Tips to convert an old server for workstation/home server use? ML350 G6

[Joe_Papa]

I have an old ML350 G6 server from work that I want to use for workstation/home server duties. I'm not too knowledgable about server hardware so the learning curve is steep. I have tried installing Hyper-V 2019 and Windows 10 Pro so far unsuccessfully. I'm wondering if the installs fail because I dont' have the RAID drivers embedded or what? I have considered messing around with Unraid or Linux or VMs, but first I have to learn how to get something installed on the machine.

If anyone has some resources I could dig into that are relevant to this topic I would appreciate it. 

[Cali]

Hi,

start here:

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/km/product/3884318/hpe-proliant-ml350-g6-server?ismnp=0&l5oid=3884315#t=DriversandSoftware

And choose one of the Supported operating Systems.

The OS you try are not Supported and will fail by missing Driver.

Cali

[Joe_Papa]

Thanks for the reply. Is it possible to install a non-supported OS if I manually integrate the proper drivers into the ISO for the new OS? Windows 10 Pro for example... If I build a custom ISO with the RAID drivers on it would that work?

I know this is not recommended and it's taking the hardware out of its lane, but I'm wondering what's possible and how I could do it.

Windows 10 Pro is attractive (to me) because I can enable Hyper-V functionality and because I'm most familiar with it as an OS

[IT Global Service]

I think that it's not possible because the supported drivers are for old OS version and (i think) if you integrate in new OS , will not work.

On the other side, there are no MS drivers for old HP Servers in new OS.

Obviously there is no technical reason for this... it's only a marketing decision.

Clap your hands for HP & MS !

[Cali]

Install one of the Supported free Hypervisors (ESX 5.5).

[Bunsol]

Supported Operating systems can be found in the below link:-

https://techlibrary.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/supportmatrix/windows.aspx

The drivers will be available for the supported operating systems in the smart start CD or our hpe support site. The Smart Array Controller drivers are available for supported Operating system required during installation. Hope this answers your query.

Cheers

[Joe_Papa]

Well, progress. I was able to install W10Pro on the ML350 G6. It was the RAID drivers that were missing. I used the drivers from WS2016 and it worked perfectly. After full boot and updates I was only missing drivers for the ILO devices. The WS2016 driver worked for the ILO hardware, but the interface driver wouldn't install. I assume that's because W10Pro doesn't have that functionality. Not a big deal.

I was able to turn on Hyper-V as well so I'll probably play around with it a bit this way.

I also downloaded ESXi to try. Fun!

[Joe_Papa]

Thanks for this recommendation. Others have recommended this too. I'll look into it.

[Joe_Papa]

I can't seem to get a clear answer about booting from a SATA SSD... Is this possible on the ML350 G6? I have confirmed that it doesn't work with an NVMe drive, but what about a SATA drive? Or will this server bios only boot from SAS?

[Cali]

SAS or SATA does not matter.

[Joe_Papa]

So you are saying that the BIOS will allow booting from a SATA SSD right?

[Cali]

Yes, the BIOS of the Raid Controller.

[Joe_Papa]

Thank you for the information. I'll give it a try.

[Joe_Papa]

Over the weekend I added a 1TB SATA SSD and installed ESXi 6.7 on it. The install went fine and ESXi is cool, but I couldn't get it to see the RAID array. Has anyone had success getting the P410i raid controller to be visible with 6.7? Or is there an earlier version that works better with this generation hardware? 

Currently I have (8) 300GB SAS drives in the RAID enclosure in RAID 5 giving me 1.5TB of durable shared storage. I also have the RAID extension card and could add another enclosure for 8 more drives. Not much point though if I can't get the OS to see the drives. 

[krisd443]

Officially, VMware ESXi only supports the ML350 G6 (indeed, likely any G6) up to version 5.5 - but there are a lot of reports of 6.0 working well and some even for 6.5. I'd probably try 6.0 and if that didn't work, use 5.5 if I were in your shoes.

[Joe_Papa]

Thanks for this information. I have installed the custom HPE 5.5 on the server for now and will be checking it out.