Well after much deliberation I've decided to convert my spare PC into a Server, so have just ordered a copy of Windows Home Server and a new 500gb Seagate Barracuda drive from Ebuyer, to add to the 2 spare 250gb Barracudas that I already have all to be install in the Server PC. I'll keep you informed as to how well it works (or not). :fingers: :)
What do you see as the advantages for you, Ray?
Quote from: Rik on Jul 30, 2008, 15:08:31
What do you see as the advantages for you, Ray?
I'm mainly interested in the data protection aspect, Rik, I can get all my data in one place and access it from either my main machine or my Laptop. Additionally both my machines will be backed up automatically on a daily basis and will also have the capability to do a complete system restore if I lose an HD for any reason. I've found from experience that Imaging software is not as reliable as it could be and have had one or two instances recently where it has failed on me, one this weekend in fact, fortunately I'd done a test restore of an image of my C: drive to a spare HD about 3 weeks age so was able to clone that back onto my C: drive to get me running again. :(
I sometimes also need to give other people access to photos or Videos which will be a lot easier with a server. Finally I will get rid of 2 external HDs off my desk as the 2 250gb ones that I will be fitting are currently in external enclosures on my desk. :)
Are you going to run the server off a UPS?
Quote from: Rik on Jul 30, 2008, 15:42:22
Are you going to run the server off a UPS?
Yes, Rik, I've already got one that I use to run my router and that is capable of running the server PC as well.
So the next thing you need is a gigabit switch. ;)
Quote from: Rik on Jul 30, 2008, 15:56:06
So the next thing you need is a gigabit switch. ;)
Already using one, Rik. ;)
That's you sorted then, Ray. I'll be round with a length of cable. ;)
Quote from: Rik on Jul 30, 2008, 16:01:17
That's you sorted then, Ray. I'll be round with a length of cable. ;)
Right, see you shortly then, Rik. :)
If only. It would be fun to form a WAN among forum members. :)
Quote from: Rik on Jul 30, 2008, 16:06:00
If only. It would be fun to form a WAN among forum members. :)
That would be fun Rik ;D
I'll send you one end of a cable in the post... ;D
Quote from: Rik on Jul 30, 2008, 16:51:28
I'll send you one end of a cable in the post... ;D
Well that's 3 of us connected up then, Rik. ;D
I bet the route the cables took would be a little weird, Ray. ;D
Ray you won't regret it, it is possibly the best OS that Microsoft have made, it does what it says on the tin. http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/ is a forum dedicated to the OS and the Windows Home Server Bible is a good book too.
Once you have it installed make sure you download and install Power Pack 1, it contains the data corruption fix.
Quote from: Glenn on Jul 30, 2008, 17:09:25
Ray you won't regret it, it is possibly the best OS that Microsoft have made, it does what it says on the tin. http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/ is a forum dedicated to the OS and the Windows Home Server Bible is a good book too.
Once you have it installed make sure you download and install Power Pack 1, it contains the data corruption fix.
Thanks, Glenn, it certainly does appear that it is a very good piece of software I look forward to being able to use it, yes, I did noticed when I was looking at the MS site that there was a Power pack/fix available for download. :thumb: :)
I'm still trying to find a reason why I need WHS. :P
Here are a few reasons
1. You don't need to remember to do backups
2. If you need to rebuild your PC it takes about 20 - 30 mins to get it working how it was the day before with all apps installed.
3. A central location for all of your photos, music, videos that can be accessed from any networked PC/Laptop/Xbox/PS3
4. Host your own website
5. Host your own mailserver
6. Watch or listen to all your digital photos, music, videos anywhere with an internet connection
Quote from: Glenn on Jul 30, 2008, 20:55:58
Here are a few reasons
1. You don't need to remember to do backups
2. If you need to rebuild your PC it takes about 20 - 30 mins to get it working how it was the day before with all apps installed.
3. A central location for all of your photos, music, videos that can be accessed from any networked PC/Laptop/Xbox/PS3
4. Host your own website
5. Host your own mailserver
6. Watch or listen to all your digital photos, music, videos anywhere with an internet connection
That's it Glenn you sold me on it ;D
Quote from: Killhippie on Jul 30, 2008, 20:58:46
That's it Glenn you sold me on it ;D
Maybe I should get a job as a salesman for MS ;D
Mail server you say? Does it make that easy?
