Server Spotlight - HP ProLiant ML155

The low-cost HP ProLiant ML 155 comes under our Server Spotlight

Price from: £317
Type: 4U Micro Tower rackmount option.
Processors: Quad core Opteron 1354 (2.1GHz) 1352 (2.1GHz)
Dual core Opteron 1222 (3.0 GHz), 1218 (2.6 GHz), 1214 (2.2 GHz), 1210 (1.8 GHz)
Dual core Athlon 4450B (2.3 GHz)
Single core Athlon 1640B (2.7 GHz)
Single core Sempron 1250 LE (2.2 GHz)
RAM: 512MBytes (8GBytes Max) DDR2 6400 ECC SDRAM (max 4 modules).
L2 cache: up to 2MB (Opteron)
FSB: MHz Slots: 1 x 32bit PCI, 3 x PCIe (x1, x8, x16), 1 x management Accessible media bays: 2 x 5.25.
Optical Drive: 48x CD-ROM Internal media bays: 4 x 3.5
Storage: SATA non hot swap 72 or 160GBytes
Lan: 1 x 10/100/1000
Other I/O: 1 x Serial, 1 x PS/2 mouse, 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 8 x USB (2 front, 2 internal)
Graphics: Integrated up to 1600x1200
Power: 370W
RAID: 4 port SATA with embedded RAID 0/1/5, SAS optional
Size: 376 x 175 x 426 mm
Weight: from 12kg

The ML115 is HP's entry level server and the claim is that this is a server class machine for the price of a workstation. It is certainly well built with a very solid metal chassis complete with locking points to stop unauthorised access. When it is first switched on the fan revs up in typical server style and then settles down to a reasonably quiet speed. The rest of the machine's specification is fairly standard with built-in network and graphics.

The standard 512MByte RAM is far too small for most purposes and you are most likely going to upgrade. Notice that the memory is ECC (error correcting) and slightly more expensive than used on a workstation, but this is what you need in a server.

The ProLiant has eight USB connectors with two internal so that you can connect optional USB drives floppy or tape. The system will also boot from a USB pen drive. There is no parallel printer port.

Inside there is plenty of room for expansion and the built-in SATA disk controller supports RAID. It is a little difficult to set up as the standard HP installation disk doesn’t recognise the controller. To install an operating system you have to manually configure the RAID system using the BIOS and then install the operating system plus the necessary additional drivers. This isn’t really a satisfactory solution and HP should have updated its setup CD to handle the controller.

As standard the machine doesn't come with much in the way of management features. However, it does support IPMI 2.0 reporting, and it has an expansion connector that accepts a Lights Out 100c remote management card. If you add this card then you can use KVM-over-IP to manage the machine remotely. Of course this costs extra and if you have easy access to the machine then remote management is a luxury you can ignore in order to minimise costs.

The biggest problem with the ML115 G5 is the poor documentation, but once you have it configured and working there is very little else to discover.

As a server it is robust and can do most jobs as long as you pick the right processor and give it enough RAM. It lacks hot swap disk drives and remote management is an optional extra, but if you can live without both then it is an excellent choice. 

ProLiant product page
 
HP UK