Windows Home Server FAQ

rmd3003 said:
Quick question: Should I use AHCI or IDE when setting up new WHS?
Motherboard is Gigabyte G35.
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AHCI gives better overall performance and should be your default choice unless an issue comes up.

rmd3003 said:
Quick question here. If I use Server 2008 is there an option to create some kind of drive extender (similar to WHS) so all shares span across drives and not limited to actual drive size? For examples if "VIDEOS" folder is larger than 2TB.
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Quick answer: No.

Not sure why you bring up 2TB, as that's a limitation of the formatting, if you use GPT formatting then it's not a limit. As for Server 2008, there is no such thing as a drive extender as implemented in WHS. However, you can use Microsoft's software raid (ie. dynamic disks) to create a spanned volume. The negative of doing so would be the fact that unlike a WHS drive failure, all data is loss if one drive in the volume fails.
 
Neb said:
AHCI gives better overall performance and should be your default choice unless an issue comes up.


Quick answer: No.

Not sure why you bring up 2TB, as that's a limitation of the formatting, if you use GPT formatting then it's not a limit. As for Server 2008, there is no such thing as a drive extender as implemented in WHS. However, you can use Microsoft's software raid (ie. dynamic disks) to create a spanned volume. The negative of doing so would be the fact that unlike a WHS drive failure, all data is loss if one drive in the volume fails.
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Actually, there IS a way to do GPT on WHS, but it is somewhat scary to do a "hack" like that with >2TB of data. I almost did it for the new build, but I'm too worried that an update could cause data corruption.
 
Neb said:
AHCI gives better overall performance and should be your default choice unless an issue comes up.


Quick answer: No.

Not sure why you bring up 2TB, as that's a limitation of the formatting, if you use GPT formatting then it's not a limit. As for Server 2008, there is no such thing as a drive extender as implemented in WHS. However, you can use Microsoft's software raid (ie. dynamic disks) to create a spanned volume. The negative of doing so would be the fact that unlike a WHS drive failure, all data is loss if one drive in the volume fails.
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i learnt that about dynamic disk the hard way
 
Neb said:
However, you can use Microsoft's software raid (ie. dynamic disks) to create a spanned volume. The negative of doing so would be the fact that unlike a WHS drive failure, all data is loss if one drive in the volume fails.
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Well, you can also usually JBOD drives using Windows software RAID. I believe JBODing is also easier to recover if something goes south.

Or there's always the complete bypass of software RAID. Just implement folder mounting and be done with it. Folder mounting, for those who don't know about it, allows you to sim-link a folder to another folder, which can be anywhere on the system, as long as it is NTFS-based. Which means, in short, you can have a folder redirect to an entire volume or partition. You can access the drive/volume/partition directly through Disk Management (if you sim-link to an entire volume/partition, you can loose the drive letter) if needed, and mount it on another system for data retrieval.

It doesn't really work like DE (especially because it lacks folder duplication and such), but it might be something to consider.

Cheers.

Miguel
 
__Miguel_ said:
I believe JBODing is also easier to recover if something goes south.
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Whoa, timeout! How would using a JBOD be able to recover anything? There's no redundancy! What am I missing here? Maybe I'm missing what point your are trying to make. Are you saying that when using JBOD, trying to recover doesn't include recovering data lost, instead its simply means you are up and running (minus the missing data, which is lost permanently) quicker?
 
__Miguel_ said:
Well, you can also usually JBOD drives using Windows software RAID. I believe JBODing is also easier to recover if something goes south.

Or there's always the complete bypass of software RAID. Just implement folder mounting and be done with it. Folder mounting, for those who don't know about it, allows you to sim-link a folder to another folder, which can be anywhere on the system, as long as it is NTFS-based. Which means, in short, you can have a folder redirect to an entire volume or partition. You can access the drive/volume/partition directly through Disk Management (if you sim-link to an entire volume/partition, you can loose the drive letter) if needed, and mount it on another system for data retrieval.

