I’m thinking of picking up an old HP Microserver (gen8) and was wondering if it is a bad idea from a security standpoint.
I mean it’s only 10 years old - is there any exploit or something like that?
What about a N36L Microserver?
I’d probably run Debian headless on it.
I’d only use it for Syncthing and as a backup NAS.
UPDATE
Everybody made really good arguments against the microserver and I won’t be getting one. Thank you for your inputs
You must log in or # to comment.
Its not worth the energy cost, honestly. Plus you’ll be quite limited on memory, which reduces the potential uses. Any $200 minipc from the last 5 years would be a better buy.
I’ve had N40L and N54L, still running one, and I would absolutely not suggest buying one. They’re too old and underpowered, and they’re honestly quite inconvenient to service. If you get one for free, then sure, but if you’re going to spend money, you can get something cheap, more powerful, and easier to work on, like a used optiplex.
I was just thinking yesterday that I should replace my one remaining N40L instead of waiting for it to die.
It can be fine, I’m using a comparable machine, you have to do the math for whether the power bills are worth it. What cpu does it have and how hard do you plan to run it?
I have a big boi ProLiant DL380e Gen8 and it’s pretty good as long as you have a dedicated room for it as it’s really loud. If you get them for really cheap like I did (I got mine maxed out for less than 100$), then yeah it’s a good deal.
It’s not amazing on power consumption either with like 130W at idle… I’d imagine the smaller ones using use less power, but I wouldn’t count on it, as it is still old hardware. However, if the price is right, then it could absolutely be worth it… If you can withstand the noise.
And looking at the specs of the N36L, for the same price you could very easily scrounge together a custom build from 2nd hand parts, which will be quieter, faster and most likely use less power…
