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HP MicroServer N54L $229, Bundle w/ 2TB Seagate NAS $339+Shipping, More Hard Drives Bundle Avail

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HP MicroServer N54L $229, Bundle w/ 2TB Seagate NAS $339+Shipping, More Hard Drives Bundle Avail
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Store RepShoppingExpress on 12/06/2014 - 10:43 shoppingexpress.com.au (2256 clicks)
Last edited 14/06/2014 - 10:38

The wait is over~ HP Microserver Deal is BACK. Includes a combo deal with Seagate NAS 2TB @ $339 + Shipping. Already have Microserver/s? Check our options - buy 2 or more of the Hard Drives/options for Free Shipping (Microserver is Excluded). Enjoy everyone.

Buy any 2 Options Below and enjoy Free Shipping for them (excludes Microserver)

All stocks are limited, with limited quantity per customer.
For products not under Free Shipping promotion, shipping starts $8.95 and averages $12 Australia Wide
No Grey Imports, All Genuine & carries Australia's Manufacturer Warranty.

Computing HP NAS Seagate Server Western Digital

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closed Comments

  • busterau on 12/06/2014 - 10:50
    +2

    On one hand I am amazed this model is still being produced, yet on the other hand it is widely popular so I guess HP would be mad to discontinue it. Great deal SE!

    • Store RepShoppingExpress @ Shopping Express on 12/06/2014 - 10:55

      thanks mate - i agree this is a keeper.

    • sachz on 12/06/2014 - 11:50
      +1

      i really dont understand why this model is so popular, compared to other OTS NAS vendor models?

      what makes this one stick out so much ….. is it purely a price point?

      • salem on 12/06/2014 - 11:57
        +3

        price, versatility, community.

      • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 11:59
        +2

        Price point yes but also versatility & hackability/modability. They're nothing spectacular but these Microservers can be used for so much more than just a passive NAS box. Nice understated monolithic design in a relatively small footprint is nice too.

        • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 12:32

          How do you compare this model to the G8? I wonder if the extra PCIe worth more than the other bang on G8

        • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 12:37
          +1

          I suppose it all depends on what you plan to use it for. The N54L ticks most boxes for most people as a great all-rounder and if there's something missing then that can usually be addressed by a simple & cheap upgrade. If there's something the G8 offers that you absolutely need then go for it instead.

        • sonicentropy on 12/06/2014 - 12:53

          My N54L struggles with transcoding so not the best media server or XBMC.
          But it is about to repurposed as a Asterisk & NAS.
          Great unit but very lacking cpu grunt

        • salem on 12/06/2014 - 13:02

          Just make sure your players can all play the media natively, and all the N54L needs to do is serve the files without transcoding.

        • Grish on 12/06/2014 - 13:26

          Stuggles? Runs perfectly on my N40L - Do you have a Video Card in the PCI slot? You can configure XBMC to use hardware acceleration.

          Mine runs XBMC + a bunch of other apps including apache, sabnzbd, sickbeard AND zoneminder managing 3 IP cams (CPU struggles slighty when motion detection on all 3 cams with highest FPS, but still nothing close to maxxed out CPU).

        • Grish on 12/06/2014 - 13:27

          dupe.

        • sharky_k on 12/06/2014 - 13:40
          +1

          A $40 graphics card additional (e.g HD6450) will making it handle just about anything you need for a media centre/XBMC machine. Also adds HDMI out for video/sound.

        • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 14:27

          According to Plex 2.4 Ghz Intel Dual Core minimum is required to transcode HD video.

          Has anyone tried to use this to transcode video to Samsung tv or Roku?

        • 1Dollar on 12/06/2014 - 19:20

          does your cameras freeze during live view? What version of ubuntu and zoneminder are you running? And what cameras are those?

      • RedHab on 12/06/2014 - 12:38
        +1

        Price, mainly, even though it has come up from $160 a few years ago for the N36L.

        I like them because they are quiet, well designed and hugely expandable. It's not just a NAS for many, but a true home server, that for $30 more on a decent video card can be turned into a great home theatre PC.

      • guidedlight on 12/06/2014 - 15:47

        It's x86 based. So it will run whatever operating system you want.
        Most other NAS models are Arm-based and are normally limited to a bundled linux-variant of some sort.

  • lplau on 12/06/2014 - 10:51
    +3

    wished the Microserver G8 would drop to aorund this price.