Take a look here http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/index.php?s=75a7141657fc2565b2f599cb538069db&showforum=103
Thanks. :)
Well the Windows Home Server is finally up and running nicely after a lot of grief, choice language :eyebrow: and about 5 failed attempts to get it installed. The PC I was installing to uses a Via Sata controller, soon into the install I was being asked to install the storage drivers for this controller which you can do from a USB flash drive and it was copying these files and continuing with the install. All proceeded well and the PC rebooted and started loading the blue Windows setup screen when all comes to a grinding halt with an error 14 message that the driver file I'd installed wasn't available.
After much cursing and trawling the Microsoft WHS forum I found several others had come across this problem and it seems their is an issue whereby the install routine copies these files to the wrong place and then can't find them ??? . Fortunately some one had found a work around for this that involved booting to a command prompt using a Windows Vista install dvd and going to the repair console. Not having one of these I thought I'll try using my BartPe rescue disk which enabled me to get to a command prompt create the correct directory for the driver files a copy them into it. Fortunately it worked and the installation completed without a hitch. :yes:
After all that it was worth the effort but I was having serious doubts yesterday. :o
Well done, Ray. MS do like to make us sweat, don't they. :(
Quote from: Rik on Aug 02, 2008, 18:25:38
Well done, Ray. MS do like to make us sweat, don't they. :(
They certainly do, Rik, all fine now, it's just started doing it's first backups of my Laptop and main PC. :)
Glad you got it up and running in the end, Ray. How you finding it so far?
Quote from: Sebby on Aug 02, 2008, 19:38:04
Glad you got it up and running in the end, Ray. How you finding it so far?
Still looking good, Sebby, it's just completed a full backup of my main PC including 2 external USB drives in 2 hours, a total of around 90GB, which seems pretty quick to me. :thumb:
Nice. I'm still tempted by this. I saw a lovely little HP machine with WHS on in John Lewis the other week. :)
Nothing's ever simple is it Ray? Well done for getting it up and running. :thumb:
Quote from: Simon on Aug 03, 2008, 02:31:24
Nothing's ever simple is it Ray? Well done for getting it up and running. :thumb:
Thanks, Simon, and very true. :)
Quote from: Simon on Aug 03, 2008, 02:31:24
Well done for getting it up and running. :thumb:
Was that " Well done " for getting it up? and then running... ;) :out: :duck:
:buttkick: ;D :thumb:
My WHS arrives today, went for the Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo 1900 expensive yes but I liked the standby option to reduce energy costs, the flash rom for the recovery mode and most of all the design of the case allows you to get to the MB easily to upgrade the ram. The HP ex 470 series can be upgraded but its a complete strip down to get at the MB. The Ram upgrade to 2GB comes to £26 delivered from play.com
Let us know how you get on, Steve.
I find a mild irony in the move back to a client/server model, it's how I first became involved in networking with Novell.
I re-installed WHS on my Dell server yesterday after the trial expired. It all installed fine, just needed the driver disk Dell suppiled with the server after it had finished loading. 42 updates and the Powr Pack 1 later and it's working fine.
I look forward to hearing how it goes, Steve. :)
The Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo 1900WHS arrived yesterday. Its a desktop size box,heavy and will stand on its side. Looks well made, not been inside yet as the extra memory has not arrived.Its runs quiet but not managed to play with the hibernation software yet. However managed to network 2 printers onto it a HP and a Canon, both work on all client PC's. The PS3 is playing streamed audio from the Twonky WHS addin after a slight modification to one of its files (thanks to wegotserved.co.uk an endless source of information on WHS). All backups on 3 Vista machines (yes 3 vista) and 1 XP pro configured (the easiest and quickest to setup). I have tested a Vista system volume restore which worked like a dream. So sofar so good. The Advanced Admin Console addin has been a life saver as it works in similar fashion to a remote desktop connection, it would have been impossible to install the printers without it or the powerpack1 (will be soon available by automatic update) The remote desktop connection I couldn't get to work on XP pro SP3 and is not available on vista home premium.So a media player and a couple of xbox360's to sort and job done.
Nice one, Steve! :thumb:
All looks like Chinese to me Steve, but well done.. :thumb:
A lot of it probably In. ;)
Great news. I'm even more tempted now. ;)
Sebby, go on do it, you know you want to ;)
We have at least 3 WHS systems running now.
