As per my previous posts i've decided to take the plunge and go for the N54L Microserver from HP. Rather than doing many posts covering the post I will be encompassing everything into a single one as a blog reader I find this easier to follow than many posts spread over lots of days causing confusion.
As I said previously the thing that put me off about the microserver was the fact it had no media card slots and only a single 5.25" bay. After some research i've found a solution, namely the Startech Slim Optical & 3.5in Hard Drive Mounting Bracket for 5.25in Front Bay which allows for fitment of slim optical drive and a standard 3.5" device in my case a media card reader.
That's the first problem sorted, the next one was to overcome the fact that the internal usb on the N54L doesn't use a header as on most motherboard but rather a 'real' usb port. I managed to find the Akasa External to internal USB adapter which will convert from the header connector on the media card reader to a usb port. I purchased this and a Samsung SN-208FB/BEBE 8x DVD/RW SATA Slim Black OEM along with a Akasa AK-ICR-07U3 3.5" Black Internal Multi Card Reader M2, Micro SD & USB 3.0 from Scans store on ebay for total of £27.66 delivered to my local argos store, ok so the usb 3.0 connector is pointless for the microserver but i've had a couple of the cheapo media readers before and they seem to just stop working or break so thought i'd spend a couple of poound extra on a named brand.
More to follow………..