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Thinking of replacing EX495 with HP N40L & WHS 2011
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Author:  Ledard [ Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Thinking of replacing EX495 with HP N40L & WHS 2011

My MSS has been fantastic when it's working but has been a complete nightmare to fix when it's not, which has been far too frequent for my liking. I'm not really a networking guy so I don't think I'll ever buy headless again.

The big thing holding me back making the switch is losing Windows Drive Extender. I like knowing that if my MSS fails I can take out any drive and get the data off it just by plugging it into a PC. With RAID and WHS2011 I assume I can't?

Author:  Comp1962 [ Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of replacing EX495 with HP N40L & WHS 2011

You can run WHS2011 without using RAID and it does provide you with backup options to provide you with redundancy on the server side. You will still be able to remove your drives and read them so thats not an issue to be concerned with. For the most part WHS2011 runs quite well I have little to no issues with running WHS2011.

I am patiently waiting for Stablebit Drive Pool to be released as its still in beta and I did run it for awhile on a test server. At the time I ran it I was quite impressed with how it worked so I believe its going to be a good solution when it comes out. Then there is Drive Bender which many are using and enjoy but I believe it too is still in developement.

While your current server is headless you can install a DEBUG Cable with will provide you with Video allowing you to better work with your current server. Vov Technologies has different models to chose from where you can get just a VGA connection or full KVM Connectivity. With a Debug Cable you could then connect an external DVD drive and install WHS2011 on your current server although Alex did write a guide on how to do a blind install of WHS2011 on your server but then you would lose your LED functions. Someone did work on this but I am uncertain how that all panned out.

As for the ProLiant MicroServer its a nice low end solution priced right. Not really sure if its for everyone as we all have different wants needs and desires but for use for client backups and file sharing I think it will be great but now sure about how well it will perform if you want to stream your media online. If streaming media online is of interest to you then I would seek out those with ProLiant MicroServers to see what they have to say about it.

Well thats my 2 cents worth and I hope others chim in with their 2 cents too.

Author:  Ledard [ Sun Jun 03, 2012 4:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of replacing EX495 with HP N40L & WHS 2011

Thanks for your reply :)

I am aware of the debug cable but it it's not cheap. I'm sure it's justified but I can't bring myself to spend more on this server. I've had 3 HDD deaths in the short time I've owned it and don't want to spend more time/money trying to get to the bottom of it. I just don't trust it any more, even if it could just be coincidence!

My needs are simply centralised storage and backups, with low bandwidth streaming (music and small, low quality video clips) over GbLAN.

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