It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:33 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]

Recent News:



Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 35 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

Will You Be Upgrading To Vail?
Yes 36%  36%  [ 18 ]
I will test out the beta before deciding 20%  20%  [ 10 ]
Not in its current form, too many features missing 44%  44%  [ 22 ]
Total votes : 50
Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:36 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
Zen wrote:
That's true, but wouldn't you want to have the new server up and running for a while without any problems before moving your data over? I would.

The other alternative would be to install Vail on your existing hardware, and copy the data from the old pool drives by connecting them to another Windows machine. Not as simple to do, but it's possible.


I would probably just run on a test PC first. The problem though is that right now my WHS is 16 HDDs (20TB), so I would have to build another monster server and purchase more drives to be able to move from one server to another. I don't mind doing another build, but you can see why this would be a rather expensive migration.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  

Attention Guest: Remove this ad by Registering with the MediaSmartServer.net Forums. It's Free!
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:25 pm 
Offline
Top Contributor
Top Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:46 pm
Posts: 828
Location: Texas
Thanks: 13
Thanked: 51 times in 49 posts
I'm certain that I will move into a Vail system but, it will be through the purchases of the next version of the HP MSS instead of upgrading the servers that I already own.

I'm not willing to lose the HP supplied software for a plain vanilla WHS.

_________________
Chris Bickerstaff
HP MSS DataVault X510
Core 2 Quad Core Q9550s
4GB Mushkin Ram
TR4MB eSata Enclosure
TR4UB USB Enclosure
Netgear WNDR3700
UPS APC 1500 XS LCD


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:13 pm 
Offline
2.5TB storage
2.5TB storage

Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:18 pm
Posts: 310
Location: Reading, PA
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 4 times in 4 posts
Seeing as how my current hardware is maxxed out and I need to build a new server anyway - my answer is "heck yeah". The advantages of 2008 R2 over antiquated 2003 (this is a 7 year old OS, people!) alone make it worthwhile. Such features like support for the new HDDs with 4KB block sizes and no offset problems. 10 drives? The Beta notes say 16 is the tested limit, both numbers more than I have now, or will need especially with the ability to use 2TB drives. Can't pull the drive out and read it in another system? Well, since I built my current server in October '08 I haven't had to touch the thing other than apply server updates, and add a couple extra drives when I filled up the initial configuration. That's what I love about this stuff, it's quiet and reliable - I used to have more servers than some of our clients, running a file server, a mail server, and a second file/database server for programming. After spending all day working on client systems, the alst thing I want to do is come home and mess around with my own servers, I want to just fire up my Popcorn Hour and watch a movie. WHS has been ultimately reliable, and while I haven't had to use any of them, the PC backups are reassuring. I don't expect Vail will be any less a finished product when it ships. Of course betas will be missing some bits, but the whole point of opening it up is to get those things all polished before going gold.
Par of the reason I haven't been around here lately is the total reliability of WHS - once I got everything up and running I really haven't had any issue, let alone ones I needed extra help with. It was seeing the article on ArsTechnica about Vail goign public beta that got me looking back here again to see what was being said about it.

--Randy


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:48 pm 
Offline
2.5TB storage
2.5TB storage

Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 12:15 pm
Posts: 213
Thanks: 1
Thanked: 14 times in 13 posts
I have all of my files backed up on drives outside of my WHS servers. IF the new version can handle 21 drives I will upgrade my Norco 4220 to it and then put all of my files onto it. If it cannot handle 21 drives then the Norco will stay with the current version of HWS and I might purchase a new server because of the newer 4k drives coming out. I am leary, but not well enough informed, of some of the issues being faced with the current WD EARS drives.


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:40 pm 
Offline
1.5TB storage
1.5TB storage
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:58 am
Posts: 97
Location: Pacific NW, USA
Thanks: 36
Thanked: 8 times in 8 posts
jeffla wrote:
...With the file system no longer accessible from a generic windows pc, I'm leaning towards no....