  • happykamper on 12/06/2014 - 11:00

    Just wondering what OS people generally put on these. I'd like to setup one as my Usenet download box and HTPC. I've got one with upgraded ram and video card, but haven't gotten around to setting it up yet. I was looking into windows 8 with DrivePool for raid 5. Interested in others setups and feedback. Cheers.

    • simedog on 12/06/2014 - 11:08
      +2

      Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on mine. Serves media very nicely around my house to all my devices.

    • zargonb on 12/06/2014 - 11:09
      +1

      i played around with ESXi for a while on it but then converted it to a headless Ubuntu Server with Mythtv and such. Separate OS HDD in the CD ROM slot + 4 x 2TB using Linux RAID 5.

    • ihfree on 12/06/2014 - 11:31
      +4

      Running:
      Ubuntu 10.04 Server
      -Upgraded ram to 8gb

      120gb Laptop Drive (system)
      250gb included drive - Temp drive for downloads
      3gb WD Green - Media
      3tb WD Red x2 Mirrored ZFS

      Running:
      ZFSonLinux
      PS3MediaServer
      transmission
      Sabnzbd+
      Samba (windows file sharing)
      Apache

      Serves media to devices round house - PS3, Wd Live(Samba), Android (Samba w/ ES File Explorer)

      Allows remote access to files through SSH, and provides access to Remote Desktop/Splashtop/transmission.

      Also provides redundancy for photos, important docs.

      Been running constantly for almost 2 years.

      Other plans:
      Wiki, some sort of automated backup to USB of mirrored volume

      • cryptos on 12/06/2014 - 12:56

        Do you have any idea of electricity cost to run you setup?

        • ihfree on 12/06/2014 - 13:20
          +1

          Measured it a while ago with a 'Save Power' kit from the library

          From memory was about 40 watts idle. Roughly $100/year.

    • lilingdatou on 12/06/2014 - 11:33
      +1

      Plan to install debian 7 on it. With debian, you can do anything.

      • scotty on 12/06/2014 - 12:33

        I have mine running Debian 7 Squeeze with a few LXC containers.

        • lilingdatou on 12/06/2014 - 14:37

          I guess you mean Debian 6 Squeeze. :)

    • daewoo on 12/06/2014 - 11:42

      I'm running OpenSUSE from a 16GB MicroSD card, I was previously running CentOS from a 64GB SSD in the ODD bay.

      I have a software RAID-5 running across 4x 4TB WD-Reds :)

    • salem on 12/06/2014 - 11:51

      Mine's also doing double duty as download/storage box and HTPC player. Running Ubuntu 13.10 as OS on a 60gb SSD (overkill), with XBMC for media playback. Qbittorrent for torrents. I don't use usenet.

      8gb non-ecc ram, ZFS to pool a 4tb, 2tb and 1tb drive together into one piece of storage.

      AMD 6450 GPU. But make sure to use the open source drivers on ubuntu, apparently there's an issue with AMD's own drivers that mean XBMC won't work properly (which took me months to track down…).

      • lilingdatou on 12/06/2014 - 14:39

        that's good to know.

    • smokenmirraz on 12/06/2014 - 12:01
      +3

      I installed Freenas on mine. Fairly simple web ui to then download and install plugins for sabnzbd/plex/sickbeard/couchpotato.

    • ozy on 12/06/2014 - 12:29
      +1

      I use win8 for my HTPC, usenet, sickbeard, sabnzb &plex.
      To install disable the lan in bios first then update to the latest bios and turn it back on in bios, or it will hang on first boot after win8 install!

      • Riczter on 12/06/2014 - 15:34

        I thought that was just for the 8.1 update. I installed 8 on mine just fine.

        • bxpressiv on 12/06/2014 - 15:39

          I still can't install 8.1, how the hell do I do it?

        • normie123456 on 12/06/2014 - 18:49

          Do a bios update and upgrade the NIC firmware.

        • Riczter on 12/06/2014 - 22:05

          You got links to the source for these?.. I really should do mine at some stage.

  • BenTennyson on 12/06/2014 - 11:02

    I've contemplated a purchase for a long time, I might have to dive in with this deal. It can take 4 drives at a maxiumum of 8TB, is that correct? I'd like something that could store more but at this price it is hard to avoid.

    • lplau on 12/06/2014 - 11:03

      Technically can take 5 drives if you don't put in a ROM Drive.

    • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 11:10
      +4

      6 x 4TB isn't too difficult either by using an adaptor bracket or just a few simple snips of the internal drive bay side. Here's mine: http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/SteveAndBelle/685d83… but if you really wanted to push things you could squeeze 8 drives in there… but only if you really wanted to ;)

      More info in this old deal of mine: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139833

      • sohomel on 12/06/2014 - 12:08

        Very impressive, do you need any accessories to install the extra 2 HDD? Thanks. really want to copy your setup.

        • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 12:19
          +4

          Finer details are in the link above to a previous deal however you'll need:

          • 1 x N54L Microserver
          • 6 x 4TB HDDs
          • 1 x DoubleTwin Adaptor Bracket (A http://www.mini-box.com.au/Nexus%20DoubleTwin%20White%20w%20…) or you can cut the metal away as I chose to do
          • 1 x SATA to SATA cable to run the 5th HDD (from extra SATA port on M/Bd)
          • 1 x eSATA to SATA cable to run the 6th HDD (from rear eSATA port)
          • 4-Pin to SATA 2-Way Power Splitter to power the 5th & 6th HDDs
          • USB Memory Stick thingy with FreeNAS to boot from internal USB port on M/Bd (only needs to be 2Gb)
          • BIOS Update
          • Patience!

          The above will get you up and running with a 14.5TB RAIDZ2 (Dual-redundancy) NAS but upgrading the N54Ls RAM to 16Gb (2 x 8Gb sticks) is very highly recommended for optimum performance as RAIDZ is very memory hungry and needs at least 16Gb to work nicely.

        • sohomel on 12/06/2014 - 13:25

          thanks mate, :)

        • sohomel on 12/06/2014 - 13:27

          After I asked, i referred your previous post, very detailed and helpful. thanks again, Steve

        • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 13:30

          No dramas and enjoy the build!

        • Sheppy on 12/06/2014 - 23:29

          What speed can you get from your N54L? I setup FreeNAS on my N40L with 5x WD 4TB Red with RAIDz1 and can only get ~35MB/s on a Gigabit LAN to another Windows 7 PC, so I was wondering if I'll get better speed upgrading to the N54L…

          Was running WHS 2012 on a single drive and the speed was >80MB/s, now running FreeNAS the CPU was constantly over 80% when transferring files…

    • salem on 12/06/2014 - 11:54
      +1

      It won't boot off anything bigger than a 2tb. But it will happily read up to 4tb as storage drives. Plus there's hacks to get the optical bay sata and the external esata to work at full speed and with some creative alignment you can fit 6 HDDs in the box without needing extra sata cards or anything. so run something like NAS4Free off a usb stick in the motherboard's internal usb slot, and you can have 6x4tb = 24tb storage, without needing extra hardware. (except maybe an esata to sata cable, and a molex to sata power cable).

  • wildwild on 12/06/2014 - 11:03
    -1

    I just don't see the point of having a NAS without RAID-5 support. RAID 0 or 1 is next to useless (ie no redundancy or 100% overhead).

    Are there any cheap 4-bay with RAID-5 around?

    • misterpotatomato on 12/06/2014 - 11:11
      +2

      Forgive my incompetence, but could you use software raid 5? Put the drives you want into a pool and get Windows Server (or even windows 7) to handle the redundancy side of things.

      I am no server expert, so if this is an awful idea, please let me know why :) I'd be interested in knowing.

      EDIT: Bonus points, could you get a small PCIx1 SATA controller to do the raid 5 for you?

    • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 11:11
      +1

      Just use one of these and use software RAID like FreeNAS?! Works perfectly for many.

      • alizzan on 12/06/2014 - 11:40
        +1

        Exactly. Plus some NAS (like D-Link) will implement RAID types which are only readable by that device. My DNS-320 does RAID 0, but I can't take those drives out and put them into a new system to be treated as RAID 0.

        Just get this, some drives, and run FreeNAS or one of the other myriad options.

    • dazweeja on 12/06/2014 - 11:21
      +1

      Here's two perspectives on why software RAID is the more popular choice these days:

      http://www.chriscowley.me.uk/blog/2013/04/07/stop-the-hate-o…
      http://augmentedtrader.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/10-things-ra… (point #2)

    • iJebus on 12/06/2014 - 12:07

      RAID-5 isn't exactly highly recommended itself…

    • scotty on 12/06/2014 - 12:39

      Here's an old ZDnet article from 2007 on why RAID-5 should not be used on larger drives.

    • cryptos on 12/06/2014 - 13:00

      Um raid 1 is the definition of redundancy 1 to 1 :)

    • NoComment on 14/06/2014 - 13:33

      The onboard RAID is just a fake-RAID anyway so you may as well just run a RAID5 in software.

