HP Proliant Microserver

[tumirnixx]

Hello all,

it is my first post :-)

My question is concerning N40L with Logitech Media Server on Windows Home Server 2011. Currently I own two Squeezebox touch and a Squeezebox radio. Everything works quite fine but I think it would make sense using Logitech Media Server based on a Windows Home Server (which I currently do not own).

I believe some of you own a N36l/N40L based on WHS. My squeezeboxes are always on stand-by with the digital clock running. Does this mean the N40L also has to be on idle or is it possible to have a configuration in which he wakes on lan if he will be accessed by a squeezebox. If it runs on idle the N40l consumes more or less 30 Watts which is quite a lot (at least in Gewrmany where we have quite high enegy prices). And is it an disadvantage that the N40L does not support S3 - then it is possible that I would prefer an ACER AC100 although the Acer is double the price. That is why I am reluctant to buy an ACER.

Regards

tumirnixx

[signor_rossi]

Do you plan on using the server for other purposes than serving music to your SB players too? How big is your music collection and do you also plan to use LMS plugins that need extra CPU power? Depending on your requirements a plug-computer-based LMS might be all you need, you can't beat that solution regarding the power consumption with anything else.

[tumirnixx]

Thanks for anwering. My music collection is not very large - I suppose about 500 CDs - more or less 200 of them are already mp3-ed. I want to use the server also for backup esp. of my photos. And I am interested in learning how to use a server. That is also a reason why I do not want to spend too much money. What is a plug-computer based Logitech Media Server?

Regards from Berlin

tumirnixx

[Mnyb]

And boots relatively fast ( with an lightweight Linux server OS ) even with a truckload of plugins, so even without S3 state it is up and running quickly with WOL .
So this is sawing power by actually not running 24/7 for music , this may be true for other servers to as you have WOL you don't need a flea powered arm NAS to save you power you can have something that's works the few hour each day you use it .
And thEn it can sleep or be off.

And it is going to do the occasional torrent to , up to now I used my desktop for that ( installed transmission on it ).

[epoch1970]

What is a plug-computer based Logitech Media Server?

Something like a Pogoplug, sheevaplug… Small ARM-based machines, consumption ~ 5Wh external drive included. Whisper quiet. Nothing like "a server". Probably not good at transcoding music (e.g. M4A on drive -> FLAC sent to players). But always-on, big advantage.
Have a look at the SqueezePlug thread.

The HP µserver really seems nice. NOTE: I do not own one.
Apparently you can stuff it with 5 drives (1 in place of the DVD drive) if you load a hacked BIOS. [s]This gives you RAID-5 capability.[/s]
EDIT: Oops. Strike this. Eiffel below is right of course, R5 starts w/ 3 drives.
I do not believe it is very capable of running virtual machines since max RAM is 8GB and it does not have the VT-d (aka AMD-Vi, aka IOMMU) CPU extensions (you can't access a PCI device directly from a guest).
But like a "real" server it implements IPMI (in lieu of ACPI) and there is an option for an add-on "RAC" card that allows remote access, shutdown, power up. This card has its own address on the network and never powers down. It gives you complete remote access, as if you were in front of the machine. (As others said, WOL will do fine to trigger wake-up. The card is optional and not too costly.)

I used to have a machine capable of sleep-to-ram, and between a press on the power button of a squeezebox classic remote and the menus coming up, I had to wait something like 10 seconds. From soft-off the delay was more like 2 minutes. 2 mins is really a long time, waiting for something to happen on the player screen… 10 secs was ok. I also tested with hibernate, it was just as long as booting from soft off. IMO hibernate makes no sense except on a laptop.
Compared to the old clunky PC I was using I am sure the µserver flies. But even with an SSD drive and a tuned OS, I don't really believe you can boot and have the music server running under 30 secs.
So, are you patient, or able to plan 2 minutes ahead ?

[eiffel]

I have a D36L (running Ubuntu Server LTS)

It's a great server, but it's quite slow to boot (30s before starting to load the OS) and is really designed to be on all the time. I wish there were a BIOS version which allowed it to get into sleep mode, but that is not the case

I'm using it as a backup unit, and only power it when needed (one issue is that I've set it up in Raid 5, with 4 500GB disks, and this makes power consumption fairly high... more recent disks would reduce this issue).

Just to correct a few statements made above, for Raid 5, a minimum of 3 hard disks is needed. The Proliant Microservers can easily take 5 internal 3.5in disks, although it is possible to go beyond this with 2.5" units, or by using the eSata port (or, in a pinch USB ports) with external drives. Another option is to get a cheap PCIe SATA card.

[Mnyb]

He he we have all different expectations on what is fast regarding such a small server

Time från "on" to usable boom player was 2 minutes and 14 seconds, if I disable Erlands plugins I expects I could shave off 30 to 60 seconds on that
(and a bunch of other third party plugs like spotify and bandcamp ) .

But my habbit are such that I could trigger a WOL when I get home from work, hang my coat and start something in the kitchen and suddenly the system is ready .
And I turn it off when I sleep .

In the morning Boom send WOL in advance of the alarm .

So I don't mind booting it 2 times a day, the server will be running 4-6 hour a day .

[Komornick]

I everybody. I purchased HP Microsever and I have few questions. I wanna use device to run Squeezebox server, backup computers in the house, and download files from FTP server. I already installed Windows Home Server 2011 but I cant install Logitech Server on it. What you will suggest to install as a operating system to have all this options ? I'm not a IT maniac so please suggest easy option. It will be great if you can provide some links to tutorial how to do this. What transfers I can expect true the LAN cable ?

[andynormancx]

It was my understanding that while Logitech aren't releasing a WHS 2011 addin, you can install the standard Logitech Media Server on WHS 2011 via a Remote Desktop Connection.

i.e. you can use a Remote Desktop client from another PC to log in to the WHS machine remotely and then install LMS

[Komornick]

It was my understanding that while Logitech aren't releasing a WHS 2011 addin, you can install the standard Logitech Media Server on WHS 2011 via a Remote Desktop Connection.

i.e. you can use a Remote Desktop client from another PC to log in to the WHS machine remotely and then install LMS

I tried but I'm getting that info