Windows Home Server FAQ

Archer75 said:
ah yes, you are right.

For me personally I just can't see using WHS for anything more than just file serving. I do all that stuff on my desktop or my HTPC. I just don't want to introduce any potential issues to the server that is hosting and protecting my data.
Click to expand...

Yup thats why my P4 won't cut it any longer, I needed to break out the big guns, but my new toys just aren't compatible.

But Archer, I agree, for just fileserving you can get away with almost nothing.

I run a little WHS box at work with a 733MHz PIII and 1GB SDRAM.
 
Is there any way to make WHS use a certain drive as a system drive?

I made a 186GB Raid 1 mirror specifically for the system partition, but it only defaulted to 20GB of that, and the system is using the rest for storage and backups, but I have a Dell Perc6 on the way for the storage array (6 1TB drives).

Any way I can reallocate after the storage is already assigned?
 
My main drive is a 160GB single drive, it took the standard 20GB and the rest is part of the pool. Though it never throws anything on the remaining ~140GB unless I run out of room on the rest of the drives.
 
McDeth said:
Is there any way to make WHS use a certain drive as a system drive?

I made a 186GB Raid 1 mirror specifically for the system partition, but it only defaulted to 20GB of that, and the system is using the rest for storage and backups, but I have a Dell Perc6 on the way for the storage array (6 1TB drives).

Any way I can reallocate after the storage is already assigned?
Click to expand...

That's how WHS is designed to work. It creates a 20GB system partition on whatever drive you select during the install. It puts the rest of that physical drive (or RAID array) in the storage pool.
 
For so long I have been bouncing back and forth between going back to a dedicated file server or just have the data drives in my system. Seems like WHS has won this battle so I figured I would my old P4 2.4ghz with 512mb ECC ram mobo, once booted with a 40gb ide and cd-rw it idled around 52 watts so not to shabby.
I was reading up some more and it seems two of the HP servers allow streaming of photos, music AND video to your iPhones, is this feature available for just those HP WHS servers or any word on this coming to market for us OEM people?
 
I recently added a WD 1TB green drive to the pool. I've noticed a drastic reduction in response times when viewing content over the network. Thumbnails take a long time to load, opening pictures is much slower etc.

Can i run the Western Digital drive diagnostics while the drive is still part of the pool? Will it hurt anything to run the extended tests provided I do'nt access anything on the shared folders?


Also, to contribute to the AV / firewall discussion. I just use the linksys router firewall but I run Nod32 business edition on the WHS. It didn't run anything for a long time but it seemed dangerous to leave it unprotected.
 
Thanks to everyone who contributed on the AV and software firewall discussion. I'm informed well, I'm gonna run a VM or test box to play around with WHS and learn more about it.

One more question as I'm preparing the WHS rig:

Can I use a 16GB Compact Flash card as the system disk for this ? I do have an IDE-CF adapter already in hand. Is WHS going to recognize that ? Is WHS going to install on it ? Is 16GB going to be enough as system drive ?

Thanks for more info ! Cheers !
 
Phrik said:
Can I use a 16GB Compact Flash card as the system disk for this ? I do have an IDE-CF adapter already in hand. Is WHS going to recognize that ? Is WHS going to install on it ? Is 16GB going to be enough as system drive ?
Click to expand...

Nope. WHS requires a minimum of 65GB to install.
 
After a catastrophic system disk failure this week, I've had to rebuild my WHS. I was going to have to do this at some point to move from a trial version to the full version, but I had hoped to do that on my own time :mad:

To try to avoid this happening again in the future (since you can't just do a "reinstall" with a new hard drive, which means hours of copying files and playing "musical hard drives") I decided to set up the system drive with 2 250GB drives in RAID 1. Anyone else running their system drives in a RAID configuration? I know Microsoft doesn't "officially" support it but their "single system disk" is the weakest point in WHS (IMO - and proved in my opinion now that I had a system crash).
 
Ok, I'm a huge fan of WHS but I have one gripe.

