Windows Home Server

[JDArt]

Later this year Microsoft will help us digital photographers - and lots of others - by releasing a new product called Windows Home Server. One of the most exciting features for digital photographers who find their collections outgrowing even the largest of today's hard drives is expandable storage.

Here's an overview from Paul Thurrott's site:

Expandable storage

On the server-side, WHS finally does away with drive letters. "No-one gets drive letters in Windows Home Server," Headrick said. "They'd just forget where they put stuff." Instead, WHS aggregates all of the storage attached to the server into a single store pool, regardless of whether that storage is internal, external, or a combination. As you add drives to the server, the available storage pool simply increases.
I asked whether this technology was based on DFS (Distributed File System), but Headrick told me that this was, in fact, developed by the Microsoft Advanced Technology Lab (ATL), which is part of the Core OS Division. Data is mirrored at the shared folder level, so that two copies of a folder are always stored on two different physical hard drives. It's quite different from RAID, Headrick says. "RAID is an insect spray," he cracked. "With RAID, you must understand the technology, add disks in sets, and its hard to remove drives." With WHS, storage is hot-swappable. You can plug in an 80 GB hard drive, for example, and configure it quickly with the WHS Add Drive wizard. When you want to remove it and replace it with a 500 GB drive, there's a simple wizard for that as well.

Headrick compares WHS storage to toast in a toaster: It's user-serviceable and there
are no screws. I think it's one of the most innovative features in the server, and it could very well help revolutionize how people interact with backups, since it will be so easy to add storage and ensure that you're always retaining a wide range of backups.
One final point about WHS storage. Were you to pull a drive out of WHS and try to access the disk from another Windows-based PC, that system would see the disk as standard NTFS. So it will work anywhere, though of course the backups are written in a proprietary data format.

[Phreestyle]

I'm pretty sure I can already do all that with my Linux box. And, it's a free distro.

How much is Home Server going to retail for?

Just wondering.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Phreestyle

I'm pretty sure I can already do all that with my Linux box. And, it's a free distro.

Add in the cost value of time as well before you compare "free". And, while Linux supports RAID, I'd like to hear what Linux's equivalent of this is? It doesn't really sound familiar until you get into higher end storage array systems, like EMC.

How much is Home Server going to retail for?

Just wondering.

Rumors say in the $500 range, probably as a base level appliance. Windows Home Server: Up Close And Personal

[Alter_ego]

This sounds like an interesting solution to the constant problems of "lack of disc space" and backing up. I just hape its got loads of storage space and works with XP.

[JDArt]

Originally Posted by Phreestyle

I'm pretty sure I can already do all that with my Linux box.

Pretty sure?

I've not heard of any OS that has this. Tell me if there is.

The closest we have to this is hardware-based: RAID. And we all know how difficult RAID is--and the limitations.

[SquirrelDip]

We've been using Windows 2003 SBS (Small Business Server) and this would make a great home server. Basic is 5 users and includes Exchange Server - also for about the $500 (PC extra - but you don't need a screamer for a home server).

[Phreestyle]

Originally Posted by JDArt

Pretty sure?

Without actually having seen one in the flesh, I was hedging my bets a little. But from the specs and reviews I've read it sounds pretty much like what i have at my house already. Albeit, without the fancy glowing box.

Have to wait and see, I guess.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Phreestyle

Without actually having seen one in the flesh, I was hedging my bets a little. But from the specs and reviews I've read it sounds pretty much like what i have at my house already. Albeit, without the fancy glowing box.

Have to wait and see, I guess.

I've been doing various forms of IT for coming up on twenty years. This is the first I've heard of the ability to add and remove dissimilar drives to a storage system while imitating a RAID 1 (mirrored) function with no loss of data on the removal....AND present itself as a single volume to the end user...AND be able to do it with a variety of media, including internal drives, hot swappable drives, or external drives.

The closest I've seen is a combination of a software/dynamic disk and DFS on a Windows server. Even that doesn't play well with dissimilar drives, though, in a RAID 1 setup. EDIT: the closest I've ever seen in a non-appliance system under $10,000, anyway.

[Phreestyle]

I guess we are talking at cross purposes a little here.

I was looking from the perspective of 'what can this product do for me, that my existing setup can't'.
The answer to that was 'not very much'. My system provides centralised backups and data storage and has good disaster recovery systems. That's it's job, and it does it just fine.

Sure the swappable harddrive feature sounds pretty cool, but is it worth $US500 + the hardware from a Microsoft Prefered partner (who knows how much that will be).

You guys may be swapping HDD's all the time. I don't. Personally the less time I have to spend in the cupboard under the stairs, where my server lives, the better. It's dark and stuffy down there.

From the responses to my original posts, you sound like a bunch of tech savvy people. I just wonder if you ae going to be satisfied with a closed box system that has been seriously dumbed down to make it 'user friendly'.