I suppose it will soon be time to start a dedicated board on the subject. :)
Quote from: Glenn on Aug 06, 2008, 17:12:11
Sebby, go on do it, you know you want to ;)
Yes go for it, Sebby, mine's running well after my installation problem was sorted out. :thumb:
Quote from: Rik on Aug 06, 2008, 17:42:30
I suppose it will soon be time to start a dedicated board on the subject. :)
Sounds like a good idea, Rik. :)
Quote from: Rik on Aug 06, 2008, 17:42:30
I suppose it will soon be time to start a dedicated board on the subject. :)
Well make sure it is in basic terminology .. ;D
Well I'm going on holiday next week, and I've got a couple of things already on "the list", but I'll add it. ;)
Quote from: Inactive on Aug 06, 2008, 23:21:31
Well make sure it is in basic terminology .. ;D
10 PRINT "Hello World"
20 GOTO 10
;D :out:
:rofl: :clever: :groan:
:ithank:
Upgraded the Scaleo 1900 WHS from 512Mb to 2GB and seems much more responsive, the WHSconsole performance can be a bit sluggish on occasions, went without a hitch must have got the right stick.
Kingston KVR533D2N4/2G Valueram 2GB 533MHz PC4200 DDR2 RAM Non-ECC CL4 DIMM
Trying out Perfectdisk2008 for WHS (http://www.raxco.com/home_office/home_perfectdisk_windows.cfm) for a month seems to also have one client software license in the same package
Steve which AV are you using I'm trying out the Avast Windows Home Server Edition (http://avast.com/eng/avast-windows-home-server-edition.html) at the moment this seem to be the only one released so far although F-secure seem to have an AV/Firewall in beta at the moment.
I'll have a look at the Perfectdisk 2008 for WHS as I'm already using their standard version on my PC and it seems to work well. :thumb:
Ray,I am not using any AV at present as I hope that the client pc's AV protection will keep the server "clean", as all file transfers at present come from a client. As you are aware the WHS console does warn of any potential client security risks. The only internet access at present is via windows update. I would presume that if I enable the webserver and/or start web browsing via remote desktop etc the I will have to improve the server protection especially now that the extra memory should give me more overhead for extra processes.
I have run perfectdisk2008 manually and it didn't seem to take very long at all.
I must admit the WHS is great fun at present not only as an automatic backup and a restore device that seems to work but in addition the media streaming aspect via twonky PVconnect or windows connect works well except for on internet radio but they seem to have a mind of their own. I understand WMP11 provides a better solution on the WHS than windows connect so that may be the next step.
Quote from: Sheltieuk on Aug 08, 2008, 11:40:05
Steve which AV are you using I'm trying out the Avast Windows Home Server Edition (http://avast.com/eng/avast-windows-home-server-edition.html) at the moment this seem to be the only one released so far although F-secure seem to have an AV/Firewall in beta at the moment.
I'll have a look at the Perfectdisk 2008 for WHS as I'm already using their standard version on my PC and it seems to work well. :thumb:
Im using Avast on the 60 day trial, it seems to do the job just fine. If you are not going to connect to the outside world and only allow your own PC's onto the network you shouldn't need AV as the files will have been scanned by the PC/laptops first.
Quote from: Glenn on Aug 08, 2008, 14:59:07
Im using Avast on the 60 day trial, it seems to do the job just fine. If you are not going to connect to the outside world and only allow your own PC's onto the network you shouldn't need AV as the files will have been scanned by the PC/laptops first.
Thats my logic anyway.I will think about Avast again when my kaspersky expires and look at WHS/multi-client licence
Suppose I could PM this select and august group but has anyone managed to get a laptop to sleep again after a successful whs wakeup and backup and if so what power settings were successful :)
I only let it perform a backup if the laptop/PC is switched on so I haven't tried the wakeup option, sorry Steve
Thanks Glen. Wakeup works fine. I will try Toff some people have had success with this program. Certainly in terms of efficiency I would prefer backups to be uninterrupted by other processes hence the wish for a night time schedule
Quote from microsoft ."The home computer backup solution in Windows Home Server has a single-instance store at the cluster level. Every backup is a full backup, but the home server only stores each unique cluster once. This creates the restore-time convenience of full backups (you don't have to repeat history) with the backup time performance of incremental backups."
I finally got round to reading some instructions when I looked at the data for last night's full backup of my laptop which only took 7 minutes over a wireless connection.
Slightly embarrassing as when I worked out my original hard disk requirements for the WHS I looked at the disk capacity on my clients and then added them up not realising that individual cluster data is not duplicated amongst different client full backups or on a subsequent client backup. So as a result I have loads of spare GB's.
All well and good provided the backup database does not become corrupted.
You can never have too much disk space, Steve. ;)
I have 2x 80Gb + 2x 750Gb, even with duplication turned on, I have 900Gb spare, but as Rik says, you can never have enough spare Gb's
I've got 2 x 250Gb and 2 x 500Gb disks installed in mine.
