I just recovered my z420 from a total bios corruption, not bios settings corruption that you could resolve removing cmos battery or with the yellow button in the board but a total bios corruption, it has a crisis jumper that lets you reflash a new bios blindely from an usb or cd.
Nice. I have only been successful with such a recovery once, but thankfully it doesn't happen all that often. USB BIOS recovery is one of the more satisfying PC saves.lol. Good job. What are you planning to use your Z420 for?
I am glad you found my content of benefit. The HP Z820 is an absolute powerhouse and it really suits the home server role well these days. I have a really cool DIY Mini PC Server build in the works and I hope to give a break down of how to get Proxmox setup so that you can get multiple OS support on your server. For this build I am aiming for ultra low power draw which is a bit different from the Z820's raw power. But the server conversion process remains the same regardless of the system specs.
thats my proxmox server. will adopt this method to load it with more disks and share them as SMB and NFS using an LXC container running cockpit as a fileserver! Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks! Your system sounds well geared. You'd enjoy some of my newer videos also. I presume you have the Z420. I retired this machine for the Z440 (ruclips.net/video/K4RalaEbRI4/видео.html) - but since these have such a small case I case swapped the Z440 into a Fractal Define 7XL. That Z440 is overloaded with drives and TrueNAS is still doing it's thing. I am also converting a Mini PC into a Proxmox server where it will serve as a VM test system for basically any OS I need to test out. It will also run some SSDs in RAIDZ2. I was hoping to get 10GbE working on it but I am having trouble getting enough power to it when plugged into a M.2 to X8 PCIe converter + DC power via modified Sata plug lol.
00:38 DDR3-1866 - PC3-14900R - ECC - I had read that only ecc udimm was supported. Seeing the R of 14900R I tried to put 4 strips of 16GB ECC RDIMM from my DL380P in place of the original 4*2GB ECC UDIMM from my Z420v1 E5-1620. And it works! I'm now the proud owner of a 64GB ram Z420!
Hi there. Selecting the right RAM for HP workstations can be a challenging task due to the variety of options available. When referring to HP's memory documentation, you will typically find UDIMM (Unbuffered Dual In-Line Memory Module) specified as the recommended module type. Generally, UDIMM is non-buffered ECC memory and it tends to be the most affordable option. LDIMM (Load-Reduced DIMM) offers cost-effective, low-power performance. RDIMM, on the other hand, is buffered or registered ECC memory, providing high-performance capabilities but at a higher cost. In a practical example, I had four 4TB DDR3 PC12800R modules installed in this HP Z420 workstation (ruclips.net/video/D9kG4Il_XJ4/видео.html at 33min 23sec), and they operated flawlessly. It's worth noting that second-hand machines can sometimes come with RDIMMs (Registered DIMMs) installed. The choice of the best-suited memory module for your HP workstation will depend on the specific hardware configuration. The Z420 paired with a Xeon CPU should support all three versions, but it is essential that the memory is server ECC memory (Xeon CPUs can’t use desktop RAM). A different example is the HP Z240 which can support both Intel i7 and Xeon processors, and that is where you need to be careful with RAM fitment (desktop vs server RAM). For more info I can recommend: cloudninjas.com/collections/hp-z420-ram-memory-upgrade
You should look in to a hot swap 5.25 to 3.5 unit for 3 5.25 bays, it would get you 4x-5x 3.5 bays out of the 3 5.25 slots and have it's own fan to help with cooling.. If you stick with the 5.25 tray adapters, you could put a washer on the screws to enable it to grab on to the case, recommend a lock washer for that. The choice to go Raid 0 is a pretty risky choice, any drive fails you lose all data on the array.. I think you know that, but the viewers might not all understand that Raid 0 is basically for speed only and to never store anything valuable on it.