I start my main pc up usually when I get home in the evening. If I don't login immediately it will start a backup and then logging in and getting to the desktop to cancel the backup will take about 4 minutes because the backup is using about 99.999% of the resources. Plan B is reaching back and disconnecting the CAT5 cable, the backup errors, and I get the balloon message but at least I can keep my sanity.

Is there any way to delay the start of a backup?

Can I change the backups to weekly so I have to deal with this less?

I looked a bit last night and couldn't find any answers on the WHS forums.
 
farscapesg1 said:
After a catastrophic system disk failure this week, I've had to rebuild my WHS. I was going to have to do this at some point to move from a trial version to the full version, but I had hoped to do that on my own time :mad:

To try to avoid this happening again in the future (since you can't just do a "reinstall" with a new hard drive, which means hours of copying files and playing "musical hard drives") I decided to set up the system drive with 2 250GB drives in RAID 1. Anyone else running their system drives in a RAID configuration? I know Microsoft doesn't "officially" support it but their "single system disk" is the weakest point in WHS (IMO - and proved in my opinion now that I had a system crash).
Click to expand...

If you are talking about just the main hard drive dying then yes, you can just do a reinstall. It will rebuild the tombstones and all your data will be there. You'll have to setup user accounts again as well as any add ons you have but you don't have to move any data around.
 
Archer75 said:
If you are talking about just the main hard drive dying then yes, you can just do a reinstall. It will rebuild the tombstones and all your data will be there. You'll have to setup user accounts again as well as any add ons you have but you don't have to move any data around.
Click to expand...

Hmm, after fighting with it for an entire day, all I can say is that I was too worried about my data. After reading up some more it appears that during the installation it only gave me a "Full Install" option with the warning about deleting all the data. If I had continued it apparently would have given me another option to do a "reinstall." That really needs to be changed in their setup process. If I get a warning that my data will be deleted, by default I'm not going to click the "next" button and take that chance.....

Oh well, now I just have to continue with my process of copying files from the old hard drives....
 
farscapesg1 said:
Hmm, after fighting with it for an entire day, all I can say is that I was too worried about my data. After reading up some more it appears that during the installation it only gave me a "Full Install" option with the warning about deleting all the data. If I had continued it apparently would have given me another option to do a "reinstall." That really needs to be changed in their setup process. If I get a warning that my data will be deleted, by default I'm not going to click the "next" button and take that chance.....

Oh well, now I just have to continue with my process of copying files from the old hard drives....
Click to expand...

There should have been a drop down box. It defaults to full install but you just select server reinstallation. You shouldn't have to go to another page to get the re installation option.
 
Archer75 said:
There should have been a drop down box. It defaults to full install but you just select server reinstallation. You shouldn't have to go to another page to get the re installation option.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the drop box never had anything more than the new installation option. Tried it with just the system drives attached and with all the drives attached. Apparently there have been some known issues with it if the system drive isn't listed as the first installation location, but I honestly don't remember if it was. You would think so, at least when the RAID array was the only drives attached (besides the CD-ROM), but who knows....
 
Apparently there have been some known issues with it if the system drive isn't listed as the first installation location,
Click to expand...

Is that the trick?

I've never seen the "reinstall" option in the dropdown box.
 
[LYL]Homer;1034057190 said:
Ok, I'm a huge fan of WHS but I have one gripe.

I start my main pc up usually when I get home in the evening. If I don't login immediately it will start a backup and then logging in and getting to the desktop to cancel the backup will take about 4 minutes because the backup is using about 99.999% of the resources. Plan B is reaching back and disconnecting the CAT5 cable, the backup errors, and I get the balloon message but at least I can keep my sanity.

Is there any way to delay the start of a backup?

Can I change the backups to weekly so I have to deal with this less?

I looked a bit last night and couldn't find any answers on the WHS forums.
Click to expand...

Set the time of the backup to be an hour or two after you get home from work?
 
