I have an HP EX495 run by the original HP software. Recently it somehow filled itself to capacity with backup information. Any attempt to do a cleanup has failed, usually at about 10%. Other than that, it is working fine, but I am now out of space and only 17% is used by files.
It has been suggested that I start fresh and while I am at it upgrade to WHS 2011. I admit that I am a networking and server idiot. I keep hearing that there are good step by step guides on how to do this, but in all my searching I have yet to find it.

Could somebody point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance,

Rich

There's a "WHS 2011" category in the navigation menu above, all our install guides and tutorials are there. They are mostly listed under "WHS Vail" as that was the codename of WHS 2011.
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/tag/vail/page/5/

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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?

I would just throw in that having the VGA port/cable is the sure fire way, then you can see while your loading it.
I think they are about $70.
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8066

I bought 2 of them, but I have lot o servers...
Good Luck

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[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2016E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud

I see no reason to upgrade to 2011 unless there is something you are looking for that is not provided on whsv1.
The backups by default should clear themselves unless you turned it off, Or I should say turned them up. Which could have caused the corruption if they filled the drive.

It sounds to me you may have a bad drive that needs to be replaced and or a corrupted os.

First thing is install the SMART add-in and check all the drives for errors.
Second I would go the recovery route not reset with the same OS.
And then re-install SMART

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EX-490
WHS v1
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I second that, stay with WHS v1 unless you have out grown the server with data. If you have 4 2tb drives and your server is still growing, then I would switch to 2011 or 2012E, but WHS v1 is hard to beat within 8 tb.
I am going to run WHS v1 till I run out of room (I don't like to go external drives) By then I will have tested 2012E and will most likely go to that, unless there is something better by then.

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[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 still run WHSv1 but and it has its uses but mostly because of the client data it stores for important offsite clients. Today my primary server is WS2012E and prior to that WHS2011. There are some benefits to running WHS2011 which is not as temperamental as WHSv1 but you need a 3rd Part DE Solution and have to install it blind on an MSS unless you get a DEBUG Board and USB Optical Drive then installing it on an MSS is a breeze. If you want the LEDs to be somewhat functional then you need to install some additional software.

The storage solution I chose was Stablebit Drive Pool which allowed me to install larger than 2TB Drives but this was not on an MSS but my Highlander Server which I built back in 2011. Going with the larger drives opens up the opportunity to increase your storage capacity while maintaining the same small foot print the MSS has to offer.

In terms of a recovery I think its easier to recovery an MSS running WHS2011 which you can setup using an ICY Dock in the bottom bay with 2 drives set for RAID 1 Mirror and you can also setup an OS Backup using either one of the internal bays or external drive. The ICY Dock was actually something Gardian did with his WS2012E Test Setup which I used for WHS2011 in an EX485 just to see how it would work out.

Of course doing all this stuff will require you to spend more money to do it right, funds which may be better spend on building a unit you can grow with that may not have to small foot print the MSS has to offer. Aside from the current issue your having, if your EX495 is meeting all your needs and requirements then maybe you do not have a need to upgrade the OS.

If all your clients are working well and your unable to resolve you Client Database then why not just wipe it clean. Install the BDBB ADD-IN available for free from the ADD-INs tab on this site and just wipe it out then backup each client again to get the backups going again. Then once you have the clients backed up use BDBB to create a backup of the Client Backup Database to an external drive for safe keeping. http://www.mediasmartserver.net/add-ins/#WHSBDBB

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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