Installing Roon on HP Microserver N54L Gen7 viability compared to NUC (ref#ER6BW4)

Tinkering
1

What’s happening?

· Something else

How can we help?

· None of the above

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· Other

Describe the issue

Can I install Roon on an old HP Microserver N54L Gen7 - or should I buy a NUC ?

Describe your network setup

Standard BT Smarthub setup - BluOS devices connected via Powerline plugs - Roon currently running from MacBook Pro

2

Roon OS (ROCK) is designed for and supported on selected Intel NUC platforms only. It is likely that you will run into hardware issues with that AMD Turion II based system. But IIRC the Linux support for those PC devices is good – use a Linux (server) distribution of your choice and install Roon Server.

Note: Looks to me like the processor is performing below the recommendation. Make sure the RAM fits your needs (Roon library size). Keep in mind that it is recommended to install Roon (and its database) on an SSD (alongside the OS for best performance over all). You can use cheaper HDDs for your music files though. Probably good for up to 100k tracks library size (but my gut feeling tells me 60k - 80k only on that hardware).

3

You can run Roon server on this Microserver – I have one collecting dust in my study. But note that it falls short of the minimum specification, and performance is well below that of a 2018 Intel i3. For a small library, it will run fine, if you have at least 8 GB memory and an SSD.

However, the Roon app will be sluggish at times. So, if you already have the N54L, and want to try Roon, use it before deciding to buy new hardware. But, use a Linux server, i.e., without a GUI, and avoid Windows.

If you want a permanent solution, a NUC running ROCK is fine, although the new Nucleus ONE should be considered.

4

Thanks @mjw and @BlackJack - that’s really helpful - I suspected as much.

The Microserver is currently running Ubuntu, has 16GB of memory - but no SSDs - it has 4x1TB HHDs raided to 2TB. So even though my library is only ~1300 albums, I think the processor will slow it down and as a new Roon user, one of the things I love is the ability to switch between sources - my library, Tidal and Live radio with no latency whatsoever.

So NUC it is and the Microserver can stay as a Zen backup.

Thanks again

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