However being stuck at 2gb drives with the v1 server is less than ideal, since newer high capacity drives are hitting the market. Convert whs v1 to freenas or nas4free without reformatting drives. Exe and therefore produced garbage backups in whs, i ran xps automatic system restore. The drobo would be a very suitable drive extender replacement for the whs 2011. Now that i am upgraded and have been for the last few years, i am happy with it and will keep using it. Because of the changes that microsoft made to whs 2011, mainly the 2tb limit placed on backup drives, there is now an element of preplanning that needs to go into a system that is going to. I saw very interesting feature of drive pool and i wonder if anyone is using it successfully on whs v1.
Multidisk redundancy so that if any given disk failed, data was not lost arbitrary storage expansion by supporting any type of hard disk drive e. I will note that some drives with major mechanical or firmware problems are. It is more responsive on the same hardware than whs v1 ever was. If i then click on the missing drive and tell whs to remove it, whs tells me that 2 files or sometimes 1 file are open on the drive from 127. So windows home server 2011 is out, but it is missing a major component that i really liked about whs and what made whs unique drive extender. Paragon partition manager community edition paragon software. I am still running whs in a virtual environment for my secondary backup of photos, music, docs, etc.
Being able to quickly and easily remove drives from windows home server and read them easily is perhaps the feature that people will most miss moving from whs v1 to v2 vail. So i went to whs v1 because of the pool support drive extender and i was fairly used to window os. Oct 27, 2012 otherwise, there are some three different addin drive extenders for whs 2011 which you also failed to mention. With the removal of drive extender from windows home server, it will be the responsibility of the home server manufacturers such as hp and acer to deliver a data expansion and protection solution. I really would like to migrate everything over to a whs v2, but the lack of drive extender and limited new features makes me wonder if such a move is going to be worth it. Three replacements for whs dead drive extender techcrunch. Using the drobo s with whs 2011 rc connected via usb 3 and. Windows small business server 2011 essentials update the.
Feb 21, 2011 stablebit drivepool will bring most of the drive extenders functions to whs. Nov 24, 2010 microsoft dumps drive extender from windows home server, effectively neuters product. It isnt so much that the drive hardware cant be added to a storage pool, but rather that the bootvolume is excluded from it. Feb 17, 2011 as we all probably know, windows home server v1 uses a technology called drive extender. So far win 10 has been problem free until the latest build. Hi shane, i been using whs v1 for about a year and the os drive failed. Removal of drive pooling because the drive extender technology is gone. The most important thing to do when building a windows home server is to install the largest drive you have as the primary system drive. Drive extender works at the level of individual files. Microsoft seems determined to send the windows home server project straight into a coffin. Oct 21, 2011 one of the killer features of whs v1 was named drive extender.
Whs 2011 doesnt have drive extender and its dislike of gpt. So ive been adding pesky posts to other whs threads recently. Drive extender technology allowed multiple drives to be added to a computer, but they were viewed by the os as a pool of storage or one large drive. Whs 2011 client backup versus whs v1 client backup. Practically painless installation of the software whs v1 needed coddling to understand modern hardware but note the comment under the questionable parts heading. Mar, 20 we compare drive extender alternatives drive bender, stablebit drive pool, and storage spaces for use on your home server. A year or more ago i built a couple file servers for me and a friend using ubuntu server with greyhole for drive pooling. On the user frontend, whs v1 is divided into two partitions.
Customers also told us that they wanted easier access to data stored on drive extender drives so they are able to view these files outside of drive extender. Windows home server once upon a failing hard drive. On january 21, 2010, we released what would become one of the most popular addins for microsoft windows home server whs v1, home server smart. Whs likes that drive just fine now, and the backups are not corrupt.
While i dont plan to use windows home server 2011 for anything but backups, this guide should assist others who are thinking about how to upgrade whs to whs 2011, particularly migrating all your data out of the drive pool. Whs hard drives must be formatted to ntfs the correct way. The reason behind this is whs uses the primary drive as. Migrating from whs v1s drive extender covecube forum.
Home server smart is an addin loved by many, and helped many users rescue data before it was claimed by a hard disk failure. The idea of drive extender for windows home server is you can. Stablebit drivepool will bring most of the drive extenders functions to whs. After my last whs v1 meltdown, i am insane about backups of backups of backups. If duplication was turned on for everything, there will be two copies of all files, on two physical disks. Easy data transfer from a failing drive is a hallmark of the windows home server platform, and it will be missed. Whs comes up fine complaining, of course, about the missing drive.
The culprits i found were my media center and the online backup software that i had installed on whs. The idea of drive extender for windows home server is you can have as many hard drives as you want and they all group together into the same pool of storage. Windows home server 2011 third party drive extender. Serial ata, usb, firewire in any mixture and capacity, similar in concept to jbod. Microsoft dumps drive extender from windows home server. Whs 2011 does seem to still have a 2tb limit for backup volumes though. Now that i am upgraded and have been for the last few years, i. Microsoft windows home server virtual launch event english. Drive balancer where it would essentially write a whole bunch of stuff to your drives, in equal amounts, to force the drive extender service to truly balance. I saw many complainants whining over the fact that ms dropped the drive extender feature of whs v. A quick browse of shows a nice dissection of whs drive extender v2. Whs 2011 and driveextender addins anandtech forums. I bought an oem license for whs in november 2007, and have been running whs ever since.
