ProLiant ML110 build setup

[snathan]

Hello everyone! New to the world of ProLiant servers, I'm trying to put together a file server build for a small business. 

I am thinking to go with an ML110 LFF (3.5''), as IMO the Xeon Silver processor is much more future-proof than ML30's E-2224. Also I'll pick up an extra 16GB of RAM.

I am considering a 4x4TB RAID5 HDD configuration, to provide data redundancy and fault tolerance. However, as I am going with ESXi rather than Windows Server, I guess I would need a separate RAID controller such as E208i-p.

Finally I would optionally like a fast drive option, so that the VMs themselves (as opposed to the RAID5 datastore) can boot and operate quickly. To that end I am considering the PCIe M.2 enablement option, with a SATA M.2 drive.

My question to the community is twofold: One, can you see any obvious mistakes with the above setup? And two, as HPE's SAS disks throw me way off budget, I am thinking to use consumer-grade NAS-optimized disks such as the WD Red (the CMR type) for the HDDs. I can get 4 of these for ~$120 each, whereas for a 1.2 TB SAS disk I would need to dish out the equivalent of $250 in my country. So the price per TB is about 7 times (!) more. I understand the differences in reliability, speed, etc. but honestly, I don't think that my client is willing to pay the premium. What is your take on this?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

[TVVJ · Accepted solution]

Hello,

You may refer to the server's QuickSpecs for more information about the options to build the server.

Regardiing installing third party hard drives, there could be issues with they being physically installed correctly, being recognised by the HPE Smart Array Controller and may also cause fans to function at very high speed as the controller does not recognize the drives and the thermal information is not correctly fed to iLO.

Regards,

[snathan]

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the risk, and in fact I've found more economical HPE drives (4TB for ~$180 ea.) since, which I may end up using.