Solid advice, thank you! I have seen some reviews of the 5.25'Bay docks (The Art of Server had a good review on one (ruclips.net/video/nQU90wCCpSc/видео.html). I was looking at the Icy Dock FlexCage MB973SP-2B but they can be hard to source, hence I settled on the Olmaster adapters. I need to find some screws that can work in the Z420's mounting hole and the Olmaster's cutout. The issue there was that the screw had nothing to thread into and a larger screw had trouble clearing the Z420 mounting hole. I was actually looking at options to expand the HDD storage space, but as you know the Z420's case has a HDD limit and I am fast approaching it. I was considering a custom case, maybe the Fractal Design Define R5 Mid or XLR2 that focuses more on HDD space (I'd transplant the Z420 motherboard). I would want to get to a RAID 5 ideally but that costs a small fortune in HDDs (although only 3x HDD would be enough for RAID 5). For the time being I have 2x independent RAID 1 Mirrors. First RAID 1 setup is 2x 2TB Red NAS (so 2TB total) HDDs as the main storage for critical data. This data is backed up onto RAID 1 2x 4TB (so 4TB total) Red NAS drives in the Z420. From there I have the 3x 10TB drives as "sorting drives" for now, but if I can accumulate 1-2x more HDDs I'll consider a RAID 5 or 10 config. The main issue has been storing project data. A 15min 4K video project's files nets ~60GB of data (full project). I only have the Z420 powered when I need to do a backup or when I am busy editing video.
@@racerrrz Also, there are simple stamped metal adapters that bolt to the side of a 3.5 inch drive so they fit a 5.25 inch bay. They've been around for years. My Z240 has 5 SSDs and 8 boxes of spinning platters installed currently (68 TB currently). I use an external DVD drive so I could free up some 5.25 inch bays, since my Z240 came with two DVD/CD burners installed.
@@danajorgensen1358 Hi Dana. Your 68TB setup sounds impressive, especially if inside the Z240 case! I have some idea of which metal adapters you refer to. Did yours come with rubber grommets to mount the HDDs? Do you have a part number by any chance? I presume you have a HBA controller to operate all those drives? The Z240 only has 4x sata ports off memory but a HBA controller solves that issue quickly.
Hi Nasruddin. Nice workstation you have there! Are you turning the Z840 into your NAS? That would be a heavy hitting NAS! I am working on my next NAS project video and I hope to get it out before Christmas! I was planning to use the Fractal Define XL R2 case to house HDDs and at this stage a Z420 motherboard case swap. The HDDs prices tend to remain high but they were well priced on Amazon for Black Friday sales (~$185 USD / 10TB [W/D Red NAS Plus]).
Awesome VMware setup there! The Z420 really works well from the server side of things. Which model Dell PERC card do you have? The Z420 HP documentation leaves only a handful of options for HBA controllers and that got me to settle on the H240 HBA.
Hi there. Thank you for pointing that out. Talk about confusing, it seems both "Oimaster" and "Olmaster" is in circulation now! When I first found the brand in 2019 or so it was called "Olmaster". I own only the "Olmaster" version, but I am sure they are identical! imgbox.com/cuLasKLF
@0.36 : Not True! The Z420-versions are: "Sandy Bridge" only ( E5-16xx v1/ E5-26xx v1) and "Sandy Bridge" + "Ivy Bridge" compatible which means that the later one also supports E5-16xx v2 / E5-26xx v2. ;-)
Hi there. Let's call it a technically. We are both saying the same thing, but I'll argue that your description has more clarity where mine was simplified down to occupy a mere second of your time (I think the color scheme may be confusing, that was just to highlight the E5-16xx to E5-26xx family difference - voice-over did the V1 / V2 comparison). To clarify with extra detail: Z420 Motherboard : 619557-001 can only support V1 processors (Sandy Bridge (V1); e.g. XEON e5-1620 or XEON e5-2667). Z420 Motherboard : 708615-001 can support V1 or V2 processors (Sandy Bridge (V1) or Ivy Bridge (V2); XEON e5-1620 or XEON e5-1620 V2, or XEON e5-2667 or XEON e5-2667 V2).
Thank you for the feedback and Sub! You will not regret the upgrade. Getting more HDDs mounted is the challenge but this particular Olmaster adapter really maximizes the use of the 5.25 Inch bays. Each adapter can hold a max of 6 SSDs (or 1x HDD + 2x SSD), if the goal was a SSD server this machine could get loaded up! With the H240 HBA Controller there is scope to run an additional 8 drives (including SAS drives) which really opens up the upgrade options.
