The original MicroServer was launched in 2010 and it is encouraging that HP have decided to stick with the genre (compare with their Home Server range, which they abandoned after a couple of years). Presumably the Gen8 will replace the original once stocks have run down. However, with the original available for as little as £110 (after cashback) it remains a highly desirable little box.
We recently ran an article on HP's bargain MicroServer (see here). Now HP have launched a new model, referred to as the MicroServer 'Gen8'. The basic concept remains the same: a small, low-cost, but fully functional and genuine file server (not a repurposed PC), but there are some changes. Firstly, it is more expensive; UK prices have not yet been announced, but it is more likely to be in the region of £300 rather than £200. Secondly, it uses Intel processors instead of the AMD ones of its predecessor, plus they are more powerful. Thirdly, it has a built-in DVD drive. Fourthly, memory is expandable to 16GB rather than 8GB and storage expandable to 12TB rather than 8TB. Fifthly, it has twin Gigabit Ethernet adaptors. Finally, it is generally easier to open up and upgrade/maintain.
The original MicroServer was launched in 2010 and it is encouraging that HP have decided to stick with the genre (compare with their Home Server range, which they abandoned after a couple of years). Presumably the Gen8 will replace the original once stocks have run down. However, with the original available for as little as £110 (after cashback) it remains a highly desirable little box. The story of the laser printer is both fascinating and inspiring. It was invented by Xerox in 1969; it filled a room and cost $1 million to make. The development team showed it to the directors, one of whom reportedly said: "That's quite interesting. Now make one that is 1/1000th of the size and 1/1000th of the price and we might have a product". So they did, and about 15 years later it was possible to buy a desktop laser printer for a couple of thousand pounds. Only the printers were from Canon and HP; as with so many things to do with computing, Xerox invented it but were unable to fully exploit it themselves. Fast forward another 30 years and it is now possible to buy a DISPOSABLE laser printer. Well not quite, as in it is not exactly designed to be disposable, but to all intents and purposes it might as well be. The printer in question is the Aficio SP100e from Ricoh, the world's largest photocopier company. Amazingly, it can be purchased for just £24.00 including P&P from Dabs Online (or £24.96 from their ebay outlet). Okay, it's not the world's greatest laser printer and the paper tray only holds 50 pages, but it is small and compact and provided you're not printing more than a few hundred pages a month is good enough for many people. It comes with the all important toner cartridge, but here is the catch. As with most printers, it is a 'starter' cartridge. Ricoh rate it as good for 500 pages; obviously it depends on what you are printing but many people find they only get about 300 pages. To buy a full cartridge, rated for 1200 pages, costs in the order of £60-£80. They are not that easy to find and, as yet, nobody is offering cheaper refilled or third party cartridges. So, here is the dilemma. Do you buy one of these printers and when it runs out try and find a toner cartridge that will cost 2 or 3 times what you paid for the printer? Or do you just throw it away and buy another printer? Another strategy might be just to buy a couple of the printers to begin with, thereby giving you an instant spare! LOOK! If you enjoyed this, you might also like to read this article as well. Launched a couple of year ago, the HP Proliant Microserver is a popular choice for small businesses and computer enthusiasts. It is a regular file server - not just a PC masquerading as one - but is small and cheap. Very cheap. And now it's even cheaper. Usually priced around the £220 mark, until the end of June it is available with £100 cashback from HP. At the time of writing (9th June 2013), ebuyer have an additional discount, meaning by the time you claim the cashback you will have paid just £99.99 for it - truly astonishing. At this price, you don't have to use it as a server: it's the cheapest way of buying a new PC. In fact, it's worth buying one as a spare even if you don't need it! So, what exactly does £99.99 buy you! Quite a lot. The Microserver is powered by an AMD N54L CPU clocked at 2.2GHz, has 2GB of DDR3 RAM plus a 250GB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive. That might not sound like a particularly high specification, but performance-wise the Microservers punch well above their weight. There are four drive bays; stuff it with 2TB drives and you've 8TB storage in the box. The drives can be configured as RAID 0 (for performance) or RAID 1 (for reliability), although the RAID controller is not as sophisticated as a dedicated controller card. There are numerous USB ports, for the connection of external drives for even more capacity or for backups. There is no DVD drive; it is relatively straightforward to add one, although it does necessitate opening up the box. Memory can be expanded to 8GB (and it supports ECC RAM, too), although again it is necessary to open it up. To use it as a server, it is necessary to install an operating system. The slight problem here is that a full version of the Windows Server software costs considerably more than the Microserver itself! Fortunately, there are some low cost alternatives available. A popular choice is Windows Home Server 2011; this is a sort of cut-down version of Windows Server 2008 that will handle up to 10 computers/users and is available for less than £40 onlime. Another alternative is ordinary Windows 8, still available for £50-£80 in some places. Although this is really a desktop operating system, the built-in Homegroup networking services are fine for the home or very small business. Finally, there is even a totally free operating system called FreeNAS; this turns a computer into a very capable NAS box along the lines of what Synology, QNAP, Buffalo etc sell. It can even run from a USB memory stick, and there is space for one inside the Microserver. However, this is very much an option for the enthusiast rather than the man or woman in the street. Does the desktop of your computer (or iPad etc) look rather dull? if so, change the wallpaper to something bright and interesting. You can find hundreds of thousands of different photos and designs on the internet. A particularly good source is www.interfacelift.com, which has lots of professional photos to download in a variety of resolutions, with new ones added each day. The ones featuring dramatic scenery are particularly good (click photo at left to view in higher resolution). Best of all, they are totally free and with no catches or tricks. Worth checking! |
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