Tracking enterprise technology transformation
HP Proliant MicroServer or ML Series which for my first server?
I have been looking at another server for Bladewatch after HP kindly sent us a new style HP Proliant MicroServer to play with (the N40L G7 edition to be precise). During this research for a new server I was comparing features of the HP Proliant MicroServer and their entry level HP Proliant ML series server. The ML is their tower based server, and is designed with expansion in mind, their MicroServer has expansion features but is also referred to as the Just Right First Server. With this in mind, I thought I’d dig deeper, the major differences are below, I’ve quoted the quickspecs but sometimes you find things like memory support change as different configurations become available so do check out the HP site.
The ML110 G6 features:
Selection of Celeron to Xeon processor
Smart Array for striping data over disks
Integrated HP ProLiant 100 G6 Lights Out 100i Remote Management standard
4 expansion slots
DVD ROM drive standad
Memory support is 16GB
The MicroServer
AMD Turion II Model Neo N40L processor only
RAID controller for RAiD 1,0
Remote Access Card is optional
Two expansion slots
Memory support is 8GB
The main difference then? The HP Proliant MicroServer will be more than good enough as a small business server, a starter device which I can use for file and print, as well as an ESXi test lab or even a mini application server dependent on the requirements. The Proliant ML110 G6 or G7 brings further scalability, further upgrade potential when it comes to expansion slots, memory and the inbuilt lights out card makes it that little bit more manageable out of the box as it’s standard, where as the MicroServer you need to fit it or order it with it fitted. That said both are ideal starter servers and which one you choose will depend on you and your requirements, I’ve got colleagues running both as media servers, VMware or virtualization test labs to name a few scenarios.
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