@@emptyedits. Yes, right now this machine is only on when I edit video. Normally I can't edit or even play 4K video off a HDD without video playback lag (i.e. the 4K video must be on a SSD or NVMe to view/edit it). TrueNAS has been really impressive. Despite the Z420 being connected to my main machine via 1GBe ethernet cable, I get sufficient speeds to view / edit video over the LAN cable. But I still prefer to have all my project files on the video editing machine on a NVMe to avoid any delays / crashes etc. I aim to only buy hardware when on sale. To help with the buying process I have listed the cost breakdown in the video description. The 10TB HDDs cost quite a bit, I got them for ~300USD each in June (their prices fall over time; I found this on Amazon right now which is a solid price for 10TB Pro! tinyurl.com/3b5sudx9 (url was massive, hence tiny url ). I have 2x 4TBs in RAID 1 which are used more for critical data (like finished projects etc.). Those were around $130 USD each. The HDD cost really hammers the budget but not having storage space is just a pain. I have the retail price ~$1680 USD for the whole Z420 setup, but my actual cost will be lower through bargain hunting (e.g. I got the Z420 base machine for ~$100 USD). I did consider buying an off-the-shelf NAS but I was certain a custom machine would give better bang for buck.
Hi. Nice, that sounds like a great use for the Z220 + case swap. Fair call there. The Z420 case doesn't hold that many HDDs which makes a case swap all the more appealing. Which case have you got? Having space for 9HDDs is a solid outcome.
@@racerrrz its a old $35 case from Newegg. DIYPC FM08-BK. The whole front was made for 5in drives but I just got some 5in to 3in adapters. The Z boards have a lot of expansion.
@@ProximoNovio Nice find! For a "retro" case that is one mean full tower. I was looking at external HDD cases to expand my storage (eventually), but maybe a tower loaded with 5.25' / 3.5' HDD bays is the better way to go!
Don't remind me, it was all too easy back then lol. As hardware gets more impressive so does the need for storage of the data we create. I miss those days because HDDs remain really expensive. I am working on a follow-up video to this one and I was hoping to reach 100TB, and I did, but between two systems instead of one. There goes my click bait thumbnail lol.
Hi. If you don't mind sharing your setup / process that will be cool. I have tested a workaround but I have not managed to get my Z420 to boot from a NVMe. (I tried Clover Boot on an internal USB 3.0 slot but it never booted into Windows 10 for me; the Clover menu worked but it didn't seem to read my NVMe correctly).
Hi Hona. Awesome bargain you scored there! You will not regret that Z440 for that price. The Z440 has some solid upgrade options, pending your end use plans for it. If you can source them, the HP Z Cooler (828230-001) or Memory Cooler (J2R52AA) are cool Z440 upgrades! If you haven't seen my related video yet, I go through the Z440 in a heap of detail here: ruclips.net/video/D9kG4Il_XJ4/видео.html
Most of my RAID 0's have been with NVMes. And I do this to create a larger NVMe storage pool that I can use to quickly transfer large projects to and from. You could do a RAID 0 with SSDs or even HDDs, and that use to be quite popular before NVMes were around. But these days it just works better to use NVMes in RAID 0 and HDDs in RAID 5 etc. With that said, it could be cool to test some SSDs in a RAID 0 to see just how far you can push their speeds. I would expect 4 SSDs in RAID 0 to give ~880MB/s Read and ~700MB/s Write (pure guess). I might test it to see.lol. You could also take NVMes in M.2 USB enclosures and connect that in RAID 0 but I would expect that to be less reliable.
The case is pretty bad at airflow. Did you measure idle power consumption without or with 1 drive? Desktops of these generations are at about 20W. The hard drive controller will add some 5W at least. They get hot.
You are correct there. Airflow isn't outstanding but the HP case does a good job to balance noise and cooling. I use HWiNFO (when in Windows) to monitor HDD temps, or TrueNAS, and the HDDs usually sit around 25'C to 31'C pending load. I just checked my power readings for this machine. Net Power (full Z420 workstation in current config; using Kogan Smart Wifi Plug): ~210W Booting (fans max speed), ~120W Idle in TrueNAS, ~165W 4K Video File Transfer to 1x 10TB HDD and the same reading when transferring to 2x 10TB HDDs. That was a little higher than expected but then the machine is loaded with hardware. Less HDDs would save some Idle power, a more efficient PSU would also help to keep running costs down if this was left on 24/7.
@@racerrrz The PSU might not be the cause. These had the option of Platinum rated ones (the label says High Efficiency if this is the case). I need to measure my own build as well, it has 10 drives. Be back in a day or 2.
