...the PCs on the network (post title caracter limit )

I`ve been digging around documentations today on various server configs for my upcoming future server, and now it`s time to ask the MSS community about it before i make a final decision.

Currently, i`m looking for a solution similar to what UnRAID offers, but with a little more flexibility when it comes to running 3rd party software.

WHS 2011 seems to fit the bill, but i`m not sure about some stuff.

Since MS canned Drive Extender, the only options for redundant pooling RAID seem to be 3rd party addins like Drive Bender, or something like FlexRAID. How do these options compare with UnRAID in regards to the available storage pool size for a 1 drive failure parity set, and how reliable is Drive Bender? Also, can you add new drives of any size to the pool if they are equal or smaller than the parity drive? Basically i want something that i can use with any hdd size (if the HDD size is equal or smaller than the parity drive), and redundancy for 1 HDD failure.

On the other side, i`m looking for a backup solution to do backups of my main PC + HTPC directly from the server and store them on the server. Currently i`m using Paragon Backup & Recovery 11 on my main machine, but i`m not sure their Home versions work on a Windows Home Server OS, i know that they don`t work on Server 2008/2003 from experience.

Well firstly I'll say that the feature that I think about least but love the most with WHS is the backups! They've saved my ass sooooo many times. So you should have NO problems using WHS to replace your existing client based backup solution.

Now I don't have any experience with UnRAID but from what I've read so far, my understanding of the "DE Replacement" addins is that they don't behave like raid so don't have the whole 1 HDD for parity. They simply give you the option to duplicate folders across two physical drives much like the old DE did. They seem to all let you add any sized drives to your pool unlike traditional raid.

Hopefully someone with a bit more experience with UnRAID or the DE replacement type addins responds to your post.

_________________
EX490 with 7TB storage

The two competing add-ins in the DE space are StableBit Drive Pool and Drive Bender, both of which are still pre-release. Drive Pool is in beta and Drive Bender is at release candidate. When I compared the two about a month or so ago, examining their features, screen shots, seeming completeness and maturity, I chose Drive Pool. I won't call Drive Bender more "mature" just because it's RC...I can't speak for it at all. I suppose since it's out of beta, the developer(s) think it's ready for prime time.

I've had great experience with Drive Pool, and it seems to do its work faithfully and silently, just as it should. The first beta version I used generated errors from time to time, but those were completely eliminated in the latest beta, so for me it would appear that it's working flawlessly. The next milestone for Drive Pool is to work on performance optimization, although I would say it's performing pretty nicely now!

I've never used UnRAID so I can't speak for that product either. At this point, I'm tipping my hat towards Drive Pool.

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups