Hey guys, very first time I am coming across a unit like this. PowerEdge 840

Service Tag: 14CM6C1 | Express Service Code: 2439837073

 

I read the manual but still confused, can I load win7 on this machine? Can it work like any regular windows machine?

It's a server, but, can be used as a workstation if you install Windows 7 on it. All servers can run any OS. Doesn't have to be a server version.

 

If you want to upgrade the memory you need to use registered ECC memory.

Thanks, max intenral storage shows 4.0TB [4X1.0TB] SATA, not understanding that, does it mean we can put 4x1TB HDD's in there? If yes, does that mean we cannot or should not put a SATA drive larger than 1tb?

You can put one big drive in if you wish or 4 big drives. All that means is there is room for 4 drives. At the time the manual was written biggest was probably 1TB.

So this machine is upgradeable to 8gb?

Yes it is.

Alright, appreciate all of the help, thanks!

So I went into the boot options and selected the dvd drive as first but it goes straight to windows server 2003. Something's up with this unit anyway, whenever I manually shut down it restarts and fan is very loud? Is that way this is supposed to work or it is supposed to be silent?

I only now noticed that there isn't an onboard soundcard, so for the owner to purchase a soundcard and a HDD and then pay for the labor, I think it's wasted effort and this old machine is not worth even $100.

Servers rarely have sound cards. Maybe the dvd drive is bad.

 

The restart problem is probably a setting in Windows and/or bios. Servers are set to restart instead of shutdown. This is a fail safe in case of power loss. If you are managing the server from a remote location and power cord is accidentally pulled you couldn't log in and would have to call the datacenter to plug it in. It's a rare occurrence, but, does happen.

 

The fan spinning up high speed is also another feature of servers. All mine do the same thing.

Thanks for the info but again not worth it, at least I have better knowledge now.

The one that I used to have put out a lot of heat and was always more noisy than you'd expect.

The one that I used to have put out a lot of heat and was always more noisy than you'd expect.

Yep. Those older xeons did put out a lot of heat.