9 replies to this topic

[neoterra]

Hi all,

I previously upgraded my EX495 with a E5400 process (over the stock E5200) and a 4GB DIMM - this was to test the water. Since it was a success, I just swapped the E5400 for a E8600. I just have to say the performance is impressive. The E8600 is the dual core 3.3ghz processor w/6MB L2 cache running at the processor speed (3.3ghz). The start-up sequence is 2x as fast as stock and every process I throw at the server now feels lighter / snappier. Yes, I saw a difference putting the 4GB DIMM in. Yes, I am aware of the memory addressing limits of Windows 32-bit OSes. I am speaking from my perception as a high maintenance user and from benchmarking results.

In addition to the processor and RAM, I am running (8) 7200rpm 1.5TB drives: 4 internal and 4 external via the IcyDock eSata enclosure and an Addonics eSata port multiplexer (which I highly recommend).

Also, in a previous post I discussed lightly finetuning the Realtek NIC driver settings; as most people are not aware of the specifics of each setting and the "ins and outs" of how to achieve the best performance for sharing data on your home network / streaming A/V out of the mediasmart server. I work with high end networking technologies for a living so these settings are my "hobby guesses". Here are my NIC settings that I feel max the NIC performance on the Realtek NIC inside the EX495:

-802.1Q/1p VLAN Tagging - Disable
-Auto Disable PCIe (powersaving) - Disable
-Auto Disable PHY (powersaving) - Disable
-Checksum Offloan - Disable
-Flow Control - Enable
-Green Ethernet - Disable
-Jumbo Frame - Disable
-Large Send Offload - Disable
-Network Address - Leave this alone / Not Present
-Shutdown Wake-On-Lan - Enabled <-this is a user preference. I do not use this in my home networking environment
-Speed & Duplex - Auto Negotiation <-this is a user preference as well. I leave this on auto because of my home networking switch. I used to set this manually to 1.0Gb / Full Duplex. If you get 1.0Gb / Full duplex on Auto, fine.
-Wake-On-Lan Capabilities - Whatever you prefer. If you do not you WOL, set to none.
-WOL & Shutdown Link Speed - Again only if you use WOL. If you do not know or use WOL leave this alone. I believe the default is 10Mbps first.

I am all about reliability and use my media smart server on a daily basis not only for audio/video media management but data backups and other projects. Its reliability to me is job one. If I see any issues I be sure to post. The internal temp is my number one concern.

Post any comments / questions. I attached a picture of my System Control Panel.

Cheers.

Attached thumbnail(s)

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[Jonthomasdesigns]

neoterra, on 28 March 2010 - 07:19 PM, said:

Hi all,

I previously upgraded my EX495 with a E5400 process (over the stock E5200) and a 4GB DIMM - this was to test the water. Since it was a success, I just swapped the E5400 for a E8600. I just have to say the performance is impressive. The E8600 is the dual core 3.3ghz processor w/6MB L2 cache running at the processor speed (3.3ghz). The start-up sequence is 2x as fast as stock and every process I throw at the server now feels lighter / snappier. Yes, I saw a difference putting the 4GB DIMM in. Yes, I am aware of the memory addressing limits of Windows 32-bit OSes. I am speaking from my perception as a high maintenance user and from benchmarking results.

In addition to the processor and RAM, I am running (8) 7200rpm 1.5TB drives: 4 internal and 4 external via the IcyDock eSata enclosure and an Addonics eSata port multiplexer (which I highly recommend).

Also, in a previous post I discussed lightly finetuning the Realtek NIC driver settings; as most people are not aware of the specifics of each setting and the "ins and outs" of how to achieve the best performance for sharing data on your home network / streaming A/V out of the mediasmart server. I work with high end networking technologies for a living so these settings are my "hobby guesses". Here are my NIC settings that I feel max the NIC performance on the Realtek NIC inside the EX495:

-802.1Q/1p VLAN Tagging - Disable
-Auto Disable PCIe (powersaving) - Disable
-Auto Disable PHY (powersaving) - Disable
-Checksum Offloan - Disable
-Flow Control - Enable
-Green Ethernet - Disable
-Jumbo Frame - Disable
-Large Send Offload - Disable
-Network Address - Leave this alone / Not Present
-Shutdown Wake-On-Lan - Enabled <-this is a user preference. I do not use this in my home networking environment
-Speed & Duplex - Auto Negotiation <-this is a user preference as well. I leave this on auto because of my home networking switch. I used to set this manually to 1.0Gb / Full Duplex. If you get 1.0Gb / Full duplex on Auto, fine.
-Wake-On-Lan Capabilities - Whatever you prefer. If you do not you WOL, set to none.
-WOL & Shutdown Link Speed - Again only if you use WOL. If you do not know or use WOL leave this alone. I believe the default is 10Mbps first.

