I have an HP EX495 MSS, all stock parts. I did replace the two original hard drives with brand new ones about 6 months ago. That is the only change I have made.

Before I start, I do want to mention that I have read numerous threads, posts and articles prior to posting this message. I would prefer to get direct responses to my questions, rather than more links to review.

I am now looking to do a FULL UPGRADE of this server, RAM, CPU and OS. I have just gotten my VOV DEBUG board (full kit). I have ordered 4GB RAM, from NEWEGG. I am currently trying to pick out a good CPU, but I will order one shortly.
I am a .NET developer and I currently use the server as my source code repository. My Visual Source Safe repository lives on the MSS. I have all my personal documents, music and photos all on the server.
I want to upgrade the OS to Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition or Essentials. I eventually want to be able to host a SQL server instance on the server. Plus I would like to deploy ASP.NET web applications to this server and use it as my TEST server for my web applications.

Question: How do I perform my upgrade without losing all my data currently stored on the two drives I have installed on the MSS? I currently have about 600GB of my 3TB space being used on the MSS. I do not have any other hardware that is capable of holding all my data.

Question: I still have the original two hard drives at my house. If I install them back into the MSS and then perform the upgrade, can I then re-add my two new hard drives, after the OS is installed?

I am not an hardware expert, but I have done enough poking around my PC's to feel confident enough in installing the hardware upgrades. I just need a step by step guide on how to perform the OS upgrade without losing my data on the drives.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

First there is no real easy solution to migrating from WHSv1 to another OS. However all your WHSv1 drives can be read from any computer that can read NTFS Disk provided the computer is set to view hidden files and folders. Your data is stored in the hidden folder DE. For your situation its great you have a Debug Board which will make installing WS2012E much easier and will allow you to easily troubleshoot issues you encounter with the server.

You need to figure out how your going to manage your data in WS2012E and if you want to preserve for a period of time your current setup this way if you determine that WS2012E is not right for you then you can pop in the drives and pickup where you left off.

Since you can read the data off your current server drives within WS2012E you can set the server up and then install the your current server drives one at a time and then simply move the data off the drives to the new server setup. If your not going to preserve your current server drive setup then you can format and add the drives to your server once your done copying the data and then repeat the process with the remaining drives. Your current system drive has a DATA Partition that may contain storage pool data so be sure to look at that drive as well.

WS2012E also supports the larger then 2TB Drives so you may want to start off with a larger drive to make full use of the EX495 enclosure. WS2012E also has an option to backup your OS Drive which comes in handy when you need to perform a server recovery because it used the OS Backup Drive to restore the server and if you do not have the OS Backup then you have to perform a fresh install. The OS Backup drive will consume one of your drive bays. You may also want to consider getting a device like the ICYDOCK 2.5"x2 to 3.5" Drive converter http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817994099 and set the System Drive up in a simple to use RAID 1 Mirror. I believe this is a hardware raid device and you can use either mechanical or SSD's. Gardian is testing one out on his WS2012E Test server so feel free to contact him if you have questions about using this device.

Your other option is to pickup an external drive larger enough to hold your data as 600GB is not all that much to move and simply copy your data to the new drive. I would get an external drive for this task because then you can connect the drive to other computers to access the data. This will also allow you to create a backup of your data since it appears you do not have a backup and then keep that data on the new drive for safe keeping. Then you can move your data as mentioned earlier or simply use the new backup drive to move the data back or just move the data off the drive keeping the data on the external drive safe should something go wrong.

What is nice about your situation is the data your looking to protect is not TB's in size so its easier to manage and migrate.

You will not be able to migrate your client data to WS2012E but before you migrate to the new server OS I would personally backup my client backup database using BDBB to preserve it should you ever decide to go back to WHSv1 which is something only you can decide.

If you have a docking station you can easily connect one of your storage pool drives to a computer and actually read it as mentioned earlier. Docking stations are your best friend for working with hard drives which makes connecting them a very simple process. While they will collect dust most of the year the moment you need to correct a drive issue they pay for themselves many times over.

Good Luck with your new server OS install.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

Thanks for the reply, I truly appreciate it!

However I don't quite follow your idea/guidance. Can you break it down in sequential steps for me to follow? If you prefer, I can PM you my email address and maybe you can help me that way?

The basic concept is to setup WS2012E first and settle it in making sure all the drivers are loaded, user accounts are created, add ons if any are installed and setup Remote Web Access.

You need to figure out how your going to manage your data before you actually move the data to your server. Also you have an existing server setup and its not clear if you want to preserve that setup or if you intend on using new drives or repurposing the original server drives into your new server setup.

Once you figure out and setup your storage then its just a matter of copying the data to the server. Since the original storage pool drives can be read once you set hidden files and folders to be viewed you can then install your storage pool drive(s) and copy the data from them to your server after which you can chose to add the original server drive to the server or leave the data on the drive to preserve your current server setup.