@@valkaielod I double checked my one. It's a 600W high efficiency (632911-001) PSU, which makes it hard to beat from a 24/7 NAS perspective. 80PLUS Platinum PSUs are pricey also, so the Z420 PSU might be the best bang-for-buck option here. I'll keep an eye out for what your readings look like.
@@racerrrz Told you so :). My build is a bit different. What I measured so far is the standby use of the old mainboard with a 1st gen (i) Xeon and an ASUS server/workstation. This was in line with what I knew from the 2nd and 3rd gen HP Desktops, around 20-30W in idle. The PSU is a Gold rated FSP unit. I will give it a spin over the weekend.
Thank you for the video! I noticed you utilized 2 bays in the upper part and 3 bays in the lower part, however you didn't touch the top bay in the upper part. Does that mean there are actually 3 bays in the upper part for 3.5 inch drives?
Hi. I am glad you found the video useful. You are correct there. If you choose to do so you could fit an extra 5.25" adapter in there. The adapter that I have in there right now can hold two SSDs but it also has a carry handle which I found quite useful. For your reference, I give a more comprehensive breakdown of this Z420 Workstation's hardware in this video (this was before the Olmaster upgrade): ruclips.net/video/D9kG4Il_XJ4/видео.html (~16min).
I will agree that my sense of humor tends to be nauseating, I apologize in advance. But hardware upgrades would be a tad boring if served without a side of humor. This was my most "imaginative" video to date, you may find my other videos less nauseating.
Is there any limit of HDD size with the old Intel® C602 chipset? the manual wrote: Up to (4) 3.5-inch 7200 rpm SATA drives: 250, 500 GB, 1, 2, 3 TB, 12 TB max, but SATA hardware RAID is not supported on Linux systems. The Linux kernel, with built-in software RAID, provides excellent functionality and performance. It is a good alternative to hardware-based RAID. I would install 3x 20 TB seagate, will that work?
Hi. The manual would have been up-to-date at the time of publishing but right now you can obtain much larger drives. I am not aware of any hardware limitations on drive sizes (MBR disk formatting has a 2TB limit however). I have only used up to 10TB drives in my Z420, but I have 16TB drives in my Z840 and Z440. Even if you did find the chipset became problematic you can still overcome this issue with PCIe HBA card. I use the Intel H240 HBA to all connecting more HDDs (it was in my Z420 and now I have it in my Z440 case swap ~70TB NAS build). Dual MINI SAS SFF-8087 allow for 8x SATA (6GB/s) / SAS (12GB/s) ports and RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 is supported. So there should be no issues with your 20TB RAID on the Z420. One way to check would be User Benchmark - if another user has posted their machine with 20TB HDDs that would support it as possible. A quick check - 4x 16TBs www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/47073843
Hi @@gurukantdesai4225. No I haven't had need to use Windows XP or Vista in a long time (Microsoft discontinued updates for XP not too long ago which means XP isn't safe to use online anymore). I mainly use Windows 10, Ubunto on occasion, and TrueNAS. The last time I used XP or Vista was ~2016 I think. I prefer Windows 10 over the older systems.
Hi there. I agree with you that time is valuable and I am sorry to hear your video experience was no more than time wastage. If you are willing to give me a second chance to add some value to your day, I'll gladly aim to accommodate your recommendation for future video content that you will find beneficial.
![Ice On My Teeth - ATEEZ エイティーズ 에이티즈 [Music Bank] | KBS WORLD TV 241115](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c-n92OgbbwA/mqdefault.jpg)
I just recovered my z420 from a total bios corruption, not bios settings corruption that you could resolve removing cmos battery or with the yellow button in the board but a total bios corruption, it has a crisis jumper that lets you reflash a new bios blindely from an usb or cd.
Nice. I have only been successful with such a recovery once, but thankfully it doesn't happen all that often. USB BIOS recovery is one of the more satisfying PC saves.lol. Good job. What are you planning to use your Z420 for?
I found a hp z820 dual cpu. I could make a nas I never knew how to make. I found your channel and was delighted
I am glad you found my content of benefit. The HP Z820 is an absolute powerhouse and it really suits the home server role well these days.
