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Suggestion basic hardware


Maurizio

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Dear all,

after having read a lot about drive pool, I'm thinking to updade my old WHS 1.

I have a very limited uses case.

 

1) Every week I sync all my files from main PC to the server

2) I would like to set-up redundant policy by folder (drive pool should be able to do it)

3) Every month I make a backup on an external hard drive to keep it in a different physical location

 

Considering I would like 4 HD, 1 SSD for the system and 3 HD for the pool ( i could use the same I have in WHS 1) to have 3 duplication for top files, what do you suggest as hardware?

 

Thanks

Maurizio

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You should be able to run StableBit DrivePool on just about anything, actually.  

 

It's normal usage is VERY low, and we do try to optimize it for performance. 

 

As for the Acer Aspire, you'd need to install something other than WHSv1 on it to use StableBit DrivePool. In fact, you'd need to install Vista or higher. 

And I believe that you can install Windows 10 on it.  Though, you may need to see about sourcing the "Debug cable" to be able to easily do this: http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14074

 

 

That said, if you don't mind DIY (self built), I can suggest hardware. 

 

Otherwise, an HP MicroServer gen8 may be a good replacement. 

https://www.hpe.com/us/en/product-catalog/servers/proliant-servers/pip.hpe-proliant-microserver-gen8-server.5379860.html

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Thanks a lot.

I was in fact looking at some HP. There is a nice offer for 199€ https://www.amazon.it/dp/B013UBCHVU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2OXD108I2PVHB&coliid=I39RRPQF6HEEIMand if I'm not wrong I just need to add a windows licence on it, move my HD from H340 to this new HP and I'm ready to start

 

Yup, that's the box I was referencing.  They're very nice boxes, in fact.  

 

And yeah, you can install whatever Windows license on them, and be set. 

 

And if you were using Windows Home Server v1 still, we do have a guide on how to move over from it's data structure to ours (StableBit DrivePool):

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q5463715

 

And if you want/need help with that, let me know, and we can see about setting up a remote support session. 

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Thanks a lot.

I will probably proceed with the 2 systems in parallel two avoid any loss.

I have all WHS 1 backed up so I can recreate the new system from a backup and later check that WHS1 and the new one are aligned before start cancelling WHS1

 

Thanks a lot, now I start to find an old MS license to make the all process not too expensive

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You are very welcome.  

 

And yes, running the two boxes in parallel (at least for the time being) is not a bad idea at all. 

 

As for licenses, there are a number of options here.  You may be able to find an old Windows Home Server 2011 license for sale. The problem is that the WHS code is no longer getting updates (patches, OS support etc), so after the current version of Windows 10... you may start to have issues with it. 

The underlying OS is still supported until 2020, though.

 

Alternatively, you could go for WIndows Server Essentials.  Specifically Windows Server 2012R2 Essentials or Windows Server 2016 Essentials. 

These OS's are the direct spiritual and code successors to Windows Home Server (they're literally based on the same code, just updated).  However, they are NOT cheap, coming in at around $400 new.  That said, Microsoft does offer a 180 day eval period of the software.  That's ... six months.  So you can definitely try it out and see if you like it. 

 

 

Otherwise, Depending on what you need, a WIndows 10 Pro license would probably serve you just fine. And sites like We Got Served (no affiliation-ish, though it's where I grew my online presence) does have guides on how to set up Windows 10 as a server. 

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Unless you need the extra features of server, win10 pro should do you fine. Mine runs 24x7 without any issues. Drive pool, scanner, emby, crashplan, VMware workstation. It just runs.

 

Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk

 

Absolutely.   The client and server OS's are the same codebase, so either will work here.

 

The question is what features do you want. 

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Really super basic.

 

Once a week I sync my desktop (Google Drive) with the server.

Once a month I create an external backup from the server

 

That's all I do. The H340 does the job still fine. I wanted just to the test drivePool to increase the number of folder duplication for some type of files

 

Maurizio

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Well, DrivePool doesn't allow you to specify files for the duplication level. It's done on the folder level. 