I have similar capacity 3x500Gb but if I had read the earlier brief I would have delayed the 3rd purchase and then opted for a 1TB when required.
Tried Avast WHS edition but even with 2GB of ram the console on the Scaleo 1900 became very sluggish, back to normal following uninstall, presumably not enough processor power Will try another one maybe?
Toff is working to place the clients in sleep following backup, both vista machines I use will not sleep automatically
With regard to Avast for WHS,there are some odd posts around concerning WHS compliance,. The problem seems to relate to a suspicious file being found when folder duplication is enabled. There is the odd report of file corruption being reported by the server following removal to the chest.
If you want to look behind the scenes and see what processes are being used,cpu and memory usage etc
Process explorer seems to do the job http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx.
Out today but not cheap
http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2008/09/05/f-secure-home-server-security-2009-released/
Myself, Avast trial at present
It's another example of how Britain is ripped off.
"F-Secure Home Server Security 2009 is priced at £39.95/$65.25/45 Euros meaning that the UK is paying the most for protecting their home servers! Boo F-Secure! A time limited trial download is also available."
Quote from: Glenn on Sep 06, 2008, 06:51:10
It's another example of how Britain is ripped off.
"F-Secure Home Server Security 2009 is priced at £39.95/$65.25/45 Euros meaning that the UK is paying the most for protecting their home servers! Boo F-Secure! A time limited trial download is also available."
There's a way to get 10% off this price, Glenn, go to Fsecure uk site and click on the buy now button for the product and when your basket dispays, hit the browser back button, a page will now display offering you 10 % off.
Unsure how long the F-Secure licence is valid for ? Avast is a yearly fee I believe.
Quote from: stevethegas on Sep 06, 2008, 08:22:51
Unsure how long the F-Secure licence is valid for ? Avast is a yearly fee I believe.
It's a yearly Licence as well, Steve.
Thanks Ray, If I am correct Avast is a similar price for 2 years.
£35 + tax for 2 years with Avast http://avast.com/eng/avast_4_professional.html
Quote from: Sheltieuk on Sep 06, 2008, 07:55:24
There's a way to get 10% off this price, Glenn, go to Fsecure uk site and click on the buy now button for the product and when your basket dispays, hit the browser back button, a page will now display offering you 10 % off.
How did you find that out, Ray?
Quote from: Rik on Sep 06, 2008, 09:27:08
How did you find that out, Ray?
By accident, Rik, I am currently trying Avast on my server but it seems to be throwing up a few false positives and it's not an AV I've used or know much about. I was looking at trying the F Secure one as I've used it before and found it to be a good AV although it is more expensive than Avast.
Happy accident, Ray. ;)
You can often find F-Secure products OEM, which are a lot cheaper than the retail licenses, but not sure if the Home Server products are / will be available. I'm currently waiting for the FS Internet Security 2009 OEM to appear, so that I can renew the license on my laptop.
I suppose it may come down in price as it not that competitive compared with the Avast product at present plus their is still an arguement whether an antivirus product is required for this platform.
shush don't tell fujitsu siemens but I have just replaced the cpu in the scaleo 1900 It was an intel celeron M420 (single core 1.6Ghz) an now its a intel dual core E2180 @2.0GHz Slighlty nervous as its passively cooled but temps ok at present and hopefully will reduce as the thermal paste cures. I think power consumption probably wont change much although the E2180 has a higher TDP than the celeron it has advantage of speedstep to reduce power consumption when idle.The celeron always runs at 1.6GHZ :fingers:
Thats the same CPU as my Dell SC440, it works well and runs cool.
Have any of you using WHS had any problems with port forwarding on your routers failing, I seem to get it frequently using either Netgear DG834G v3 or a Speedtouch 585 v6. Don't know whether the fault lies with WHS or the routers, if you haven't had this problem which router are you using?
It's ssomething I have been meaning to do Ray, but I always seem to forget, it would be handy as I could then connect from work etc.
