Small, quite a

This is a fantastic product - to be honest I found the setup a little daunting - but hey, never set up a server before. The one that I ordered came with 32 bit Windows Home Server 2011 - would have been nice to know... but anyway I am very impressed with the product. In the end I bought 2each 2TB SATA hard drives, DVDRW Drive, USB Keyboard.. you'll also need a monitor & USB mouse to set up. Installation process was clean and simple. Windows 2011 Home Server is really easy to use. Highly recommend this product

Had this unit running for about a month now.The Good: The system is very small and very quiet. Supports up to 4 internal HD's. Low power consumption.The bad: The system does not come with a CD/DVD drive. I knew this going in. There is a motherboard SATA interface for the DVD, BUT what I did not know was the power connectors are all Molex, which means you have to have a molex to Sata power adapter in order to install a Sata DVD drive. If you intend to install a DVD, order the power converter cable with it!Note: In order to upgrade the memory or install a expansion card you have to pull the motherboard out. This is made fairly easy by HP. Loosen the lock down screws (easily done by hand) carefully disconnect the cables from the board (approximately 8 different connectors) sliding the board out a little as cables allow to make it easier to get the others disconnected. Reverse the process for putting it back in.Other: Most reviews...Read more

Great consumer / small office server -- I use mine as a home media server.Points to make it easier -- I am a Windows/Microsoft familiar person so I went with Windows Home Server 2011 which I picked up pretty cheap.I upgraded the memory (non ECC) no problems -- I think this unit can expand to 16GB... There is quite a bit posted out there regarding what works.I also flashed the BIOS on the 36L to free up the ports in the top bay to be able to install either 1 3.5" drive or 2 - 2.5" drives.I installed a HP P410 RAID card with 512MB cache and battery backup (was very easy and plug in play) so that I could hardware RAID 5 the 4 drives which I love the 4 drive CAGE system.I did but WD RE drives for $215 each * 4 for the 4TB drives (recertified drives). I went with the RE Enterprise recertified drives as some of the consumer drives have some issues with longevity in RAID 5 -- I know recertified drives have a 1 year versus...Read more