I have a really cool DIY Mini PC Server build in the works and I hope to give a break down of how to get Proxmox setup so that you can get multiple OS support on your server. For this build I am aiming for ultra low power draw which is a bit different from the Z820's raw power. But the server conversion process remains the same regardless of the system specs.
thats my proxmox server. will adopt this method to load it with more disks and share them as SMB and NFS using an LXC container running cockpit as a fileserver! Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks! Your system sounds well geared. You'd enjoy some of my newer videos also. I presume you have the Z420. I retired this machine for the Z440 (ruclips.net/video/K4RalaEbRI4/видео.html) - but since these have such a small case I case swapped the Z440 into a Fractal Define 7XL. That Z440 is overloaded with drives and TrueNAS is still doing it's thing.
I am also converting a Mini PC into a Proxmox server where it will serve as a VM test system for basically any OS I need to test out. It will also run some SSDs in RAIDZ2. I was hoping to get 10GbE working on it but I am having trouble getting enough power to it when plugged into a M.2 to X8 PCIe converter + DC power via modified Sata plug lol.
00:38 DDR3-1866 - PC3-14900R - ECC -
I had read that only ecc udimm was supported. Seeing the R of 14900R I tried to put 4 strips of 16GB ECC RDIMM from my DL380P in place of the original 4*2GB ECC UDIMM from my Z420v1 E5-1620. And it works! I'm now the proud owner of a 64GB ram Z420!
Hi there.
Selecting the right RAM for HP workstations can be a challenging task due to the variety of options available.
When referring to HP's memory documentation, you will typically find UDIMM (Unbuffered Dual In-Line Memory Module) specified as the recommended module type.
Generally, UDIMM is non-buffered ECC memory and it tends to be the most affordable option. LDIMM (Load-Reduced DIMM) offers cost-effective, low-power performance. RDIMM, on the other hand, is buffered or registered ECC memory, providing high-performance capabilities but at a higher cost.
In a practical example, I had four 4TB DDR3 PC12800R modules installed in this HP Z420 workstation (ruclips.net/video/D9kG4Il_XJ4/видео.html at 33min 23sec), and they operated flawlessly. It's worth noting that second-hand machines can sometimes come with RDIMMs (Registered DIMMs) installed.
The choice of the best-suited memory module for your HP workstation will depend on the specific hardware configuration.
The Z420 paired with a Xeon CPU should support all three versions, but it is essential that the memory is server ECC memory (Xeon CPUs can’t use desktop RAM). A different example is the HP Z240 which can support both Intel i7 and Xeon processors, and that is where you need to be careful with RAM fitment (desktop vs server RAM).
For more info I can recommend: cloudninjas.com/collections/hp-z420-ram-memory-upgrade
this literally has a YTP vibe
You should look in to a hot swap 5.25 to 3.5 unit for 3 5.25 bays, it would get you 4x-5x 3.5 bays out of the 3 5.25 slots and have it's own fan to help with cooling.. If you stick with the 5.25 tray adapters, you could put a washer on the screws to enable it to grab on to the case, recommend a lock washer for that. The choice to go Raid 0 is a pretty risky choice, any drive fails you lose all data on the array.. I think you know that, but the viewers might not all understand that Raid 0 is basically for speed only and to never store anything valuable on it.
Solid advice, thank you! I have seen some reviews of the 5.25'Bay docks (The Art of Server had a good review on one (ruclips.net/video/nQU90wCCpSc/видео.html). I was looking at the Icy Dock FlexCage MB973SP-2B but they can be hard to source, hence I settled on the Olmaster adapters. I need to find some screws that can work in the Z420's mounting hole and the Olmaster's cutout. The issue there was that the screw had nothing to thread into and a larger screw had trouble clearing the Z420 mounting hole. I was actually looking at options to expand the HDD storage space, but as you know the Z420's case has a HDD limit and I am fast approaching it. I was considering a custom case, maybe the Fractal Design Define R5 Mid or XLR2 that focuses more on HDD space (I'd transplant the Z420 motherboard). I would want to get to a RAID 5 ideally but that costs a small fortune in HDDs (although only 3x HDD would be enough for RAID 5). For the time being I have 2x independent RAID 1 Mirrors. First RAID 1 setup is 2x 2TB Red NAS (so 2TB total) HDDs as the main storage for critical data. This data is backed up onto RAID 1 2x 4TB (so 4TB total) Red NAS drives in the Z420. From there I have the 3x 10TB drives as "sorting drives" for now, but if I can accumulate 1-2x more HDDs I'll consider a RAID 5 or 10 config. The main issue has been storing project data. A 15min 4K video project's files nets ~60GB of data (full project). I only have the Z420 powered when I need to do a backup or when I am busy editing video.
