HP ProLiant Ultra Micro Tower MicroServer System AMD Athlon II NEO N36L 1.3 GHz 1GB DDR3 1 x 160GB Non-hot-plug LFF SATA 612275-001

Pros: Optical drive bay w/ SATA connection. On board video. Two open PCI-e slots. eSATA. Lots of USB ports, including one on MB. Quiet. Expandable.

Cons: No PS/2 ports. No WHS support. :( 160GB HDD is a waste of real estate. Only 1GB RAM. No spare SATA ports on MB (one for ODD). No ODD cables included. No OS included.

Overall Review: I was getting ready to buy a MediaSmart server when I found the ProLiant MicroServer. It seems like a much better machine so I decided to give it a try even though Windows Home Server isn't officially supported. You need to disable AHCI in Bios to install WHS (PP3). I assume AHCI could be used after installing the correct drivers, but I haven't tried. There are a few other driver updates required after installation, for the NIC, SMbus and display. I installed a Samsung SN-S083C slim DVD drive and the included Seagate 160GB hard drive in the 5.25 bay using a Bytecc slim DVD/3.5 HDD adapter. This leaves the four backplane bays open for 2TB drives. The OS is installed on the 160GB HDD connected to a HighPoint Rocket 620 PCI-e Sata controller (no spare SATA ports on the MB). *Make sure you have a USB mouse/keyboard on hand for setup. *The drive mounting screws and tool are attached to the inside of the front door. *Not sure if the eSATA port does port multiplication.

Pros: Nice Package, Just like a ProLiant. I work on this units bigger brothers all the time and it has all the features of the larger ones, but with less of the onboard management. Nice packaging with drive cages, and the screws to mount drives on the door frame. Internal USB connector for VMware ESXi or other OS boot flash drive is located easily accessable in front, without having to slide the motherboard tray out. saving the slots for data drives. To use the Onboard SATA RAID, Windows and Linux drivers are available on the HP site.

Cons: Like all the other comments, no SATA power adapter, or Data cable. HP usually ships those with the option kit. So typically if you ordered the Optical Drive, those come in THAT box, not the server box. I will be upgrading the RAM. Drive rails appear to be ok, but it's plastic, not metal, which is typical of low cost system components, but hey, they function.

Overall Review: I bought this to experiment with FreeNas8 and also for demonstrations at PC User group meetings. It has more current hardware than some recycled desktops and I can have several drives on rails for different OS demos and it's relatively small to carry around. Had to buy a USB keyboard and mouse to get things running, When Done experimenting, will probably get 4 big SATA drives and get a HW Raid card and set it up for home network storage. HP has a support site that has repair videos for replacing the poweer supply and the SAS cable (probably the two hardest tasks for repair) that makes it easier to repair, since the manual isn't easy to understand. link is here http://h20464.www2.hp.com/resultsCSR.htm?prodSeriesId=4248009&MEID=0A19D1A2-CF87-4F96-ABE4-2546FE1F5D48 Can also be used to preview some of the features before buying.

Pros: _Dual Core power _uses ECC RAM _Torx Key and screws for hard drives included in server door _On-Motherboard USB port for USB embedded OS'es _Very quiet, stays cool!

Cons: _Does not support Raid 5, 0+1....0 and 1 only _Included 160 GB HDD...WHY? It's practically useless in a machine like this _Only 1GB RAM _Only 2 USB ports in back _non 'multiplex' eSATA port in back

Overall Review: Great machine, well thought out, hardware RAID on the motherboard. For such a well thought out machine, it seems odd that HP would include only 1GB RAM and a pathetic 160GB HDD. Might be okay for testing, but jeez, 160GB? I would have liked to pay $20 less and they can keep the 160GB Drive. works great with W7Ultimate and FreeNAS(via VMWare)

Pros: + The hardware is well-supported (under *Solaris from experience, but apparently also FreeBSD and Linux). + Compact size + Solid metal construction (heavy) + Internal layout is good, given the compact size: cables are bundled, everything is easily removed using Torx screws, and a widget for opening the screws is mounted inside the front flap. + Pretty quiet for something billed as a server. + Adding devices is relatively easily: 5.25 device slides into the bay, the plastic 3.5" HDD trays work relatively well. + 4 Front USB ports

Cons: - Few USB ports on the back (2) - Could be quieter, but it is server hardware. - VGA connector - Adding PCIe cards looks like a pain (haven't tried it). - I've read online that the eSATA port does not support multiplexing. - HP did not include a SATA cable or SATA power for the 5.25 bay. An irritating way to reduce costs.

Overall Review: Great as a home server.

Pros: * ECC RAM! * compact size * easy access to drives * nice design features, such as included Torx screws (and screwdriver) for drive sleds * mostly cooled with quiet 120mm fan * USB port inside in case you want to use a USB flash drive as a boot drive (which I am, booting FreeBSD) * optional remote management card available * it's cheap for what you get!

Cons: * tiny fan on PSU, increasing noise * the drives are physically accessible while the computer is on but they're not hot swappable * there is no documentation for the remote management card * the virtual media feature of the remote management card doesn't work on Mac OS * it's not silent

Overall Review: I was going to build my own server from scratch and then I found this and bought two of them. Good job, HP! I'm running Ubuntu and FreeBSD on them.

Pros: Out of box, Windows 7 Pro Experience Index: Processor - 3.9 Memory- 3.9 Graphics- 2.9 Gaming Graphics- 4.5 Hard Drive- 5.9 Uses about 25-30 watts. This is about the same as my laptop. Upgraded the ram to 8 gigs and added 3 more 160 gig hard drives. Installed SBS 2008 R2. Uses about 50 watts. Runs very quite. Speed is good for a dual core @ 1.3GHZ CPU.

Cons: Needs a ram upgrade, 1 gig doesn't go far these days. The HP drive failed after 1 day.

Overall Review: It makes a very good/small home/test server. How it will hold up in a production environment is any ones guest.

Pros: See below

Cons: See below

Overall Review: Mounting screws for hard drives and optical drive ARE included, people. Open up the front door and LOOK!

Pros: Runs 64bit Linux (Ubuntu) without a hitch, booting from a flash usb stick for the initial installation. Nice form factor. Pretty quiet.

Cons: It's a bit tricky to install additional memory (I expanded the memory to 4G.) The hard-drive bays are not hot plug and have a bit of a cheap feeling.

Overall Review: This machine replaced my ReadyNAS NV+ and this machine supports all its features from a stock Linux distribution (with the possible exception of the "xraid" automatic expansion of RAID arrays). Plus you can run your own backup scripts etc.