[Tim Cooper]

Originally Posted by da02uk

I know you havent gone in to any detail on this - but can/will you, or point one in the right direction, literally?

Sorry lad, missed this posting, do you still need help with Shares?

[alasrati]

You can "stream" to a Popcorn Hour or Boxee from unRAID as the client just needs to see a network share.

Apparently you can run Squeezebox Server on unRAID too.

So Tim's "yes" should probably be a "no".

However, unRAID is not ideal for this.

[Tim Cooper]

Originally Posted by alasrati

You can "stream" to a Popcorn Hour or Boxee from unRAID as the client just needs to see a network share.

Apparently you can run Squeezebox Server on unRAID too.

So Tim's "yes" should probably be a "no".

However, unRAID is not ideal for this.

Can't you run these from a Linux distro

[Tim Cooper]

Ahhh i misread the question......honest

Got it now

[Tim Cooper]

@ robfitzp

Sorry mate as alasrati states you can run these apps from Unraid.

[alasrati]

Of course, unRAID can't run everything that Ubuntu can run. Just for those two uses, it will work.

This is a bit of a dilemma for me, as I might want to use my Proliant as a NAS and attach it to a TV and run XBMC. unRAID is ideal for the former, much safer than RAID 5. But it can't run XBMC.

flexRAID is an option.

[da02uk]

Originally Posted by Tim Cooper

Sorry lad, missed this posting, do you still need help with Shares?

I've muddled my way through a little. But I'm not certain how the split levels and shares work.
I thought a brief example of how you have yours set up might help?

[Tim Cooper]

Originally Posted by da02uk

I've muddled my way through a little. But I'm not certain how the split levels and shares work.
I thought a brief example of how you have yours set up might help?

See post 446 for a better explanation of split shares

Tim's 7.24TB "Tiddler" Unraid NAS.

[pespro]

Just noticed your esata cable is not plugged into anything, what are you going to use for that? Still 50/50 if i want a DVD drive or another hard drive in mine.

[Tim Cooper]

Originally Posted by pespro

Just noticed your esata cable is not plugged into anything, what are you going to use for that? Still 50/50 if i want a DVD drive or another hard drive in mine.

I am going to use a 2.5" HDD as a cache drive later on, jury's still out on this one seems to be a lot of farting about for not a lot of gain.

[pespro]

Originally Posted by Tim Cooper

I am going to use a 2.5" HDD as a cache drive later on, jury's still out on this one seems to be a lot of farting about for not a lot of gain.

Cheers mate, just bought one of them Icy caddy things. Bet i want to use a DVD drive next week and will regret it... but did manage to install an OS via USB which was good. Just need to buy some storage space for it now.. waiting for the deals.

[JSW]

Tim, very informative thread and even tho I will be using WHS on mine I have read your thread several times

There is a more upto date bios HP ProLiant MicroServer series*-* Systems ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for HP ProLiant MicroServer (For USB Key-Media) - HP Business Support Center

I created the usb stick via my windows 7 64bit and had no problems so don't know if thats anything to do with the updated files from HP as I didn't try with the older bios.

[Tim Cooper]

Originally Posted by JSW

Tim, very informative thread and even tho I will be using WHS on mine I have read your thread several times

There is a more upto date bios HP ProLiant MicroServer series*-* Systems ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for HP ProLiant MicroServer (For USB Key-Media) - HP Business Support Center

I created the usb stick via my windows 7 64bit and had no problems so don't know if thats anything to do with the updated files from HP as I didn't try with the older bios.

The later BIOS doesn't contain anything to "unlock" the 5th SATA port, make sure that you reflash back to the earlier BIOS if you want to implement the BIOS hack

[JSW]

There is also an updated patched bios to go with the new bios

Whs On Hp Proliant Microserver - We Got Served Forums - Page 7

[JSW]

In the new bios and patch when entering the bios there is no AHCI Configuration under advanced settings

Does this matter ?

