Using Old Windows Home Servers Again???

[Jamr]

Wondering of anyone has any experience in repurposing old Windows Home Servers.
I have in my posession an

1. HP Media Smart Server
   https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01752100#c52100b[URL]https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01752100#c52100b[/URL]
   
2. HP Proliant Micro Server
   https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pr...rion-ii-neo-n54l-2-2-ghz-monitor-none-series/

I am pretty sure are the two model specs.
I would like to get them going again as a NAS with something like Free NAS or something similar.
I would use them for movie file backups and possible as a Plex server without decoding.
I realize that these older servers do not have the necessary RAM needed for FreeNAS so I guess my question is;
Should I recycle these old servers or try to spend the time to use them again?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Until recently I was running the same generation HP Proliant MicroServer, albeit the slower N40L model. I had increased the RAM to 8GB and swapped the HDD for a 1TB device.

It was running Centos and was used primarily as a Samba and Plex server. As a file server it was more than capable. The Plex server was fine so long as it didn't have to do any transcoding. Unfortunately the lack of transcoding became more and more frustrating so I replaced it with something more powerful.

EDIT: I also replaced both fans (PSU and system) with quiet models because they were too noisy for where I wanted the server located, especially the PSU fan. Replacing the PSU fan requires splicing the cable. The system fan uses a non-standard connector and pinout.

 

[Jamr]

Until recently I was running the same generation HP Proliant MicroServer, albeit the slower N40L model. I had increased the RAM to 8GB and swapped the HDD for a 1TB device.

It was running Centos and was used primarily as a Samba and Plex server. As a file server it was more than capable. The Plex server was fine so long as it didn't have to do any transcoding. Unfortunately the lack of transcoding became more and more frustrating so I replaced it with something more powerful.

EDIT: I also replaced both fans (PSU and system) with quiet models because they were too noisy for where I wanted the server located, especially the PSU fan. Replacing the PSU fan requires splicing the cable. The system fan uses a non-standard connector and pinout.

Yea, the more I read up on these makes me realize they just are not capable enough to take the time to make them useful again. Shame though as they are nicely built and are pretty skimpy on electricity.

 

[dosborne]

Check out the $40 Raspberry Pi

 

[Jamr]

Check out the $40 Raspberry Pi

I just bought one for my home automation purposes. They seem pretty nice except they get hot without a fan.
I do remember reading that the servers I mentioned above beat the pants off of the Pi3 so using a PI3 would be a downgrade.

 

[sfx2000]

Wondering of anyone has any experience in repurposing old Windows Home Servers.
I have in my posession an

1. HP Media Smart Server
   https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01752100#c52100bhttps://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01752100#c52100b
   
2. HP Proliant Micro Server
   https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pr...rion-ii-neo-n54l-2-2-ghz-monitor-none-series/

I am pretty sure are the two model specs.
I would like to get them going again as a NAS with something like Free NAS or something similar.
I would use them for movie file backups and possible as a Plex server without decoding.
I realize that these older servers do not have the necessary RAM needed for FreeNAS so I guess my question is;
Should I recycle these old servers or try to spend the time to use them again?

Keep them around - they'll be fine... and something you know.

 

[netware5]

Wondering of anyone has any experience in repurposing old Windows Home Servers.
I have in my posession an

1. HP Media Smart Server
   https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01752100#c52100bhttps://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01752100#c52100b
   
2. HP Proliant Micro Server
   https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pr...rion-ii-neo-n54l-2-2-ghz-monitor-none-series/

I am pretty sure are the two model specs.
I would like to get them going again as a NAS with something like Free NAS or something similar.
I would use them for movie file backups and possible as a Plex server without decoding.
I realize that these older servers do not have the necessary RAM needed for FreeNAS so I guess my question is;
Should I recycle these old servers or try to spend the time to use them again?

If you like FreeNAS you may consider to try its "cousin" XigmaNAS (the former Nas4Free). It is faster and not so memory hungry, regularly maintained, much more friendly community, easy and fast WebGUI. Currently it has two stable releases based respectively on FreeBSD 11.2 and 12.0. I am using it more than two years on my HP Microserver Gen8 and I am very satisfied.