If that is true there is no way in Hell I will upgrade. This was a major point in why I opted to go this route. When compared to the Drobo, it was a no brainer. If anyone wonders why, research drobo and HDD recovery, and you will most likely find what the cost involved in recovering your data is. :shock: One I ran across was upwards of $12,000 USD. Needless to say, I do not care for proprietary file systems.

Can anyone else confirm that you cannot read from an alternate Windows OS with NTFS support, to be the case?

_________________
Have you backed up your data lately?


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:41 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:10 pm
Posts: 5157
Location: Georgia, USA
Thanks: 86
Thanked: 704 times in 682 posts
I installed Vail on an EX470 today and it was a very smooth install now I am just exploring it to become familiar with it. I have not set any clients to join the server for backups yet. I will have to give that one some thought. My first impression is Vail appears to be more robust and so far I like what I see. I am going to give myself a few days to explore Vail then over the weekend I will see how flexible Remote Access is with it. I already have 2 servers I can remote with which took me a while to figure out to get it to work but now I will want to do the 3rd so I am hoping Vails remote access configuration is indeed more flexible then WHS-1.

I think if MS can work out the bugs with the drive extender then I would be very well pleased. Of course the true test will be to install vail on my primary server on a test set of drives just to make sure I do not run into any hardware incompatabilities which I do not antisipate but need to check and verify.

So I am just checking things out before I make a decision but so far it looks very good.

_________________
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


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:58 pm 
Offline
1.5TB storage
1.5TB storage
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:58 am
Posts: 97
Location: Pacific NW, USA
Thanks: 36
Thanked: 8 times in 8 posts
I checked, and subsequently voted No, while it is not as bad as the Drobo, it is limiting an individuals ability to retrieve their data. If my system crashes and I do not have another Vail system or cannot afford to fix/replace the one I have, my data is NOT accessible. That is not an acceptable backup scheme. If your primary use is just to serve media, no problem, if you use your system to backup data, Vail is not a solution.

I still can use my current system as is, I just will not have an OS to upgrade to if my needs change. My main concern now that I am stuck with this particular OS, is... How long will MS/HP support it, and how long will developers support the plugins for it.
:( :? :(

_________________
Have you backed up your data lately?


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:30 am 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:10 pm
Posts: 5157
Location: Georgia, USA
Thanks: 86
Thanked: 704 times in 682 posts
I think its too early to tell just like the 10 drive limitation mentioned in the reviews only to go to Microsofts site to find that its more like a recommendation because at 10 drives its hmmm like stable and beyond that there are issues. Now its like 16 drives so who knows what tomorrow will bring. Maybe there might be a utility to allow you to pull your data off the drives but it still remains to be seen. The DE DISK is listed as FAT32 which is interesting and in the properties the DE DISK has a connection type listed as RAID.

What I am interested in is Vails ability to back itself up but when you check that out it wants a drive be it internal or external physically attached to the server. I was really hoping to have the data be sent to another device on my network. Having the data accessible from a central storage device like WHS is great but it should never be the only means of backing up your critical data. For example I have access to everything on my server else where so I have access to everything should something horrible happen to my server but I would also like to have the ability to back it up to another device on my network like to one of my other servers.

I also know its to soon to tell exactly what the end product will offer. Right now we are only getting a peek of what it might look like but things can change. So far I like what I see but likeing what I see and using it are two differnt things so in a week from now I might still like what I see but might not be happy with its performance not so much because its running on an EX470 which I can antisipate speed issues but on how it actually works and I already know to antisipate bugs but that why its Beta.