I am all about reliability and use my media smart server on a daily basis not only for audio/video media management but data backups and other projects. Its reliability to me is job one. If I see any issues I be sure to post. The internal temp is my number one concern.

Post any comments / questions. I attached a picture of my System Control Panel.

Cheers.

Are these still the settings you recommended ? As soon as it was announced Vail was crap i bought a EX495 to replace my launch EX475 .. and before i even started it up i upgraded to a E8500 and 4GB Ram , yes i should have got the EX490 and saved $100 but oh well : ) .. I got it all set up and i was looking up NIC settings and came across this awesome post .. but with no replies i was wondering if these settings are still the best course .. i use it mostly for my Blu ray backups and possible streaming to my Popcorn C-200 (something i gave up on with my stock EX475) .. Thanks for any input !

[neoterra]

Hey man, thanks for the reply! I was wondering why I did not get any "forum-love" from that really "solid" post of mine! The network settings are absolutely spot on for most installations. I went with the 495 as well. It sounds like you have a pretty good setup. I cannot prop up the converting the boot drive to the SSD process. This is the single handed best mod ever. It enhances the entire system. Boot, Swap, responsiveness. If you can pick up an 80GB or 120GB smaller SSD you should target this one - hell, there is nothing else to mod on the box...

A friend of mine got the video output option. I am not that impressed I have to say. I thought it would be "key" to have this, but honestly am left wondering why...

Anyways, feel free to keep the conversation going if you have any other topics.

Take care,
-Neoterra

Jonthomasdesigns, on 09 December 2010 - 12:58 PM, said:

Are these still the settings you recommended ? As soon as it was announced Vail was crap i bought a EX495 to replace my launch EX475 .. and before i even started it up i upgraded to a E8500 and 4GB Ram , yes i should have got the EX490 and saved $100 but oh well : ) .. I got it all set up and i was looking up NIC settings and came across this awesome post .. but with no replies i was wondering if these settings are still the best course .. i use it mostly for my Blu ray backups and possible streaming to my Popcorn C-200 (something i gave up on with my stock EX475) .. Thanks for any input !

[brianblank]

My homebrewed WHS is a few years old and in needing of upgrading, I am debating between homebrewing again or getting an HP EX495, I just started researching and came across your post. Is this the "Addonics eSata port multiplexer" you are running? http://www.addonics....ad5sahpm-ea.asp I have 8 external drives on my current machine and this eSATA port multiplier looks like it might be an elegant solution to my current cabling nightmare.

[GhostWorks]

Thanks 1+

[immaViLLaiN]

neoterra, on 28 March 2010 - 07:19 PM, said:

Hi all,

I previously upgraded my EX495 with a E5400 process (over the stock E5200) and a 4GB DIMM - this was to test the water. Since it was a success, I just swapped the E5400 for a E8600. I just have to say the performance is impressive. The E8600 is the dual core 3.3ghz processor w/6MB L2 cache running at the processor speed (3.3ghz). The start-up sequence is 2x as fast as stock and every process I throw at the server now feels lighter / snappier. Yes, I saw a difference putting the 4GB DIMM in. Yes, I am aware of the memory addressing limits of Windows 32-bit OSes. I am speaking from my perception as a high maintenance user and from benchmarking results.

In addition to the processor and RAM, I am running (8) 7200rpm 1.5TB drives: 4 internal and 4 external via the IcyDock eSata enclosure and an Addonics eSata port multiplexer (which I highly recommend).

Also, in a previous post I discussed lightly finetuning the Realtek NIC driver settings; as most people are not aware of the specifics of each setting and the "ins and outs" of how to achieve the best performance for sharing data on your home network / streaming A/V out of the mediasmart server. I work with high end networking technologies for a living so these settings are my "hobby guesses". Here are my NIC settings that I feel max the NIC performance on the Realtek NIC inside the EX495:

-802.1Q/1p VLAN Tagging - Disable
-Auto Disable PCIe (powersaving) - Disable
-Auto Disable PHY (powersaving) - Disable
-Checksum Offloan - Disable
-Flow Control - Enable
-Green Ethernet - Disable
-Jumbo Frame - Disable
-Large Send Offload - Disable
-Network Address - Leave this alone / Not Present
-Shutdown Wake-On-Lan - Enabled <-this is a user preference. I do not use this in my home networking environment
-Speed & Duplex - Auto Negotiation <-this is a user preference as well. I leave this on auto because of my home networking switch. I used to set this manually to 1.0Gb / Full Duplex. If you get 1.0Gb / Full duplex on Auto, fine.
-Wake-On-Lan Capabilities - Whatever you prefer. If you do not you WOL, set to none.
-WOL & Shutdown Link Speed - Again only if you use WOL. If you do not know or use WOL leave this alone. I believe the default is 10Mbps first.

