Question 1

Does this come with an operating system?

Accepted Answer

No it did not.  I purchased Windows Server 2012 R12 which has worked well for us.

Question 2

Does memory have to be added in pairs?  I would guess not since this comes with one 4GB stick.  Can you have 3 sticks in it?

Accepted Answer

No, it doesn't have to be.  However, with one chip the system uses the memory in single channel mode and with 2 chips it switches to dual channel mode. Ideally you should populate the slots with 2 or 4 chips to get dual channel performance.

This system can do very well just a single chip, add an SSD or two and it may surprised you on how well it fits the bill at a low cost.

Question 3

Hello.
Is this box compatible with Xenserver 6.x or Vmware 5.x without having on-hand additional drivers?

Sincere thanks.

Accepted Answer

Can't speak for Xenserver but I was able to install VMware ESXi 5.5 by following the instructions posted by gabipetrica on spiceworks (can't post links to external sites apparently so you'll have to google it). You do have to install a driver to deal with the unsupported NIC.

Good luck.

Question 4

I don't see any mention of a network adaptor /ethernet port in the specs. Do I need to purchase additional components for networking?

Accepted Answer

Yes - it has one onboard Intel® Ethernet Connection I217-LM 1GB port on it. All drivers for Windows Server 2012 are available from Dell site. Can't remember if WS2012 picked up the ethernet controller during install or if I had to point to the USB drive I had the drivers on. Either way, WS2012 installed very easily on this if that is what your are doing. WHS2011 was a bit tougher.

Question 5

winserver2008r2 sp1 standard version is supported or not?

Accepted Answer

Yes. That's exactly what I used. When you download the drivers - get the Chipset driver for the 2012 OS - it isn't there for the 2008 R2 and you will need it in order for all system devices to have a driver.

Question 6

Would we be able to set this up in one room, and other PCs and laptops in other rooms, requiring remote access? Also, could this be accessed off-premises?

Accepted Answer

I have purchased several of these for clients that have small businesses, need super reliability, but don't want a true "Server". Note that the specs say you must use a server OS. Not true. It will not take Windows 7 but WILL take Windows 8.1 with no problems. I always set this up as a RAID 1 config and install the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Manager to monitor the hard drives. This is what I use on all of them. This of course as with any computer can be set up to file share, and remote access from off site using Windows 8.1 remote access software, or any free software such as Team Viewer.

Question 7

Can I add internal Hard drives to this?

Accepted Answer

It can hold four 3.5" drives and two 2.5" drives.  If you are planning on using this has a NAS or media server you might want to add some memory.  there are four slots and it ships with one 4GB UDIMM.

Question 8

How many hard drives will this support?

Accepted Answer

I installed 4 hard drives.  I went to the dell site and there was references to installing two additional but smaller drives for a total of six but you needed to buy something additional to support this.  You may want to look dell

4 installed very easily for me.

I also liked the different raid options I could set using the firmware.

Question 9

What is the make and model of hard drive? Looking to purchase identical hard drive for RAID setup.

Accepted Answer

Seagate drive as well in mine - I pulled it immediately. IMHO, Seagate drives are lousy. I replaced with a 120GB SSD for Windows Server 2012 install, and two WD Black drives for data shares/client backups.

Question 10

Mine just arrived,  the ad says it has 12 USB of which 4 are USB3.  I can find 10 USB's 6 on the back and 4 on the front.  None of them has the traditional 4 tab indicating it was USB3.  I thought that was a standard?   Hopefully once I get an OS on on it I should be able to tell if there are any USB3's.  Sure odd none of them have the blue thingy in them.  Otherwise the system is impressive.  All 4 power connectors and SATA cables ready to plug into any drive you install.  No screws, which is nice.  The top two trays pop out the front with a lift up on a plastic handle of sorts.

Accepted Answer

Hi! I recently deployed this to a client, and I believe what happened was they mistook the 2 eSATA ports for USB ports. I don't remember seeing eSATA in the specs... I also think that all of the USB but 2 are USB 3 - the top 2 ports where they keyboard & mouse would normally plug in. I never did check the devices once I had the OS installed... Hope this helps!

Questions & Answers