So, I’m the guy in a big truck in the right lane with his arm out the window flagging the more nimble and faster guys to pass. Sorry for all the rust on my rig - washing just makes it worse.
My first WHS V1 build was on a HP Proliant DL380 G3. It had 2 1gig network ports bound in tandem. The HP bind program for Windows server worked just fine in WHS V1. Two Xeon dual core processors gave plenty of power. Finally, the dual power supplies and multiple fans made for a very reliable machine. Over the years I have purchased used Proliant servers at a penny on the dollar and given them a second life. All have exceeded my expectations on reliability.
I then added a DL360 G4, which is a slight upgrade to the G3s. Same two network ports and faster CPUs. The Proliants are great machines. The upside is they are very reliable and many used machines are available on the market. Server farms, corporate shops, and ISPs pull these out by the hundreds on a predicted life cycle basis, The down sides are considerable. First the machines are very noisy. You can’t just hide one of these under your desk (and think). Second, they are power hogs. My power bill dropped $100/month when I shut off the DLs.
I purchased a HP Pavilion desktop with Win 7 home for WHS 2011. The primary reasons were to reduce power consumption; stay in the WHS upgrade path; and to my understanding WHS 2011 would support multiple cores but not multiple processors. I guess I could have pulled one of the processors in a Proliant. However, that would be like running a Detroit Diesel 12v71 on only 6 cylinders. Not for me.
Every review of WHS 2011 I read had complaints about the lack of a drive pool module. So, I tried some and settled on Stablebit. I am now glad Microsoft omitted this functionality, the Stablebit Drivepool works great. Adding and removing drives works well and the drive stats are much more helpful than the WHS V1 drive module.
The DL360 G4 now serves as a full back up to Pavilion/ WHS 2011. I start up the DL360 once or twice a month just long enough to complete the backup process. Microsoft released a program call Synctoy that works very well to maintain current copies of all files. It does leave little log files all over the drives to speed up the process. For critical files there is double redundancy, file duplication via Stablebit and a complete copy on the DL360. The DL360 sits cold most of the time.
At some point Microsoft will stop updates on WHS 2011. Although I still get updates for WHS V1. Looking forward, I don’t feel rushed, but there are some issues coming. Window 8.1 does not play nice with the connector for one. I also need to figure out streaming for Win 8.1. I am kicking around next steps, WIn 7, WIn 8.1, WIn 10 and MS Onedrive. The new Raspberry Pi 2.0 is slated for a Win 10 install. There are some interesting options to look at.
The Covecube products look like an essential part of any solution. I know the Covecube products work with many versions of Windows and the answer to my question is hiding in plain sight. I have not be able to find minimum system requirements for Stablebit and Stable Scanner. IE: RAM, CPU speed….et al. Hope somebody can point the guy in the slow lane to the right place.
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taflemer
So, I’m the guy in a big truck in the right lane with his arm out the window flagging the more nimble and faster guys to pass. Sorry for all the rust on my rig - washing just makes it worse.
My first WHS V1 build was on a HP Proliant DL380 G3. It had 2 1gig network ports bound in tandem. The HP bind program for Windows server worked just fine in WHS V1. Two Xeon dual core processors gave plenty of power. Finally, the dual power supplies and multiple fans made for a very reliable machine. Over the years I have purchased used Proliant servers at a penny on the dollar and given them a second life. All have exceeded my expectations on reliability.
I then added a DL360 G4, which is a slight upgrade to the G3s. Same two network ports and faster CPUs. The Proliants are great machines. The upside is they are very reliable and many used machines are available on the market. Server farms, corporate shops, and ISPs pull these out by the hundreds on a predicted life cycle basis, The down sides are considerable. First the machines are very noisy. You can’t just hide one of these under your desk (and think). Second, they are power hogs. My power bill dropped $100/month when I shut off the DLs.
I purchased a HP Pavilion desktop with Win 7 home for WHS 2011. The primary reasons were to reduce power consumption; stay in the WHS upgrade path; and to my understanding WHS 2011 would support multiple cores but not multiple processors. I guess I could have pulled one of the processors in a Proliant. However, that would be like running a Detroit Diesel 12v71 on only 6 cylinders. Not for me.
Every review of WHS 2011 I read had complaints about the lack of a drive pool module. So, I tried some and settled on Stablebit. I am now glad Microsoft omitted this functionality, the Stablebit Drivepool works great. Adding and removing drives works well and the drive stats are much more helpful than the WHS V1 drive module.
The DL360 G4 now serves as a full back up to Pavilion/ WHS 2011. I start up the DL360 once or twice a month just long enough to complete the backup process. Microsoft released a program call Synctoy that works very well to maintain current copies of all files. It does leave little log files all over the drives to speed up the process. For critical files there is double redundancy, file duplication via Stablebit and a complete copy on the DL360. The DL360 sits cold most of the time.
At some point Microsoft will stop updates on WHS 2011. Although I still get updates for WHS V1. Looking forward, I don’t feel rushed, but there are some issues coming. Window 8.1 does not play nice with the connector for one. I also need to figure out streaming for Win 8.1. I am kicking around next steps, WIn 7, WIn 8.1, WIn 10 and MS Onedrive. The new Raspberry Pi 2.0 is slated for a Win 10 install. There are some interesting options to look at.
The Covecube products look like an essential part of any solution. I know the Covecube products work with many versions of Windows and the answer to my question is hiding in plain sight. I have not be able to find minimum system requirements for Stablebit and Stable Scanner. IE: RAM, CPU speed….et al. Hope somebody can point the guy in the slow lane to the right place.
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