[Tim Cooper]

I've been onto various sites to check if the bios "hack" can be integrated into the new BIOS & AFAIK there are none.
Just use the older BIOS & the "hack" as posted here, works like a charm

[JSW]

I just put the old bios hack on over the new bios and all seems good in fact its not really a hack as its a complete bios which completely overwrites the existing bios

[Tim Cooper]

Have you installed the BIOS "hack"?

[JSW]

Originally Posted by Tim Cooper

Have you installed the BIOS "hack"?

The russian bios you linked to is what I have just installed yes.

Now have the AHCI Configuration screen

I didn't install the older HP bios I just overwrote the new one.

[TallPaul]

According to ebuyer website, cashback offer extended until end of April.

Got my email confirmation of cashback as well, apart from getting my name wrong... all good! (corrected quickly, so their promotion management company are on the ball)

[emb]

Hi-
Assuming 4 GB RAM, 4x2 TB drives, and running Ubuntu or Freenas.
Could you tell me if the HP Microserver is capable of serving video (mostly STD Def/occasional 720p) to 2-3 devices simultaneously over samba shares or DLNA. It would be on 24/7 and used only as a media server - no transcoding. Would this be suitable or should I be looking at something with more cpu power?
Good article. Thanks for sharing.

[Tim Cooper]

I've read posts on various forums where people have used their microserver as a HTPC/server hybrid.
I have no idea if you could serve video to several devices, if you asked my opinion i would say it was doubtful.
Streaming on the other hand has no such problems to several devices & i'm in the process of testing SD/HD streams on my network.

Tim.

[emb]

I think the terminology is tripping me up. Not an HTPC. What I mean is "streaming" video to 2/3 WDTV Live + boxes at the same time with no freezing or stuttering. No transcoding or anything fancy. Just using straight file sharing. I hope I'm being more clear.
Thanks for responding.

[Tim Cooper]

well i've streamed 3 streams of SD material (Xvids) with no problems. i think i have a couple of 720p mkv's somewhere to test that next, then onto 1080p.
Tim.

[emb]

Great! I'll wait to see your results.
Thank you.

[TallPaul]

emb - don't see why you would need 4GB mem, 1GB would be enough. 3x HD streams should be no issue, as long as your network is up to it, and the onboard NIC performs ok.

[Tim Cooper]

Ok i ran 4 streams today, 2 hardwired PC's (gigabit) & a Popcorn Hour (10/100) plus a wireless laptop (802.11g) on a 720p x264 mkv it ran faultlessly (4 streams on one mkv).
Ran tests again, 4 streams on 4 seperate mkv's & again ran without issue.
I think that 4 1080p may be a bit more taxing but i haven't any 1080p clips ATM.
Watch this space.
Tim

[emb]

Tim - - Thanks for the info. This looks very promising.

Here's my situation. I'm currently using a 14 yr. old Dell P3 (1 GHz) with 512 MB RAM and a 10/100 NIC running Freenas. I've been "streaming" to 2 WDTV Live boxes over wireless-N. This works well for 1 stream at a time but 2 simultaneously often results in the Dell P3 freezing and needing a reboot. I'm also running out of drive space.

So I need a to upgrade to something that will allow for:
1) 2 (preferably 3) wireless-N streams at the same time
2) more storage
3) quiet operation
4) compact size
5) low power usage

Do you think this will work?

TallPaul - I thought 4GB RAM to give me more flexibility in terms of configuration now or in the future. My network has a Linksys 600WRTN router (supports gigabit and wireless N). Do you think that is enough?
Do you think I should add a different NIC? If so, which one?

Thank you for your thoughts.

[Tim Cooper]

I can't see any problems....go on do it

[emb]

Thanks Tim - I think I will!

Two more questions - it seems I have a choice between the 160GB/200W or the 250GB/150W - which one is preferable and why? Also, have you been happy with WD-EARS? (There seem to be quite a few complaints around about these drives but then again there seems to be a lot of complaints about every drive.)