Bladewatch.com

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.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/refs-ntfs-file-system-windows-8-server,14501.html

ReFS, short for Resilient File System, will initially debut with Windows 8 Server, but is expected to make its way through to Windows 8 client system to support the full feature set of Storage Spaces, which will allow users to create storage pools from multiple physical and virtual storage devices.

According to Microsoft, ReFS will be an always-online file system “for the next decade or more” that is architected for “extreme scale” with large volume, file and directory sizes, as well as data verification and auto-correction via checksums while maintaining compatibility with a “wide subset of widely adopted” NTFS features.

Interesting, there were meant to be improvements to the file system in Windows many years ago with Vista if I recall, I wonder what ReFS will bring, I’m off to read up more about it, do check it out.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/reviews/sme-servers/2012/01/20/fujitsu-primergy-rx100-s7-40094873/

Check out this review of Fujitsu’s Primergy RX100 S7, one of their rack servers, it does look like an interesting review and offering from Fujitsu, I’m off to check out more on the Fujitsu site.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/servers/372277/ibm-system-x3100-m4

Check out this review from PC Pro for the IBM System X3100-M4, it’s always great to see what other people think about the different vendors servers, an interesting read, I’m off to read up more about IBM’s server through their excellent Redbooks here.

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/fusion-io-punches-through-one-billion-iops-barrier-53263

Storage specialist Fusion-io continues to improve the latency of flash storage devices after it achieved one billion input and output operations per second (IOPS) in a demonstration.

The company made the announcement just one month after a test involving its solid-state memory storage subsystems, showed how a single server test system reached 1.11 million transactions per second (tps).

In the most recent demonstration however, the company used eight HP ProLiant DL370 servers, each equipped with eight ioDrive2 Duos, to break the one billion IOP barrier when transferring 64 byte data packets.

A great article talking about Fusion-io’s impressive announcement and achievements in their IOPS demonstration, with the right system configuration and an optimized application can create an impressive platform for revenue generation especially in low latency and high performance platforms. I’m off to read more about it.

The standard MicroServer comes with a hard drive, memory, network port and USB so that you can connect your USB DVD drive to load the operating system or run FreeNAS or ESXi, none of the options I have listed below are necessary to get started, though I did find having the DVD drive that bit easier to load Windows 2008.

The options I would look at:

• Internal DVD Writer (624192-B21)  – this is to allow you to install software as normal (for example Windows/Linux or to install any applications that you might have rather than use the network connection) – if you’re deploying remotely you might not want the DVD Writer for security – http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF06c/A1-329290-329233-72841-72841-3626683-4275665.html

•  HP External backup device (AJ766A) – this is to allow you to backup your server, you might choose an online back up tool, or already have a backup solution in place (even using Windows Backup to disk/DVD might do initially) – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/disk-backup/product-detail.html?oid=3741010

• HP MicroServer Remote Access Card (615095-B21) – this allows you to manage the MicroServer remotely, this could be ideal if you’re planning to use them in remote sites or have them stored under the desk rather than in an easy to access location – http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF06c/A1-329290-439740-241590-241590-4275610-4275612.html

• There are of course extra disks dependent on your storage requirements and thoughts for future growth going forward, you might for example choose to have one disk for Windows and another for your network shares, so that someone copying all their files to the ‘share drive’ need not affect the stability of the server.

HP very kindly shipped us (658553-421) for us to test and see what we thought of it.  This is the G7 edition featuring the updated AMD N40L processor, it comes with 2GB

The specs are here:

So what’s in the box?

• HP Proliant MicroServer
• European power cable
• US power cable
• Documentation and DVD with documentation

So what is included inside the MicroServer:

• 1x 2GB memory chip
• 1x 250GB 7200RPM hard drive
• Extra screws so that you can install an additional hard drive
• Key to allow you to use screws for additional disk, also to remove the system board

So what upgrades could I fit to the existing server?

• An additional RAM chip to improve performance and available memory
• An additional three hard drives (SATA non hot plug hard disk drives) – currently therefore you could install 12TB (4x3TB hard drives)
• DVD Writer/DVD ROM drive or HP tape drive
• Remote Access Card (in one of the slots)
• Network card (in the other slot)

So what’s the first server specification for file and print going to be? What OS is it going to run?

Option one – Desktop pc with Windows or Linux operating system with enough memory to run the operating system and hard disk that can store enough of your file

• Benefits – low cost, you could possibly use one of the pcs that users find slow as file and print services do not require much capacit
• Potential issues – using a recycled pc might limit capacity, how many disks that you can have, or how large a disk it can hold.

