Hopefully this information will prove useful to some looking to update their MicroServer. Sabrent also make a really good quality 2.5" to 3.5" bay converter adapter (BK-PCBS) that I have used in the EX490/X510 to convert from HDD to SSD system drives. I decided to forget about an internal DVD/RW drive and opted for an external HP F2B56AA slimline drive that can be plugged into the USB of either system.
I went with Samsung 860 Pro SSDs for the longer rated lifespan of write cycles. I have no doubght the only limitation here is likely the hard drives i was copying from / to. Just need to add your choice of SSDs and cable up to B120i port. TP-Link TG-3468 File Transfer Speeds With the TP-Link TG-3468 i was able to copy files from my Windows Server 2012 R2 server to my Windows 8 PC at 93MB/s or 744mbps.
I could not find it on Amazon US site but there was one from CableCreations that same length. The 50cm cable from Jyopto works great and not too much spare to lose within the system. This is an SFF-8087 Mini-SAS connector to 4 SATA header cables. The final part of the puzzle is another Mini-SAS to SATA cable the same as the one connected to the internal drive bays.
Bracket is then fixed in place using the provided screws (see photo). This item TP-Link 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express, PCIE Network Adapter / Network Card / Ethernet Card for PC, Win10 supported (TG-3468), Model Number: PCI-E TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 PCIe WiFi Card for PC with Heat Sink Bluetooth 5.0 802.11AX Dual Band Wireless Adapter with MU-MIMO, Ultra-Low Latency Supports Windows 10 (64bit. This leaves enough metal for screws to thread in.Ĭheck and measure each hole against the bracket as you go so that they line up. I used two strips on to stop the drill bit from walking across the metal. Put some insulating tape along the underneath of the upper chassis rail next to the PSU and drilled three small holes. I mounted the bracket next to the PSU but leaving a 2-3mm gap to allow for some airflow past the SSDs in case they get warmed by the P222. The bracket holds two SSDs and provides a small gap between them. Two types of power splitter cables are included along with two SATA cables. The kit comes with all the cabling you need and all the required screws to mount the drives and bracket. Sabrent 3.5" to x2 SSD Internal Mounting Kit (BK-HDCC) This is pretty much my ideal setup for a stable resilient but small server. The outcome is a server with a mirrored system drive on the internal B120i, and the main drive bays connected to an HP P222 card providing a RAID-10 data volume. I must admit I am rather pleased with the end result of this project and may repeat it on the other Gen8 MicroServer. and managed to find the bits needed on Amazon! I had to look around to see what alternatives I could find. A shame I am on the wrong side of the Atlantic to order an SDM kit as the import duties make it an expensive option, or would have if they were still available. HP releases firmware update to fix this issueĪll credit to schoondoggy for his original idea. See Joe Miner's post #54 with some images of the BIOS screen.
I did upgrade the drivers in Device Manager from a USB thumb drive. So therefor with the built in nic disabled, and R2 Essentials fully installed, I powered down and added the nic card. A tiny card with a 1/2 height back plate. UPDATE: I ended up buying a TP-LINK TG-3468 Gigabit PCI Express Network Adapter. However once the server was running, I was not able to get the nic configured to go online. I was able to get the nic drivers installed by adding the drivers to the Windows/system32/drivers folder and it installed. I did try installing the OS on an other PC and then move the drive to the Microserver, no luck.
Looks like installation is different for R2 than before because Server Manager takes over the install instead of. However even though I get to a desktop in the end, I cannot complete the install because Server Manager opens up to complete the NIC install which it doesn't find.
If I disable the NIC (network adapter card) in the BIOS called Embedded NIC ( or something) then the install continues. I've tried a standard install but it keeps hanging. If used with PCI Express Gen 2.0 enabled computers, the max throughput is 5 Gbps.Has anyone been able to successfully install Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials onto a HP Microserver ? If used with PCI Express Gen 1.0 enabled computers, the max throughput is 2.5 Gbps. The maximum throughput of this card is limited by the bus interface.