#1 STUNNA

I know he's done it before. He isn't beloved like Steve Jobs so every three word email he makes doesn't turn into breaking headline news in the blogosphere.

Rock2534

Not sure if I missed this somewhere in the thread, but for those of you who have WHS, can you also use it as a normal OS? Basically can you use it for email, office apps, and web browsing too?

svtmike

No. It is intended to back up and be a central store for your PCs. If you don't have a PC to run these apps, then you don't need a Home Server -- you still need a PC first.

#1 STUNNA

yes you can do that though it's not intended to do that. It's runs on Server 2003. It does have a small OS partition of 20GB by default so if your files can fit in that then I can't forsee a problem if you did web browsing and email on it. Though you'd have to build you're own WHS box because most if not all of them don't come with a video output so it can't be plugged into a monitor without adding a video card which they may or may not have the capability of being added.

svtmike

Really bad advice considering the size of the OS partition, the uniqueness of the storage system, and the paucity of anti-virus support.

#1 STUNNA

there are lots of options for server 2003 AV, there's nothing special about the OS partition, just the data stores have the DE technology. I've done it before, it's not ideal and I wouldn't recommend it but it's doable.

#1 STUNNA

MS released the RC version of WHS Vail last week or so on their connect site and it doesn't include DE. It seems there's no hope for DE in the next version of WHS. Maybe they'll go back to the drawing board and redesign it for the next version but they aren't going to be able to get it working for the current version. They also didn't branch off WHS from the Business oriented OS's like I had hoped they would.

They did however create a Move Folder To... wizard which you run once you connect a new drive. It's no supplement of DE but it makes the task of moving folders to different drives and adjusting sharing permissions much easier than doing it manually. So it's got that going for it.

I guess I'm gonna try it out and see what I think. If I'm not feeling it I can just got back to the OG WHS.

I've been thinking about it and I can use literally none of the new features of WHS Vail. My upload speed is garbage so streaming videos around the Interwebs isn't currently possible plus I've got an exchange server on the same IP so it's taking up port 80 and 443 so I couldn't use it if I wanted to. Well I can with port redirect but whatever. I don't really need server backup because it's running Hyper-V and I can do snapshots. WHS vail has better integration with W7 and homegroups but the OG WHS PP3 is pretty good too and I can manually assign shares not that big of a deal.

FYI I have an OEM copy of the Original Version of WHS (the one with DE) for sale if anyone wants it PM me.

thelastaspec

WHS looks really nice.
I would do this, but instead i have a computer that is on ubuntu and stays on most of the day for file serving/media/printing.
I'm happy with this for now as it can double as a computer with a simple gnome or kde install.
You have to be comfortable with linux though and the commad line to get samba and everything working right.
It also runs f@h to give back.

#1 STUNNA

:gheyhug:

Beelzebub

I am going to build a machine that I have lying around to try WHS Vail.

and if that fails I will just install it with openNAS.

thelastaspec

isn't f@h just suuuper!!

actually, if someone you knew died of cancer/a protein folding disease its kind of a way of doing something...

svtmike

So the SSD in my home computer is getting close enough to full to get me nervous (30G free of 128G), so I bought a 256G Crucial C300 SSD for $200.

I think I can just back up my PC to my WHS, swap in the new SSD and do a restore (it's a Windows 7 rig). But I want to check with the gurus here to see if I need to worry about partition alignment when doing this.

Thoughts?

#1 STUNNA

yup, I've done it before. It will resize the partition for you. nothing to worry about.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

I'm looking at building a WHS with the emphasis on silent. Stunna do you think this

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16813128452

will have sufficient power to stream 720p video files to 2 devices simultaneously? No transcoding required just straight file sharing. I'm planning on throwing 4gb ram in it too. I also might use mid level ssd for the operating system. Thoughts?

svtmike

When I click the link it takes me to a Panasonic Vortex shaver.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

and your questioning that? link works for me, must be different interwebs.

GIGABYTE GA-D525TUD Intel Atom D525@ 1.8GHz 1M L2 cache BGA559 Intel NM10 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo

is what i'm looking at.

#1 STUNNA

I'm not a fan of Atoms powering my server I'd get one of the new Sandy Bridge Core i3s. Get some quiet case fans like the silenx ones I use

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...=1&name=SILENX

Here's one of the reviews for that mobo

I don't think anyone makes any aftermarket coolers for Atom processors.

