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Great answers so far; keep them coming if anybody else has more to add.
Another question: does WHS ever span a file or folder across multiple drives?
I was interested in WHS until I found out you can't specify which drives you want what data on. I like to know which physical drives hold what data, so that killed my interest. Too bad. Even with some of the data corruption problems it's having, it seems like a nice system--just a little too dumbed-down for me (not saying WHS users are dumb, but that the system is simplified to the point of restricting options for power users).
yeah it would have a different boot disk. The question is can I use that joy of an OS for backup and the like without having the array get wiped (which would annoy me greatly).
I was interested in WHS until I found out you can't specify which drives you want what data on. I like to know which physical drives hold what data, so that killed my interest. Too bad. Even with some of the data corruption problems it's having, it seems like a nice system--just a little too dumbed-down for me (not saying WHS users are dumb, but that the system is simplified to the point of restricting options for power users).
That's why I like it. I don't want to know what drive what data is on. I don't care. I have more data in my movies folder than can fit on any single drive and having the same type of content spread across many disks that show individually would be a mess. I like the one storage pool. I turn on duplication and no worries.
Since everything I think I know about WHS I've learned from reading articles/reviews/etc. instead of interacting with WHS users, this is a good opportunity for me to find out more about operational details. Hopefully some of the obstacles I thought were present really aren't, because I really do want to like WHS. I'd appreciate any feedback from WHS users on these questions:
Thanks for the input. Hopefully the answers will help a lot of others considering going the WHS route.
- A scenario where I think I'd want to know what physical drive holds what data is if I want to upgrade a particular drive. How does WHS handle this with regard to non-mirrored data stored on that drive? Do you tell it you're about to change out one of the drives and it automatically moves the data from that drive onto one of the others temporarily, so when you put in the new drive it just copies everything back onto it?
- Another is if you need to swap out the drive with the OS on it--say it dies on you. Does WHS automatically backup itself (the OS) onto one of the other drives in case of the OS drive dying? If not, what happens when you put in a new drive for the OS and you reinstall WHS? Does it know what data is mirrored and where it's mirrored? Doesn't seem like it would, but doesn't hurt to ask since I don't know that much about it.
Can you run distributed computing applications on WHS without difficulty?
1 - you'd connect the new drive, add it to the storage pool, and then remove the drive you want to get rid of from the storage pool and wait untill it's finnished balancing storage again... WHS will migrate the data from the old drive you are removing to the new one, but i don't know how long it takes....
2 - if the system drive dies, all you loose is the system (that is, unless you are packing the storage pool so full of data, some is bleeding over onto the os drive's secondary partition) and all you have to do is reinstall WHS and all your stuff will come back... you will need to re-create users and all that jazz, but at least the data is still there...
Great answers so far; keep them coming if anybody else has more to add.
Another question: does WHS ever span a file or folder across multiple drives?
Wow, this thread has been really informative as to how WHS actually works and what it does, sounds great I guess my only reserve against this is that it's JBOD so every little alarm bell in my head goes off saying if 1 drive dies, the whole system dies. Hence my reason to run RAID 5, but since it seems that it's a modified JBOD then it doesn't die just that drive. Makes it a little more comfortable knowing it would just be one drive, not say 10 drives losing all the data.
Thanks for all the info guys.
I think the primary concern here is the data storage partition for the JBOD that WHS creates on the OS drive. WHS takes 20GB for the OS partition, and then uses the rest as a partition used in the JBOD.
It's a valid concern, and one that MS is addressing in an update that is supposed to be released shortly.
It is also my understanding that the JBOD partition on the OS drive is the "landing zone" for data coming to the server. WHS then distributes it out as needed from there to the other drives.
I have had concerns about this as well. In a way, I wish they would have left the OS drive alone and kept it out of the JBOD.
Also I would be buying 4x500gig sata II hard drives which one is good and will deliver good performance for a system thats always going to be on.
Hey guys this thread is really useful for new users like me who need more info about whs. My question is how good is the compression rate when backing up client pc's. Right now i use Acronis to back my pcs. I use the high compression settings so my 200gig hard is partitioned to 20gig for the OS. Acronis compress it from anywhere to 9~13GB. How does WHS compare?
Thats good but i should of been specific in terms of brand what would u recommend. Also i will be streaming backup HD-DVD's, the AMD LE 1620 2.4 should do right..
Ethernet? I'm guessing if so how long does it take..
Ethernet? I'm guessing if so how long does it take..
Yeah, I just sold the boot drive for my XP based fileserver and was considering switching to WHS, but as I asked earlier, there seems to be no way to install it on a sub 160GB drive, and I can NOT have my raid wiped. So WHS goes off the list. Maybe grab a HP WHS box and use its drives as backups. But then Id have to sell MY drives, PITA.
The only drives I have available are an old 30GB IDE and my 4x750 r5 array.Yep, no way for you to transfer all that data without building a blank 3TB server then moving files over.
I am using a 160GB OS HDD, BTW.
Can you run distributed computing applications on WHS without difficulty?
maybe for you it's not but my linux server requires zero maintenance.
WHS is a waste. before some ass calls me a linux fanboy let me just say I use windows xp (pro sp2) and will recommend it because it doesn't hog resources and is stable if you use it wisely.
with a little common sense anyone can set up a simple linux home server that works very well for them. In whs you can't even delete the pre-made pre-named shares. There is idiot proof then there is just plain idiotic.
Who cares, don't you sleep for more than 2 hours at a time?
I have not watched it backup, but remember, even over wireless (my laptop is) it is only doing an incremental backup. The client software tells the PC what's changed since the last backup and only that data (that has changed) is added to the incremental backup. I can't imagine that taking too much time.
I kinda care.. I use acronis right now to do differential images to a linux raid 5 array and they can take forever just to do differential.
I kinda care.. I use acronis right now to do differential images to a linux raid 5 array and they can take forever just to do differential.
Has the file corruption bug been fixed yet?
No, so don't edit files while they are on the server.
Using the few select programs that can do it.
Hah, I think Microsoft needs to admit this issue could be a little more widespread than announced. I had MP3s that were corrupted after adding them to playlists.
Good thing my music collection is backed up, to every other PC in the house.
Edit files locally on your home computer only; store, stream and backup your stuff on your Windows Home Server.
Wait, MP3s got corrupted by reading them, not writing them? What?