Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 Tower Server System Intel Core i3-4130 3.4 GHz 4GB 70A4000HUX

Pros: - Inexpensive (After Mail-In Rebate) - 6X USB 3.0 Ports + 2X USB 2.0 ports - 2X Display Ports - 3X PCIe ports + 1X PCI port - Takes Full Height Cards. - DVD Reader/Writer OD Included. - 4X DIMM Slots taking up to 32GB natively supported. - 2X 5.25" external Drive Bays, 1X 3.5" external Drive Bay - Socketed CPU to allow for Upgrading. - Cooling fan on CPU. - 3X Case Fans for excellent Cooling. - Case is Very Sturdy. No rough edges. - Intel 4400 series Video Card (upgrade from most that have 4000) - Audio Card and Driver for Stereo and Surround Sound. - 15 pin SATA power connections allow for up to 6 devices without a splitter. - 285 watt Bronze power supply is bigger than a HP Proliant Microserver to allow for more PCIe cards (a GPU?). - Upgrade path for multiple gigabit ethernet cards (Intel I350-T2 or I350-T4) - All of the 5X SATA busses are SATA III. Unlike the Proliant G7 N54L which only has SATA I or SATA II busses. I liked these as a Media Server/HTPC so I bought 2 to build for customers. I was used to the Proliant Microservers and knew their quirks. I have had to take the time to learn how to set them up. I will say that the Tech Support is still learning this machine. After I got to the correct group handling Server Support in Atlanta, GA, things went a lot smoother.

Cons: - Price is lower on other sites (named after a river in Brazil) and does not need MIR! - Only one SATA III HDD cable comes with the server. - Drive Bay Configuration Requires 90 degree angle SATA III cables to allow the Case Cover to Close. (If you only have straight SATA cables, you are out of luck). - Drive Cages are flimsy Plastic. They look and feel cheap. - Included Start-Up disc has no drivers for Windows 7 OS (or Windows 8). The machine was meant to be a server so they only included drivers for Server OS's. They have the majority of OS's covered. - Limited Drivers for Windows 7. - Some of the Drivers on the Lenovo.com website are Beta Drivers. The Intel Video and HD Audio Driver on the site has been supplanted by a newer driver. I found that out only after contacting Tech Support because I could not get Audio through the Display Port. Once I got the new driver, problem was fixed. It only took me 3 hours of troubleshooting to resolve that one. - The TS140 Server will NOT accept KINGSTON RAM. This according to the Lenova Tech Support that I talked to. This includes Wintec Industries memory modules. - The TS140 does NOT accept Buffered/Registered Memory Modules. ECC is fine. Buffered Memory is NOT. - The TS140 does accept Hynix or Samsung Memory Modules. Those are the types that come with the Server. Tech Support is still working on a listing of acceptable aftermarket memory modules. - The Lenova Technical Forum is POOR. The TS140 has not been out long enough for a lot of people to work with them. If you need support in-depth, stick with the HP Proliant Microservers. HomeServerShow.com will give you all the support you could ever need on those. - The footprint of the TS140 is larger than a Proliant G7 or G8 Microserver. It isn't a huge box, just not as compact. - Only room for 3X 3.5" Disc Drives. You can upgrade up to 5 drives (3X 3.5" + 2X 2.5") but you would have to share data ports or disconnect the OD unless you want to put in a PCIe SATA controller card.

Overall Review: This was intended to be a SOHO or even Mid-Size Data Server but the features on this box make it a pretty ideal choice as a Home Media Server/HTPC. The low cost and feature rich box with an excellent upgrade path will give severe competition to the HP Proliant Servers. HP Servers are more expensive on a feature comparision scale. Technical Support from HP and aftermarket forum is where the Proliant Microservers beat out the Thinkservers. The Microservers also have the smallest footprint that I know of. Because the TS140 has only been out for a few months, Lenova is still working on tech support and firmware. I expect that they will get this resolved within 6 months or so (I don't work for Lenova so that is just IMO). In conclusion, I really like this Lenova TS140. I believe that it has more features out of the box, and a better upgrade path than the HP Proliant G7, G8, or even 300 series servers. It is a definite step up from the TS130 and has very current features. Once I get over the steep learning curve and work out the bugs I am pretty sure I will wonder why I even considered purchasing another HP Proliant Microserver.

Pros: -35W @ idle -65W @ 100% cpu (this i3 by itself is rated @ 65W, meaning the PSU and motherboard are incredibly efficient) -Whisper quiet, even while running almost a dozen routers in GNS3 -Front fan duct designed well for keeping the internal drives cool -Completely tool-less case design -Best tool-less PCI slot system I've ever seen -Nicely designed internal drive vibration mounts (not sure why people are complaining about this) -More USB 3.0 ports than USB 2.0 ports -Windows Server 2012 runs SMOOOOOOTH as butter with this hardware -The lack of a hard drive reduces the price, and allows you to get ones you prefer instead of whatever brand they want you to have

Cons: -Tool-less external drive mounts are poorly engineered... just use the screw holes with some thumb screws instead -COM 2 header does not take standard DB-9 harness connector (not a huge deal, but still) -No RDIMM ECC memory support (but at this price point, you can't really expect that... at least it does UDIMM ECC) -Single NIC -Front USB 3.0 harness header is not a standard connector -Non-standard power supply connector, but same voltages and pin sizes and typical PSUs. Easy to adapt to an aftermarket unit (and if you think otherwise, you have no business being inside of a computer chassis).

