How to setup a RAID array on a Hp Microserver

Part One: Enable the RAID controller in Bios

This is the first catch that got me, whilst the HP Microserver does include a hardware RAID controller capable of supporting RAID 0 (two disks, acting as one for speed) or RAID 1 (two disks, acting as a mirror of one another for reliability), you need to change the IDE config from AHCI to RAID in order to see the RAID controls in the first place…

1. Power up the server. If the server is already powered, save all data, exit all open applications, and restart.

2. During POST, press the F10 key to launch RBSU. If you fail to press F10 before POST, you will need to restart the server.

3. In the Advanced menu screen, select IDE Configuration.

4. Set the SATA Controller Mode field to RAID.

5. Press F10, then select Yes to save the changes and close.

Part Two: Creating a RAID volume

Next you will want to configure your drives, when you reboot you will see an additional step the server goes through, flashing up a RAID controller bios screen, from this you can enter a series of menus to setup your new RAID array.

1. After the system reboots, press Ctrl+F to activate the RAID Configuration Utility.

2. From the Option menu, select RAID Option ROM Utility.

3. Verify that two SATA drives are installed.

4. In the Main menu screen, select Create Array from the main menu. The system prompts a selection of RAID 0 and RAID 1.

6. Select a RAID level.

7. Move down and move over assignment, his space to change to Y

8. Press Control and Y, then again to continue to name the array (this is just a label, for internal use only).

9. Next is a confirmation screen that the fast format is sufficient, Press Control and Y.

10. Then give the array a capacity, obviously I would suggest the maximum, which in my case as I’m using a mirroring array, it would be the size of a single disk, or 2000gb.

CAUTION:  Back up any data stored on the hard drives before proceeding. The configuration process erases all data on the hard drives.

8. After configuration is complete, press Esc to exit the utility.

Part Three: Installing Windows Home Server

With quite a bit of fortune I found that I didn’t to do anything else during installation, the server just saw the RAID array as one 2tb disk, and installed as normal. If you’re using a controller that doesn’t have drivers included in Windows, you have a chance to load them if your disk array doesn’t appear in the drive list.

This has happened to before are whilst slightly annoying, is pretty painless. If you’re using an older OS, like Windows Home Server v1, then you can download the drivers from the AMD or HP websites.

Part Four: Managing the array from Windows Home Server

You will need to install some software called ‘AMD SB8xx SATA RAID Configuration Utility for Windows® Server 2008 and Windows® Server 2008 R2 (RAIDXpert)‘ which is a very long way of saying it adds a web administration service that will allow you to view the state of your arrays, add new arrays and generally manage all the controls available.

Obviously use extreme caution with all of these controls, if you do anything incorrectly you will end up with some very blank hard disks, so backup, backup and backup before you start to play.

AMD and HP in their divine wisdom have made finding the software very difficult, there’s almost a total disconnection when it comes to drivers that HP recommends that live on the AMD site. Fortunately knowing the name of the software you’re after is half the battle, then a simple google search will lead you to their software page (link) and more specifically this page with the application and manually handily hidden away (link).

Although I dare say they will have moved it again by the time I come to look for it again!

The admin screen is a simple web site, and whilst I’m sure its possible to access this beyond your servers desktop on a remote machine or via the internet, I would strongly suggest you keep it tied to just the home server’s desktop, this is administration over your RAID array after all.

From this service you can setup further arrays if you wish to use the other two drives as a secondary array, something I’m planning to do once the final version has come out and I can stop having to move data around so frequently!

» Read the full review of the HP Microserver

» Check out my comparison of performance between the HP Microserver and Acer h340 Atom home servers

Windows Home Server’s Windows Phone 7 official app preview

I’m pleased to see the Home Server team using the new Windows Phone 7 platform to develop a dedicated mobile app for the new Windows Home Server platform.

The Vail add-in for Windows Phone 7 adds a new feature onto Windows Phone which is currently called, “My Server” enabling you to view via 3 screens Alerts, Media and Account information as the administrator or just Media and Account information as a user.

The Alert screen information is the same details the Dashboard would provide with information on any issues at hand and possible ways to resolve the problem. You are also given the ability to Disable/Enable the alert and to even try and repair.

I still feel they should be addressing the issues around the beta expiring (with very little warning), the lack of any news regarding a Drive Extender replacement and why there’s been no talk about the future direction of the platform a CES.

This app is the icing, but where’s the cake?

via MSwhs.com

How green are your PCs?

Here’s an interesting write up about the advantages of using new power efficient pc’s over old systems (especially for the old systems that are now serving as a home server on 24hrs a day)…

When running the old Celeron board needs about 85-90W, giving a total with monitor around 110W. But what does it use in sleep mode? 10W ? 15W ?   No. 35W. I thought I’d missed a decimal point on the meter, but it is thirty five watts. The atom uses less power awake than the old machine uses when it is sleeping.

Definitely worth reading further on James O’Neill’s Blog.

Update: How to enable Remote Desktop in Windows 7 Home Premium

Here’s an update to the popular Remote desktop patch for Windows 7 desktop, this refines and builds on the functionality I first wrote about earlier in the year, with this built, gone is the command line UI and requirement to run scripts as an admin, now us use the nice UI to patch or unpatch your Windows desktop, enable multiple logins per users (useful for multi use systems such as Media Center boxes) and support for blank password logins (not something I would recommend personally).

You can pick up the latest patch app here via Media Fire and follow all the development over at The Green Button forums.

Install Zune software on Windows Home Server VAIL

I came across a problem installing the Zune Software on my home server, as it doesn’t support server operating systems like Windows Home Server VAIL. After hunting around I finally pick up this tip for routing around the microsoft restrictions imposed by the installer app.

  1. Download the software.
  2. Login to the computer with the local administrator account.
  3. Change the .exe extension to .zip, then upzip the file.
  4. Browse to the \packages folder.
  5. Right-Click on Zune-x64.msi and click Install
  6. Follow the prompts like a regular install of the software.

I’m awaiting the arrival of my new phone to test this out, I hope it works with the Wifi syncing!

HP Microserver vs Acer h340 performance comparison

I thought I’d do a little write up to highlight the massive gap in processing power between my old Acer H340 Home Server, and my new HP Microserver running the new AMD Neo processor.

Intel Atom 230 @ 1.60GHz
CPU Mark: 338.3
2D Graphics Mark: 62.1
Memory Mark: 253.5
Disk Mark: 756.2
PassMark Rating: 226.4		 AMD Athlon II Neo N36L Dual-Core @ 1.3ghz
CPU Mark: 877.7
2D Graphics Mark: 238.4
Memory Mark: 185.7
Disk Mark: 762.5
PassMark Rating: 450.2

The leap in performance is quite impressive, almost 2.5x faster processor, which translates to a significate performance gain when running the next version of Home Server, that’s build onto the Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows 7 codebase.

What’s a little odd is that the HP doesn’t beat the old Acer on memory performance, considering that it’s fitted with 1066 ECC memory, although at the time of testing it was only a single 1gb stick, where as it’s now been upgraded to 2x2gb sticks.

The disk performance is very consistent, but it is using the same disks in both, so the controller had very little effect.

Obviously if you’re looking for raw performance you’re better off with a Core i3 or i5 based machine, but if you plan to run Home Server 24/7 in the home, but still want to have enough power to rip hard media, and transcode content on the fly, this is an idea platform, as its processor only draws 15W.


» Read the full review of the HP Microserver


» Find out how to setup a RAID array on the HP Microserver

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