Once your data has been moved to the new server then you can better figure out what to do with the original drives. You can add them or preserve them. The other way is just copy your data to another drive be it internal or external to create a backup and since you only have 600GB of data this is an easy task.

So to provide you a step by step easy to follow method of moving your data I would need to know if you want to preserve your current server setup, what additional drives you plan on using with the new server or do you just want to use the current drives in which case I would recommend you get one additional drive to install into the new server to start moving the data to.

Its not a simple solution like an upgrade where your data is preserved as there is not simple upgrade path from WHSv1 to WS2012E not even if you were going to install WHS2011. However once I fully understand your intention then its much easier to recommend an easy to follow step by set migration path.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

First item to consider is what OS you want to migrate to.
That will determine the rest of the hardware/software purchases.
You never did state why you need to upgrade. There must be a reason?
Currently with what you have as stock
You could upgrade to the top cpu of a q9550s. Big price.
With whsv1 you have a drive size limit of 2TB.
Not bad considering you can get around 17TB total storage. If you go with expansions.

With whsv1 ram limit is like 3Gb.
You currently have 2GB.
So the extra ram of 1 GB will only benefit you if you are indeed using all the ram at like 80 to 90%.
Unless you have a ram stick of a higher CAS rating.
Or of course goto a new OS.
You could use 3TB drives for non pool backup drives.


You should be able to do this now within reason.

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Let me see if I can help. "How many ways can you eat potato's?" The answer is (a lot) of different ways to do it. Not trying to be a wise guy, just sayin there are a lot of different ways to setup a server and most of them will be right.

yes that's one way.
That's is the neat thing about whs v1, those drives can be read by any windows pc. The data is windows readable..

You say you have no extra drives, OK. It's always nice to have 1 or 2 extra just in case one dies. Just sayin.

What I did when I upgraded my EX490 cpu/ram/windows 2012 essentials is:

I wanted the OS windows2012E to be on a raid1 just to make it a little tougher so I used the Icydock that Comp1962 mentioned above.
I put (2) 160 gig SSD drives in it and set them to raid1 Mirror. Got everything happy, then started adding my data drives and moving the data around as needed.

You are the only person that knows what and where your data is and what is backed up where so for us not seeing what you have is impossible to make you a step by step instructions. Some people like big OS drives some people like small OS drives. Some like raid some don't feel the need.
Using you old drives on a fresh install might not be the best thing, you might be better off with a fresh os on a fresh new drive.

I really do hope this has helped.

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2016E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud

I truly appreciate all the replies and knowledge! Thanks very much!

Comp1962 has been helping me via email.

I have decided in WS2012E, from what I read on the WS2012E product page, SQL Server is supported.

I had a question on the best "budget friendly" CPU that I can upgrade to? I don't want to spend more than about 100/120 on the CPU. Can anyone suggest CPUs that are currently available. A lot of the ones that I have read about on this forum are older now and not even available for sale.

My reasons for upgrading:
1) No more support available from HP.
2) No more protection available from McAfee, they have now dropped the product for MSS.
3) I want to be able to use the server for .NET development work, with the latest OS from MS.
4) Lastly because I want to!

I am happy with the E5800, you can pick them up on ebay for around $50-$70.
I have 2 E6800 that I have tried in the EX490 and X510, but cooling these servers is the hard part.
I would stay with the E5800 because it gave me the extra boost that was needed and it's temps for the most part are lower then the stock cpu. I did upgrade to 4 gig memory in one of my X510's but they really don't use it, but I like the head room anyway and will most likely buy more of the 4 gig sticks just because I can.
Using the Red WD NAS harddrives are a great way to keep the system cooler and one could probably get away with the E6800 if your using all red drives. I am looking at building a closet with a portable air conditioner to keep all my servers cool.
I also built a headless shuttle pc, maxed out the cpu and memory to do the heavy lifting (ripping and transcoding and rendering)and keep the servers mostly for storage, the shuttle sets back there with the servers with the laser printer and flatbed scanner attached to it so everybody in the house can make rdp connections to it and use it as needed..
If I had it to do all over again, knowing what Microsoft was going to do (leave us home server people high and dry) I would have stopped after my first ex470 and built my own or bought a real hp or dell server. These little dudes are great but the clock is ticking on how much longer we are going to be able to keep them going. May be why I have have so many for parts.
If HP or Dell made a heavy duty server with 6-8 sata hot swap bays, dual power supplies, dual cpu,16 gig memory, bluray burner with plenty of cooling I would buy it. I am looking for a couple of used but finding them with that many bays is hard.
Anyway, E5800 to E6800 without breaking the bank, there are some quad cores on ebay for $250-$350 a pop but I don't see the point, not on this hardware.
Goodluck and have fun...

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2016E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud