HPE EC200A Xeon D-1518 'hybrid server' on ebay ~$150

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mfsadek

New Member
Oct 1, 2021
1
1
1
Hi Mate,,

I Have Just Got One Of These Boxes

but with no luck to configure Raid ,,, i am amazed that there is Two bays but no such option:(:(,,
i diged into the bios also with no use also i Have Tried to Add NVME SSD at the Bottom Slot also no use:mad::mad::mad::mad:,,,,

please if anybody got success to do so guide Me

and i will be thankful

regards
 
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Evan

Well-Known Member
Jan 6, 2016
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It’s only a sata controller for the 2 bays, normally never raid, (other than some kind of soft raid) that’s only for SAS. Run Linux and mirror your disks.
NVMe should work no problems, not unique to these systems sometime you get a drive thats not compatible, I have just consumer drives in mine, they happen to be from HPE notebooks, nothing special.
 
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CrimsonKnight13

New Member
Feb 1, 2012
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Alexandria, VA, USA
I bought one off of eBay for $200 & it works great. Using a 512GB nvme & 32GB G.SKill Aegis DDR4 UDIMMs with fully updated UEFI & iLO4 FW.

After reading this thread, I've avoided using any drives in the bays since it does get very hot inside.
 
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johndball

New Member
Nov 27, 2021
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Been lurking on this thread for a bit.

RE: bootable USB issues - I tried loading ESXi 7.0.3 but got the "esxi fatal error 8 device error" message.
Disabling USB 3.0 in the BIOS (from AUTO to DISABLED) partially solved the boot error for me. It is hit or miss on reboots but my hypervisors stay running 24x7 once booted. Occasionally when doing updates I'll get a boot error but bouncing the server and it goes away.

RE: fans. If you find an HPE reseller (like Avexon, LLC) you can place an order for an OEM fan replacement. I had to replace a fan on mine and ordered one through them. Works great.

RE: RAM. Part numbers 809083-091 805351-B21 (search eBay) will get you squared away. I bought two sticks of 32GB for a total of 64GB ECC. Works without issue.

RE: expandable, external HDD device. You are looking for HPE part number 861161-B21. 4x bays. ec200a will mount on top of it.

RE: NVME comparability. M2 2280. No issues with Seagate Barracude Q5 1TB or 2TB QLC drives. I tried an "off brand" 2TB NAND and it died within a week. Wondering if heat is/was an issue. The Seagates seem to tolerate more.

RE: RAID. The embedded SATA controller will support software-only RAID 0/1. RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 1+0 is out because you are limited to just two physical disks (excluding NVME). I haven't tried RAID configurations on this device as I am using the disks for datastores.

 
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loki0111

New Member
Feb 9, 2022
7
4
3
Been lurking on this thread for a bit.

RE: bootable USB issues - I tried loading ESXi 7.0.3 but got the "esxi fatal error 8 device error" message.
Disabling USB 3.0 in the BIOS (from AUTO to DISABLED) partially solved the boot error for me. It is hit or miss on reboots but my hypervisors stay running 24x7 once booted. Occasionally when doing updates I'll get a boot error but bouncing the server and it goes away.

RE: fans. If you find an HPE reseller (like Avexon, LLC) you can place an order for an OEM fan replacement. I had to replace a fan on mine and ordered one through them. Works great.

RE: RAM. Part numbers 809083-091 805351-B21 (search eBay) will get you squared away. I bought two sticks of 32GB for a total of 64GB ECC. Works without issue.

RE: expandable, external HDD device. You are looking for HPE part number 861161-B21. 4x bays. ec200a will mount on top of it.

RE: NVME comparability. M2 2280. No issues with Seagate Barracude Q5 1TB or 2TB QLC drives. I tried an "off brand" 2TB NAND and it died within a week. Wondering if heat is/was an issue. The Seagates seem to tolerate more.

RE: RAID. The embedded SATA controller will support software-only RAID 0/1. RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 1+0 is out because you are limited to just two physical disks (excluding NVME). I haven't tried RAID configurations on this device as I am using the disks for datastores.

Any idea if the reseller will sell the ethernet comm board addon?
 
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johndball

New Member
Nov 27, 2021
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WANg

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Jun 10, 2018
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New York, NY
1 in stock

Lagniappe:
Server docs 1 - Document Display | HPE Support Center
Server docs 2 - Document Display | HPE Support Center
Screen Shot 2022-02-16 at 6.01.50 PM.png

...quoted at 279 USD?! Not quite worth the outlay.
 
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garethcamp

New Member
Feb 18, 2022
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3
Hi All,

I just got one of these to have a play around with (I already have two heavily upgraded MSG10+ E2246G 64GB machines). I've been able to load Windows Server 2022 to it without issue, but I do have one unknown device which I can't seem to find a driver for (its not the iLO channel/management or Matrox driver), searching online seems to return results of it possibly being related to something called HP 3D DriveGuard which seems to be a laptop technology for protecting HDDs from shocks, I can't see that being in use in this server.

Not sure if anyone can shed any light? The HPE support website doesn't seem to willingly offer any drivers for these that I can find.

Device ACPI\HWPE0001\2&daba3ff&0 requires further installation.

It doesn't seem to be affecting the server in anyway and is stable without it, but it would be good to sort it if possible.

Windows Update & HP SUM / SPP haven't been able to identify it.

Also, out of interest, for those running 64GB RAM, is that in the base unit? HPE documentation seems to suggest a 32GB limit, as do most memory vendors, however that's the same for MSG10+ and I happily run 64GB in both.
 
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garethcamp

New Member
Feb 18, 2022
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I've since switched to running ESXi 7 for the time being, but I think the long term goal will be to run Server 2022 on it. I've since upgraded the NVMe to 1TB, added 2 x 500GB SSDs, ordered 64GB of RAM and the 3D printed SSD mounts.
 
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chereszabor

New Member
Jul 3, 2020
7
4
3
Hey Everyone,
Has anyone tried the following mod to the iLO firmware:

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/sx3ldo
It looks like a hack of the iLO firmware to enable ssh and direct manipulation of the fan profiles based on temperatures of each component in the system. This only works for iLO below 2.78 for the bigger HPE servers...but not sure how this would land on the ec200a.
 
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Mymlan

Clean, Friendly, and In Stock.
Oct 1, 2013
32
73
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Has anyone seen one of the 4-port network cards for one of these lately? I'd love to get my hands on another for an HA firewall setup.
 
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Mymlan

Clean, Friendly, and In Stock.
Oct 1, 2013
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Since I'm on the hunt for the network board, I might as well drum up some foot traffic by releasing a mirror of the Post-Production Service Pack for Proliant (SPP) Version Gen9.0. This is the latest support-contract-only EC200A SPP from April 8, 2022. You can confirm the SHA-256 hash as: 49eea32632dff48c28e8b5c40aed19f924b5db6b2fc0bbdf6e433776481ca710 . You may also verify it via the official HPE support link: HPE Support Center

Here is the download mirror: P52574_001_spp-Gen9.0-Gen9SPPGen90.19.iso
 

Mymlan

Clean, Friendly, and In Stock.
Oct 1, 2013
32
73
18
Updated firmware version numbers on the latest SPP:

Firmware Version Info
Firmware NameFirmware VersionLocation
HPE Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 366i Adapter - NIC1.3089.0Embedded
iLO2.80 Jan 25 2022System Board
Intelligent Platform Abstraction Data12.02System Board
Intelligent ProvisioningN/ASystem Board
Redundant System ROMU26 v1.00 (04/14/2016)System Board
Server Platform Services (SPS) Firmware3.0.3.9.1System Board
System Programmable Logic DeviceVersion 0x07System Board
System ROMU26 v2.66 (07/19/2019)System Board
 
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