New LH3 Netserver Owner

[Daron Brewood]

Hi guys, some help and assistance needed if possible.

I've just bought the old LH3 Netserver off the company I work for and am wishing to set it up at home to as a file and print server under Windows 2000 Server.

From what I can see the machine only has 128Mb of memory and I think this will need to be ugradded - but as I've no manuals I'm somewhat lost to see what memory I can throw into it. It looks like it takes standard SDRAM, of which I have a PC133 stick floating around, is it OK to throw this in there?

Also the processor appears to be a single PII 300Mhz, is this beefy enough to run Win2K Server?

Also the machine has been provided with a freshly formated drive, with no utilities installed at all - before I installed Win 2K (which fails to install fully) the RAID was formatted but that was it.

Therefore what utilities should I be using on the machine to check out it's status, check BIOS spec, and what should be used to upgrade the BIOS? I assume an upgrade will be needed as the machine has never been updated since it was installed 5 years ago!

Sorry for what may seem to be basic questions but I'm used to building PC's and this is my first experience with a server, both the hardware used and getting the OS up and running.

If any kind soul can take me through the steps needed to:

- Get the BIOS updated
- Install any required utilities
- Get it up to scratch so I can fully configure Win 2K Server (will not run half the services) i.e. Active Directory & DNS, it would be very much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

[Jorge Pons]

Hi

First, in this web there is all you need for update your server:

http://h20004.www2.hp.com/soar_rnotes/bsdmatrix/matrix50448en_US.html

about Hardware, if you plug only any memory Pc133, it works, but if you plug memory with the original, its posible you have problems.

The processor is the minimum for W2K.

Regards

Jorge

[e4services]

THe machines shipped with a CD holding all the drivers and utilities plus a option to use the cd to install an operating system. We have them or you can get one on eBay, it will help ease things for you. You can also, as above, download what you need or ask HP for a new CD and they will send you one in a few weeks.
Even with the CD, you will need the latest BIOS from netserver.hp.com to create a floppy to flash the BIOS.
THe memory is NOT standard PC100, no matter what was told to you. It is a "branded" ECC Register DIMM PC100 SDRAM.
The CPU can be up to a PIII 600, but for a simple operation you should be fine.

[Daron Brewood]

Thanks for the replies chaps. But I think it's a no go situation from here....

I've looked into pricing up adding memory via HP and it looks liek it will cost a hell of a lot of money.

I did try exchanging the 125Mb memory card for a 512Mb card I had spare but the machine would not boot with it in, so it looks like the PC133 memory is not good enough for it, unless of course there are some settings on the board I'd need to change which I may be unware of.

Setting up the server was going to be a fun excercise and would extend the home network, but if it is going to start costing large amounts of cash I'll give up on the idea, reformat the drive and stick a basic Win 2K install on it, that way it can be used as a basic file server.


Unless of course anyone does haev any way round the memory problem - very cheaply.

I did start having another go at settign it up tonight but got Error 1717 when trying to activate the DNS service which is needed before I go any further....

So back to you guys, can I get the 512Mb stick to work somehow or do I go plain Win 2k....

[Daron Brewood]

I'll agree that is a great price, but when one is in the throes of rebuilding the house, and ones other half is watching the purse strings importing memory from the US of A is not recommended for keeping things happy in the family home.

You never know once the build has finished I may well be in touch. The LH3 is now just about runinng Windows 2000 and at least working well as a basic file server.

Now all UI've got to do is find some cheap backup software which will take data from acros the netwrok adn back it onto the 40Gb tape drive... ;-)

Any recommendations?

Cheers again!