Drivepool & Server 2012 R2 Standard with Essentials Role

[RParkerMU]

I considering upgrading my WHS 2011 install to Server 2012 R2 with the Essentials Role. Does anyone know if Drivepool has Dashboard integration for this type of setup. Is anyone currently running this setup? If so, how is it working for you?

[SantiagoDraco]

It does and it works great.  I'm running Windows Server 2012 Essentials R2 with Drive Pool 2.0 and loving it.

 

Unless I had serious money to burn (like enterprise drives, enclosures and high end raid controllers) I can't imagine having a home server without Drive Pool.  It's the shiznit

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Yes, DrivePool 2.x will detect if you're using a "Windows Server Solutions" type product (WHS2011, SBS2011E, WSSR2E, S2012E, S2012R2E, or have the Essentials Experience role installed) and install the Dashboard add-in tab.

But be warned, it's not really anything more than the normal UI in the tab. And you can control it remotely without using the dashboard.

 

 

And actually, I'm using Server 2012 Essentials, transitioned to Standard as my server. the Dashboard tab definitely gets created, and I love it.

 

 

And santiagoDraco, glad that you love it. But enterprise drives are worth their money. I got 2x1TB from a friend. Both drives are ~5 years old, and have pretty much NO SMART errors on them. And they work great. That should say something.