Anyone know of a way to prevent WHS from doing storage balance maintenance during the day? When it decides to balance I start to get choppy video when streaming.

Thanks
 
I know of no way to change that. But it shouldn't affect your video. It doesn't on mine. Does it balance anymore? I believe that was a pre PP1 thing.
 
nitrobass24 said:
Yea its just a customized installer for WHS that contains a lot of drivers.
It also allows you to resize your System Partition to a different size.
And it contains a Post Installer Wizard, that will install various add-ins and tweak automagically.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to make sure it didn't have any caveats.
 
Would you use the backup feature in windows 7, or the WHS client backup, if both were available to you?
 
As I more formally adopt WHS a few more questions come to mind,

1. I notice that I cannot open a home computer backup set from the WHS server itself. I have to open it from the PC that got backed up. This is, in a word, incredibly strange. What if I lose my laptop (say, stolen) and I want to go to the WHS to retrieve some files from a backup, am I not able to do this?

2. Any idea why opening up the WHS console from a PC is so slow? The pop-up is fast but after typing the password, I'm often waiting 60 seconds. Network is full gigabit and virtually all hardware including the WHS is fast multicore.

3. Is it just me, or is there a considerable overlap between WHS Shared Folders and W7 homegroup folders?
 
1) You would install the WHS connector on your (new?) system and mount the backup as a virtual drive. Or use the recovery CD for a full restore.
2) Open a remote desktop session and keep the task manager up, see if the CPU is spiking. The connector software is just an app running over the rdesktop protocol.
3) Waiting for the next version of WHS, hopefully it will integrate well with homegroup stuff.
 
I just built my own WHS box over the weekend, and wow I'm impressed with the ease of use.

Specs:
Antec Mini P180
Athlon X2 4850e 45w
Gigabyte Mini-ATX AM2+ Mobo with onboard VGA/Gigabit Ethernet
2GB G.Skill DDR2-800
Antec Earthwatts 380w PSU
2x WD Caviar Green 1.5TB

This thing uses only about 55-75w idle (haven't checked power usage it overnight while it's running backups and duplication). It also runs extremely quiet - I would definitely recommend a similar setup for anyone wanting to build their own WHS. All hardware was around $700, which is about the same price as a retail HP Mediasmart 1.5tb.

My questions are:

1. What are some useful/popular WHS Addins?
2. Do I need to run Antivirus on my WHS? I installed the Avast WHS Trial - it's nice, but do I really need it?

Thanks
 
sitheris said:
I just built my own WHS box over the weekend, and wow I'm impressed with the ease of use.

Specs:
Antec Mini P180
Athlon X2 4850e 45w
Gigabyte Mini-ATX AM2+ Mobo with onboard VGA/Gigabit Ethernet
2GB G.Skill DDR2-800
Antec Earthwatts 380w PSU
2x WD Caviar Green 1.5TB

This thing uses only about 55-75w idle (haven't checked power usage it overnight while it's running backups and duplication). It also runs extremely quiet - I would definitely recommend a similar setup for anyone wanting to build their own WHS. All hardware was around $700, which is about the same price as a retail HP Mediasmart 1.5tb.

My questions are:

1. What are some useful/popular WHS Addins?
2. Do I need to run Antivirus on my WHS? I installed the Avast WHS Trial - it's nice, but do I really need it?

Thanks
Click to expand...

1. Disk Management, Advanced Admin Console, MyMovies for WHS
2. I run antivirus on every computer I own. Better safe than sorry. I'm using AVG Free on my desktops, my WHS is using Avast I believe.
 
Ive decided to try out WHS, I have a setup running on the bench w WHS running nicely

e6400, 2gb ram, mobo from HP media pc (yay dumpster diving!) random sata disks..

My current file server is a nf7s 2gb of ram, and a barton 2500 w xp pro

I have about 11 pcs, and two thin clients. We haven't used the thin clients yet, but are anxious to try them out.