There are other issues in regard to the 'Live Network' tie in and being limited to Windows Media Video that I would be concerned about.

As someone said upthread, you can get SBS for the same (or less), you can install it on your own hardware and have much higher levels of functionality. It's a pretty good product. Or, there are Linux options - if you don't mind getting under the hood and doing some tweaking - at much lower cost.
Just my $AUD 2c worth.

[SquirrelDip]

If all anyone is looking for is shared storage then:
2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure - DNS-323 by D-Link
Could be a good option. Raid 0,1,JBOD with gigabit lan or usb - this and two 500gb will be about $500...

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Phreestyle

I guess we are talking at cross purposes a little here.

I was looking from the perspective of 'what can this product do for me, that my existing setup can't'.
The answer to that was 'not very much'. My system provides centralised backups and data storage and has good disaster recovery systems. That's it's job, and it does it just fine.

The technology behind it is relatively new. Your earlier statement was that Linux already does it. It doesn't. It provides SIMILAR functionality but not the flexibility or expandability options that the new Windows Home server offers.

Sure the swappable harddrive feature sounds pretty cool, but is it worth $US500 + the hardware from a Microsoft Prefered partner (who knows how much that will be).

You guys may be swapping HDD's all the time. I don't. Personally the less time I have to spend in the cupboard under the stairs, where my server lives, the better. It's dark and stuffy down there.

"All the time" is hardly the case. But many of us are slowly running out of storage space as we take more and more pictures that are getting bigger and bigger. The flexibility offered by the new system is enticing.

There are other issues in regard to the 'Live Network' tie in and being limited to Windows Media Video that I would be concerned about.

Every M$ product has its own issues. Try mounting a remote volume on WSS2003 and then sharing it out to the network. Ain't happenin'. We find workarounds.

As someone said upthread, you can get SBS for the same (or less), you can install it on your own hardware and have much higher levels of functionality. It's a pretty good product. Or, there are Linux options - if you don't mind getting under the hood and doing some tweaking - at much lower cost.
Just my $AUD 2c worth.

Each of those products requires its own level of expertise. The advantage of the Home Server is that it's pretty much a plug-n-play device run by wizards, probably with a web interface. The average home user will not understand much beyond the Start button on SBS nor utilize even 1/4 of its capabilities. Nor will the average home user even begin to understand the concepts of Linux driver setup, processes, or setting up whatever SMB network file system is on the distro.

It's easy to look at something and say "yeah, I can already do that" or "Why did they bother doing that when you can get the same functions with X product?". Remember, this isn't aimed at techies. This is aimed for specific consumer who is into iTunes, digital snapshots, and collecting movies, thus requiring more storage space that can be centrally available to multiple systems. For that purpose, it works.

[Phreestyle]

I don't think we disagree at all and I have no particular axe to grind with this product.
If it is good I will use it, if not then not. Any disagreement is probably my fault for introducing the word 'Linux' in a thread regarding a MS product. From that moment on the battle lines were drawn. I have no brand loyalty. 'Whatever gets the job done' is my credo.

It seems you folks were immediately drawn to the expandable storage space feature. That speaks to your particular needs. It wasn't even a blip on my radar, because ever expanding data storage is not a serious concern. A full harddrive is nature's way of telling me I need to dump some stuff.

However, if people are looking for information before spending a considerable amount of cash on a product, then it's good to know that there are a range of options available. That's what discussion forums are all about, in my opinion

I like your webpage and photos, by the way.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Phreestyle

I don't think we disagree at all and I have no particular axe to grind with this product.
If it is good I will use it, if not then not. Any disagreement is probably my fault for introducing the word 'Linux' in a thread regarding a MS product. From that moment on the battle lines were drawn. I have no brand loyalty. 'Whatever gets the job done' is my credo.

It seems you folks were immediately drawn to the expandable storage space feature. That speaks to your particular needs. It wasn't even a blip on my radar, because ever expanding data storage is not a serious concern. A full harddrive is nature's way of telling me I need to dump some stuff.

However, if people are looking for information before spending a considerable amount of cash on a product, then it's good to know that there are a range of options available. That's what discussion forums are all about, in my opinion

I probably came across harsher than I intended. Sorry if that was the case. This is, of course, the first time I've ever, ever done such a thing so it's quite a shock to everyone, I'm sure.

I like your webpage and photos, by the way.

Thanks. The website sucks at the moment but I blew my budget on a new 24-105/4L so I've got nothing left for a web design software package and don't know crap about HTML anymore....let alone CSS, AJAX, and EIEIO. I was working with a couple of guys that were going to develop one for me but pretty much disappeared lately. Ah, well. It's a start.

Stay tuned for more Stephanie tonight. We just did another shoot last night and got some neat stuff.