@@racerrrz Also, there are simple stamped metal adapters that bolt to the side of a 3.5 inch drive so they fit a 5.25 inch bay. They've been around for years. My Z240 has 5 SSDs and 8 boxes of spinning platters installed currently (68 TB currently). I use an external DVD drive so I could free up some 5.25 inch bays, since my Z240 came with two DVD/CD burners installed.
@@danajorgensen1358 Hi Dana. Your 68TB setup sounds impressive, especially if inside the Z240 case! I have some idea of which metal adapters you refer to. Did yours come with rubber grommets to mount the HDDs? Do you have a part number by any chance? I presume you have a HBA controller to operate all those drives? The Z240 only has 4x sata ports off memory but a HBA controller solves that issue quickly.
Awesome video brother!
Long Live the HP Workstation!🤘
Thank you for your feedback! I have only had positive experiences with the HP Workstations. Well built machines!
Wow! I have a z840. Slowly building a NAS Server myself. The prices on HDDs are a killer
Hi Nasruddin. Nice workstation you have there! Are you turning the Z840 into your NAS? That would be a heavy hitting NAS! I am working on my next NAS project video and I hope to get it out before Christmas! I was planning to use the Fractal Define XL R2 case to house HDDs and at this stage a Z420 motherboard case swap. The HDDs prices tend to remain high but they were well priced on Amazon for Black Friday sales (~$185 USD / 10TB [W/D Red NAS Plus]).
Am currently using my Z420 with esxi 6.5 running 5 2019 server VMs with a dell perc card and 64gb ram, rock solid HW
Awesome VMware setup there! The Z420 really works well from the server side of things. Which model Dell PERC card do you have? The Z420 HP documentation leaves only a handful of options for HBA controllers and that got me to settle on the H240 HBA.
Just to reduce confusion, it's Oimaster (second letter is I as in INDIA, not L as in LIMA). 🙂
Hi there. Thank you for pointing that out. Talk about confusing, it seems both "Oimaster" and "Olmaster" is in circulation now! When I first found the brand in 2019 or so it was called "Olmaster". I own only the "Olmaster" version, but I am sure they are identical! imgbox.com/cuLasKLF
@0.36 : Not True! The Z420-versions are: "Sandy Bridge" only ( E5-16xx v1/ E5-26xx v1) and "Sandy Bridge" + "Ivy Bridge" compatible which means that the later one also supports E5-16xx v2 / E5-26xx v2. ;-)
Hi there. Let's call it a technically. We are both saying the same thing, but I'll argue that your description has more clarity where mine was simplified down to occupy a mere second of your time (I think the color scheme may be confusing, that was just to highlight the E5-16xx to E5-26xx family difference - voice-over did the V1 / V2 comparison). To clarify with extra detail: Z420 Motherboard : 619557-001 can only support V1 processors (Sandy Bridge (V1); e.g. XEON e5-1620 or XEON e5-2667). Z420 Motherboard : 708615-001 can support V1 or V2 processors (Sandy Bridge (V1) or Ivy Bridge (V2); XEON e5-1620 or XEON e5-1620 V2, or XEON e5-2667 or XEON e5-2667 V2).
Nice video. I've been wanting to do this myself. I see you're a smaller channel so I'll sub. Your efforts haven't gone unnoticed.
Thank you for the feedback and Sub! You will not regret the upgrade. Getting more HDDs mounted is the challenge but this particular Olmaster adapter really maximizes the use of the 5.25 Inch bays. Each adapter can hold a max of 6 SSDs (or 1x HDD + 2x SSD), if the goal was a SSD server this machine could get loaded up! With the H240 HBA Controller there is scope to run an additional 8 drives (including SAS drives) which really opens up the upgrade options.
@@racerrrz Do you use yours primarily for video storage? And how much did all the hard drives set you back if you don't mind me asking?