Ray.Portforwarding fails on my setup on a regular basis via UPNP. Manually configure to solve this:
1 Assign static IP to WHS or set router always to give same IP via DHCP
2. Manual forward the ports to that address they are 80,443 and 4125
I have tried 585v6 DG834N all caused problems with WHS and UPNP.If your stuck with how to port forward go to www.portforward.com
You can edit the WHS registry and insert the relevant lines however they do not seem to "stick"
More info in the wegotserved wiki
Quote from: stevethegas on Oct 16, 2008, 18:55:48
Ray.Portforwarding fails on my setup on a regular basis via UPNP. Manually configure to solve this:
1 Assign static IP to WHS or set router always to give same IP via DHCP
2. Manual forward the ports to that address they are 80,443 and 4125
I have tried 585v6 DG834N all caused problems with WHS and UPNP.If your stuck with how to port forward go to www.portforward.com
You can edit the WHS registry and insert the relevant lines however they do not seem to "stick"
More info in the wegotserved wiki
Thanks, Steve have now done that and will see how it goes, there also seems to be a problem with updating Windows live custom domains at the moment see wegotserved here (http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=4235). :thumb:
I've also been getting this error this afternoon as well.
Thanks Ray, wondered what was going on, just rebooted the router which probably wasn't neccessary :)
Got fed up with Avast WHS trial ,too much system overhead,sluggish console. It also dumped 6 false positives into the virus chest which then showed up as a file mismatch in a duplicated share. Easily resolved by restoring the share from backup. I presume it quarantined one copy and left the shadow.
Now using F-secure WHS trial certainly not noticing the performance hit that I was experiencing with Avast.
25% off here (http://www.f-secure.com/estore/hssoff.html)
Quote from: stevethegas on Oct 29, 2008, 17:13:24
Got fed up with Avast WHS trial ,too much system overhead,sluggish console. It also dumped 6 false positives into the virus chest which then showed up as a file mismatch in a duplicated share. Easily resolved by restoring the share from backup. I presume it quarantined one copy and left the shadow.
Now using F-secure WHS trial certainly not noticing the performance hit that I was experiencing with Avast.
25% off here (http://www.f-secure.com/estore/hssoff.html)
Not had any problems with F-Secure, Steve I've been using it for nearly 2 months now.
Thanks Ray, Certainly initial impression is favourable,I have done a scan and no resulting disasters. I feel Avast WHS needed a higher spec system than mine and had a "nortonesque" quality.
Been having the following problem with backing up my main PC on WHS today, about 10 to 15 secs. after it start a backup the PC Bsod's with the following error message Invalid_Pool_Header. I've tried rebooting the PC and the Server and reinstalling the Connector without success no problem with backing up my other MCs though.
Looking at WGS forum others seem to have this problem but no one seems to have found the cause yet, anyone experienced this problem here?
Not had any issues so far Ray. Have you tried running a check disk on the PC?
Found this here (http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/whssoftware/thread/98b381be-edff-43fb-b1d9-5307e6204733/#page:2)
managed to find the a solution to the problem elsewhere:
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=Discwizard&thread.id=46
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic94820-5.html
In short, the problem seems to be rooted in MBR corruption caused by certain hard disk cloning software (including Seagate's DiscWizard, and Acronis True Image, which DiscWizard is based on). The problem effects all backup software that makes use of Windows' Volume Shadow Copy, and thus is not limited to WHS.
To fixed the problem, simply follow these steps:
1. Go to windows Device Manager
2. Click "view" and select "show hidden devices"
3. Scroll down to "storage volumes"
4. Click on the plus to expand.
5. Click on each one listed and right click and uninstall. (you will get a message on some staying to reboot before it takes effect. Select no until you do them all.)
6. Reboot.
7. Wait till windows automatically reinstalls devices. Will prompt to reboot again.
8 Reboot.
Its not a problem I've encountered yet :eek4: but responses to the post were positive.Good luck
Nice find, Steve. :thumb:
:karmic: Thank you Steve you're a star that's solved my problem it is now happily backing up. I had in fact put a larger HD into the MC yesterday and cloned the old disk to the new one using my Acronis TI BartPE rescue disk. :thumb:
NP,Thanks, I am sure Ray I have read somewhere that you can also use a client WHS backup for hard drive replacement or upgrade. :)
Quote from: stevethegas on Oct 29, 2008, 20:09:12
NP,Thanks, I am sure Ray I have read somewhere that you can also use a client WHS backup for hard drive replacement or upgrade. :)
You can, Steve, but for some reason it didn't want to work on mine as I'd tried that first, but booting from and running the recovery cd it couldn't find my Server and trying to find it using the manual option came up with the infamous "unknown Network error". ???
So presumably you could still have a problem should you need to restore again if the whs connector software is not functioning.
Quote from: Sheltieuk on Oct 29, 2008, 20:31:23
You can, Steve, but for some reason it didn't want to work on mine as I'd tried that first, but booting from and running the recovery cd it couldn't find my Server and trying to find it using the manual option came up with the infamous "unknown Network error". ???
