Whs 2011 release candidate available microsoft has announced the immediate availability of the windows home server 2011 vail release candidate the first build of the platform released following microsofts controversial decision to strip the. Windows home server codenamed quattro, q, and vail is a home server operating system from microsoft. Win7 supports raid and has network shares which is all a really need. There are some who have run whs with raid duplication turned off, but it is a untested configuration. Yes on paper that is sort of how it appears but in actuality that is not how it works at all.
Windows home server 2011 internal 3tb hard drive support. Windows home server is a home server operating system based on windows server 2003 r2. Vail is now windows home server 2011, drive extenders. Windows home server 2011 uses the same backup technology as windows server 2008 r2. Whs 2011 release candidate available microsoft has announced the immediate availability of the windows home server 2011 vail release candidate the first build of the platform released following microsofts controversial decision to strip the products core storage technology, drive extender. Maybe ill even whip up an implementation of oath hotp for a few devices if i cant find suitable open source solutions. Its primary purpose is to provide the solutions of connected pcs in the home system environment for an automated backup system, file sharing system, remote access, and print server. Vail is microsofts secondgeneration whs solution, currently at beta. This is similar to a raid setup but drive extender had a few cards up its sleeve that made it invaluable for a nas appliance. I came from a linux file server using software raid mdadm and i find this setup to be a little easier on my maintenance tasks. Now, the process will vary a bit depending on your software raid configuration. Sbs beta, whs vail release candidate are out osnews. First the news came that the new version of drive extender would be neutered of its ability to have its disks read without the need of whs an important disaster recovery option, imo, and now it seems that the drive extender feature will be removed entirely.
I adopted whs a couple of years back and the feature which made me adopt it was drive extender which basically allowed a user to simply plug in a new drive and add it to the storage pool when you run out of space. The plan is, in the future, to also support some software based tokens. Whs 1 ran ok on that box, but it was only 32 bit, only. Now the newest power pack for whs windows home server v2 vail with wmc an overclocking community vscontainerdefault vscontainerfixedwidth. The same goodness i felt when i went from xp to windows 7, and server 2003 to server 2008 r2.
Codenamed vail, the new windows home server whs beta is now based on windows server 2008 r2 and is designed for 64bit hardware only. Sbs beta, whs vail release candidate are out submitted by poundsmack 20100817 windows 6 comments. Microsoft is taking a product i love and killing it. Vail will allow arbitrary removal and addition of drives, which is a big plus, and is especially good with different sized drives you cannot really put different sized drives in a zfs, unless you want serious wastage of space. Windos home server vail on dell r210r310 dell community. Windows home server 2011 creating a drive mirror youtube. Personally im happy running whs with six drives and duplication turned on. Adding a new machine is different to, gone is the software in the software share, in fact the whole software share has been removed altogether. Apr 26, 2010 vail cannot be used in a raid formation, if you are using raid you are advised to turn this off. One serious flaw with whs is that it cannot be imaged. My whs 2011 os disk got corrupted and it wont boot. In order to avoid folder shares beyond the backup limit, windows home server 2011 is designed by default to split a 3tb drive into two partitions.
Microsoft windows home server whs will automatically backup and restore your pcs and allow you to share and access files from any machine in the house as well as giving you remote access to those files and pcs as well. How to install windows home server beta vail on vmware workstation. The idea of drive extender for windows home server is you can have as. I cant see anything vail will have that i cant add to win7 with cheap available software. I want to set up vail on this machine, but i hate to waste such a good piece of hardware so that i can install vail on it. Hp discontinuing mediasmart server product redmond channel. How to install windows home server beta vail on vmware. Whs vail aurora raid mean time to recover mttr guide.
Im using the software raid 5 and it seems to be working perfectly. It only supports the ntfs file system and doesnt support raid redundant array of independent disks setups, this blog explains. Apr 26, 2010 today vail was released to public view it is beta changes might occur until the final release. Based on the shared code between whs and the new small business line they made the decision to drop drive extender from whs completely. Windows home server v2 vail create large raid volume on areca. Im using snapshot raid on my storage pool for a little redundency. Before you install windows home server 2011, rtfm seriously im about to install the final release of windows home server 2011.
