Long story, but the short version is that I have a client that is running a Mediasmart WHS on a network that also has a Windows SBS 2011 server running. I was backing up all data from the SBS server to the WHS server each night just fine. Found that the client computers were not backing up and the option was not available. A repair of the backup system fixed that. But in the process I was told be a Dell Tech that having a SBS 2011 server and WHS 2011 server on the same network is not allowed because they are both part of the Colorado line of servers. Is this correct? Anyone know or ever heard of this?

if this is true, the client is really ticked and would like to utilize the hardware. Not too familiar with these devices but I'd like to help him out. Is there a way to load a different OS on this in a RAID config that would work as an NAS device? If so how would I go about this ?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.


Andrew

Hi threecreeks welcome to the forums!

First I do not see a reason why these two servers could not co-exist on a single network depending on how they are used and configured. If you want remote access to both then it will be a challenge because both servers will want to use the same ports but its not entirely impossible but definitely easier to allow one to have remote access and not the other.

What I am curious about is why you want to backup your SBS2011 to a WHS v1 server because the SBS2011 has the ability to allow for backups.

I have in the past run SBS2011 Essentials on a server along with an HP EX470 MSS, custom built WHSv1 and a WHS2011 server I call Highlander. I really did not do much with the SBS2011E Server so I opted to take it offline.

I do not think I am the only crazy person on the site running multiple servers and while my Highlander server is the largest I am running its not the largest being run as others run much larger server systems than I do.

So to recap the only thing I can see which the person at Dell may have been eluding to is the ability to run remote access to both servers since both would want to utilize the same ports on the router and that's where the conflict would come in but if you only allow Remote Access to occur with just one server then its not a big deal. If you want Remote Access to both then you will need to manipulate the ports the server uses in the router and possibly on the server side which gets messy but I can do it with WHS v1 OEM and WHS2011 was never able to get an HP MSS and another server like SBS2011 or WHS2011 to work at the same time.

_________________
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

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. the only reason we want to run both is that originally the entire small business network (8 computers) was on a peer-to-peer network and they wanted me to do a client/server environment instead. So before the WHS was doing backups from all systems. Since it is now involved in the client/server environment, they wanted to be able to utilize the same piece of equipment rather than wind up with an expensive paper weight. So my solutions was to use it to backup the SBS server.

As for the Dell rep, we never discussed remote access. i remote to the SBS server, then can get to the WHS from there. The Dell rep kept talking about the 2 server both being of the same class of server and it was not recommended or really allowed on the same network due to licensing restrictions. Still foggy on that point.

Also, please note that you cannot put the WHS connector on any of the computers in the network to back them up because the connector for the SBS system is already installed on them. Only 1 is alllowed by the Windows OS on each client system apparently.

You can only have 1 client connector software running on each client be it for SBS2011, WHS v1, WHS2011 or any other Server OS. Now some have found ways to have multiple client software installed and what not but I see no real point in doing it.

I have 3 servers running here which backup clients and another one at work backing the clients at work. I believe SBS2011 allows 25 clients while WHS only allows 10 so if you only have 8 and they are all being backed up to SBS2011 then really you do not need nor require the WHS v1 server and you can setup SBS2011 to backup the client backups. I am not sure how you have SBS2011 setup for its redundancy but in my WHS2011 which is similar to SBS2011 I am using Stablebit Drive Pool which works out well but lacks the speed of RAID but it does allow for the use of different drive sizes and consumer drives.

However if you feel more comfortable backing up your data to your WHS server then there is nothing wrong with doing it and the 2 servers can both exist on the same network. Is there another issue which is occurring or is it just what the Dell Technician told you which is bothering you?

_________________
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

Mostly what the Dell technician told me. I don't want the client to get into any sort of licensing violation. By repairing the SBS backup, I did get the option to configure each individual client back in place that was missing. Now we just have to deal with this WHS server. It's really about redundancy and the client being ticked about the client having spend $$$ on the WHS server at the recommendation of their previous tech. They still want to utilize it in some fashion so they don't think it was a waste.

If both servers have valid Licenses then no violation exists. If your client has older computers running an OS not supported for backup by SBS2012 then the WHS device can be used to back those clients up and thus its not a waste of an asset. You can use WHS for whatever purpose you and your client wishes including file storage, running a website, email, print server, FTP Site and what not. Having a separate server running one group of things keeps isolates those tasks and work loads from the main server which is running SBS2012.

Was the WHS unit build or purchased from an OEM?

_________________
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 again for your help on this issue. The WHS server was purchased from an OEM and installed by their previous tech person who did not really have a lot of experience with client/server networks.