I didn't do enough research maybe before I just ordered an HX240M4 thinking it's just a server like the UCS240M4 with more bays on the front of it, and the PDFs show diagrams of the interior, looks just the same as the USCS240M4, but now the more I read the specs & install guide the more it looks like it may be a specialized storage solution than a generic server & may not be as useful as I hoped with it being referred to as a node & not a server, seemingly mandated drive layouts (SSD in slot 1 only etc.), management, and OS support.

I hope I can make it do what I want. My workplaces have been HP/Lenovo/Fujitsu/Dell over the last few years and I've never seen a Cisco server in the flesh ever before though.

1. Are these servers pretty much a UCS240 M4?
My concerns are:
-Driver availability for Windows/RHEL/Almalinux/Proxmox
-The Cisco support pages have no drivers under the HX section, though in under the UCS support pages there's everything
-I'm hoping they are the same or it'll probably be a pain with anything other than ESXi which I'm not planning on using or paying for, not a fan of Broadcom's business strategy, sorry.

2. Is the Firmware and IMC the same functionality wise between the two?

3. Should I use interposers if putting SATA SSDs in the front slots of the HX?

4. If I upgrade the e5-2609v4 CPUs to 140watt models will I need to upgrade heatsinks or anything? (model I've purchased has the 1400Watt PSUs onboard already)

5. Anything else I should know?

My goals for this server are:
-Install RHEL / Almalinux with Windows VMs on top of that. (I'll try Proxmox prior to see if it sways me)
-Hook it up to a Netapp DS4243 disk shelf for storage, software archive/movies/music/plex etc.

If anyone has detailed gut shots of the HX240cM4 server insides, I'd really like to see them.