Windows Home Server

cavemanoc

cavemanoc

cavemanoc

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23 Mar 2005
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Finally got around to installing the RC on my server box. So far so good - pretty painless installation, and seems to be running smoothly.

I had to use XP drivers for most of the hardware as 2003 ones weren't available - and given how well they work I am wondering if the 2003 references in it aren't a porky - seems to be built on XP to me with a bit of a server add on ;)

Has anyone else tried it yet and what are you using it for. The networking works flawlessly with my machines (Vista and XP pro) and I'm quite looking forward to the remote control side of it - though I'm pretty sure that could have been achieved with remote desktop?

I like the fact that it will do incremental backups of all my machines, and significantly saves on space by 'amalgamating' all the common elements of your backup - looking forward to testing that bit! Does anyone know how you do the restore across network if you lose a machine?

What else are you using it for - thinking about it as my media centre sine the server is tiny and nearly silent :D
 
1.5TB (3 x 500GB) WHS system based on an old 512MB 1GHz Celeron machine. I'm storing all my music, videos and shared (family) documents on it with 5 client machines attached.

I'm probably going to upgrade the hardware when I get the full release as looking at the performance monitor it seems to be doing a lot of paging and becomes a bit sluggish when balancing the storage.
 
i've tested restoring across the network with it. it's very good indeed. you just boot from cd (one of the 3 isos you downloaded) and it takes a matter of just a few minutes to do a complete restore. :)
 
been in the beta since early days, but not using it now.

Rc and the previous release connector cd's wont allow you to install the client on a 64bit machine :(

previous versions you could just run the *.msi instead and use that.

All i can say is dont use the drive removal wizzard without backing up any changes you made before your last back up ;)

of course being beta and such you dont trust it with non backed up data right guys :D lol


I ran the wizard to remove 1 drive, it moved the data, i then pulled the drive. booted back up and all looked sweet. Went to get something from a folder and it was empty lol. All my data folders were there, but every single one was empty. (obviously the os partition was fine)


This was before it was widley reported on the home server forums.

Should be fixed by now i would hope.





Anyways rambling, loved the product, when they realease a 64bit connector i will go back to using it.
 
Ozymandias said:
1.5TB (3 x 500GB) WHS system based on an old 512MB 1GHz Celeron machine
Click to expand...

Stupid question but doesn't this mean that your using RAID-0??

On a storage box that's not a good idea to do, as if you lose 1 drive you lose the lot.

Spend a few extra £££ and get a forth drive to do RAID-5 instead.
 
marc2003 said:
i've tested restoring across the network with it. it's very good indeed. you just boot from cd (one of the 3 isos you downloaded) and it takes a matter of just a few minutes to do a complete restore. :)
Click to expand...

Brilliant - thanks for that - nice to know it works. Just need to get a decent sized drive in there now!

Will have to have a dig through the docs and see what else I can do with it. I was pleased that the box doesn't have to be logged on for it to run across the network - have it fully remote now and it would have been a royal PITA if I'd have had to attach a keyboard and monitor everytime I reset it.
 
I've heard that the full version is out now. Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

And the connector thing don't work on x64 versions of windows at the moment so MS have released an unfinished product. That's not like them is it? ;) :p
 
Matthew-1985 said:
I've heard that the full version is out now. Can't seem to find it anywhere though.

And the connector thing don't work on x64 versions of windows at the moment so MS have released an unfinished product. That's not like them is it? ;) :p
Click to expand...

I'm not running xp64 any more unfortunately so I can't test that - but the standard connector software works beautifully - they try to bully you into setting up matching user name/passwords, but having given the advice a good ignoring it seems to work fine. It does exactly what it says on the tin - which is nice - I may well buy the full version when the time comes!
 
cavemanoc said:
I had to use XP drivers for most of the hardware as 2003 ones weren't available - and given how well they work I am wondering if the 2003 references in it aren't a porky - seems to be built on XP to me with a bit of a server add on ;)
Click to expand...
Most XP drivers work in 2003.
 
whs.jpg


Currently building mine up, have 3 more 750 GB drives to go in when I get a chance.
 
Headrat,

I hope you have a good backup solution in place.

Also suggest you dont install any anti virus software or disk defragger tools.

I have had data corrouption 4 times with the home server now.

Files that contain streams seem to like to screw up. And thats a lot of files. from *.exe's to your photos :(

MS are working on a fix, but i have un-installed mine now. back to using xp pro 64bit and normal shares.

Shame i love the idea and the way it works, backup solution is excellent. But data corrouption is just a joke. MS say to remove streams from files and such, but why should i have to do that to every file i have. Lol was also told not to use it as a file serve at present!! WTF!! ahh well. Wish there was a way to install it without the DFS system, and use good old ntfs.


Check out the MS Home Server forums for more info, this from what i have heard in the industry is why HP and Dell and IBM have deleayed shipping their own home server hardware.

Also one other thing, do not use the built in defrag lol. If you read the notes in small print it also states do not use the built in defrag as the 2003 server version which whs is built on is not compatible.

I beta tested both perfectdisk 8 whs and avast home server edition. These both also caused data corrouption. :(
 
I have everything on another non WHS box as well ;) a huge chunk of it are backup up DVD's (300+ so the kids don't get their paws on them), so I'm not hugely bothered if they go south.
 
Last edited:
sounds promising

"......a few improvements to the Shared Folders and Server Storage components of Windows Home Server"

Playing it down, right at the bottom lol improvements to server storage components.

Hope it resolves the issues.

How ever checking the ms link

Issue 1
Data files that contain NTFS alternate data streams may be corrupted on a Windows Home Server computer. For more information, click the following article number943393 to view the article943393 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
943393 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943393/) Data files that contain NTFS alternate data streams can be corrupted on a Windows Home Server-based computer

If it does indeed resolve this i will be a happy man :D
 
I'm very interested in WHS.

We've a network of 5 PC's at home that are never backup property nor have any central server for file shares (I've got spare hardware but never got round to setting up a server with 2000/2003).

One question that I haven't quite got an answer to is the use of WHS with XP Pro boxes (and 1 XP Home). Does XP still benifit from all that WHS has to offer or would you loose some functionality unless you're using certain versions of Vista (Ultimate or Business over Home and Premium)?

I had a look at a competitor site (links from the *.co.uk Windows Home Server site) that sell silent boxes at around £300 +Vat. I was considering something like this instead of using my own spare hardware as "rolling my own" would result in a noisy PC tower setup instead of a silent fanless system pre-made.

If there are data corruption problems at the moment then I will hold off until after Christmas until I decide what I will do.
 
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