Option two – Entry level server running Windows Server 2008 Foundation / Windows Server 2008 Small Business Edition  / Linux

• Benefits – you can pick up these entry level servers for a reasonable cost.  Easy to support as they tend to be similar in design and compatible with desktop hardware – there is not a steep learning curve or transition from a desktop pc doing the same thing.  The operating systems are not necessarily much more expensive than a desktop operating system and will have additional features to enhance collaborative working or host applications. They can be as quiet as a desktop pc and therefore be hidden under someone’s desk or in the corner next to the printer with no screen as you can manage them remotely.
• Potential issues – they are not a desktop and therefore some additional set up and maintenance might be needed which you might not have previously done.  There could be some additional license costs dependent on the operating system chosen.

Some considerations:

• Component resilience – this option is where we add extra levels of resilience at a hardware level.  So with a server or with upgraded components in your desktop pc above we can introduce RAID, which is a more resilient way of configuring the hard drives, common configurations being RAID 1 and RAID 5.  You can read more here. Each has its own benefits in performance or reliability.
• Data resilience – what backup options are you going to use – a few could include backing up to a file on another disk in the server, or to a network location independent of the server, backing up to tape or to a managed service over the internet for example.
• Operating system – remember to check any license implications, there might be a low cost for the server operating system but a client license cost, that is the cost of allowing a user to connect and use services on that server. Check out the OEM edition bundles of the operating systems that you can buy preinstalled with your first server.
• Warranty and support – how important is your server and therefore what level of support do you have on site and what would you require from a service provider, reseller or the vendor to recover the server.  If it’s file and print the chances are it being down for a few hours is inconvenient and you could therefore live with hours of downtime but not days – this is where your backups come into play.

Print server considerations:

• When you install the printers – what drivers do you need to install and store on the server for the computers on your network  – Windows 7 and Windows XP? Any Windows 2000 or MAC users?
• What to call the printers and how to permission which users can map to them, you might not want to allow everyone to print colour to save on paper
• Will you need this feature with the next generation printers where I can email the document to the printer and it prints using the internet and cloud printing services?

Some thoughts about buying your first server, these were written on my notepad (olden days with pen and paper) on the train home and as such are not formalized.

Firstly let’s clear up some things:

• Application server – this runs your applications like say the Intranet, your CRM, database or in house written tools – this can include what might be labelled as your ‘database’ ‘middleware’ or application server. (The middleware server is usually the bit that connects your application and your database)
• File/print server – this hosts all your files usually via a share and also allows you to share printers amongst users
• Domain server – this could be the server that hosts your active directory domain and structure to enable you to secure your network and have network user accounts

The specifications vary based on usage, on technologies and user requirements.

Your first server will tend to stem from file and print, wanting to share files and possibly a few printers between a range of users, in which case initially a desktop running either Windows or Linux, even a small NAS might do initially. In this case the requirements will tend to be a reasonable desktop that can happily run the operating system and enough disk space to store your files.

Your next server will tend to come in the form of either an application or domain server, an application where you have decided to install an application but wish to keep that application separate from your files and printers, so that if you have to reboot the server you don’t stop users accessing their files or stop printing.  The domain server might grow out of a need to standardize and secure your office and data, so you might have create a simple domain with domain user accounts and access groups to manage users ability to log on to their computer, print to certain printers and access certain shares such as payroll or private HR data.  The domain server tends to not have specifically high system requirements unless there are a lot of users and complicated active directory roles though in a small business this is unlikely to be the case.  The specification of your application or database server is going to be typically determined by what the recommendations are to run the application and how many users are using it, so initially you might find that a smaller server with 1, 2 or 4GB of memory, a single core processor might suffice, but as we add more users or use more features of the application, we might find a more powerful server is required.

http://h10124.www1.hp.com/campaigns/enterprise/mccartney/us/en/paul-mccartney-digital-library-experience.html#nid=home

]PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 12, 2012 – HP today announced that music fans now have unprecedented access to Paul McCartney’s new portal destination, www.paulmccartney.com, which hosts the musician’s vast digital library of music, lyrics, photos, collections, merchandise, blogs and more.

Over the past year, HP and Paul McCartney’s MPL Communications, Ltd. worked closely to design, deploy and maintain a private cloud-based digital library that catalogs and stores more than a million items from McCartney’s expansive personal collection, which spans more than five decades. Until now, the digital library had provided internal access only to MPL Communications, Ltd.

McCartney’s new dynamic portal leverages the assets and functionality of the underlying digital library to create an engaging and immersive experience for the music community. Built by HP and MPL Communications, Ltd., the site delivers an intuitive and user-friendly experience for fans, with metadata tagging and contextual structuring that enables types of content to be related.

An example of how the appropriate use of technology can not only transform the possibilities for the artist but also generate a social network, music community and platform for mixed legacy and next generation markets, do check it out.