Stripping down for any ms server system

[BonzaiDuck]

I have one or two threads related to my "peculiar project" of using dated hardware for my WHS-2011 server.

Anyone who might have read through my struggles with that project would recall I had pulled the sound-card and drivers, then uninstalled the NVidia graphics drivers (with 3D this and that and "PhysX") before I resolved my problem -- the "mystery of core-0 loading."

Now that I have it all sorted out, I'm re-installing WHS add-ins, like Axonet Lights-Out. And I'm looking at this video and sound driver issue.

Can anyone think of any reason at all why any small server needs more than "standard VGA" drivers? And why would I even want to use headphones on such a system?

The hardware we buy sort of forces the issue. Even without the NVidia graphics drivers, WHS still recognizes and installs the four "HDMI audio" ports on the graphics card. I finally, or in the interim, just disabled those audio devices as well. A person would almost want a graphics card more like the earliest PCI-E cards available, like a low-end Geforce 5xxx or 6xxx. I thought when I bought the card to put in this system -- a GT 430 -- it was "low end" and retrograde enough to be optimal, but I was mistaken.

How about this: Do any NAS devices come with speakers and a graphics card?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

you can certainly run with just generic vga drivers.

Most NAS boxes are headless. (No monitor or sound cards.) But most SMB and enterprise level servers will have VGA/USB for console access.

 

[Ketchup]

My server is headless. Standard VGA drivers only.

 

[ViRGE]

Can anyone think of any reason at all why any small server needs more than "standard VGA" drivers?

If it's a self-built x86 system, you're going to want the drivers for power management purposes. The iGPU can't reach its lowest power state without the help of the drivers.

 

[Gunbuster]

So basically your complaining about Windows server having drivers and too many features? I use a headless server 2012 install for my stereo system. If it didn't have audio...

Windows server is not developed in a vacuum it shares codebase with the desktop Windows. You can convert a server install into "workstation" if you want to.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Virge has a solid point. In my current situation, I'd stripped out hardware drivers to get to the bottom of my "core-0 loading mystery," and that's been totally resolved. I've been watching this system for a couple days now since getting the bugs out.

I should be able to reinstall the NVidia graphics drivers, because "pwer management" makes sense. I'll probably put the sound card back in and re-enable HD-Audio, then see what sort of drivers Windows Update finds for me.

It just seems incredible that a driver conflict would be totally resolved by slipping a PCI-E controller card into an available slot and loading the drivers for it. Just incredible.