Mizouse

how much would i need to make a good server to hold all my shit and i could VPN into it via my iPhone or if i had a laptop or if i had a tablet from anywhere in the world. (well not sure about china and their great firewall) ?

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

I was looking at SB chips but wasn't sure of how hot they run.

I'm planning on using this box as it it one of the few of that size that can handle 6 hd's. my big concern is noise, I live in a 800 sqft condo, the living room is like 300 so when watching tv your literally about 8ft away from it.

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=...gory=2&prod=42

#1 STUNNA

you can always get quieter fans. I good thick steel case like Antec P182 and maybe some dynamat.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

size is a factor too, I have an atx based server now, but it basically sounds like the space shuttle blasting off. The p4 chip I have in it runs really hot.

#1 STUNNA

Well putting 4 hard drives in a small case it better be well ventilated

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

this board is another contender if I can find a retailer that has them yet.

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=9BmKhMwWCwqyl1lz

#1 STUNNA

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/AMD-Z...mance-Preview/

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

^seems positive

#1 STUNNA

I just think you're going too low power. Look at the mac mini server it's still rocking a C2D, nvidia integrated graphics and two hard drives and it's silent. I'm not sure these low power chips have enough performance to run WHS great. I think you can go with more performance and still have a silent system.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

suggestions? I'm sticking to mini-itx mobos. I don't see much in terms of socket 1155 boards in that factor.

#1 STUNNA

how much moneys? Well you'd need a router that did VPN that iOS supports. The best route for that would be dd-wrt so see if your router is capable of it if not then get one that is.

Then I'd get the netportal and filebrowser apps for iphone and iPad respectively. These can connect to WHS via SMB which is standard Windows File Sharing and wont require you to install any other add-on software on your WHS. Then you'll need a good upload link on your interwebs cause streaming video in good quality will require a few mbps upload.

Then you'll need a WHS which you can build for a few hundred. Depends on what parts you have lying around that you can reuse. I think a dual core, 2gb ram and a couple hard drives, yadda yadda.

#1 STUNNA

what case do you have? No microATX?

Due to the recall on sandy bridge chips mobos got delayed a few weeeks. There's a few 1156 miniITX on newegg, I'd expect more 1155s to start showing up soon.

The Core i3 chips are a 32nm design compared to 45nm for the Atom so they can get pretty low power. I'd think the lowest power/cheapest 2nd gen Core i3 that they make would be fine and would perform much better than the Atom or Zacate.

Mizouse

damn!

i have the apple router? you would think that would work with apple products, but who knows..

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

going with this case

Mizouse

oooo nice and simple.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

and space for 6 hds.

#1 STUNNA

oh yeah I didn't think of that. If the Apple router supports VPN then I'm sure it works with iOS I just don't know if it does VPN.

WHS is just another PC, requires mobo, cpu, ram ,ps, HD, case, and OS. just like any other PC.

Mizouse

was just hoping there would be something i could buy and just plug it in and good to go.

im too lazy on building shit anymore.

#1 STUNNA

Oh sweet case!

http://fractal-design.com/?view=prod...gory=2&prod=42

We got served (Best WHS site on the webs) did a review of this case a while back and the threw in a core i5 on an Intel ITX board.

http://www.wegotserved.com/2010/05/0...-itx-nas-case/

#1 STUNNA

Oh well there's a few companies that make them. I didn't know you were lazy....

Mizouse

HAR HAR HAR!!!

yea im lazy.. i should really fix that.. ill do it later.

#1 STUNNA

This should help Dougie

http://www.wegotserved.com/2010/07/2...e-server-vail/

#1 STUNNA

That article pretty much says what I said. Atom and it's ilk can do basic WHS backup stuff but if you start wanting to do more stuff (which you may) like video transcoding, running add-ons etc then performance can suffer. They said the Core i3 offers the same low power consumption at idle that the atom does but is much more powerful and can use a lot more power if really stressed but that's not likely with WHS load.

I just don't want you to get an Atom set up and then 6 months later you see a cool add-on that you want to use then when you add it performance grinds to a halt cause it maxes out your CPU.