I was recently asked by a TechHead reader whether the HP Microserver’s AMD Athlon II Neo based CPU, the N36L (on older models) or the N40L (on newer models), has AMD-V capabilities and can support x64 operating systems, for example Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2. This definitely warranted a quick post just to help clarify things, as this may be a question that crossed the minds of a few of you. Well, the good news is that both the AMD Athlon II Neo N36L & N40L processors have … [Read more...]
Pimp My HP Proliant Microserver Competition
The folks over at Servers Plus are running a rather good competition which allows for people to use their imagination and come up with a creative funky design for the case of a new HP Proliant Microserver. Once all the submissions have been entered (by Friday 11th November) public voting will then take place with the creator of the winning design having their very own design created and applied to a brand new HP Microserver, which they win. These highly affordable … [Read more...]
Will the HP Proliant ML110 G5 & ML115 G5 work with VMware vSphere 5?
I’ve had quite a few questions from readers over the past few weeks asking whether VMware vSphere 5 will run on the HP Proliant ML110 G5 or ML115 G5 servers? Both these models of server are highly popular amongst those running their own VMware vSphere or general home/work IT lab. They are small, quiet and have been relatively well priced, especially when HP had them on special at UK £90 each! But that is a few years ago now, and since then the AMD based ML115 series of Proliant has … [Read more...]
Video: HP Proliant MicroServer Power Consumption
A question I have seen asked a quite frequently is “how much power does an HP Proliant MicroServer actually consume”. You’d kind of expect with the quoted 72.3W maximum of power consumption that it should make quite a cost effective small lab server to run. To help answer the question I’ve put together this basic video which demonstrates the power consumed by the MicroServer during standby and also during a VMware vSphere ESXi boot process. This low power consumption is … [Read more...]
Current HP Proliant MicroServer Model Going End of Life – Minor Model Change
Here’s a quick post just to give all you UK TechHeads out there thinking about buying one of the HP MicroServers at the current very low price (after rebate) a heads up that this particular model is going end of life and stock levels according to Servers Plus are getting very low. So if you’re thinking about purchasing one of these great little entry level lab servers then now may be the time to take the plunge else risk missing out. The good news is that the HP MicroServer range isn’t … [Read more...]
Hyperthreading in VMware ESX or ESXi with an HP Proliant ML110 G6
Those of you who are running VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi on an Intel Xeon X3430 CPU based HP Proliant ML110 G6 may have attempted to try and enable the Hyperthreading within ESX or ESXi after seeing that it was currently ‘Disabled’ within the ‘Configuration’ tab of the vCenter client and that all supposedly needs doing is it enabling in the BIOS of the server. Without wishing to be the bearer of bad news unfortunately your Intel Xeon X3430 CPU in your particular model of ML110 G6 doesn’t actually … [Read more...]
HP Proliant MicroServer – sub £100 !
UPDATE: *** OFFER HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY 2011 ! *** *** ANOTHER UPDATE: 14th January 2011 *** ServersPlus inform that the last remaining HP MicroServer stock at the reduced price has now gone! You maybe able to find stock with the £100 cash back deal elsewhere though it is highly unlikely from what I have seen. It’d be nice to see HP extend a similar deal to the newer HP MicroServer model (the only difference being a 150W vs a 200W power … [Read more...]
Running VMware vSphere on an HP MicroServer
I’ve been running VMware ESXi 4.1 on an HP MicroServer for a few weeks now and the following post is to summarise my findings and to answer a question many people have been asking - Does the HP MicroServer make for a decent VMware vSphere lab server and is it a true replacement to the HP ML115 G5? If you want to read my conclusion on running vSphere on the MicroServer then skip to the end of the post, though if you want more detail around what is presented through to ESX/ESXi … [Read more...]
VIDEO – HP Proliant MicroServer Hands On Review
After getting my hands on one of HP’s new AMD based Proliant MicroServers I decided to give it a good once over to gain a better understanding of it’s components, build quality and how it pieced together. As a result I have created a couple of videos, the first is a ‘hands on review’ and the second shorter clip takes a look at the size of the HP Proliant MicroServer and how it compares to other small factors machines such as as the XPC Shuttle, and the larger Proliant ML115 G5. I hope … [Read more...]