  • sohomel on 12/06/2014 - 11:03
    +1

    This is nice, but looking forward to G8 deal

  • bxpressiv on 12/06/2014 - 11:18
    +1

    I bought this last year from SE and it hasn't missed a beat. With a server this cheap and how versatile it can be other dedicated NAS just seems like too expensive an option.

  • lilingdatou on 12/06/2014 - 11:28
    +6

    Bought one. "The wait is over", you knew I was waiting :)

  • Jamiea on 12/06/2014 - 11:31

    Damn. I kept waiting and waiting for the deal to come up but bought one last week. Sorry ShoppingExpress!

    • Store RepShoppingExpress @ Shopping Express on 12/06/2014 - 11:45

      no worries :)

  • dy4me on 12/06/2014 - 11:39
    +7

    Bring back the NUC deal! :D

  • binks on 12/06/2014 - 11:40

    Noob question. What's the difference between NAS drive vs normal Hard Drive?

    • alizzan on 12/06/2014 - 11:42
      +2

      Depending on who you believe, not much. My understanding was that they're "designed" to run 24/7, but IMO the cost doesn't justify the increase in performance reliability. You're probably better off just buying another drive and running some type of redundant RAID system to get better efficiency/reliability.

    • busterau on 12/06/2014 - 11:43
      +1

      I believe it is firmware tuning optimised for drives that are installed in a NAS.

    • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 11:57
      +1

      Still not 100% sure myself TBH as I just go for the cheapest possible option so I've never had the opportunity to compare…BUT…from all reports the 'NAS grade' drives can run cooler and can consume a lot less power which may be an issue for some. I've heard that the extra cost of the 'NAS grade' drives can easily be recouped by the cost savings on your power bill but again I can't confirm that as I don't run them myself.

      I've run the cheapest Seagate drives available in my last few NAS boxes spanning around 10 years now and have only ever had one drive semi-fail (SMART errors). I replaced it to be on the safe side but that original drive still works to this day. I'm not saying 'NAS grade' drives are a scam, I'm just expressing my own personal experiences with non-NAS grade drives. I may just be lucky but please be aware that there may also be a small amount of placebo involved too ie. "I paid more so it must be better"

      • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 13:04

        Isn't nas drive like wd red is more power-savy?

        • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 13:07

          Erm, yes hence my line "the 'NAS grade' drives can run cooler and can consume a lot less power…"

        • lplau on 12/06/2014 - 14:20

          WD Red is about the same as WD Green except they are built slightly better, which explains the longer warranty on WD Red.
          Imagine WD Green as a HDD from the Reject Shop and WD Red is from a computer shop lol.

          In RAID you will need HDD's which do not use power saving, e.g. head parking or switching off HDD's.

          Therefore using cheaper WD Green or Seagate Barracuda will cause issues in RAID.
          WD Green did have a utility to switch off head parking, but I heard on the newer drives, this utility doesn't work anymore or causes issues. Most likely because they figured people were switching it off so they can save on money instead of buying WD Red.

        • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 14:24

          Hmm, not sure this is all true. I've been using the cheapest Seagate drives RAIDed in all my NAS boxes and never had a problem. I'm currently using 6 x 4TB greenies in my N54L and have had no dramas at all.

  • carn on 12/06/2014 - 11:43
    +2

    Hi rep, any chance of NUC deals or A/C router deals coming up soon?

    • Store RepShoppingExpress @ Shopping Express on 12/06/2014 - 11:56
      +2

      Surely yes.

    • busterau on 12/06/2014 - 12:01

      SE only did NUC deals a few days back, but I guess you can never have too many NUC deals :)

    • snvl on 12/06/2014 - 12:06

      Before EOFY

  • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 11:50
    +1

    NUC!

  • hetzjagd on 12/06/2014 - 12:10

    Can anyone else who has bought from shoppingexpress before recommend if I should go with standard shipping for $11.45 or shipping with insurance for $17.95?

  • cloudie9 on 12/06/2014 - 12:17
    +1

    OP, any plans for a deal on HP Microserver Gen 8?

    • Store RepShoppingExpress @ Shopping Express on 12/06/2014 - 12:26

      You should not see old price for G8 deals, unless there are old stock around. All new stock cost very high atm.

      Cheers
      SE

  • pjn on 12/06/2014 - 12:32

    Am I correct to assume the Gigabyte HD6450 1GB card mentioned in the original post is fine for use within the N54L (i.e. low profile bracket, heat-sink is small enough)? Thanks!

  • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 12:36

    I have been really waiting to buy one of these.
    I need it to run media server and to put all my media in it (music, photos, videos).
    Also serve as personal cloud and potential web server.

    Does anyone know if G8 worth waiting for? I'm not so sure what to do with the extra PCIe.

    Finally, how about comparing this to mac mini server with thunderbolt enclosure? Put apart the price that can go over $1.5k.

    • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 12:39

      The G8 has USB3 as well.

    • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 12:59
      +1

      It sounds like you're tripping yourself up with all the exciting potential & variables. Clear the air and consider it a different way…

      The Microserver itself is one of the cheapest components in your build. If you put one together based around an N54L and it doesn't do exactly what you need or work the way you want it to work then cut your losses, buy a different device and transfer all the expensive HDDs over to that instead. Easy.

      • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 13:03

        True… very true…

  • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 12:40

    The spec says it can have maximum 4x2TB drives. Does it able to handle 4TB drives?

    Thanks

    • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 12:47

      Yes. Ignore the spec, it's wrong, outdated or just HP being conservative (or a mix of all three). Refer to my comment/s above: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/148364#comment-2044428

      They could possibly even handle the new 5TB & 6TB drives too but I'm not sure as I haven't done it myself. Probably pushing things a bit far TBH.

  • kamikaze_ozbargain on 12/06/2014 - 12:41

    if shipping is free and i wanted to buy insurance, does it calculate only the insurance? also if i've already paid for everything and just decided i wanted insurance, can i amend the order?

    • Store RepShoppingExpress @ Shopping Express on 12/06/2014 - 12:47

      Hi kamikaze_ozbargain,

      Can you PM me in more details what you need?
      As for order amendments:
      All orders cannot be amended once paid. We need cancel the order (refund to you is not instant as it needs to through a queue in our Accounts department) and you have to order again.

      Cheers
      SE

  • slowmo on 12/06/2014 - 12:56

    Free shipping if I get 2 microservers rep ?

    • Store RepShoppingExpress @ Shopping Express on 12/06/2014 - 13:20
      +4

      haha…

      • slowmo on 12/06/2014 - 15:28

        nvm. was looking at getting 4 actually. i know these stuff are heavy, pity you don't have pickups. thanks for the laugh. cheers.

  • DeadlySaber on 12/06/2014 - 12:59

    Hi Ozbargainers with vast hardware knowledge,

    I want to replace my slow arse 7 years old Dell Optiplex 755 desktop which is still running fine. I need something can run 24/7 for Mezzmo media server, Plex, Utorrent, can carry a lot of hard drives, can play 1080p mkv movie files without lag while doing something else, has decent video card can connect up to 4 monitors (currently 2 connect to the Dell) for some works at home (not media related), decent processor speed, prefer to have Window 7 and I don't play game. Would this one suitable or I need something else?

    Cheers.

    • SteveAndBelle on 12/06/2014 - 13:03
      +2

      This could possibly do it but I think it's more designed to be a pure storage device. In saying that I've seen many others cram big fat video cards into them and juice them up in a variety of ways to get them working better & faster but I'd only ever use something like this as a basic dumb storage box and leave the smarts to the devices dragging the data off it.

      Two old sayings would apply here… "You can't polish a Turd" and/or "Too Many Eggs…"

      • slowmo on 12/06/2014 - 14:28
        +2

        You can polish a turd as it turns out according to myth busters.

    • salem on 12/06/2014 - 13:06
      +2

      There's only one full length pci-e slot in the N54L, and not much room next to it for a heat sink on the GPU. But it does have an onboard d-sub (vga) output as well. But I would not get an N54L for what you're saying you want to do.

      I'd get the N54L for the storage/serving/services half of the setup, and a desktop machine for the rest (and just map your drives/mount your share from the desktop to the 24/7 N54L).

    • DeadlySaber on 12/06/2014 - 13:50

      Lol, base on what you're saying, I really feel for my tiny old trusty, 4GB RAM, Core 2 Duo, Win XP, SFF Dell. I think it's in its last leg, slow and freeze sometime even though I do the maintenance well.

      So I need 2 machines to do all the jobs I want:

      A N54L to carry 6TB worth of media files, run Mezzmo, Plex, Utorrent 24/7. Does it mean I have to install Win 7 on it?

      Another desktop for my work, web browser and movie watching. Any recommendation at the moment?

      Thanks guys.

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