Jump to content
  • 0

Server Essentials 2019 - What's the point - What's next


dbailey75

Question

Hi, looking for some guidance,  I had planned to upgrade my WHS2011 server next year with Essentials 2019, and just read they dropped client backups and the remote web access.  At this point, I'm not sure I have a use for the product anymore.  I can still get essentials 2016 at the moment, but knowing that there will not be a windows upgrade path after that, i'm thinking for $350 for the OS,  are there better options to consider.  What's the direction everyone else is going, I might add, that I will be getting the HDHR 6 turner prime, if they ever release it to replace my ceton 6Turner ETH.   I'm now looking at windows 10 pro as my server OS, or even  qnap/synology NAS, but I'm still scared of the linux drive formatting, I like Windows/Drivepool, because I can always get my data after a hardware failure - I do have backups on a 2nd WHS 2011 server and offline backups, of the importance stuff.

Only reason I'm still running WHS2011 is because of media center and the archive plugin, that is it just works.

also, my remote web access with my homeserver.com domain is now dead, as the cert expired, so MS once again, is killing products that would make it a powerhouse with consumers, RIP Zoom, WHS, MCE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 1
2 hours ago, Umfriend said:

Don't, seriously DON'T get me started! I am in exactly the same boat. And in my case, client backups and RWA are among the main things I wanted it for. I am considering going 2016WSE even though mainstream support ends in, what January 2022? BTW, RWA still works for me (for my WHS 2011 Server). I mean, file sharing, a downloading client that we'll not discuss and a DLNA server can be done in many ways. But the comfort of having (in my experience at least) a rock-solid client AND server backup capability is valued bigly.

So, what next? Not sure, still thinking about it...Leaning 2016 WSE and then see what to do around 2027 when extended support ends.

Are you using your own domain? homerserver.com (MS domain service) cert expired in Sept , was a 5 year cert, I haven't had time to look in to too much.  But I should Say RDP is dead,  could be unrelated to the domain cert, i'm not that smart ha, RWA still works, but since the domain cert has expired, I have all sorts of warnings.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Don't, seriously DON'T get me started! I am in exactly the same boat. And in my case, client backups and RWA are among the main things I wanted it for. I am considering going 2016WSE even though mainstream support ends in, what January 2022? BTW, RWA still works for me (for my WHS 2011 Server). I mean, file sharing, a downloading client that we'll not discuss and a DLNA server can be done in many ways. But the comfort of having (in my experience at least) a rock-solid client AND server backup capability is valued bigly.

So, what next? Not sure, still thinking about it...Leaning 2016 WSE and then see what to do around 2027 when extended support ends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

The almost unknown  "Windows Storage Server 2008r2 Essentials"  is exactly the same as WHS 2011, excluding the blue shade instead of green, excluding 25 users instead of 10, excluding it can (optionally) join a domain

It's still supported  and thanks to my packages (shared elsewhere) can run the mediacenter, it can act as a domain controller and can run Hyper-V virtual machines.

For unknown reasons it is called 2008R2 when its a 2011 release just like WHS 2011, Multipoint server 2011 and SBS 2011.

For unknown reasons it is called (internally) "Home Server Basic" while his brother WHS 2011 is called (internally) "home server premium".

MS and naming schemes are always been obscure to say the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
On 10/15/2018 at 5:57 AM, dbailey75 said:

I had planned to upgrade my WHS2011 server next year with Essentials 2019, and just read they dropped client backups and the remote web access.  At this point, I'm not sure I have a use for the product anymore.  I can still get essentials 2016 at the moment, but knowing that there will not be a windows upgrade path after that, i'm thinking for $350 for the OS,  are there better options to consider.  What's the direction everyone else is going, I might add, that I will be getting the HDHR 6 turner prime, if they ever release it to replace my ceton 6Turner ETH.   I'm now looking at windows 10 pro as my server OS, or even  qnap/synology NAS, but I'm still scared of the linux drive formatting, I like Windows/Drivepool, because I can always get my data after a hardware failure - I do have backups on a 2nd WHS 2011 server and offline backups, of the importance stuff.

