***The Official Windows Home Server 2011 Thread***

Hmm I remember how much of a pig it was getting video drivers for WHSv1. And I can't bloody remember where I got them. If memory serves the XP drivers worked on v1. I hope they'll work on v2011 or this could be the shortest install of all time :p.
 
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Doesn't really work as a pool any more. It'll just create a partition on the remaining part of the disk and put the shares there. Not sure how it will react to a 4GB of space though, but it shouldn't touch your other drives until you assign them - but keep them removed just in case. Once you add your other disks you can move the shares from drive to drive to suit where you have the most space v. expected growth.

WHS2011 should pick up generic video drivers, if not Win 7 ones will be compatible.
 
Yeah hmm. 4GB might not be enough. My current D:\ (data) drive in v1 is 120GB, after Windows partitioned it. I guess I can find out. Nothing physical is stored in [data] is it, other than the share pointers? I'd just rather it not go **** up later down the line.

Mind you, the original guide to frigging the installation has no [data] drive on the booting ssd at all. So there you go :p.
 
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Not sure how you're migrating now but...

Install WHS 2011 to your SSD with the cfg.ini

Once installed you'll have:
Disk0 - C:\ - 25GB D:\ - 5GB

All the default shares _should_ be on D:\

I would then go into Disk Management on the server and delete D:\ and resize C:\ to take up the whole drive.

Add a new Disk
Disk 1 - 87.332 TB - D:\

Use the dashboard to Add the drive to WHS2011 storage and Recreate the Shares.

(You can add Disk 1 before resizing Disk 0 and Move the shares if you prefer). I do it this way so I have my drives in order C:\, D:\, E:\ etc instead of C:\, E:\, F:\ - probably a bit OCD.
 
Yeah I can do all that in the initial set up though, without having to do the interim step of resizing.

WindowsPartitionSize=MAX will use the entire first disk for the system partition and then take the next disk I add in, once booted obviously, to be the data disk:

http://forums.connecteddigitalworld...on=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=22

What size does that partition need to be, according to MS its 100GB..

I guess the biggest question is will using a conventional harddisk for the data disk then negate the point/advantages of having an SSD (other than boot times)? Will data access still be slow(er)? And do I want to use a small partition/disk or does it really not matter?

Am probably going to go with Stablebit Drivepool btw.
 
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The only benefit I can see for using an SSD is for XBMC or if you don't keep your WHS on 24/7 and want quick boots, otherwise the OS isn't really doing much.

The other downside is how much extra stuff do you want to install on WHS itself, you don't have much room, but you could quite easily partition of part of the data drives for more applications. WHS add-ons would be harder, you'd probably have to use a directory junction if you started running out of space.

But overall SSD won't help your data speeds, that's generally dictated by either your data disk speeds or network.
 
Sorry don't know if I misread or it was your ninja edit ;)

Don't think of it like WHS1. You basically have your OS and then everything else. There's no need for a D:\ as such, it's just a series of disks/partitions and shares organised how you want.
 
Hmm you're right. I really only want the SSD for XBMC. Theres too much possibility of me running out of system disk space on a 30GB ssd isn't there.

I guess there are the benefits of less power consumption and less heat production if I can get a physical disk out of there, but...meh.
 
ChileanLlama said:
Sorry don't know if I misread or it was your ninja edit ;)

Don't think of it like WHS1. You basically have your OS and then everything else. There's no need for a D:\ as such, it's just a series of disks/partitions and shares organised how you want.
Click to expand...

Ah ok well that makes my mind up for me then. I'll give it a go and see.

Worst comes to worst I can repair/clone possibly(?) the installation to a bigger drive.
 
Yep sure, just think of it as you would Windows 7, but with a fancy dashboard for managing shares. At the managing disk level there's next to no difference really.
 
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Really don't know about the Drive Extender replacements - they were vapourware when I made my decision to go with hardware RAID instead. I'm still not convinced by them now - to rely on them for my data storage, but haven't kept close watch.

I wouldn't want to give any advice, particularly when it's going to affect data, when I don't know - sorry :(
 
Ok Ive managed to get the install working, its bloody slow for some reason.

And it looks like this motherboard doesn't support AHCI, gah. Well I'm not upgrading that!
 
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The install is slow or the WHS after install is slow?

Sometimes there's a problem with installs where it appears to be installing and isn't actually doing anything. If it sounds like this, get Task Manager up (CTRL-SHIFT-ESC) and go File, New Task (Run) and do an IPCONFIG /RENEW. That usually fixes it.
 
The install was just stuck on 5% for 30 minutes, and then finished instantly. It's up and running and I have to say fairly smoothly so far, touch wood :p.

whsv2011.png


I'm now in the process of copying ~2TB into my drive pool (Bitpool), and plenty of free space on my system disk after all :).

Any recommended add-ins?
 
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MyMovies - good if you have a movie collection and are using WMC on HTPC clients.
Awieco WOL - good little utility that allows you to WoL any clients, either from dashboard, launchpad or phone
Windows Server Solutions Phone Connector - by MS if you have a WP7. Allows you to review status, start backups, access media through a WP7.
 
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Cheers I shall investigate. Very happy so far with my decision to use the SSD as system disk, even if it was small.

Aside from having to use an external 2TB disk for backups which was painfully slow, its been an easy upgrade process.

Quick question - can I remove the drive letter from the DATA disks? Currently have D:\ through to H:\ in use but not browseable as they're pooled.
 
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No.... leave the drive letters for pooled drives ...,... as is. It's useful for when you want to remove a drive from the pool. Apart from that ... no real purpose or reason to do so :)
 
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