Windows builtin software raid windows has come with its own. Posted by richard hay nov 24, 2010 all posts, whs 3. Hp discontinuing mediasmart server product redmond. Manager which requires a greater degree of technical understanding in order to correctly configure a raid array. Whs uses the so called data pool where all hdds are use as a special kind of software raid. Windows home server v1 drive extender daves computer tips.
Vail cannot be used in a raid formation, if you are using raid you are advised to turn this off. Upon drive failure an administrator has a few options both with whs vail aurora and raid implementations. Edney described drive extender as more powerful than a redundant array of independent disks raid. Jul 27, 2010 how to install windows home server beta vail on vmware workstation.
My primary server is an ex475 mss but were i to build a diy whs for production use it would definitely have raid 1 for the system drive and only the system drive just as insurance against the pita of a server recovery. If you already have whs version 1 connecter software installed on. Microsofts windows home server vail platform has had a rough. Also tried it for a short period during the whs beta with no problems. It was announced on 7 january 2007 at the consumer electronics show by bill gates, released to manufacturing on 16 july 2007 and officially released on 4 november 2007 windows home server was based on windows server 2003 r2 and was intended to be a solution for homes with multiple. While whs 2011 is a polished improvement of windows home server, storage management has become more complicated, storage growth is more complicated, and. Whs vail rc0 and sbs aurora rc0 available hardforum. For example if you have 10 drives in vail and you copy a 30gb file to the share it will reside on a single drive and only a single if there is at least 30gb available on a single drive.
Raid is not supported but that doesnt mean you cant use it. Whs no longer looks like the cheapest, easiest, and most secure solution. This technology is limited to backup sizes of 2040gb. With whs vail aurora, if the remaining unused capacity in whs vail is greater than the amount of data lost on the failed drive assuming the number of disks is three or greater, a user can remove the drive from the whs vail aurora. My primary server is an ex475 mss but were i to build a diy whs for production use it would definitely have raid1 for the system drive and only the system drive just as insurance against the pita of a server recovery. It is paired with the windows home server consoleclient software accessed from another computer on the. For example if you have 10 drives in vail and you copy a 30gb file to the share it will reside on a single drive and only a single if.
A storage enthusiasts journey from whs v1 to whs 2011. The drive extender service can add and remove drives very easy, which is important for home users. Windos home server vail on dell r210r310 im not planning to use any raid controller. Unfortunately, later in 2011, microsoft announced they experienced issues when using drive extender with certain. Windows home server is a home server operating system from microsoft. The webs largest dedicated windows home server resource by microsoft mvp philip churchill. Microsoft releases whs vail rc back page news neowin. It was announced on 7 january 2007 at the consumer electronics show by bill gates, released to manufacturing on 16 july 2007 and officially released on 4 november 2007. Hp discontinuing mediasmart server product microsoft. Windows home server forums view topic boot disk lost, how to.
Are you running hardware raid, software raid, or just doing without any sort of disk failure protection. Cant say i have tried whs vail but with whsv1 you can access your data directly from the drives if say you put it in another computer. Windos home server vail on dell r210r310 i would go with a tower server, more option to expand in the future. The server based solution of vail does have the advantage over freenas and amahi there. Basically a software kind of raid ill explain raid a little later in the article.
Windows server code name vail server software is 64bit only. There will be a capacity for a full backup of data and the os partitions. Today vail was released to public view it is beta changes might occur until the final release. While support for hardware raid solutions, application compatibility and data. Feb 04, 2011 microsoft announced months ago that the artist formerly known as vail now officially known as windows home server 2011 was dropping drive extender functionality. Whs vail is the second generation of a much troubled product that was originally aimed at home users. Whs 2011 partitions the first drive however into 60gbxgb and then the rest of the drives run independently under normal setup.
It also gave me a more robust tv server configuration for my xbmc clients. Windows home server 2011 fails to deliver consumer friendly. The os is going to be x64 only, based on windows server 2008. I signed up to be a beta tester of vail codename for windows.