The point of the 2019 Essentials... is that it's the new "Foundation" server.  No user CALs to worry about.  That's about it. And it may be cheaper than the Standard SKU. 

For me, I may upgrade to 2016 (I'm on 2012R2 Essentials), to get some of the Win10 goodness.  But I'm not sure that I'll be using 2019.  

On 10/15/2018 at 6:35 AM, Umfriend said:

I am considering going 2016WSE even though mainstream support ends in, what January 2022? BTW, RWA still works for me (for my WHS 2011 Server).

Mainstream support means no more features.  But it should still get security updates for a few more years after that.  So you should be good. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
On 10/16/2018 at 6:20 PM, Umfriend said:

2008R2 is called 2008R2 as it was an update of 2008, not an upgrade (and released in 2009). The WHS "variant" was released in 2011.

It's pretty clear why 2008 r2 is called 2008 r2, what's amazing is releasing 4 Colorado brothers WHS, SBS, Multipoint and WSSe and calling 3 of them 2011 (as they should) and just one 2008r2.

 

Especially taking in account that while SBS and Multipont are different products WHS and WSSE are almost exactly the same thing.

You can even make WSS to look exactly lime WHS (and viceversa) replacing just a single DLL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
1 hour ago, Umfriend said:

Well, those were released in 2011 so (and R2 in 2009).

You still don't get the point. Windows Storage Server 2008R2 Essentials is a 2011 server. Actually it was released AFTER WHS 2011, and it is a very small variation of it.

When I wrote "almost unknown" I was serious, you are a further evidence of that :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
On 10/20/2018 at 12:55 PM, t-s said:

You still don't get the point. Windows Storage Server 2008R2 Essentials is a 2011 server. Actually it was released AFTER WHS 2011, and it is a very small variation of it.

 When I wrote "almost unknown" I was serious, you are a further evidence of that :D

 

Naming is arbitrary. 

Windows Home Server 2011, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, and Windows Storage Server  2008R2 Essentials are all part of the same family, and not actually part of Windows Server 2008 R2 (though, all three are based on it, directly). 

Vail, Aurora, and Breckenridge are their codenames, and all part of the "Colorado" family. 
The main differences between these three products is the licensing, and a subset of features.  

 

Server 2008 R2 was a new release, upgrading from the Vista kernel to the Windows 7 kernel. 

 

That said, the Colorado products are code that sits on top of Server 2008R2.  The underlying OS is not different, just some of the features. 

However, when Server 2012 was released, this code was integrated as a core feature, not just software on top of it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
On 10/15/2018 at 8:57 AM, dbailey75 said:

also, my remote web access with my homeserver.com domain is now dead, as the cert expired, so MS once again, is killing products that would make it a powerhouse with consumers, RIP Zoom, WHS, MCE.

quick update, to the remote web access domain issues, I guess after 5 years MS kills the .homserver.com domain.  I went through the setup process to setup the domain as new domain through the WHS2011 dashboard, grabbed the same one as it was available, so all is good there.  No more Waring and RDP works again remotely. as an FYI,  I could still reach the WHS webpage using the expired domain, and browse the folders. only RDP from outside my network was affected.

Spent some time upgrading to a new 850Watt PSU, my 550 was maxed out at roughly 9 spinning drives and one PCI SATA M.2., the 10th, or any random drive would randomly drop off the pool and from the server after a day or two of up time, took some time to determine it was a PSU issue, but after replacing stata cables, and re-configuring the internal power connections, removing the 10th drives  resolved the issue. Interesting, my new PSU didn't have any molex connectors, but I found a site called cablemods.com that will custom make what ever type of modular cable you need for a wide range of modular PSU's.  takes about 2 weeks or more to get the cables. but so far so good. 

Looks like this thread was derailed abit, but I still need a new solution.  the search for continues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • -1

I was thinking Server 2008/2008R2 and Win 7 was going end of support Jan 2019, but seems we are actually good through Jan 2020. But I'm still not happy with the direction of MS and Serer Essentials.  All this means I have more time to figure out what's next in my Home Server build.  

Still nice get input from others.  

Now if only Silcon Dust would actually release their 6 tuner HD Homerun prime.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Answer this question...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...