Newbie Windows Server R2 questions

[Raycaster]

First, thanks for all the help and suggestion posted previously.

My WHS home system died and I built a NAS4FREE setup which with help here worked pretty smoothly. Well I'm getting old and just couldn't figure out RSYNC and a few other options. I need a server for the basic family stuff like storing media and backing up 5-7 laptops/PCs around the house. WHS was a no brainer and just worked, slow but worked.

Questions:

I have a dreamspark account so I started trying Microsoft Server 2012 R2. Looked great but again, overkill for my needs. I'm now trying Server 2012 R2 Essentials which looks closer to my needs.

Is there a big difference between R2 Essentials and just Essentials?


I'm loving the storage pool options and wondering if just striping + parity would be fine for my big MKV files etc. The server is just used for big storage and not 24/7 data movement.

I wouldn't mind also going the PLEX directions. Is this possible with R2?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Ivan_Only]

Howdy...I use Windows 2012 R2 with a 4x4tb striped storage pool for Home Media storage.

I also run Plex on a separate Windows 2012 r2 VM without issues. With a large CPU in a storage server you could easily combine these functions.

 

[Raycaster]

Thank you very much for the reply.

It looks like only Server 2012 R2 Essentials is available not Server 2012 Essentials, that is a easy decision.

The 4X4 would be my goal but I have 2Ts instead because that was the limit with WHS v1.
I have 2X2T + 3X1.5T + 500G Hybrid for install.
The CPU is a new mid-range AMD which is overkill for a server I guess but will be handy for PLEX. The unit also has 16G RAM because that's what NAS4FREE wanted...

Anyways, read some articles, watched some videos and time to dive in.

Can I ask Ivan_Only why you would VM for PLEX? Sorry if its a silly question.

Also, does Essentials use connecting software on the backup pcs like WHS did? Is local remote also easy?

I'll figure it out but any pointers would be much appreciated.

 

[Ivan_Only]

The reason I went with a VM for Plex is mainly for VM testing purposes. I had two Xeon servers with similar specs and wanted to test replication and migration. The only "Production" VM I could come up with is a Plex specific VM that I actually use on a regular basis. I could install Plex directly on the Xeon server but it is fun playing around with Hyper V and different options.

As to your Essentials questions, I am not sure as I have not used that or WHS before. Your Drive setup should made a good Storage Space if you do that route.