9 replies to this topic

[JohnnyAywah]

Apologies for being a n00b but i searched and couldn't find anything on this

Is it possible to move the standard HDD into the CDROM bay and have the 4 removable bays used strictly for storage?

i suspect i will need a power adpator splitter, some 5.25" to 3.5" adaptors and a Sata cable with a right angle bend on one end

Is there anything special i need to look out for?

Thanks in advance

[GaPony]

From everything I've read, that is a perfectly suitable thing to do. Since its made for an optical drive, I would think the power connector should be correct. Perhaps a longer SATA cable is required, but since an HDD is shorter than an optical drive, I don't necessarily think a right angle SATA cable would be required and may even be a problem since you'll be using the 3.5" bracket. Of course SATA cables are very cheap so it may be wise to be prepared for either eventuality.

[JohnnyAywah]

Many thanks, I will give it a bash over xmas and let you know how I went

[Gator_Jon]

JohnnyAywah,
I'd be interested in hearing about your experience with moving the included HD to the optical drive bay in your HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer. I'm considering a similar configuration. I'm assuming it came with a 250GB drive and that you're using it for the O/S. Are you running WHS 2011? What HDD's are you using for storage in the removable drive bays? Are you using them in a RAID array? If so, are you doing RAID 1 with the AMD onboard controller or something else? Looking forward to your comments!

[Dave Marchant (WGS)]

I have put 5 drives in my N40L. The SATA drive in the optical bay is in a removable caddy that I had lying around, but a 3.5 to 5.25 bracket would work fine. You just need a SATA data cable of about 12 inches to get down to the single SATA socket on the main board and that is a bit fiddly to connect, but I have only used a simple cable with straight connectors and have had no issues. You need a Molex to SATA power adaptor too.

I am running WHS v1 with the 250GB for the OS and 4 x 2TB Seagates (pre-Advanced Format) for the data pool. I have also fitted a low-profile PCI-e eSATA card which is driving a 4-bay external enclosure wit a further 2 x 2TB and 2 x 1.5TB disks, which I just use for server backup.

[dbailey75]

Check out this article as well, you can enable the 5 (optiical sata connection) and 6 sata ports ( estata port) for AHCI.

http://forum.wegotse...ports-bios-mod/

I read in other forums that this was more or less a hack, but after seeing the information poste byd GMCInema, your just enabling functionality that is already included on the board. I feel better now that I'm not running a "Hacked bios".

So far so good, but I've only being running for about a week and a half.

[dbailey75]

Dave Marchant (WGS), on 22 February 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

I am running WHS v1 with the 250GB for the OS and 4 x 2TB Seagates (pre-Advanced Format) for the data pool. I have also fitted a low-profile PCI-e eSATA card which is driving a 4-bay external enclosure wit a further 2 x 2TB and 2 x 1.5TB disks, which I just use for server backup.

Dave,

What esata card are you using? I was looking for one that's been tested to work with the HP Microserver with minimum hassel. apolgize fo the off topic post.

[Dave Marchant (WGS)]

I am using a cheap StarTech card, UK Amazon Link, as it supported a 4-bay external drive cabinet.

It comes with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows drivers but not sure of support of anything else.

StartTech also do a combined internal and external card which I did originally consider for the 5th internal drive till I found the extra SATA data connector on the main board.

In case anyone wasn't aware, the built-in eSATA on the N40L only supports a single drive.

[gottria]

Dave Marchant (WGS), on 22 February 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

I am running WHS v1 with the 250GB for the OS and 4 x 2TB Seagates (pre-Advanced Format) for the data pool. I have also fitted a low-profile PCI-e eSATA card which is driving a 4-bay external enclosure wit a further 2 x 2TB and 2 x 1.5TB disks, which I just use for server backup.

Dave, got my 250gb drive on the ODD slot ok and my 4 1tb green drives below. Installed WHS v1 and not sure where to get the 32 bit drivers. I found the ethernet adapter driver but not the rest.

[Dave Marchant (WGS)]

gottria, on 26 February 2012 - 11:30 PM, said:

Dave, got my 250gb drive on the ODD slot ok and my 4 1tb green drives below. Installed WHS v1 and not sure where to get the 32 bit drivers. I found the ethernet adapter driver but not the rest.

Sorry, just got back from a couple of week's holiday and not back 'in gear' yet. Which drivers are you missing?