This article is currently an experimental machine translation and may contain errors. If anything is unclear, please refer to the original Chinese version. I am continuously working to improve the translation.
This article marks the beginning of a (potentially long?) series, where I’ll document my journey and explorations in building an All-in-One (AIO) home server, along with all the pitfalls I’ve encountered along the way.
This post focuses on the hardware selection and configuration process.
I first got the idea of buying a personal server for home use two or three years ago—back when I saw those “mined-out” Snail星际 (Snail Interstellar) NAS kits and instantly fell in love. However, I was still in high school back then and didn’t have enough time to tinker with it, so I kept pushing it off until after the college entrance exam.
That said, I never stopped researching. Whenever I had free time, I’d dive into both hardware and software aspects, gradually refining my plan. (Budget? Just a joke.)
My envisioned setup evolved from the Snail Interstellar’s J1900, up to J3455, then to Xeon E3 / i3-8100, and eventually I even considered going all the way with an i5-10400, combining a primary desktop and NAS into one machine.
Until I came across HPE’s Gen10+…
Pros:
The Gen10+ is HPE’s server line specifically designed for home or small business use. It comes with many enterprise-grade features, such as iLO5, better ESXi support, high stability for long-term operation, user-friendly modular design, and reliable after-sales service. Overall, it’s likely much more hassle-free than building a DIY consumer-grade PC for a home lab.
Plus, the Gen10+ is significantly more power-efficient than second-hand servers from Taobao. Over a few years, the electricity savings alone can add up.
Cons:
If you’re only looking at raw performance and ignoring the server-specific design, it’s slightly less cost-effective than a consumer desktop.
Compared to used servers, it offers less expandability.
After weighing all factors and a lot of internal debate, I finally decided to go with the HP Gen10+.
I ordered it from Amazon Germany. Thanks to a 79 RMB Amazon Prime membership I bought earlier, the total—machine, customs tax, and express shipping—came out to just 3,381.17 RMB. Not bad for a steal. (The German listing has since been taken down; the current lowest available price is 3,927.37 RMB with tax and standard shipping…)
Order
Guess it really pays to buy early.
One thing to note: iLO5 is disabled by default on this machine, and you need an additional PCI-E network card to unlock it.
But here’s the catch—the iLO5 chip is already integrated on the motherboard; HPE just intentionally blocks access…
Following the guide here, I placed an order with JLCPCB (JiLiChuang). Spent just 5 RMB to make an iLO5 bypass card. It shares with LAN port 1, and tested perfectly with no issues. Schematic download
Later, I bought an iLO5 Advanced license from Taobao for 15 RMB, and paid another 20 RMB to unlock all iLO5 features.
iLO5 Bypass Card
iLO5 Interface
This article is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Author: lyc8503, Article link: https://blog.lyc8503.net/en/post/1-hardware-configuration/
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