Microserver Gen10 Plus and Intel Quick Sync

[bogwoppit]

@KevinSpringPM Oh that is such a shame , the microserver looked to be a perfect Plex home server.

I am curious about why Intel include QuickSync in the coffee lake Xeons at all (the G models with iGPUs). Xeons are server components so seems a bit misleading to list them as having this feature but with no intention to make it available for those platforms.

Is this also true of other HPE server platforms? I have been pondering whether swapping one of the 22XX or 21XX G processors into an ML30 gen10 would be worth doing for this reason. I know there is a matrox G200 onboard and this will be what is connected to the video out on the backplane, but does this mean that there is no benefit from the iGPU on these CPUs?

[randman]

Yes, I was wondering what would be the advantage of getting the Intel Xeon E-2246G (which supports Quick Sync) versus the Intel Xeon E-2236, which doesn't support Quick Sync. They're more or less similar in performance except the "G" processor supports Quick Sync. So, if the Microserver Gen10+ doesn't support Quick Sync, even though the prices aren't drastically different between the two CPUs, I don't see the advantage of getting the Quick Sync CPU. Unless I'm missing something....

[KevinSpringPM]

My 2 cents- Xeon Entry (the 2000 series) aren't "Xeons" for "servers" the same way that Xeon Scalable Processors (bronze, silver, gold, platinum) are. That's why it's a totally different product line from Intel, different features, different use cases, not really made for traditional servers, just the very entry level. If someone like qnap wanted to take a Xeon Entry CPU and drop it into a NAS for Plex, they could choose to take the ME firmware and enable Quick Sync, but then lose some server features, because no one really expects a qnap NAS to be a true "server". It's all about what the intended use case for the product is. So while I love that the community wants to use our servers for Plex, that's not really who HPE builds the servers for right? We have to support as many advanced error correction, firmware tweaks, etc as possible for our business customers first, so if we have to choose between advanced server features and Quick Sync, we have to choose in favor of that advanced functionality. 99% sure the ML30 Gen9 is the same, but you can pull up any server on support.hpe.com and see if it has an SPS firmware package available. If it does, then no Quick Sync.

If you still want to use a Microserver or ML30, I'd recommend adding a Quadro P2000 for acceleration w/ a Plex Pass. The Nvidia Shield can also do a decent job as a basic Plex server and doesn't require a Plex Pass to use the included Nvidia GPU for transcoding which is a nice quirk of Plex's licensing rules.

[dahamsta]

Intel Quick Sync is not supported. Intel's SPS firmware doesn't allow it

Would this preclude installing a low-profile video card (assuming one will fit?) with NVENC for hardware accelation too, or is it just Quick Sync? (Sorry if this is a silly question!)

[KevinSpringPM]

this is specific to Quick Sync. You can absolutely add a dedicated GPU

[dahamsta]

Excellent, thanks!

[bkp_duke]

@KevinSpringPM 

That's a really stupid way to look at it.

1) While this is my home server, I run datacenter operations for a company with 6 datacenters and purchase lots of gear annually.  Your reply doesn't exactly inspire me to even consider HPE equipment for our operations.

2) This server, by all appearances, is TARGETED AT THE SOHO market.  Despite that appearance, it has some significantly glarning faults: 
- it doesn't have a M.2 NVME slot (seriously?  in 2020 that was left off?)
- it only has one PCI-E expansion slot (most of us are not going to buy the iLO expansion card, so that slot is a complete waste)

3) and let's be clear here - most of the "stuff" you say you have to support is built in at the chipset level.  HPE just has to follow Intel's guidelines on implementation.  ECC has been around for over 20 years, not exactly something hard to implement.

I'll be going with an Intel 9 NUC Pro.  It's expensive, but it appears to be built reasonably future proof.  The Microserver Gen10 Plus appears to be backwards thinking and lacking many key features, both for the SOHO market, and for those wanting to use it outside of the "intended usage".

[KevinSpringPM]

we're not talking about features like ECC that we have to choose when implementing SPS. We're talking about things like Intel Node Manager, power monitoring, thermal capping, administrative core power off at boot time, etc that aren't available to implement at all if a vendor chooses not to implement Intel Server Platform Services. Intel is the one who makes this differentiation, there is no option for HPE or any other vendor to enable these features that business customers need, and Quick Sync at the same time.

[dahamsta]

I'm just about to buy one based on @KevinSpringPM's feedback, that was the one thing holding me back.

It'll be grand for my home server, there's no way I'd be lashing out twice the price or more for performance that of course would be lovely, but I simply can't afford just like that. I'm sure it'll be grand for many others too, Reddit's r/selfhosting and r/homelab seem keen, for example.

I realise you probably think you're being forthright, or perhaps woke, but your attitude just comes across as rude and ignorant.

[KevinSpringPM]

@dahamsta are you referring to @bkp_duke 's feedback and the NUC Pro, or to my feedback and the Microserver?