OK, so I'm new here and have finally gotten through the assembly, upgrade and installation of all my hardware and software. First, let me say that the assistance on this Forum has been invaluable. Since this was my first exposure to the MediaSmart Server, it was not so intuitive as to how to acces the normal Windows Administrative Console. The Advanced Admin Console add-in made that a breeze. The GRID Junction add-in integrated the APCC UPS quite easily. Both are absolutely great.

One of the initial problems I faced was due to the fact that I had to initialize several drives in my TR5M-B. In order to do that, I wanted to use WHS as the vehicle, but couldn't find the Disk Storage Manager until I installed the Advanced Admin Console add-in.

I have yet to finish configuring the non-storage oriented capabilities, but the backup system is working quite nicely with both Windows XP SP3 and Vista Ultimate SP2.

I am using folder duplication heavily, mainly because I believe in the belt and suspenders approach. The TR5M-B holds several drives dedicated to Server Backup Storage as well. It may be overkill, but as I gain more confidence in the MSS, I can make adjustments.

Basically, I have either been very lucky or this stuff actually works! I have no early issues at this point and lots of hardware running.

Once again, I consider myself lucky to find this terrific Forum. Thanks to all who gave their advice.

_________________
MSS (7.5TB Total): HP EX495, 1x1.5TB, 3x2TB (Seagate and 3 x WD Caviar Green), 2GB RAM, PP2
STORAGE (7.5TB Total): Sans Digital TR5M-B Ext. Chassis, 5x1.5TB WD Caviar Green
UPS (1500VA, 865W): APCC Back-UPS XS 1500 LCD w/GridJunction

Great to hear that you're pleased with your server and that things have gone relatively smoothly. Thanks for sharing your story!

_________________
Alex Kuretz
Remote Notification: Monitoring and alerting for your Home Server via email, Twitter, text message, RSS, push notifications, and on your Mac desktop
Have you tried our Add-Ins?