly? It does seem like a waste to use it for that permanently instead of another HDD. Maybe I'm missing something - would it not be able to be part of the RAID array?
satchmobob wrote:Out of interest, how much did you get you P410 for, LoneWolf?
LoneWolf15 wrote:I had to create a bootable ISOLinux disc (at least HP supplies the ISO so it doesn't need to be built) with an offline version of HP's Array Configuration Utility in order to do this. I had to do this because Server 2012 Essentials also doesn't allow GPT partition creation during install; you have to wait until the OS is set up and do it via DISKPART's convert command for the logical drive prior to partition creation, which is kind of awkward considering drives larger than 2.2TB were available long before its release (I really think they could have figured this out as part of the install routine).
LoneWolf15 wrote:Unless you need remote power-off/power-on capabilities, or if you have multiple static WAN IPs available to you (I'd use one for Server 2012's Access Anywhere, and another for the RAC), I'd skip the RAC in favor of an upgraded NIC. I don't think it's possible, but I wish I could find a way of using a second domain with Dynamic DNS and port-forward with a custom TCP port to redirect to the LAN IP address of the RAC. Still mulling over if I can make that work.
just brew it! wrote:I got mine for $289 on Shell-Shocker, with a free 2GB memory module.Y'know, I guess I missed this thread the first time around. Looking over the specs of that MicroServer I'm very impressed, especially given the price. Holy crap, that's a lot of bang for the buck as long as you're not planning to run any compute-intensive services on it.
LoneWolf15 wrote:Someone had two of them new on Ebay for $20 cheaper than the lowest price I'd seen for a refurb-ed 512MB kit. Also, going with flash-backed means a capacitor that (in theory) should never wear out, unlike the battery-backed versions.
I had to do this because Server 2012 Essentials also doesn't allow GPT partition creation during install; you have to wait until the OS is set up and do it via DISKPART's convert command for the logical drive prior to partition creation, which is kind of awkward considering drives larger than 2.2TB were available long before its release (I really think they could have figured this out as part of the install routine).
Ryu Connor wrote:I had to do this because Server 2012 Essentials also doesn't allow GPT partition creation during install; you have to wait until the OS is set up and do it via DISKPART's convert command for the logical drive prior to partition creation, which is kind of awkward considering drives larger than 2.2TB were available long before its release (I really think they could have figured this out as part of the install routine).
It is in the install routine. If the system supports UEFI it is the default behavior to create GPT disks. If the system does not support UEFI, you can still create a GPT partitions (albeit you can't boot from it) by hitting shift+F10 inside the Windows installer. This will open up a command prompt that grants you access to diskpart.
Alternatively I'd note that Disk Management, which is after install, can also create GPT disks.
I didn't see anyone ever suggest it, but an external USB DVD-ROM drive seems like a good fit to free up that one bay.
Well there's no battery to wear out, but flash wears out eventually.
LoneWolf15 wrote:The ProLiant doesn't have UEFI. I did try creating GPT partitions using DISKPART at the time of install, but using the command prompt mode from the repair install function. Every time I created one, I couldn't go back to regular install, and if I restarted the system after creating the GPT partition to go to setup, it didn't save, and Windows would act as if I'd never created it.