I had been running a rudimentary home lab since 2011 with a single-core 8TB UNRAID server and a couple of wireless access points. When our first lockdown hit in March I started looking at options to upgrade my home server and stumbled across serverbuilds. The first thing that occured to me was that it was going to take some time and effort to source the parts for the UNRAID server I wanted but I was intrigued to some quick-start options with the HP290.
Being Canadian the VIPOutlet deals were not really deals but I found a cross-border shipper that still made it more attractive than anything local. I was fortunate to snag 2 HP290s in May but then found out my order was being split in 2 so I had to pay the cross-border fees twice!
Anyway, I now have my 2 HP290s that have been running well for 6 months:
pfSense router with a 4-port NIC and 16GB Intel Optane memory
Plex server running Ubuntu with 12GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD
Since my early start with the 290s I’ve also added 3 Aruba IAP207, an Aruba S1500 24-port POE switch and built my UNRAID server (and still plan to post the build info as well!) Next up, security cameras.
It’s been a long time lurking on the forum. Never started yet my NAS and plex server projects because of personal reason and budget but hoping next year it will be done. I learn a lot from this forum. I love most of the people are sharing their projects and experience here. I hope I can get the package 1 to start my plex and nas/das.
This post was a life saver! Right has COVID was keeping everyone home my server was getting much more use and I only had an old i7-2600 trying to stream to my family. It tried valiantly but couldn’t keep up. So I was looking for an alternative and then this was posted. My server has been able to keep up with everything I’ve needed it to do since and I’m extremely grateful for this group helping me find the deal, but also the motherboard, fan, and ram info I needed as well. Thank you!
This post finally had me bite the bullet to build a server and migrate to unraid! Once this deal popped up, I said “screw it, its $60. I spend more time agonizing over $5 purchases at a fast food joint”.
So I ordered, arrived today. The rest of the pieces to arrive over the next week. Looking forward to making the jump!
Would prefer Prize 1, but will glady accept either if lucky enough to win!
I am on mobile so linking to a specific forum post is kind of tedious but I will talk about it. I love your anniversary build. I have been using my old pc running windows as a plex server but once I found out about this forum it elevated my system. I converted my old windows box to a unraid server running all of my apps in docker and got a hp290 to offload my plex viewing. Love the hardware offloading transcoding. With the help of this forum I was able to add a hba card and add a number of sas drives to expand my unraid server. Next is to upgrade my mb and cpu to more of server hardware.
Earlier this year my 5 bay Drobo was reaching max capacity. I was ready to spend money on the 8 bay, but somehow I found a link to this site and man am I glad I did. After a bunch of research and videos, I put together this post and the community was fantastic in helping me come to the best decision. While I still have yet to migrate plex from my Mac Mini to the HP 290, I was able to migrate all of my data to the new NAS and it has been amazing! Thanks everyone!
I love this post that shows other paths forward besides the hp290. It’s very aspirational for me as I hope to build a 4u unRAID server at some point using it’s principles for guidance.
I build an unraid server from one of the previous anniversary guides on a GA-7PESH2. The server has run faithfully for around a year and a half. I’m starting to have some issues with the board such as NIC failures and it may be time to swap for a new board. Using the SNAFU guide for ideas on my roadmap.
I think my favorite is still the one that got me all started on this a couple years ago: Anniversary LGA2011 build — Serverbuilds.net I built that (dual xeons 128gb ram and 9TB array) and started into a fun world of self hosting and have learned a lot (and tried not to buy into tooooo much unnecessary stuff).
Since that’s not necessarily in the forum… I think the HP290 stuff has been my go to forum post… I’ve got a couple 290s as project builds and now a 590 on its way. [Official] HP 290-p0043w Owner's Thread
The NAS Killer 4.1 was the kind of thing that showed how easy a cheap DIY NAS/Server could be. I’ve built computers before, but always from new current-generation components. Putting together a server from used components from eBay was a little daunting, but having the core components all together in one tested package relieves a lot of my concerns.
I had a repurposed old server for the longest time and have since been upgrading it with the help of everyone in this forum/discord but this was the first time I bought new appliances. I have a 290 now as a QS box and one for my pfSense.
I loved the NAS 4.0 post and the adsb raspbery pi. I learnt a lot about NAS as well as built two ADSB transmitters for two places.
Definitely trying to convert the NAS with iGPU for transcoding plex media server. Its always a pleasure to read about what others have been doing with their setup or what new project they have been working on. Also the discord chat for tech deals have been great for finding out great deals on tech products
I’ve been a lurker for some time. I love… LOVE the detailed photos and step-by-steps as well as all the gotcha’s that are pointed out. This build I keep contemplating but still have room on the current Synology and, well the budget for the drives after the build as well. Thanks for all that you do and keep it up.
The best post I’ve read here is selfishly the NK 4.0 as it made me realize the potential uses for my old unused hardware. I now have a killer (pun intended) Unraid NAS and it’s all thanks to that guide! Had I not come across SB and that post, I’d probably have sunk too much money into a QNAP or other commercial NAS product, not only wasting money but also increasing my environmental footprint rather than re-using equipment I already had.
Winning Package 1 would be epic, but I’d feel extremely lucky with either honestly.
This was the guide that convinced me to obsessively check the ServerBuild discord chat every day! I love the combined knowledge of this community and the above guide by JDM was such a meticulously crafted guide that even my 5-year old could follow along. I’m still waiting on a few parts that should arrive around Christmas weekend but this guide itself definitely convinced me to build my own OTiS NAS server.
This was my first entry into this forum. It led me to the HP290 post which has my plex server on it now, and eventually back full circle to building my first unraid box out of my old i5-2500 pc. Definitely love the help this community gives towards people looking to repurpose used gear to make some great homelabs.
My favorite post is a very popular one, it’s the post that made me find this forum and start my “I have a server” life. All I wanted was to remove my collection of movies and TV shows from my main computer to a computer that could serve the movies to the TV. It started with left over parts from my old computer and grew as more opportunities were made available to me by this forum, both hardware wise and capabilities wise, all because of that little thread. I love it, and I love all the work that is put onto this community - even though I can’t personally offer much.