It doesn't really work like DE (especially because it lacks folder duplication and such), but it might be something to consider.

Cheers.

Miguel
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jslater25 said:
Whoa, timeout! How would using a JBOD be able to recover anything? There's no redundancy! What am I missing here? Maybe I'm missing what point your are trying to make. Are you saying that when using JBOD, trying to recover doesn't include recovering data lost, instead its simply means you are up and running (minus the missing data, which is lost permanently) quicker?
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Whoa!!
Lets pump the brakes here.

In windows JBOD is called Spanning. In windows spanning if you lose one drive you will lose the rest of the array.

Also if you dont have a question directly related to WHS take it to another thread.
 
jslater25 said:
How would using a JBOD be able to recover anything? There's no redundancy! What am I missing here?
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I'll send you a PM about this, I don't want to stray OT too much (sorry, Nitro).

Getting back on track, and to be as clear as I can, right now there is NOTHING available that works like DE outside WHS. I believe someone is trying to implement a similar software approach (I believe this has been referred to on this thread already) on data redundancy (still missing the shadow files, though), but I don't know how it's doing. You might want to search around a little.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Miguel
 
pjkenned said:
Actually, there IS a way to do GPT on WHS, but it is somewhat scary to do a "hack" like that with >2TB of data. I almost did it for the new build, but I'm too worried that an update could cause data corruption.
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I didn't say it wasn't possible to do GPT on WHS, I was meaning to say that there is no such thing as DE on Server 2008. I agree though, that's a lot of data to chance any sort of data issue.
 
Question: Has anyone received the error that there isn't enough space to move a file to the server when there clearly is?

I have a 13.1GB BR-RIP I'm trying to send to the server (PP2) which has 1.8TB free, and Windows is saying:

There is not enough space on Videos (\\192.168.1.120).
13.1 GB is needed to move this item. Delete or move files so you have enough space.
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No thats weird, but you should upgrade to PP3.
That might fix it.
 
how much free space do you have and on what drives if the free pace is over more then one drive then it wont allow it to be copyed also if duplication is on you would need twice the space for the file
 
Dasimpson said:
how much free space do you have and on what drives if the free pace is over more then one drive then it wont allow it to be copyed also if duplication is on you would need twice the space for the file
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me said:
...which has 1.8TB free
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It seems to have solved itself after asking it politely about 30 more times. BTW, I can't see PP3 on Windows Update, where would I find it?
 
dr_latino999 said:
It seems to have solved itself after asking it politely about 30 more times. BTW, I can't see PP3 on Windows Update, where would I find it?
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If you cannot see it, then there are other updates to WHS you must make first.

EDIT: PP3 cannot be downloaded manually, because if installed without proper pre-requisites(the updates you are missing) it could break something.
 
sorry i missed the size how full in the pool on your disk 0 (os drive) i try and keep mine empty as i have noticed whs some time every now and then dumps it to what was the landing zone then moved it but only every now and then but is the 1.8 tb is spread over diff drive they do tend to act up
 
if you go to the whs console then to settings under the genral tab you will see update now run that untill it tells you there is nsorro more updates also above that it should tell you is pp3 is isnatlled or not sorry wrong place you can find out what power pack you have by looking on the resources tab
 
nitrobass24 said:
If you cannot see it, then there are other updates to WHS you must make first.

EDIT: PP3 cannot be downloaded manually, because if installed without proper pre-requisites(the updates you are missing) it could break something.
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Thanks, I just found it after a couple of rounds of updates. I thought it was like a Service Pack which could just be installed.
 
nah i did all updates by remote desktop then couldent get the console to access lol little did i know that it updates the console software also found that out after doing a clean install lol
 
For example: I add some hard drives to the pool of my whs and fill the pool with big files each in one folder (hd movies).
If one of the drives fail, do I lost all the pool or the folders are kind of sent to the drives one by one ?
It's just to know if I plug any hard drive from the pool to another computer, can I recover something ?
 