I am all about reliability and use my media smart server on a daily basis not only for audio/video media management but data backups and other projects. Its reliability to me is job one. If I see any issues I be sure to post. The internal temp is my number one concern.

Post any comments / questions. I attached a picture of my System Control Panel.

Cheers.

Had my EX495 for over a year and was just thinking about an upgrade. How has this setup been working for you? Any heating issues? I use PS3MediaServer to stream movies to a PS3 and a WD Live. Running out of space as well so I might use "IcyDock eSata enclosure and an Addonics eSata port multiplexer" option that you mentioned. Great post!

[neoterra]

Jonthomasdesigns, on 09 December 2010 - 12:58 PM, said:

Are these still the settings you recommended ? As soon as it was announced Vail was crap i bought a EX495 to replace my launch EX475 .. and before i even started it up i upgraded to a E8500 and 4GB Ram , yes i should have got the EX490 and saved $100 but oh well : ) .. I got it all set up and i was looking up NIC settings and came across this awesome post .. but with no replies i was wondering if these settings are still the best course .. i use it mostly for my Blu ray backups and possible streaming to my Popcorn C-200 (something i gave up on with my stock EX475) .. Thanks for any input !

I have been offline for awhile. Yes, these NIC settings are key.

[neoterra]

brianblank, on 19 December 2010 - 06:21 PM, said:

My homebrewed WHS is a few years old and in needing of upgrading, I am debating between homebrewing again or getting an HP EX495, I just started researching and came across your post. Is this the "Addonics eSata port multiplexer" you are running? http://www.addonics....ad5sahpm-ea.asp I have 8 external drives on my current machine and this eSATA port multiplier looks like it might be an elegant solution to my current cabling nightmare.

It is the multiplexer I run. You know, my position on this has changed since I bought and ran this. I never had an issue with it at all, however the cabling is "mass". I wanted to run 4 internal hard drives on my 495 and run 4 external and this was the route I went due to the constraints of the 495's locked down architechture. If I re-did my 495 setup, I would just buy the largest capacity internal drives I can and take it from there and not go with any external. Just my opinion, much more elegant and simple.

[neoterra]

brianblank, on 19 December 2010 - 06:21 PM, said:

My homebrewed WHS is a few years old and in needing of upgrading, I am debating between homebrewing again or getting an HP EX495, I just started researching and came across your post. Is this the "Addonics eSata port multiplexer" you are running? http://www.addonics....ad5sahpm-ea.asp I have 8 external drives on my current machine and this eSATA port multiplier looks like it might be an elegant solution to my current cabling nightmare.

I re-read your comment and wanted to say: You know, I just home built an amazing system on the Windows Home Server 2011 product. At first I was concerned that I would miss some functionality and I do not at all. I went with a Core i7 v2 / 2600K proc and a killer Lian Li HPC case. I spent a little more money than I wanted to however, every single issue I had with the 495 integrated solution I designed around:
More processor power - Intel's Core i7 v2 / sandy bridge processors are made for HPCs pretty much. The internal video chip set is good (good enough for Home Theater).
More RAM - 16GB - all accessible.
Internal Blu-Ray - I can rip at many "x" direct and do not need to rip and move contents
USB 3 support - just because.
Much better NIC and wireless - dual 802.11n and much better GigE with much better (64-bit) drivers
Better video out options - direct display support and HDMI on the motherboard - right into my home theater system.
Better OS - WHS 2011 - 64-bit and all around much better written. Also, driver compatible with Win 7 and Win 2008K.
Better cooling - 5 fans.
Better expandability - I can put more in the box and change anything out I want.
Same backupability functions of other systems - I am backing up multiple Macs using time machine to it and backing up PCs as well.
Better Remote Web Access - It rocks in comparison.
Better data protection - I chose and am using RAID 10 on a controller that sends me alerts.

Over all: I pushed the 495 system to the max. I love having a Home media server and with my current system I can manage a ton of data and hit it hard without a performance concern - how hard? I can: rip a movie disc, be streaming to 3 laptops and my living room, backing up 2 computers and remote desktoping into the server and not have an issue.

Build one. You will not regret it.

[xl Gman lx]

Nice post, any links to what you used in your home built solution?