Why WHS?

[rmac321]

Originally Posted by IVB

My laptops & other PC run XPHome, which isn't listed as a supported backup option.

Just wanted to make a note since I don't think anyone dealt with this point. WHS works just fine with XP Home. I have a mixture of XP Pro and XP Home systems on mine.

[S_M_E]

Originally Posted by psklenar

I'm waiting with bated breath to hear how this works! Thanks for trying it out!

pat----

It may be a while before I can report anything more, I'm not scheduled to record much in the next few days. I'm only semi-optimistic.

Originally Posted by rmac321

Just wanted to make a note since I don't think anyone dealt with this point. WHS works just fine with XP Home. I have a mixture of XP Pro and XP Home systems on mine.

Yes, it'll backup XP Home but you can't remote access XP Home or Vista Home with WHS because the "home versions" don't have RDP.

[rmac321]

Originally Posted by S_M_E

Yes, it'll backup XP Home but you can't remote access XP Home or Vista Home with WHS because the "home versions" don't have RDP.

XP Home can be a client for RDP, just not a host. IOW, you can RDP from a XP Home client into the WHS server. You just can't RDP into an XP Home computer, but for a headless WHS server, you wouldn't be needing that. Some (Most?) XP home installations may not have RDP installed, but it can be added. IIRC, you use Add/Remove Windows Components to add it.

FWIW, for most things the WHS Console is sufficient.

Edit: It just occurred to me that you were referring to remote access from the internet, through the WHS server and into your other computers. You're correct, that is not supported with XP Home. I have seen methods (hacks?) for adding RDP hosting to an XP Home computer, but haven't tried it.

[rwc]

One feature I liked about UNRaid is that if 2 drives go, you don't lose 'everything'. (One thing I DONT like about UNRAID is that you can't record straight to it)

What happens if 2 drives go with drive pooling? Are you SOL? (Is drive pooling similar to JBOD?)

thanks

rwc

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by rmac321

Edit: It just occurred to me that you were referring to remote access from the internet, through the WHS server and into your other computers. You're correct, that is not supported with XP Home. I have seen methods (hacks?) for adding RDP hosting to an XP Home computer, but haven't tried it.

On a related note, Premium doesn't support RDP hosting either. You have to have Business or Ultimate (or hack it as you mentioned) before you can remote access your Vista PC.

Waaaay too many SKUs. And it looks like they didn't learn their lesson since they added another one in Windows 7. <sigh>

[psklenar]

Originally Posted by rwc

What happens if 2 drives go with drive pooling? Are you SOL? (Is drive pooling similar to JBOD?)

rwc,

It's more like RAID1, but at the share level, not the physical volumn level. So if you happen to loose two drives at once, yes, you are likely to loose data. However, in the nearly 30 years I've had computers at home (I started with an Atari & and a Sinclair in 1979), I've never lost two drives at once. Yet. <knock on wood> YMMV.

pat----

[S_M_E]

Originally Posted by rmac321

Edit: It just occurred to me that you were referring to remote access from the internet, through the WHS server and into your other computers. You're correct, that is not supported with XP Home.

Exactly...

Originally Posted by rwc

What happens if 2 drives go with drive pooling? Are you SOL? (Is drive pooling similar to JBOD?)

It depends on how many drives you have and which drives fail. If two drives fail that are holding different shares then no, you wouldn't lose data. If they are duplicating the same files then yes, you would. You might also lose some client PC backup data but there is an add-in to backup those backups.

Originally Posted by psklenar

However, in the nearly 30 years I've had computers at home (I started with an Atari & and a Sinclair in 1979), I've never lost two drives at once. Yet. <knock on wood> YMMV.

I've lost two drives within in the same week but never two at the same time. (I had a Timex Sinclair too, it's partially why I gave up up on programming. Small world... )

[S_M_E]

Originally Posted by psklenar

I'm waiting with bated breath to hear how this works! Thanks for trying it out!

OK, I've done some more testing and I'm satisfied, for now, that *I* can enable duplication on my recording share. However my Sage system and use is light compared to some. I only have 1 HD tuner, 2 analog tuners and I don't watch multiple sources at once although I do record multiple sources and watch 1 at the same time. I'm not quite ready to change my tutorial to suggest everyone enable duplication until some heavy Sage+WHS users can test it too but it's now in the "possible" category instead of the "not recommended" category. I would suggest using the "convert method" to change the D partition to 64K clusters in case media gets put on D, especially if they enable duplication on the recording share. Alternately, people can use beefcake's tool to move data off of D, if it gets put there, but I'd still suggest 64K clusters.

[frontlinegeek]

Are those that are using WHS for their Sage server actually using that setup connected to a TV for regular watching?

I ask as I have been running WHS/Sage for a couple months on a headless dedicated box and it has generally been great but I want to roll the setup onto a much more powerful setup and make it a WHS/Sage server that also plays back TV so that I can decommission one of my systems on the network.

Thanks in advance...

[tahoetim]

You will find several threads where it is not recommended. You will also find a few who make it work. I would tell you to decommission one of your clients and replace it with a HD200.

I have my WHS headless box in a silent case in my theater room on the shelves with the other components and still would not use it as the local client at the tv.

[frontlinegeek]

Is it that the performance of the setup suffers? Or is it a video playback quality issue?