As previously noted, im working on upgrading the server in my house, which currently runs windows home server v1. Windows home server forums view topic drive extender. Jan 26, 20 i moved from whsv1 to whs 2011 with stablebits drivepool to replace drive extender. I shut these both down and rebooted whs and finally the missing drive could be successfully removed. Many folks who chose to stick with whs v1 asked for an updated version of. It looks as if the drive extender technologyfeature wasnt the only casualy in the move from whs v1 to whs2011. Nov 28, 2011 as previously noted, im working on upgrading the server in my house, which currently runs windows home server v1. I have no intention of changing my whs unless support is completely withdrawn so am very interested in how windows 10 will integrate with whs v1, i have been using it with win 7 and 8.
Now i find that there are two whs 2011 addins which supply drive extension. From there, my files would get distributed and duplicated across the new. In a raid setup adding, removing, and replacing drives is much more complicated. With servers full of disks came disk failures, and home server smart was born. Basically, in whs v1, you could add a drive to your machine, and whs would add it automatically to its storage pool. It briefly explains drive extender and touches on configuration dave. Much better than whs v1, though youll need to be a techie to. This is brilliant free software that works a treat. Upgrading from whs v1 to 2011 general covecube inc. Microsoft dumps drive extender from windows home server, effectively neuters product.
Nov 24, 2010 windows home server kills drive extender for vail. Even then this process failed due to file conflicts. In windows home server 2011, they removed drive extender. If it wasnt, files in shares without duplication will only be on a single disk. Organize your hard drive and gain additional space in your existing partitions. As we all probably know, windows home server v1 uses a technology called drive extender. Whs 2011 seems to have little care about volume size, the os controls the volumes as it would normally, and you just point your shares to the locations you want to share, much like normal windows filesharing.
Therefore, moving forward we have decided to remove the drive extender technology from windows small business server 2011 essentials, windows storage server 2008 r2 essentials and windows. Drive extender replacements for windows home server youtube. It looks like the easy and complete backup process of whs v1 has been lost in the transition to whs2011. The main reason i stuck with it for so long is that i didnt have a viable alternative to drive extender. I would like to add an additional layer of security and having for top folders a 3 way duplication on the whs instead of a simple duplication. Windows home server v1 migration to new hardware need. Apr 22, 2011 so windows home server 2011 is out, but it is missing a major component that i really liked about whs and what made whs unique drive extender. It worked fine for my use, right up to the point i installed windows 8 on one machine. The drive extender service can add and remove drives very easy, which is important for home users. Otherwise, there are some three different addin driveextenders for whs 2011 which you also failed to mention. Convert whs v1 to freenas or nas4free without reformatting. Windows home server v1 drive extender daves computer tips. Friends box had had the new whs installed on it for about a week.
Windows home server drive extender was a filebased replication system that provided three key capabilities. Feb 17, 2011 it looks as if the drive extender technologyfeature wasnt the only casualy in the move from whs v1 to whs2011. I then reformatted the drive with xps disk management console and then copied every single file back to the data drive. I created my bootable usb install stick from my 2011 dvd, so now i just have to bring down the server to replace the os drive with my new ssd then begin the installation sometime today. Tentacle software is proud to announce the release of disk. Some possible alternatives are hardware raid, software raid, or other raidlike solutions such as unraid, flexraid, or zfs. First, absolutely do not install the hitachi gpt disk manager software yet. I saw many complainants whining over the fact that ms dropped the driveextender feature of whs v.
Whs v1 and whs 2011 storage comparison a supplement to. I saw very interesting feature of drive pool and i. Windows home server vail loses drive extender feature. Whs v1 and whs 2011 storage comparison a supplement to home. This fix will help systems that either a dont include d. I then set the bios in my second pc to boot off the usb drive and plugged the failing system drive and the new blank drive into external usb enclosures. This is similar to a raid setup but drive extender had a few cards up its.
Oct 04, 2012 so ive been adding pesky posts to other whs threads recently. Nov 29, 2010 the idea of drive extender for windows home server is you can have as many hard drives as you want and they all group together into the same pool of storage. Dec 22, 2010 whs 2011 doesnt have drive extender and its dislike of gpt. This is handy for if you want to upgrade your smaller stock system drive to a larger one or for when you need to replace a failing system drive which is still working well.
Failure removing unhealthy drive the windows home server. I used tuxboot to automatically download the latest version of clonezilla and create a bootable usb drive with this software on it. Dec 29, 2007 i then reformatted the drive with xps disk management console and then copied every single file back to the data drive. Theres easy hard drive pooling, duplicated folders, and the ability to remove physical disks without partioning. Recover data off of a windows home server failing drive. Jan 17, 2012 this is brilliant free software that works a treat. Drive extender was also the most problematic component of whs v1 however. I moved from whsv1 to whs 2011 with stablebits drivepool to replace drive extender. This is similar to a raid setup but drive extender had a few cards up its sleeve that made it invaluable for a nas appliance. Feb 12, 2016 the windows home server drive extender. Using advanced format hard drives with windows home server. The drive that i removed was a 2tb drive and it took a long time for whs to repair itself.
Nov 23, 2010 with the removal of drive extender from windows home server, it will be the responsibility of the home server manufacturers such as hp and acer to deliver a data expansion and protection solution. Furthermore, moving hd videos over my gigabit ethernet network had recently started to progressively slow down to intolerable levels. We compare drive extender alternatives drive bender, stablebit drive pool, and storage spaces for use on your home server. Speed wise, whs 2011 is a nobrainer, if you want a faster machine and you have a 64bit cpu and 4gb of ram, do it. Microsoft announces removal of drive extender from windows. Microsoft lost some friends when it announced that windows home media server was losing a key feature. One of the killer features of whs v1 was named drive extender. The older v1 version mainstream support died in 20 and i didnt really use drive extender. Recovering data from broken whs drive extender pool ars.
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