Overall Review: If you plan on a 10Gb NIC or running a 12Gb SAS setup, be sure to use the 1st X16 PCIe slot for the best bandwidth. That one is a Gen3 PCIe while the other slots are just Gen2. Also, I'm really shocked at how many of the one-egg reviews are way out of line, especially the guys using Server 2003 and non-R2 2008. If you value the security of your servers, you'd get smart and upgrade already. Lenovo did you a favor by not supplying drivers for those operating systems. Additionally, if you think this is really an enterprise class server, you should seek another profession. This is designed for specialty tasks and small business needs, not a datacenter. The specs alone should be enough to tell you that. In closing, this server is perfect for things you would typically see an appliance for, like an IP camera security DVR, a small business database server, or even a firewall/VPN system. This would also be a good light-duty NAS, and also does ok with GNS3 (though I have since changed over to one of the Xeon-E3 models for Cisco training). Also, these servers are made in Mexico, not China despite what another reviewer said. I guess nobody reads anymore.

Pros: Quiet, easy install of Win7 pro. Basic drivers on the included disc. Once you get the network up, rest can be loaded from Lenovo's site. High quality power cable (usually something I would never comment on but this is a nice beefy one). Flies with an SSD in there (Samsung EVO and Samsung 840 Pro tried).

Cons: DVD drive is a little loud. Power supply connector to motherboard is not standard 24pin. Its a proprietary 14pin. If you want to put (or need to) replace the power supply, you need an adapter. Look over at moddiy dot com and search Lenovo 14-pin and you'll find it.

Overall Review: Others have noted you need right angle SATA cables to hit the included cages. Not exactly. There are 2 right angle cables included so you can take the one in use for the DVD drive and use it for the 2nd HDD cage. Then run a standard cable to the DVD drive.

Pros: This is a nice inexpensive box for decent specifications depending on what you would like to use it for. 4th Gen Core i3 processor - goes for around $100 if you buy it alone.

Cons: I haven't had any yet. I have not owned it for long but it does exactly what I need it to do.

Overall Review: I purchased this box to replace an old FreeNAS box I had been running at home. The old FreeNAS box was a desktop I purchased back in 2005 and it's abilities with the Plex Media server plugin were pretty sad. I wanted to upgrade the machine since I utilize my FreeNAS machine a lot. This box runs great with FreeNAS and I would recommend it to anyone thinking about using this box for the same reason.

Pros: This is a nice server system and they were on sale at a great price.

Cons: Not a standard power supply. Replacement power supplies are expensive compared to standard equipment.

Pros: Fantastic Black Friday price 30% off current price. Fast processor, silent operation, All the cables are included and already installed in the drive bays. Nice BiOS though old style non-GUI. Completeness of the package, just add a hard drive, keyboard and mouse. Very fast boot even with traditional hard drive. Includes integrated sound card nice for a server.

Cons: Having trouble getting the DisplayPort output to play sound throw a HDMI monitor/speakers. Normal sound through back panel headphone jack works though. Trying to work out that glitch might need a different cable.

Overall Review: First of all the price: You could not touch this price in a used or refurbished machine, and this is brand new production that just came out of the Lenovo factory. Not sure how they can make any money at all on these at the Black Friday price I paid unless they count on the fact most people forget to do the rebate form on time. If have installed Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter edition. This is an extremely fast machine. For the price paid I have no complaints at all. Includes removable card cages for 2 hard drives but has internal space for 4 drives. It is fair to call it a low end server or a workstation but is also fair to call it a high end workstation since it supports 32 GB of memory and has 4 DIMM slots. It supports network boot as well as many other boot options you would expect from modern UEFI BIOS: Can boot from the network, and also from a USB thumb driver, USB hard drive or DVD as well as the internal DVD burner. Only 280 watts but that seems to be plenty and the case is spacious almost empty, the power supply connector wires are slim and don't fill up the case. Very fast boot from this system and I do not have a SSD drive on this one, instead a Toshiba 2GB drive. It boots extremely fast. No SLEEP function but who cares? This is a server. Intel i3-4130 is a surprisingly robust CPU since it has 4 logical cores. No it is not an I5-3570 but really does not need to be. Build quality exceedingly code no sharp edges inside the case at all. No need for a box of bandaids. Everything installs by hand without tools. Recommend to anyone especially if they are on sale. Running Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter it only had 1 file that needed to be installed, and Intel chipset driver .inf file. Actually worked fine even without that. The BIOS does support VM by the way people, the feature is just turned disabled by default: you have to go into BIOS settings and enable it. Not a gaming machine but the Integrated HD4000 graphics is more than sufficient. The image quality is quite good it just lacks the oomph for gaming but like I said this is a server. I am not sure what people were complaining about the PCIe being only 8X because mine is 16X

Pros: Amazing product for low power 24/7 use. Used one of these to build a mini-raid network server running Windows server.

Cons: No hard drive could be a con but also a plus, instead of getting the cheap 5400 RPM drive you can spend the saved $ on a NAS drive or more durable one and know that the product you placed into it worked.

Overall Review: For the other reviewers that rate this low due to no hard drive and inability to deploy simply.. This is NOT for novice users. YES it is cheap but not meant for those who do not know or are not experienced with barebone / server systems.

Pros: * Inexpensive * Quiet * Low-power consumption * More powerful than the AMD Turion 2.2GHz it replaced * Adequate drive accomodations

Cons: Not as well engineered as the HP Proliant Microserver line

Overall Review: Bought this for my new video server. I originally used an HP Proliant N45L, then upgraded to an N54L last year. I loved the design of those machines, but was looking for a little more horsepower. This TS140 fit the bill nicely. It runs Win 7 Pro 64-bit with Windows Media Center, and a Ceton infiniTV-4 card. It is noticeably snappier than the previous machines. The 4GB RAM seems adequate, but I am going to add another 4GB RAM just because. The OS runs off a Crucial 128GB SSD, and the storage is via twin WD Red NAS 3TB drives. Very nice!