HP Microserver Gen 8?

Hardware Server
1

Hey, what do you guys think about a HP Microserver Gen 8?
HP just released the Gen 10, so you can get one of those Gen8 for about 200€ in Germany. Biggest benefit is in my opinion the iLO Management.
I know it’s a bit overkill, but you could use it also as a NAS.
I’m asking because I’m currently looking for a very stable solution for my parents house. So with the iLO I could remote manage it.

Greets
Lucas

2

I had a G6 running for a pretty long while, changed it for a bigger server because i needed a bigger cpu for my virtual machines. Great machine at a great price - if you’re familiar with HP and iLO, go ahead. With enough RAM, you can run ESXi with a VM for openHAB and one for FreeNAS (needs at least 8GB, plus 1GB for each TB of storage).

3

Hi,

the HP Gen8 is an amazing piece of hardware and runs rock stable for 2 years now.
I’m using it as ZFS storage node and OpenHAB box.
Forget ILO, it’s not licenced and a poor demo. The licence for full usage is much more expensive than the box :frowning:

Anyway, it’s a very very cool hardware.
Cheers

Chrimo

4

Hello @Sanke

I use the MicroServer Gen8 since its release in 2013. It runs with WindowsServer2012 incredible stable.

  • Fileserver
  • Mediaserver
  • Hyper-V Host for Testing
    The iLo is a big benefit. But I used it only for the installation :wink:

My OH Installation runs on a seperate Pokini F but without any RemoteManagemant compareable with iLO… But much mor efficient.

Greets
Michael

5

It is a superb piece of kit for the money. Rock solid and running 24x7 for the last couple of years. Powerful enough to run esxi, with a few linux distros if you upgrade the memory.

You can pick up the ilo license for about £20 on eBay, e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-iLO-Advanced-License-iLO-2-iLO-3-iLO-4-/172756386339?hash=item2839154223:g:hxYAAOSwXeJYHOnd. This then lets you use remote control even after the bios screen (i.e. once the OS is loaded). If you use the server in headless mode as I do, this is a great way to manage your gen8 remotely.

6

Is this method of obtaining an iLO license legitimate? Seems a little cheap to me… are these grey market licenses?

Last year I developed a Python script to extract server status data out of the iLO REST API and publish the results to openHAB via MQTT. Here is a link to Github repo, maybe someone will find it useful.

(Ideally an OH binding would be a great way to handle this, but developing a binding is not something I know how to do and also not something I have time to learn at the moment.)

7

Please don‘t ask for illegal stuff !

Edit: Sorry, did not read earlier post, so mixed up who was asking this.

8

By the way, API access to iLO does not require iLO to be licensed. (At least using iLO 4 on my Gen8 server)

9

I might give it a try end of the year when I retire ….

10

Wasn’t asking for them. Simply stating that it seemed questionable.

11

That’s why I Edited my post. Sorry for mixing up who was asking this.
And yes, it is questionable.