@@emptyedits. Yes, right now this machine is only on when I edit video. Normally I can't edit or even play 4K video off a HDD without video playback lag (i.e. the 4K video must be on a SSD or NVMe to view/edit it). TrueNAS has been really impressive. Despite the Z420 being connected to my main machine via 1GBe ethernet cable, I get sufficient speeds to view / edit video over the LAN cable. But I still prefer to have all my project files on the video editing machine on a NVMe to avoid any delays / crashes etc. I aim to only buy hardware when on sale. To help with the buying process I have listed the cost breakdown in the video description. The 10TB HDDs cost quite a bit, I got them for ~300USD each in June (their prices fall over time; I found this on Amazon right now which is a solid price for 10TB Pro! tinyurl.com/3b5sudx9 (url was massive, hence tiny url ). I have 2x 4TBs in RAID 1 which are used more for critical data (like finished projects etc.). Those were around $130 USD each. The HDD cost really hammers the budget but not having storage space is just a pain. I have the retail price ~$1680 USD for the whole Z420 setup, but my actual cost will be lower through bargain hunting (e.g. I got the Z420 base machine for ~$100 USD). I did consider buying an off-the-shelf NAS but I was certain a custom machine would give better bang for buck.
I used a z220 motherboard with a low power xeon and ecc ram. 5x4tb seagates. In a case that fits 9hdds.
Hi. Nice, that sounds like a great use for the Z220 + case swap. Fair call there. The Z420 case doesn't hold that many HDDs which makes a case swap all the more appealing. Which case have you got? Having space for 9HDDs is a solid outcome.
@@racerrrz its a old $35 case from Newegg. DIYPC FM08-BK. The whole front was made for 5in drives but I just got some 5in to 3in adapters. The Z boards have a lot of expansion.
@@ProximoNovio Nice find! For a "retro" case that is one mean full tower. I was looking at external HDD cases to expand my storage (eventually), but maybe a tower loaded with 5.25' / 3.5' HDD bays is the better way to go!
Backing the days 10 gb was more than enough for a Server.
Don't remind me, it was all too easy back then lol. As hardware gets more impressive so does the need for storage of the data we create. I miss those days because HDDs remain really expensive. I am working on a follow-up video to this one and I was hoping to reach 100TB, and I did, but between two systems instead of one. There goes my click bait thumbnail lol.
I'm currently booting from an NVMe on an ad-in PCIe card with no issues.
Hi. If you don't mind sharing your setup / process that will be cool. I have tested a workaround but I have not managed to get my Z420 to boot from a NVMe. (I tried Clover Boot on an internal USB 3.0 slot but it never booted into Windows 10 for me; the Clover menu worked but it didn't seem to read my NVMe correctly).
Got an HP Z440 for $240au. E51620 v4 16g ddr4 256g ssd k2200 4g gddr5. Going to upgrade a few things? Chur brother.
Hi Hona. Awesome bargain you scored there! You will not regret that Z440 for that price. The Z440 has some solid upgrade options, pending your end use plans for it. If you can source them, the HP Z Cooler (828230-001) or Memory Cooler (J2R52AA) are cool Z440 upgrades! If you haven't seen my related video yet, I go through the Z440 in a heap of detail here: ruclips.net/video/D9kG4Il_XJ4/видео.html
Have you create raid 0
Whitout pci card ?
Or just Single hadrive
Thanks for sharing
Most of my RAID 0's have been with NVMes. And I do this to create a larger NVMe storage pool that I can use to quickly transfer large projects to and from. You could do a RAID 0 with SSDs or even HDDs, and that use to be quite popular before NVMes were around. But these days it just works better to use NVMes in RAID 0 and HDDs in RAID 5 etc. With that said, it could be cool to test some SSDs in a RAID 0 to see just how far you can push their speeds. I would expect 4 SSDs in RAID 0 to give ~880MB/s Read and ~700MB/s Write (pure guess). I might test it to see.lol. You could also take NVMes in M.2 USB enclosures and connect that in RAID 0 but I would expect that to be less reliable.
The case is pretty bad at airflow. Did you measure idle power consumption without or with 1 drive? Desktops of these generations are at about 20W. The hard drive controller will add some 5W at least. They get hot.
