n54l, N100 or something else

[Fionplor]

I have a HP n54l microserver I was  thinking of using but also was wondering if that is a bit outdated to be running with hexos.

If it is too old

I saw a post of somebody upgrading thier n54l with a n100 fanless 'router'

So i was maybe thinking of getting something like this but it doesn't seem to support ecc ram I'm not sure how much of an issue that is.  

I am looking for a cheapish low power solution but not sure if

• I should use what I have already (n54l)
• upgrade what I already have (n100)
• get something completely new (something i haven't thought of)

If anybody has some input I would be really thankful

 

 

[Mobius]

it really depends on what you plan to use the server for.
if your current machine adequately meets your needs might as well stick to it
if it doesnt then it is time to upgrade.

this n100 machine gets recommended a fair bit on this form

however if say plex with subtitles are important to you i would get a used desktop 
or a i5 8500t + motherboard on ebay for around $100

[Dylan]

25 minutes ago, Fionplor said:

I have a HP n54l microserver I was  thinking of using but also was wondering if that is a bit outdated to be running with hexos.

If it is too old

I saw a post of somebody upgrading thier n54l with a n100 fanless 'router'

So i was maybe thinking of getting something like this but it doesn't seem to support ecc ram I'm not sure how much of an issue that is.  

I am looking for a cheapish low power solution but not sure if

• I should use what I have already (n54l)
• upgrade what I already have (n100)
• get something completely new (something i haven't thought of)

If anybody has some input I would be really thankful

 

 

I like what @Mobius has to say about your personal use case. That is largely the driving factor. I would also add that maybe just start with what you have and see how that performs before buying any new gear giving you a chance to evaluate what is or is not working for you. Particularly as we're still in beta, this might be the perfect time to "kick the tires" on your current build with a new OS (HexOS) before dropping your heard earned money on new hardware. 

Good luck!

[Fionplor]

6 hours ago, Mobius said:

it really depends on what you plan to use the server for.
if your current machine adequately meets your needs might as well stick to it
if it doesnt then it is time to upgrade.

this n100 machine gets recommended a fair bit on this form

however if say plex with subtitles are important to you i would get a used desktop 
or a i5 8500t + motherboard on ebay for around $100

The one you linked is Ryzen looks a bit more powerful than a n100 could be interesting. My n54l is running Windows Server 2012 R2 I used for emby a bit and usenet stuff but I have moved over to debrid services for video recently I was more wanting something for backup and things like Immich and would probably run a few other selfhosted things

6 hours ago, Dylan said:

I like what @Mobius has to say about your personal use case. That is largely the driving factor. I would also add that maybe just start with what you have and see how that performs before buying any new gear giving you a chance to evaluate what is or is not working for you. Particularly as we're still in beta, this might be the perfect time to "kick the tires" on your current build with a new OS (HexOS) before dropping your heard earned money on new hardware. 

Good luck!

How hard would it be to move the storage pool between machines in the future? I am looking to set up something to replace my Windows Server 2012 R2  which I haven't had time to upgrade or maintain and hopefully not have to do anything for awhile because my free time has dried up completely now I have two young kids which i didn't when I set up my last server 😛

[Dylan]

3 hours ago, Fionplor said:

my free time has dried up completely now I have two young kids which i didn't when I set up my last server

Preach! Same here.

It isn't too terribly complicated to export/migrate a storage pool. You'd likely be using either the zfs send/receive commands or zfs export/import depending on your environment. It can take awhile depending on how much data you have and make sure you back it up before hand!

[Mobius]

11 hours ago, Fionplor said:

The one you linked is Ryzen looks a bit more powerful than a n100 could be interesting. My n54l is running Windows Server 2012 R2 I used for emby a bit and usenet stuff but I have moved over to debrid services for video recently I was more wanting something for backup and things like Immich and would probably run a few other selfhosted things

My bad, i just assumed the first thing in my history for aoostar would be the n100 😅

 

[WilliamsKnights]

First server I setup to test HexOS was a HP N54L. I had upgraded ram to 8GB, Flashed BIOS to support hotswap and full SATA speeds, put in SSD for boot and 4x 3TB Seagate drives for data.

I used to use it as a Windows 2012 R2 server prior but thought I'd give HexOS a go.

Server ran fine for HEXOS as a NAS ONLY. I was able to setup file shares and users with no issues. Performance was  pretty good also for data transfers.

I failed completely to get either Plex or Immach to run even after 3 full reinstalls.

I don't know if it has anything to do with the N54L or HeXOS/Truenas on this server but it never completed the installs.  No errors. Drives setup, binaries present. just non running apps.

Not had the issue on my more modern Gen 10 HP Microserver or other servers I have tried HEXOS on. Something about the N54L just did not like running apps on truenas.

 

Your experience may vary. But as anything more than a  basic NAS, I think the N54L is no longer viable.

 

 

[Sonic]

On 12/10/2024 at 10:26 PM, Mobius said:

My bad, i just assumed the first thing in my history for aoostar would be the n100 😅

 

No worries, the WTR Pro comes in both an AMD Ryzen 7 5825U version and an Intel N100 version. Both are very energy-efficient while still offering quite a bit of power. I personally have the Ryzen version, and I'm very happy with it. For Plex/transcoding, the N100 performs slightly better. You can find a review of the WTR Pro on Hardware Haven:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct4yewC7mKA.

That said, the right choice depends heavily on your use case. I also have a mini PC with an N100 in my network, which I use for Proxmox with several Docker containers. I'm very satisfied with it. Plenty of performance with very low energy consumption.