HP ProLiant MicroServer
HP's latest SMB Server is designed to be easy to manage and super affordable, but that ease comes with a performance trade-off.
HP's ProLiant MicroServer is a designed for small and SOHO businesses that may be ready to move from a peer–to-peer network (all clients act as equals and share resources) to a centrally managed network. Like ($999, 4.5 stars) and ($299, 4 stars), this is an entry-level device best suited for small businesses looking for centralized file sharing, print services, and remote access—but not for hosting databases or other critical enterprise-level applications. The AMD Athlon II Neo N36L Dual Core Processor 1.30 MHz isn't the most powerful processor around, but it's an easy server to setup and manage, and is very affordable.
Design and Specs
The $329 MicroServer base configuration I tested came housed in an ultra-micro tower—it looks more like a large and is small enough to operate underneath, or on top of, someone's desk. It runs quiet, although Lenovo's comparable ThinkServer TS200v is a tad quieter. The base configuration shipped with Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation, but it also supports Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard edition and Red Hat 5.
The server I received for testing has 2GB memory and two 160 GB SATA drives, but it supports up to 8GB of memory and 8TB of capacity. There's also a DVD-RW. There are four drive bays enclosed; the drive housing and hinge to remove is made of rather flimsy plastic and appears quite easy to break with rough treatment. Due to the small form factor, this isn't a server built for a lot of tinkering inside. That's fine, as there are plenty of expansion options: an internal USB port for attaching for example, a tape or RDX drive, plus six additional external USB ports and an eSATA port. These features, plus support for four drives, gives small businesses scalability. The embedded SATA controller supports RAID 0 and 1, but the controller does not support drive hot-swapping.
A criticism that I had with the ($4,496, 3.5 stars), another recently released SMB server, was that its management software options are all over the place—in BIOS, installed in the OS, and integrated within Windows Server. The software was so scattered about that it made finding where to configure certain settings difficult. The MicroServer is blissfully free of such management software overkill.
HP keeps most of the configuration options, such as RAID management, within BIOS. Other "extras" are shipped on an accompanying CD and an administrator can choose which to install. There are a few handy add-ons such as an applet that enables support for wireless keyboards and mice, and the Java card security for HP Protect Tools, which provides additional security for the system. The CD also has a lot of good documentation, which I always appreciate.
I also liked the fact that HP made IT support remote access an option. That feature comes by default on the Dell PowerEdge and Lenovo's TS300, but there are small businesses that will probably never use that feature. Users can opt for the MicroServer Remote Access Card and the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) kit that works with Microsoft's BitLocker feature.
Peformance
I tested the I/O using the Iozone utility to get a general feel for this system's performance. Compared to the closest server in its class, Lenovo's TS200v, performance was less than impressive, but expected due to the difference between the two servers' hardware specs. The MicroServer managed Write speeds of just over 1 GBps and Read speeds fell under 1 GBps at 804 MBps. In comparison, the TS200v, which ships with a 2.26 GHz Celeron G1101 processor, produced 3 GBps on Writes and 3.5 GBps on Reads. Using the 64-bit Windows version of Geekbench, the MicroServer scored 1862—a score that fell far behind the TS300v's 5385 mark.
Still, for basic file sharing, and printing; the MicroServer will do just fine. For more robust needs, like running a database or business application, the TS300v is a better choice. Bootup time, measured from pressing the power button to until the login prompt appears took 1 min and 28 seconds—quite a lengthy amount of time considering that servers that don't load a significant amount of programs can boot in 30-50 seconds with Server 2008. I found the reason for the lengthy bootup by looking more closely at the BIOS. By default, PXE was enabled and the system was looking for a PXE server (which I don't have on the network) and that slowed the bootup process. Once I disabled network boot, that shortened the boot time to 55 seconds.
As far as ease in manageability, the MicroServer delivers the most user-friendly experience out of all of the latest SMB servers I have tested. Adding a hard drive was simple—this server is easy to expand. It shipped with two 160 GB SATA drives— I added a one TB drive. The server booted up fine, and I was able to format that drive as a simple volume for extra storage. I would prefer that the MicroServer featured individual LEDs for each of the four disks to indicate drive state.
RAID options, although limited, were just as easy to set up. Using the RAID Option ROM Utility I was able to select the disks I wanted to use in an array and then set them to RAID 1. Caution: doing so erases the MBR data on the disks so RAID is something you want to setup before you install the OS.
Who Should Rely on ProLiant?
HP's ProLiant MicroServer is a good "starter" server for businesses that need nothing more than centralized file and printer management. Many small businesses, however, still have high volume data needs like hosting websites and running databases and custom applications. For those businesses, the Editors' Choice winning Lenovo ThinkServer TS200v is a better (albeit pricier) choice.
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