Possibly an issue with the driver for the NIC on the restore CD, did you try the "oem" NIC xp\vista driver via a usb stick?
Quote from: stevethegas on Oct 29, 2008, 23:06:14
Possibly an issue with the driver for the NIC on the restore CD, did you try the "oem" NIC xp\vista driver via a usb stick?
Yes that's what I was thinking, Steve, I'm going to try it again later today and if the same happens I'll try loading the Nic drivers from a usb stick and see if that cures it.
There is an updated version of the WHS Home computer restore CD here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=26881305-91cc-4f37-b1fc-3813c423df2c&displaylang=en)
Quote from: stevethegas on Oct 30, 2008, 10:04:03
There is an updated version of the WHS Home computer restore CD here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=26881305-91cc-4f37-b1fc-3813c423df2c&displaylang=en)
Thanks, Steve, that's the version I'm using, I had the problem with the cd that comes with WHS but since I upgraded to the new version I hadn't had any issues with it until yesterday.
My test restore on my main PC didn't work when I tried it even after loading all my XP drivers on to a USB stick and allowing the recovery CD programme to scan for drivers I was still getting the can't find server and a network error has occurred message.
Well after several hours of investigation and much pulling out of hair I've discovered that the problem seems to be with the recovery software and the NIC embedded on the MB (Realtek RTL8168 PCIE Gigabit Ethernet NIC) looking at WGS forum others are having the same problem with this NIC.
I have however solved the problem by installing a spare Netgear Gigabit PCI NIC card from another PC the restore works fine with this card and finds and logs on to the WHS with no problem, strangely if the recovery scan is to be believed this card appears to use a Realtek chip as well but is an RTL8169 PCI chip. I'm now heaving a huge sigh of relief that I can restore this PC, had no problem with my spare PC or Laptop they seem to use Marvel Yukon and Broadcom NICs. :yes:
Well done, Ray! :thumb:
Glad you solved it Ray. I have read of similar problems with Realtek NIC (netbooks) obviously it doesn't like the 8168 version. I wonder did you try vista drivers (if their different?)as the recovery CD uses WinPE 2 which I believe is vista related.
http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1916 Post #11 (Had to laugh at the name and picture)
Quote from: stevethegas on Nov 01, 2008, 23:11:45
Glad you solved it Ray. I have read of similar problems with Realtek NIC (netbooks) obviously it doesn't like the 8168 version. I wonder did you try vista drivers (if their different?)as the recovery CD uses WinPE 2 which I believe is vista related.
Yes, Steve I did try the Vista drivers without success though.
Quote
http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1916 Post #11 (Had to laugh at the name and picture)
:lol:
Quote from: stevethegas on Nov 01, 2008, 23:11:45
http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1916 Post #11 (Had to laugh at the name and picture)
:rofl: :clever: Send her a Bill. ;D
Quote from: Inactive on Nov 02, 2008, 09:39:10
:rofl: :clever: Send her a Bill. ;D
I thought she'd already had one, In. ;D
;D
Quote from: Sheltieuk on Nov 01, 2008, 21:23:30
Well after several hours of investigation and much pulling out of hair
Showoff. ;D
Poor dog you mean! ;D
;D
I only have a beard to pull out, Steve. :)
Quote from: Rik on Nov 02, 2008, 10:46:46
Showoff. ;D
It's going slowly, Rik, my forehead is getting wider by the month. :P :)
Meantime, we spend ages trimming our nasal hair. :sigh:
...and ears. :bawl:
....and eyebrows. ;D
Oh yes... :) Now we finally know why people sell 'hygienic nasal hair trimmers'. ;D
Useful addition to WHS is to run uTorrent as a service with web access enabled. Excellent guide here (http://wiki.wegotserved.co.uk/UTorrent_on_Windows_Home_Server). Might as well use this machine to do some work whilst it's idle. Managed to get it to work as per instructions.
Obviously with web access enabled for uTorrent you can access it anywhere.
Excellent idea, Steve. :thumb:
Another goodie (http://wiki.wegotserved.co.uk/Creating_a_Windows_Home_Server_Restore_Partition) from wegotserved. If using a Vista PC is to create a small restore partition with all relevant drivers and a copy of the WHS restore cd. I presume it should hasten the restore process as your not waiting for the cd to load the software into memory.
It uses a bootloader called EasyBCD (http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1) has anyone any experience of it's use?