And I have given the HD200 route a lot of thought. I am just trying to weigh all the options.

Thanks!

[gplasky]

Two things.

1) WHS was designed from the get go as a media server. A machine to serve up all of your household media. That is the main design theme. It is designed to be headless, keyboard less. Any configuration or administration is done theough the WHS Console and shares are only accessed through the "Shared folders on Server" icon that is installed on every PC where you install the Home Server Connection software. Installing of software is done through RDP. (Remote Desktop Protocol) Limited and simplified administration is one of the strong points of WHS. In addition it simplifies backing up any and all PCs on your home network. Add-ins (like SageTV) are designed to be accessed through the WHS console. (Only the starting and stopping of the service and installing Placeshifter keys. Actual configuration of the SageTV app is done thru placeshifter/PC client or an extender)The WHS design doesn't lend itself to easily using it as a typical PC.

2) WHS is based on Windows 2003 Server and as such the media playing capability of a typicl PC is NOT enabled. You will need to enable it and possibly install DirectX and other components to even get it to work. And typically you don't have a lot of natvie Windows 2003 Server drivers out there for your video cards and audio. In most cases XP drivers can work but there is no guarantee they will install or take advantage of all the video card or audio features such as hardware acceleration, etc. That being said some people have it working but most have had issues.

My recommendation is to use WHS as it was designed to be used and look at using the HD200 extenders as quiet, low maintenance clients wherever you want to watch TV.

Gerry

[tahoetim]

Gerry,
Thanks for saying it with more clarity than my attempt.

WHS is almost "fun" to run from my laptop. I set the bios to reboot on power failure and have tested that feature many times. (House being remodeled) I have confidence that it will reboot and launch Sage service without fail.

[frontlinegeek]

Thanks for the big reply

I was aware of the lineage and have ample experience with Server 2003. That also includes the poor driver support for using desktop parts... That is the aspect that I was most concerned with and it sounds like some have success and some do not.

So as to not risk the WAF, I will not break what is working so well at this time.

I will, however, make any future client upgrades a straight switch to HD200s. So much more elegant a solution than a whole PC. It is just too bad that one cannot trade in their client licenses for a discount on the HD200.

[btrcp2000]

I am proud to announce that this is the longest running thread I have ever started on a forum of any nature. I would like to thank all the little people, as well as the tall ones.

I have yet to pull the trigger, as I feel like I need to clear a weekend to do a full rebuild reinstall, but have come up with a few more questions:

Anyone using WHS in conjunction with win7 clients (regardless of sage)? Just wondering if it plays nice with win7's built in media-sharing functions.

Anyone using it with Live Mesh?

Is there any non-playback related hardware that is confirmed NOT to work within WHS (hdhomerun, r5000, etc.)?

[lotusvball]

I have been using my WHS build for a couple of months now and I love it except... I have not been able to figure out why every now and then it just locks up. I go to the basement to check what is going on my my harddrive light is steady. I can not login to find out what is wrong and after I reboot, I goto the event viewer and have nothing. This is driving me nuts. Does anyone have any idea how I can troubleshoot this. I am using the WHS as the sage server and I have a HD100 and 2 MVP's hooked up to it. Once the harddrive pegs I can no longer access it from my extenders. It does seem to keep recording, I believe.

[DOS64K]

Originally Posted by lotusvball

I have been using my WHS build for a couple of months now and I love it except... I have not been able to figure out why every now and then it just locks up. I go to the basement to check what is going on my my harddrive light is steady. I can not login to find out what is wrong and after I reboot, I goto the event viewer and have nothing. This is driving me nuts. Does anyone have any idea how I can troubleshoot this. I am using the WHS as the sage server and I have a HD100 and 2 MVP's hooked up to it. Once the harddrive pegs I can no longer access it from my extenders. It does seem to keep recording, I believe.

Since you didn't mention it, I'll assume that your WHS is home-brewed and not an OEM branded server. I would first try to discern whether or not the lockups occur during a Sage related event (i.e recording, extender use, etc.). If you can't, then the only way to determine the culprit would be to disable the Sage service long enough to ascertain if it is the cause or a separate OS/hardware problem.

[lotusvball]

Yes it is a homebrew. I can't believe there isn't some monitoring program that I can install that will capture what is going on.

[gplasky]

You should probably check your temps on your cpu, gpu, ram and hard drives. If there is nothing in the event log that would be the first place I would look. Some software should pull those temps or get a probe. Or open the case up and put a fan on the entire lot and see if the lockups stop. Then troubleshoot.

Gerry

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by btrcp2000

I am proud to announce that this is the longest running thread I have ever started on a forum of any nature. I would like to thank all the little people, as well as the tall ones.

I have yet to pull the trigger, as I feel like I need to clear a weekend to do a full rebuild reinstall, but have come up with a few more questions:

Anyone using WHS in conjunction with win7 clients (regardless of sage)? Just wondering if it plays nice with win7's built in media-sharing functions.

WHS Connection Software installs fine on Win 7 and the backups work. Windows Explorer will automatically discover and provide access to shared media libraries on other HomeGroup PCs. In addition, Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center will automatically discover shared libraries from:

1.Windows Media Player 11 and 12
2.Windows Home Server
3.All DLNA compliant media servers (e.g. network attached storage)

Gerry