You are correct there. Airflow isn't outstanding but the HP case does a good job to balance noise and cooling. I use HWiNFO (when in Windows) to monitor HDD temps, or TrueNAS, and the HDDs usually sit around 25'C to 31'C pending load. I just checked my power readings for this machine. Net Power (full Z420 workstation in current config; using Kogan Smart Wifi Plug): ~210W Booting (fans max speed), ~120W Idle in TrueNAS, ~165W 4K Video File Transfer to 1x 10TB HDD and the same reading when transferring to 2x 10TB HDDs. That was a little higher than expected but then the machine is loaded with hardware. Less HDDs would save some Idle power, a more efficient PSU would also help to keep running costs down if this was left on 24/7.
@@racerrrz The PSU might not be the cause. These had the option of Platinum rated ones (the label says High Efficiency if this is the case). I need to measure my own build as well, it has 10 drives. Be back in a day or 2.
@@valkaielod I double checked my one. It's a 600W high efficiency (632911-001) PSU, which makes it hard to beat from a 24/7 NAS perspective. 80PLUS Platinum PSUs are pricey also, so the Z420 PSU might be the best bang-for-buck option here. I'll keep an eye out for what your readings look like.
@@racerrrz Told you so :). My build is a bit different. What I measured so far is the standby use of the old mainboard with a 1st gen (i) Xeon and an ASUS server/workstation. This was in line with what I knew from the 2nd and 3rd gen HP Desktops, around 20-30W in idle. The PSU is a Gold rated FSP unit. I will give it a spin over the weekend.
Thank you for the video! I noticed you utilized 2 bays in the upper part and 3 bays in the lower part, however you didn't touch the top bay in the upper part. Does that mean there are actually 3 bays in the upper part for 3.5 inch drives?
Hi. I am glad you found the video useful. You are correct there. If you choose to do so you could fit an extra 5.25" adapter in there. The adapter that I have in there right now can hold two SSDs but it also has a carry handle which I found quite useful. For your reference, I give a more comprehensive breakdown of this Z420 Workstation's hardware in this video (this was before the Olmaster upgrade): ruclips.net/video/D9kG4Il_XJ4/видео.html (~16min).
If nausea was a video...
I will agree that my sense of humor tends to be nauseating, I apologize in advance. But hardware upgrades would be a tad boring if served without a side of humor. This was my most "imaginative" video to date, you may find my other videos less nauseating.
Is there any limit of HDD size with the old Intel® C602 chipset? the manual wrote: Up to (4) 3.5-inch 7200 rpm SATA drives: 250, 500 GB, 1, 2, 3 TB, 12 TB max, but SATA hardware RAID is not supported on Linux systems. The Linux kernel, with built-in software RAID, provides excellent functionality and performance. It is a good alternative to
hardware-based RAID. I would install 3x 20 TB seagate, will that work?
Hi. The manual would have been up-to-date at the time of publishing but right now you can obtain much larger drives. I am not aware of any hardware limitations on drive sizes (MBR disk formatting has a 2TB limit however). I have only used up to 10TB drives in my Z420, but I have 16TB drives in my Z840 and Z440.
Even if you did find the chipset became problematic you can still overcome this issue with PCIe HBA card. I use the Intel H240 HBA to all connecting more HDDs (it was in my Z420 and now I have it in my Z440 case swap ~70TB NAS build). Dual MINI SAS SFF-8087 allow for 8x SATA (6GB/s) / SAS (12GB/s) ports and RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 is supported. So there should be no issues with your 20TB RAID on the Z420.
One way to check would be User Benchmark - if another user has posted their machine with 20TB HDDs that would support it as possible. A quick check - 4x 16TBs www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/47073843
@@racerrrz thanks a lot!
possible to windows xp on this machine ?
Hi. Yes absolutely, in fact the Z420 was likely released with Windows XP or Vista. You will be able to run RAID as well if you so desire.
@@racerrrz have you tried installing xp/vista yourself? thanks ! subscribed !
Hi @@gurukantdesai4225. No I haven't had need to use Windows XP or Vista in a long time (Microsoft discontinued updates for XP not too long ago which means XP isn't safe to use online anymore). I mainly use Windows 10, Ubunto on occasion, and TrueNAS. The last time I used XP or Vista was ~2016 I think. I prefer Windows 10 over the older systems.
Watch this if you want to WASTE your valuable time.
Hi there. I agree with you that time is valuable and I am sorry to hear your video experience was no more than time wastage. If you are willing to give me a second chance to add some value to your day, I'll gladly aim to accommodate your recommendation for future video content that you will find beneficial.