If you not seen it there is a new version of the toolkit here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=71EF4793-5F81-4EF7-8C7D-FE905094AB13&displaylang=en) (32bit)
Quote from: stevethegas on Dec 04, 2008, 18:15:24
If you not seen it there is a new version of the toolkit here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=71EF4793-5F81-4EF7-8C7D-FE905094AB13&displaylang=en) (32bit)
Thanks, Steve, I hadn't seen that, now updated. :thumb:
What puzzles me is it states the connector is not upto date which is a surprise as I had to update with last MS update for the server >:(
Same here as well, Steve. ???
This is the client connector version I am using 6.0.1800.24 date 31/10/2008 and running the troubleshooter with -a option gives further detail that my server version is older. so I presume its a bug.As you know the connector is uploaded from the server. ???
Found this replicator (http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp) on wegotserved . This utility apparently will copy a whs share to a networked drive for backup purposes.Obviously useful for any other type of folder or drive
I have decided to re convert my entire music collection some 400 CDs to Flac a lossless format for storage on the WHS
Why flac, its a lossless format and I can batch convert to lossy formats as required for Itunes,ipods and MP3.
I have been experimenting with Squeezecenter open source software as a media server on the WHS it handles Flac natively. I have been very impressed with the sound quality produced over the local network to a client PC with an X-Fi card using softsqueeze as the player. The cpu load on the WHS is about 2% whilst streaming
My Xmas present a Squeezebox duet hopefully will appear tomorrow which has a fancy network remote controller and a wired/wireless network receiver for the HiFi amp.
I am using dbpoweramp (http://www.dbpoweramp.com/) cd ripper to import the music on to the desktop PC it takes about 2 mins per CD and sorts out all the metadata and album art,once finished I will batch convert the lot to MP3 for iTunes etc.
I feel another harddisk purchase coming up ;D
Sounds good, Steve? ;)
Get a couple of disks while you're there - it will save you some time. >:D
I think one eSATA 1TB will do as backup for the shared folders in the WHS ;)
For now... ;D
The Duet is a good piece of kit Steve, it took me a little while to set it up, but once running it works a treat.
Thanks Glen. I am expecting a bit of grief setting up, but hoping that knowing the server side on the WHS is fine by using Soft Squeeze on PC clients may bypass some problems. I have already given up on the idea of streaming AAC files
Purchased the batch ripper for dbpoweramp so at least I can rip 3 CDs at the same time,(wish I had more drives on the PC) ;D Interestingly it uses all my 4 cores whilst ripping. The three drives tend to rip at differring speeds so you can keep loading CDs sequentially as each one finishes
One for the program and one each for the ripping, Steve?
I don't know, but there is activity on all four cores! You have to keep an eye on the metadata picks as occassionally it gets it completely wrong. ;D. The speed or rip with three cd drives running simultaineously is equivalent to x110 speed
Fast enough for most people. The average CD should be well under a minute. :)
Certainly the batch ripper is an impressive piece of software,hopefully the batch convert from flac to mp3 will be simply select folder and then leave it for a day or so ;D
Bring back 78s, I say. :)
Quote from: Rik on Dec 22, 2008, 16:57:16
Bring back 78s, I say. :)
Is that 1 minute 18 seconds?
Quote from: stevethegas on Dec 22, 2008, 10:34:45
to a client PC with an X-Fi card using softsqueeze as the player. The cpu load on the WHS is about 2% whilst streaming
Steve,
Have you managed to get the crossfader to work when using Softsqueeze as the player? I have installed the Java mp3 plugin but can't get crossfading to work at all. This is using mp3's from the Sqeezecentre though.
Quote from: Glenn on Dec 22, 2008, 17:30:51
Is that 1 minute 18 seconds?
:lol:
Not at my age, JB. ;)
Quote from: 6jb on Dec 22, 2008, 18:00:13
Steve,
Have you managed to get the crossfader to work when using Softsqueeze as the player? I have installed the Java mp3 plugin but can't get crossfading to work at all. This is using mp3's from the Sqeezecentre though.
Where's the crossfader settings? ;D
You're right in thinking, Steve, that the batch convert is a select a folder and leave job. Fortunately it'll use all your available cores (one song per core).
Quote from: stevethegas on Dec 22, 2008, 18:23:48
Where's the crossfader settings? ;D
It's in 'settings', under 'audio' if I remember. It has options such as 'fade in', 'fade out', 'fade in and out' and 'crossfade on'. None of which seem to make any difference to my playback where there is no crossfade at all. Songs finish and then two or three seconds later the next one starts.