#1
Im wondering if I should keep the whs running on the e6400, or see how it goes on the 2500. We run torrents on our server too, maybe a asian wolf DVR card for cameras in the future but doubt it.

I can use the e6400 on an htpc that is also a 2500, but its not really needed.

#2
If I remove a whs drive, and hook it to another box, I can still access the files? Secondly, can I find out which disks, have what files on them without removing them from the whs?
 
sitheris said:
I just built my own WHS box over the weekend, and wow I'm impressed with the ease of use.

Specs:
Antec Mini P180
Athlon X2 4850e 45w
Gigabyte Mini-ATX AM2+ Mobo with onboard VGA/Gigabit Ethernet
2GB G.Skill DDR2-800
Antec Earthwatts 380w PSU
2x WD Caviar Green 1.5TB

This thing uses only about 55-75w idle (haven't checked power usage it overnight while it's running backups and duplication). It also runs extremely quiet - I would definitely recommend a similar setup for anyone wanting to build their own WHS. All hardware was around $700, which is about the same price as a retail HP Mediasmart 1.5tb.

My questions are:

1. What are some useful/popular WHS Addins?
2. Do I need to run Antivirus on my WHS? I installed the Avast WHS Trial - it's nice, but do I really need it?

Thanks
Click to expand...
nice system, pretty similar to mine
only add ins I have are
Disk Management and Avast for WHS
I had Advanced Admin Console, but apparently the IE8 update broke it and I haven't got around to installing the new version yet
 
I made a thread about this, but only got 1 response
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421911
maybe I can get some more info here



I was searching for some old pictures on my WHS and came across a strange error.
I've had this happen before, any idea how to fix it? It looks like the search is reporting the incorrect location for files, the location doesn't even exist.

Here is my search

14t4xz5.jpg



Right Click > Open File Location gives this error

2poo6yx.jpg



Because there is nothing in that folder

2nhqhhw.jpg



Actual location of the file

8zffo8.jpg



ideas? explanation? solution?
 
erebus720 said:
I have about 11 pcs, and two thin clients. We haven't used the thin clients yet, but are anxious to try them out.

#1
Im wondering if I should keep the whs running on the e6400, or see how it goes on the 2500. We run torrents on our server too, maybe a asian wolf DVR card for cameras in the future but doubt it.

I can use the e6400 on an htpc that is also a 2500, but its not really needed.

#2
If I remove a whs drive, and hook it to another box, I can still access the files? Secondly, can I find out which disks, have what files on them without removing them from the whs?
Click to expand...

FYI, WHS supports 10 computers max. connecting to it.

#1 It will run about the same on either hardware. The e6400 will likely have less power draw if that is a concern over time.

#2 You can still access the files, I forget the file structure exactly but it's easy enough to figure out. Some thing like \Data\Shares\ and then the more familiar folders. I don't know of a way to tell which files are on which drive. Check here though in the Add-ins area to double check: http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/
 
Is that 10 boxes at once? Ill never be pulling stuff off of it from 10 boxes. maybe 3-5 at any one time..

If I can find a good board and some better controller cards Ill used the e6400 I have, Right now im using some random sata cards I had kicking around.
 
Part of the WHS licensing is that it is hard coded to only allow 10 computers to connect (at any time), this is what the H in WHS is for. ;)

If you look a bit you'll find that the card of choice is the SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 64-bit PCI-X133MHz SATA Controller Card, it has the best port density for the buck - 8 ports for $100. The PCI-X card will fit into a regular PCI slot (the extra will hang over) and it will run at PCI instead of PCI-X rated speeds. No biggie, you'd never saturate the PCI bus with WHS anyway. This board has no hardware RAID function, but that isn't needed for WHS.
 
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brentsg said:
Anyone know of a way to prevent WHS from doing storage balance maintenance during the day? When it decides to balance I start to get choppy video when streaming.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm getting the same thing. I'll be streaming a HD movie to my desktop then all of a sudden its unwatchable. Using PP2
 
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