Server Options....

With HP dishing out the £100 cash back on the micro and ml110 g7 servers currently I've been thinking about a couple of options. Currently I've got a pc running 12GB ram and an i3 540 at 3.91 with vsphere 5 hypervisor off my old corsair 550hx psu. The options considered are whether to get a new case and a lower capacity psu for this (to improve energy efficiency) and keep the existing hardware or to just replace it with one (or 2) of the above servers. Not had any performance issues so far with the hardware, just wanting to improve efficiency with leaving it on 24/7

We have the microserver and it is extremely cost effective at under £20 a year, though ours is mainly used for back-ups and some central storage. It depends very much on your useage. If you have heavy useage, the micro may not suit your needs. As to whether you would trade your current set-up for the ML100 is a tough call. I have read that the ML100 costs on average around £70 a year to run, but I cannot find out the load/idle percentages that is based on. I can say the micro is a fine server for those not needing heavyweight solutions or those who do but not 24/7 in which case perhaps run your existing kit for intensive work and let a micro run alongside 24/7 for backups and similar.

Well the main thing I want the micro server for is to run my exchange and tmg VMs (which are on 24/7) to free up the other box for some other items i need to test