PROJECT: HP ProLiant Microserver N40L (AKA my Home Backup Server)
Here it is...my little box of wonder!
This is the little HP PC that I talked about in my last post (PROJECT:Home Backup Server) and I have now been using it for backups in the house since I wrote the post.
As I had said in the link above, I was going to try using a combo of unRAID and Crashplan on it and that's just what I have done. It was a little tricky to get set up at first but once you get Crashplan installed it's a doddle. I'll likely do a separate post detailing the install.
The box itself is practically minuscule when compared with a micro-ATX or even full ATX tower case. Below you can see it next to my main media server and it's half the height and depth of it! You could very easily lose this thing!
On the front of the machine you have a power button, network and HDD status LEDs, 4x USB 2.0 ports and the access door to get at the drives. This door is also lockable using the 2 included keys.
Once you open the door up you are presented with a very compact internal bay of 4 cold-swap drive trays. Each hard drive you want to use gets screwed into one of these trays using the included screws cleverly stored on the inside of the door panel.
Also conveniently placed inside is a proper internal USB port. This is really handy for me as it means I can put my unRAID OS flash drive inside the locked panel instead of having it plugged in the front or rear where someone in the house can just come along and unplug it.
Around on the rear of the machine there's not a lot to say. You've got your power in, a single 120mm exhaust fan (not whisper quiet but not deafening either), 2x USB 2.0 ports, gigabit ethernet, eSATA and VGA out. Internally there are 3x PCI slots; PCIe x1, PCIe x4 (for an optional management card) and PCIe x16.
I'll be doing another post on setting up unRAID on it for the first time and installing the Crashplan add-on as well but there you go, a brief overview of the beast!
UPDATE 1: And the unRAID guide is up!
UPDATE 2: So is the CrashPlan one!