 

Yeah,exactly what I need.

At the moment I have in WHS Photos, Music, Videos, Documents, Software everything duplicated once.

I would like to increase the redundancy for Photos and Videos to 3 copies.

In addition what I don't like from WHS is that I don't know exactly in which HDD my 2 copies are. Instead I would like if possible 2 copies of everything on the 2 largest HD. The third smaller HD should contain the third copy of Photos and Videos

 

Maurizio

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Yeah,exactly what I need.

At the moment I have in WHS Photos, Music, Videos, Documents, Software everything duplicated once.

I would like to increase the redundancy for Photos and Videos to 3 copies.

In addition what I don't like from WHS is that I don't know exactly in which HDD my 2 copies are. Instead I would like if possible 2 copies of everything on the 2 largest HD. The third smaller HD should contain the third copy of Photos and Videos

 

Maurizio

 

What OS are you using? 

 

If you're using WHS2011, there is no way to do this via the GUI (dashboard plugin),  but there is a "DPCMD" utility that you can use to manually set this. 

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Utilities#DrivePool_Command_Utility

 

For the folders that you want three copies, you'd run this:

dpcmd setduplicationcount X:\path\to\folders 3

3 is the level of duplication (1 equals no duplication, 2 equals duplication, and 3 equals three sets of the file).

 

 

StableBit DrivePool 2.X supports this natively from within the UI. Just go to the normal "folder duplication" option, and there will be a checkbox to "protect this folder from more than one disk failure"

 

 

 

As for what folders to use...

 

Well the default placement strategy is to place files on the disks with the most available free space first.  So, this should happen by default. 

 

Otherwise, you should use the 2.X version of StableBit DrivePool. The balancing settings has a section for "File Placement Rules", where you can do exactly this. 

http://stablebit.com/Support/DrivePool/2.X/Manual?Section=File%20Placement

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What OS are you using? 

 

If you're using WHS2011, there is no way to do this via the GUI (dashboard plugin),  but there is a "DPCMD" utility that you can use to manually set this. 

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Utilities#DrivePool_Command_Utility

 

 

Unfortunately I'm still on WHS1 on Acer H340 that's why I'm thinking about an hardware update

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Crazy idea to check if the DrivePool works for me.

Can I

1) set-up single WHS drive in a shared drive

2) mount shared drive in my Win 10 PC

3) Create a pool with this network drive using DrivePool on my Win 10PC

4) Test if the products work for me

 

Do you think it's feasible or create duplication over the network would be very slow?

 

Maurizio

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Thanks ... I really need an hardware upgrae

 

I know that feeling.  Sadly, it never really goes away. :P

 

If you need/want suggestions, just let me know (and what part of the world you're in, as that absolutely affects pricing and availability). 

 

That said, the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 boxes are fantastic little prebuilt boxes that are very close in form factor to what you have.

https://www.hpe.com/us/en/product-catalog/servers/proliant-servers/pip.hpe-proliant-microserver-gen8-server.5379860.html

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That said, the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 boxes are fantastic little prebuilt boxes that are very close in form factor to what you have.

https://www.hpe.com/us/en/product-catalog/servers/proliant-servers/pip.hpe-proliant-microserver-gen8-server.5379860.html

 

Now I'm in doubt if go with a New HP where I have to also find the license and some HD or go for an used one, older but already with Win7 Pro and 2T http://www.subito.it/vi/189342896.htm

 

Hp ProLiant Microserver N36L 

 2 Hard disk of 1Tb total 2Tb 

2gb Ram DDR3 ECC 

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Yeah, you'd likely need to get a license as well. 

 

And that used system is not a bad option either, actually. 

 

 

 

My only issue with it is that it's an older AMD Athlon II (1.3GHz) CPU.  If your'e not doing much on it, then that's fine. But if you want to do media stuff on it, it may be underpowered. 

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