_________________
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


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:42 pm 
Offline
1.5TB storage
1.5TB storage

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:37 am
Posts: 58
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
I wish I saw this thread yesterday. I decided to test Vail on my build & for some reason I could not figure out why the system could not see my JBOD on the Adaptec Raid Controller that had 12 2T drives. Little did I know I was running into a drive limitation. As of yesterday I had made up my mind & was going to rule out Vail. I guess I am back in the running & will be doing some more testing with fewer drives this time

_________________
Lilbisqit


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:09 pm 
Offline
2.5TB storage
2.5TB storage

Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:18 pm
Posts: 310
Location: Reading, PA
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 4 times in 4 posts
TAdams wrote:
I checked, and subsequently voted No, while it is not as bad as the Drobo, it is limiting an individuals ability to retrieve their data. If my system crashes and I do not have another Vail system or cannot afford to fix/replace the one I have, my data is NOT accessible. That is not an acceptable backup scheme. If your primary use is just to serve media, no problem, if you use your system to backup data, Vail is not a solution.

I still can use my current system as is, I just will not have an OS to upgrade to if my needs change. My main concern now that I am stuck with this particular OS, is... How long will MS/HP support it, and how long will developers support the plugins for it.
:( :? :(


Server 2003 is ALREADY end of life. It seems like there's no reason the file system access couldn't be enabled with a driver, like loading an ext3 driver in Windows to access a linux partition. Plus backups can now be duplicated, I guess they likes Alex's add-in so much they decided to build it in to the system. A drive going belly up should not cause you to lose a thing.

--Randy


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 8:06 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:18 pm
Posts: 539
Location: Orange County, CA
Thanks: 2
Thanked: 14 times in 13 posts
Still on the fence at this point, will have to wait and see how it runs and any issues that arise.

_________________
If you only have 1 copy of a file you do not have a copy! Back-up off site!!!
If someone wrote a particularly helpful post? Use the "Thank Post" button!


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 9:47 pm 
Offline
Founder
Founder
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:54 am
Posts: 10735
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado
Thanks: 630
Thanked: 931 times in 885 posts
I expect WHS v1 will be supported for quite a while, at least 2-3 years. I plan to continue working with and support my Add-Ins in v1, in fact listen to the next HomeServerShow podcast that should be coming out tomorrow for more about that. :D

_________________
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?


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sat May 01, 2010 9:00 pm 
Offline
2.5TB storage
2.5TB storage

Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:18 pm
Posts: 310
Location: Reading, PA
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 4 times in 4 posts
yakuza wrote:
I expect WHS v1 will be supported for quite a while, at least 2-3 years. I plan to continue working with and support my Add-Ins in v1, in fact listen to the next HomeServerShow podcast that should be coming out tomorrow for more about that. :D


I would be VERY VERY surprised if they kept 2003 development alive internally just to support WHS. Mainstream support for 2003 and 2003 R2 ends this July, that means only security updates after that up to 2015. Service pack support ended April last year. I guess it depends on how many people buy in to the extended hotfix support program - I know we are converting clients like crazy to Server 2008. I have a feeling the WHS is under internal pressure to get Vail done.

That doesn't mean there won't be plenty of WHS v1 systems running for some time to come. Just don't expect any fixes or updates for the base OS components.

--Randy


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2010 10:17 pm 
Offline
Founder
Founder
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:54 am
Posts: 10735
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado
Thanks: 630
Thanked: 931 times in 885 posts
I probably wasn't clear in my meaning. I expect WHS to be supported by Microsoft for a while yet, by supported I mean that we will continue to see Server 2003 security updates and possibly WHS updates though likely only security or important bug fixes for WHS. I do not expect to see any new Server 2003 features delivered to WHS.

_________________
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?


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Thu May 06, 2010 5:25 pm 
Offline
3.0TB storage
3.0TB storage

Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 8:38 pm
Posts: 411
Location: Central California
Thanks: 2
Thanked: 24 times in 22 posts
Ya know I had an old 60's chevelle that ran just fine, and Chevy didn't support it either.
I kinda wish I still had that old car.

Point: Everything new isn't necesarily best.

_________________
Current DIY server DL380 G6 2xquad core 2.8ghz 32GB rdimm ram 512mb 2xHP 410 raid with 2x sas expanders (2 X norco RPC-4220) 48 slots stacked with room to grow.
30TB (Movie/File/Music)Win 2012 essentials 64bit Storage spaces
Ex490 E6400 4gb ram


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 35 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group