windows home server - mixed x32 / x64 environment

kennethsross

kennethsross

kennethsross

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Hoping we'll see an x64 version early in the new year. But wondering - will the x64 work in a mixed x32 / x64 environment, or will it be either / or?

Any comments appreciated.
 
I don't think that they are actually making a x64 version of the server software, just a client adapter that supports x64 windows. There doesn't appear to be a need for x64 server as the hardware requirements are so low anyways. It is really frustrating that this is oem software and locked to a motherboard.
 
You can install it on any hardware, once activated you will only be able to use it with the hardware you activiated it on.
 
One you have it installed on a server, why would you need to upgrade? Yes, put another sata contrller in and whack in more harddrives, but since this is designed to run headless anyway, there really is no need to upgrade the motherboard. It basically a file / backup server.
 
WHS is basically Server 2003 with a fancy console, so it should support x64 fine? Unless they actively removed all x64 support from the OS, wich would seem strange.
 
Pandobear said:
I don't think that they are actually making a x64 version of the server software, just a client adapter that supports x64 windows.
Click to expand...


OK, that's helpful. So this 'client adaptor' (which I believe is to be announced at next month's CES) will be installed on the PCs on my home network that are running x64 vista, and they will then be able to use the Home Server, just like the other machines in our increasingly connected home which are running 32bit Windows.

Please tell me if I've got that right.
 
Client adapter? Never heard of it, and Ive had WHS server in test forms for almost 6 months. Theres the server, which is a Windows Server 2003 installation with some tweaks, AD removed, and some funky management of drives. Then there the Client Connector software that you install onto the PCs in your house. This software opens up a Remote Desktop style connection, but usies a custom control panel instead of the desktip of the server. The connector software tells the server about your PC. It then allows you to select the drives you want to have backed up, and also stores user information. The final software allows the sotorage of passwords on the server so you can have the same password for all PCs in your house without any domains setup etc. The server then has all the other features of a server like network drves and print server etc.

As far as im aware the Server could be x64 compliant, but doesnt really matter, and the connector software is just a software app that runs in your system tray and sends info to the server, and allows the server access to your hard drives and network information, so there should be no reason for any x64/x32 compatibility issues. its just an application, will run on both.
 
It was this comment that had me confused:

http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2007/11/29/x64-connector-announcement-coming-at-ces-2008/

x64 Connector Announcement Coming at CES 2008
Posted by: Terry Walsh in CES 2008, Windows Home Server
Good news is on the way for those of you who with to use Windows Home Server with x64 home computers.

As many of you know, the Windows Home Server Connector does not currently support x64 home computers, which has caused a lot of frustration and angst amongst early adopters of the x64 platform. Microsoft have previously announced that they would provide x64 support for machines running Windows Vista (check out our Q&A with the WHS Team for more) - those of you running Windows XP x64 will have to upgrade, unfortunately.

The connector has been undergoing internal private test for the last few months, but I can confirm Microsoft will be making an announcement about x64 Connector availability at the International CES Show in January 2008.

[Please note: This does not mean the x64 Connector will be made available at the CES show in January, but you will hear when it will be made available].
 
Ah, sorry, didnt realise that the connector wasnt x64 compatible. Bloody stupid really, MS are pushing x64 OS yet failing in all areas of support and application support for it. And removing all x64 XP support entirely, that just sucks!
 
As far as i am aware, its all to do twith making a full system backup with x64 Vista, its not the same as x86 Vista. I would not know why it isnt, but you can get the connector software to run on x64, it just wont backup. You dont need the connector software to access files on the server at all. Just for the rest of the functions. I even have the uPNP media server installed and it streams all my music from the Music folder onto my digital player. Very handy!
 
Yes, basically the WHS will not automatically backup any machines running x64 windows, and whilst they do plan to provide support for Vista x64, there will be no support for XP 64 bit.

I have not tried running the client software on any of my Vista x64 bit machines so I can't confirm if the rest of the client works, however the main reason for my useage is the excellant extendable storage, which works flawlessly from all machines. It appears much quicker than a similar machine running storage on a hardware RAID5 solution. My server is based on 300GB system harddrive, and four 750GB drives, all WD.
 
I have now tried to load the client software on a machine running Vista x64 and it will not run the setup file, says not for 64 bit. As I mentioned earlier the shares work fine, but I can't see a way to get the remote desktop side of Vista x64 working without the client software, perhaps someone else has been succesful?
 
Pandobear, and others.

As said above you can install the client on 64bit machines i do at home. Only feature that wont work will be the backup function.

You need to copy the client to the local machine then browse to in from a dos prompt and use.

msiexec /i WHSConnector.msi WHSMSI="RUNSETUP"

to install it.

Jobs a good un. Just be sure to turn off backups for the 64bit machines. Dont think they would run anyways.
 
What is the advantage(s) of Windows Home Server over, say Small Business Server 2003? As far as I can tell not a lot and you get Exchange with SBS. Doesn't cost much more than WHS from my quick Google.

Oh I am running a 180 Day eval of SBS at the moment as I need to pick an OS for my soon-to-be-built Home Server! Can you get the same 180 day eval with WHS?
 
Thanks for the advice on instaling on 64 bit.

The killer feature for me on WHS over all other server products is the storage pooling, called drive extender I think. It basically allows you to add hard drives to the storage pool to create more room, and, where it scores over RAID for me is that the files are stored on standard NTFS partitions, that can be accessed directly should the need arise. For example, my main server has 12 500GB harddrives in RAID5, giving me 5TB of storage space, it is fault tolerant to the extent that I can lose one drive, and still retain my data, lose two drives and it is all gone. With WHS I would have slightly more storage space, lose one drive and I would lose 1/12 of my data (if mirroring was disabled), lose two drives and 2/12 gone, but not all. For my needs this is far better as my data is mostly ripped DVDs that I can rerip, however I do not want to have to do a full 5TB of them again!

So really, this is the main feature for me of WHS, and none of the other server editions, including 2008 have it. Also no need for costly hardware raid cards!
 
LordSploge, i would love to know where you can sbs for just over £100 lol.

Panda, to be honest thats the main thing i hate about whs, drive extender, thats the feature thats caused all the corrouption issues and such lol.

If they had gone with a normal ntfs on raid solution, yes it would have cost the end user more but it would have been excellent :( ahh well. I love it still anyways lol
 
Home server is designed to be as simple as possible. It designed for the home user. 99.9% of people who use pcs dont know, want to know, or care what RAID is. Drive extender is simple because you can just turn off server, plug in drive, and turn it back on. You dont have to rebuild the array and whatever else you need to do to use a RAID array.

Oh, you dont HAVE to use drive extender, its just one of the main features. Go to the link i posted, some people do use raid on there, its just not a supported scenario from Microsoft (<-- see what i did there, THATS how you spell it :p), and any support you need, they will tell you to disable it / remove it.
 
PhillyDee i know that lol :D

Hence why i run my system on a raid 0 setup, its faster and its backed up.

And guess what, as the system see's it all as only 1 drive, there are not corrouption issues now :P

DE is the root of all evil lol :D it may be good. But its slow. In its infancy and likes to kill files :D

I have been involved in the beta since the early days ;) and the corrouption issue's were known and reported way back. On the WHS Forums and directly to the dev team.
 
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