2010-05-10, 18:37
It uses something that is similar to a RAID1, it lets you use folder duplication on whichever shares you want. I also use FlexRAID on top of WHS so i am able to do a software RAID4 for my movie collection
fshagan Wrote:I'll chime in on the question. I've used a couple of home-brew NAS solutions, and buying a WHS was the smartest thing I have ever done. You may be able to pick up a HP or Acer WHS based on the 32-bit Windows Server 2003 (the current one) at a pretty low price; they just announced "Vail" the 64 bit version.
The HP WHS features a media collector that will scan the configured folders on each of your systems to automatically add the content to your library. So if you add a movie to your laptop, it is automatically copied to your video library. It backs up each of your computers automatically, can use redundant storage, and is easy as pie to set up. My daughter got a weird, stubborn virus on her XP machine, and I fussed with removing it for about 45 minutes ... then I popped in the WHS disk and restored her system to before the virus in two or three mouse clicks.
I'm not a big MS fan ... my upcoming XBMC mini-ITX system will run on linux ... but they got the WHS thing right. Still, I would avoid the new 64 bit version "Vail" until its proven to be OK.
I have mine as a media streamer, printer share, and back up device. A lot of guys go crazy and start adding applications to it, including QuickBooks, uTorrent clients, etc., and I think some of the concerns about them come from that angle.
akelley Wrote:Thanks for that feedback - in my current environment (mostly MS and one or two Macs) I was thinking that the WHS was the way to go. I was hoping that by going with a dedicated NAS solution, I would get better performance, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Plus, I was hoping for an easier and minimum maintenance solution.
What kind of performance are you seeing with your WHS box? Are you running gigabit and what types of drives are you using in it? I'm assuming that you have full redundancy in your data as well? Oh, and do you know how much power it uses (in full access and non-active) states?
Ogi010 Wrote:I'm running a WHS box as well (the HP EX490 Media Smart Server). I echo the comments above about how wonderful the WHS setup is.
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Right now, I have 2x 1TB drives installed, this case allows for 2 other HDs to be installed, but there is a eSATA external plug, and I've heard that I could attach 5 other hard drives through there...
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Ogi010 Wrote:which eSATA tower did you have in mind? I did a quick search on newegg and didn't find anything that looked similar to the HP Media Smart enclosures..
akelley Wrote:I ask because what I have now (NAS) is not impressive to me but I can't compare that to anything else...