Yes if you lose a drive, you will only lose files on that drive, no matter what folder they were in. The rest of your pool will be intact.
You can pull an individual drive and plug it into another computer to see what i am talking about.
 
if you turn duplication on for that folder like i have the files are backed up over 2 drives.
so if one drive failes the files are fine as they are on another drive.
whs is ment to move the files off the drive that is acting up then remove it from the pool.
it will then repoerts there is a problem and you should be able to swap the drive out for a working one pref the same size as the drive or larger.
i have searched the net for this exact answer and thats the answers i got how well whs imperments this i dont know
 
fi you do not have duplication the files on that hdd are lost unless you are lucky and can recover them by using another machine
 
Dasimpson said:
if you turn duplication on for that folder like i have the files are backed up over 2 drives.
so if one drive failes the files are fine as they are on another drive.
whs is ment to move the files off the drive that is acting up then remove it from the pool.
it will then repoerts there is a problem and you should be able to swap the drive out for a working one pref the same size as the drive or larger.
i have searched the net for this exact answer and thats the answers i got how well whs imperments this i dont know
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WHS does not move files off of a failing drive.

If you have duplication turned on those files will be on separate HDDs. So if one fails it is still on the other drive. Then and only after you have removed the failed drive will WHS begin the process of re-duplicating those files elsewhere.

If you do not have duplication turned on, then your file is gone forever if you do not have a backup.
 
just been stupid here but is duplication work like raid 1.
i mean if i run out of space i have to add 2 drives for more space ?
 
or thats brilent saves me money then.
also wonted to ask if duplication is off and a drive starts to fail will whs move that data to other drives or will it give you a warning that the drives failing and give you options to carry out
 
It does have a failing warning, but you should keep duplication on. There isn't much you can store on 1-2TB that isn't worth the extra $70-150 to keep it safe with another drive.
 
was only asking as i have a 250 ide drive and a 160 in at moment and not alor of space left and deffo ant got the money to get another drive for a while
 
Dasimpson said:
or thats brilent saves me money then.
also wonted to ask if duplication is off and a drive starts to fail will whs move that data to other drives or will it give you a warning that the drives failing and give you options to carry out
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It will warn you.
But it will not move your data off that drive unless you do the removal process.
 
dr_latino999 said:
Can WHS Connector work properly if you have changed the RDP port from 3389 to 3390? I can't get mine to connect for the life of me.

EDIT: N/M, found the answer here http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en/whssoftware/thread/1cb41ba1-8850-4aa7-9ad4-836944235165. This seems like an epic flaw in the software but I guess I have to deal with it and reissue new ports for the conflicting computers.
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Why would you want to change it?

WHS provides a TS gateway so you can RDP to those machines from the internet anyways.
 
nitrobass24 said:
Why would you want to change it?

WHS provides a TS gateway so you can RDP to those machines from the internet anyways.
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Only if you are using Internet Explorer, which I only use for Windows Updates on my laptop, the same laptop which most of the time is booted in Ubuntu at work :)
 
This might be a stupid question but can a whs double as an HTPC?

If yes, has anybody done it?

In theory I think it would work well, since they both don't need high end equipment. Also, since the server is on 24/7 and doesn't use a display, the HTPC would also always be on and ready to go at any given time without booting up.
 
You can but its not reccomended.

You can install Sage, or some other HTPC software on it, but Server 2003 doesnt have the greatest media support.
Also theres not Windows Media Center.
 
nitrobass24 said:
You can but its not reccomended.

You can install Sage, or some other HTPC software on it, but Server 2003 doesnt have the greatest media support.
Also theres not Windows Media Center.
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Ok, another question. Apparently MS doesn't offer student discounts on WHS, which sucks, so I would have to pay $99 for it. I get discounts on everything else though, and I could pick up windows 2008 standard server for $99 as well, which retails for over $1000

Should I still go with whs?
 
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