Ms removing drive extender tech from whs 2 vail page 2 seeking answers. It all started with windows home server version 2, codenamed vail. I am still running whs in a virtual environment for my secondary backup of photos, music, docs, etc. Now with vail, it seems that theyve switched to the block level storage based pools like traditional software raid, plus with these goodies. When a hard drive fails in a raid array or windows home server whs vail aurora system, the data stored on the affected array of disks becomes more vulnerable to data loss. Nov 23, 2010 posts about vail written by graham murray. Im using the software raid5 and it seems to be working perfectly. Whs vail storage provisioning condusiv technologies.
Differences between hardware raid, hbas, and software raid. Ms removing drive extender tech from whs 2 vail anandtech. Anything else is likely better, well except software raid. Microsoft unveils beta of windows home server vail. Windows home server 2011 and small business server 2011 rc. This video shows how to mirror a drive in windows home server 2011.
The obvious advantage of a hardware controller is the performance gain, but if thats not a factor, then the software raid works well too. Im going to go real time raid soon, once i find a little time to play. Windows home server 2011 fails to deliver consumer. Whs vail aurora and raid systems, when using array types other than raid 0, both use redundancy to store data to protect against data loss. The benifit of duplication, which is implemented in software, is that it works across virtually any mix of media you have connected to your system. Windows home server vail loses drive extender feature. Windows home server v1 whs was limited to using 2tb master boot. The best part about flexraid is that you dont need a raid array for it to work and.
Nov 24, 2010 windows home server vail loses drive extender feature. It supports up to 10 pcs with backup and media file. Does this mean that you can finally use the built in software mirroing function. Nov 29, 2010 the idea of drive extender for windows home server is you can have as many hard drives as you want and they all group together into the same pool of storage. Microsoft isnt saying when the server will be available as a product. Windows home server v2 vail part 1 ms windows home server. Once vail becomes the current version, ill have to reevaluate whether whs, multiple drobos, or a very large raid system better fits my needs. May, 2010 the functionality that has been added from those meetings will result in well integrated and functional third party software solutions. I really like the features of vail, but not being able to use raid is a bit of a deal breaker in my situation. Oct 21, 2011 unfortunately, later in 2011, microsoft announced they experienced issues when using drive extender with certain business software.
If you already have whs version 1 connecter software installed on the host machine, you wont be able to install the connecter software. I wasnt planning on running the zfs server as a target. Maybe not as good as a zfslike filesystem, but incredibly useful and flexible for consumers. While support for hardware raid solutions, application compatibility and data portability are definitely key scenarios for sbs 2011 essentials and windows storage server 2008 r2 essentials, for windows. Drive extender was expected to continue to live inside whs vail and find its way into the new business line with possible inclusion in other windows versions. This software was formerly known as windows server code. I dont use any kind of raid or jbod on it though, just simple samba shares. This is one feature that will be gone in whsv2 the drive extender now works at a lower level than whsv1.
Vail is microsofts secondgeneration whs solution, currently at. Microsoft is now prepping the next version of whs named vail. Ive published the first release of my windows home server addin, which allows for two factor authentication for the whs remote access website via the yubikey hardware token. After my last whs v1 meltdown, i am insane about backups of backups of backups. This is my rough cost estimate a little different than strangers because i would use a cheaper raid controller and consider drive selection. Microsoft announced months ago that the artist formerly known as vail now officially known as windows home server 2011 was dropping. Windows home server whs v2 vail installed in hyperv. Can the raid card be set up in bios as a raid 5 drive and then will vail see it as a single drive.
This leaves windows home server 2011 sorely lacking when it comes to fitting the needs of the average home consumer, the target market that was envisioned for the original windows home server. The beta of vail and its software development kit can be downloaded from the microsoft connect web portal here. The functionality that has been added from those meetings will result in well integrated and functional third party software solutions. Vail is now windows home server 2011, drive extenders officially. Apr 26, 2010 codenamed vail, the new windows home server whs beta is now based on windows server 2008 r2 and is designed for 64bit hardware only. Feb 10, 2011 this video shows how to mirror a drive in windows home server 2011. In a raid setup adding, removing, and replacing drives is much more complicated. What is the compelling argument for whs over win7 except for it is setup to run headless. Hp also plans to discontinue its current mediasmart server product line, which uses the first version of microsofts whs software. The best part about flexraid is that you dont need a raid array for it to work and its compatible with windows and linux. Microsoft announced months ago that the artist formerly known as vail now officially known as windows home server 2011 was dropping drive.
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