12 mo. ago • 100%

HP DL380 G10 - looking to buy, anyone have homelab experience with this model?

I'm going to use it for both homelab and work (data engineering and AI fine-tuning).

Here are my concerns:

Will this operate in a standard apartment? And can I use the hacks I've seen for Gen9 to quiet down the fans for office use? I might also replace the server fans for quieter ones (maybe).
I'm gathering that when not under load the power draw is ~85w, which is doable but I'm also looking to get 8 SSDs and about a TB of ram ( to handle both homelabbing and fine-tuning workloads).
Would a Gen9 be suitable for fine-tuning for now and best to hold out for a more dedicated server for this? Right now, it's costing about $750 to provision servers each project.
And last, I'm having trouble finding parts for the server in case the refurbished/used one I buy doesn't have them. Some on eBay don't have the power cables, etc.

Overall, those of you have one in their home, what do you think of them?

6 comments

A generation 10 will work fine in a standard apartment so long as the power supplies installed take the same voltage as your mains. I can't speak about the fan noise much, but there may be ILO hacks to control that. Make sure you're running compatible hardware as HPE systems tend to run much louder otherwise.

The power draw when idling greatly depends on the installed hardware. There is no definite answer until you can monitor its consumption from the wall.

A gen9 is suitable for quite a while yet, and the prices are going way down for that generation. A generation 10 would be the better buy if you don't plan to upgrade again for a while, but parts are going to be more expensive.

In terms of parts, Ebay is often one of the best places. Rather than looking up the machine generation/model, look up the part number which is on the component itself. It'll give you much better results not only on Ebay but Google as well.
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My DL360G10 is really quiet, it has the premium fans instead of standard. I’m not sure if that makes a huge difference. It’s definitely the quieter part of my lab.

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- I’m running a DL380G10 with the added Tertiary riser, LSI sas controller, 10Gb Intel sfp+, and upgraded 800W power supplies. It seems reasonably quiet while it’s not booting up, atleast compared to other enterprise gear. I believe it also has the high performance fans.
  
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  Yea I’ve been happy with it. I don’t tho k my rabbits like bunking beside the rack so it’s been off but is background noise level for sure. Glad the riser cards don’t have any effect for you.
  
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I have a DL360 G10. Same server but 1U.

The server is quiet as hell already. I have it in my basement though, but honestly I don't notice it next to my R720s.

My power draw right now is 119W. I have 6 SSDs and 12 DIMMs, with 12 VMs currently on it.

I use eBay exclusively tbh
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- It will feel a lot louder if it's the only device in the same room as you.
  
  For those unfamiliar, the dl360 is just a 1u version of the dl380.
  
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