I appreciate that not everyone wishes to use this but wondered if you could get it to work?
You are correct its under player settings,only just found it as the Squeezebox only arrived this morning.Will report back when connected which may take a while as I have to move a xmas tree to get to the amp
MY CDs are all now encoded to Flac and MP3 and reside on the WHS.The Squeezebox Duet arrived this AM and setup was fairly straightforward. The Slimcenter server on the WHS is managing without stuttering to stream flac without transcoding to the receiver through 200AV Zyxel homeplugs. I am very impressed with the sound quality although its not as crisp or as expansive as the CD player but very acceptable plus you have the advantage of several radio stations and not having to keep feeding it CDs.
Certainly thinking that another receiver or boom box will be required soon.
These hobbies do have a habit of growing, don't they, Steve. :)
You mean the size of the hole in my pocket ;D
Same diff. ;D Never had a hobby which didn't do that to me. :)
Me neither, come to think of it. ;D
Hobbies aren't cheap - which is unfortunate given that when you've got time to indulge most, you probably haven't go the money. :)
I think a better DAC than the squeezebox one is required for "HiFi" use this one (http://www.beresford.me/main/main.html) is well rated and very cheap for this type of product.
Apparently open DNS and WHS don't work well together http://forums.opendns.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=2185.
Life is never as simple as it should be, Steve. :(
Steve, I checked SqueezeCenter on my WHS box, and I don't have it installed, I ran it from my laptop
Quote from: Glenn on Dec 30, 2008, 19:11:36
Steve, I checked SqueezeCenter on my WHS box, and I don't have it installed, I ran it from my laptop
Thanks Glen. You should try it on the WHS works well apart from the issue I have at present which I feel is not WHS related as XP users have reported similar issues with high cpu activity, trying one of the nightly builds so far so good :fingers:
Quote from: stevethegas on Dec 30, 2008, 18:48:44
Apparently open DNS and WHS don't work well together http://forums.opendns.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=2185.
At least there's a fix. :)
Quote from: stevethegas on Dec 30, 2008, 19:22:30
Thanks Glen. You should try it on the WHS works well apart from the issue I have at present which I feel is not WHS related as XP users have reported similar issues with high cpu activity, trying one of the nightly builds so far so good :fingers:
Installed on WHS, after 3hours scanning I now have access to all my music via the server.
For some strange, my Duet handset connects wirelessly, but the Squeezebox won't?
I've not got to grips with SqueezeCenter yet, my receiver is connected via "mains" ethernet and the controller wirelessly to the router.Can you access the SQ server library via the controller? and also using SqueezePlay or SoftSqueeze on a PC should confirm server functionality
Thats the same way as mine is connected, apart from the 'mains' bit. I can see everything from the handset via the music library
Can you see the player in squeezecenter? what colour is the light on the receiver? what file format is the music? none of which should matter as you've had it working before on the laptop. I followed the instruction for SC install as per https://www.ripcaster.co.uk/node/56, it set the firewall automatically only had to change the web interface port because of conflict with twonky.Then enabled it as a service.
More WHS tinkering, added system restore this morning http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=4953&pid=32434&st=0&#entry32434 see automated installer post #10 . Need to to turn off monitoring manually on all other entries apart from C:\ Strange it can back all your clients up but not itself. It is obviously an unsupported hack but having had to reinstall over the weekend when an add in uninstall took the whole sytem down I am hopeful that this is a step forward.
After a major embarrassment (disabled the network adaptor on headless WHS whilst attempting to do the same with the firewall) :bawl:
I have managed to get SqueezeCenter (http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_features.html) running as a service on the WHS with a library of some 4,400 flac encoded songs.
As I cannot be generally bothered setting up playlists. I have added this MusicIp Mixer (http://www.musicip.com/mixer/index.jsp) This software as described on the web page will generate a playlist for you depending on the type of song/music you are currently playing. So when one track is finished another is ready to go. It takes a while to validate your library and archive its findings to your music ID tags.
I used the slim devices wiki here (http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/Integrating_MusicIP_with_SqueezeCenter) to set up Musicip and the headless version and another very useful site called Spicefly (http://spicefly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=5&id=16&Itemid=32). I used their own spicefly plugin for squeezecenter called SugarCube (http://spicefly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=32) to generate the playlists. Its a time consuming project to tackle but not difficult once the files are tagged correctly.
I now have a playlist based on the song playing i.e
Heart Full of Soul
While My Guitar Gently Weeps II (Disc 2 of 2)
Various Artists
The Song Remains the Same
Mothership (disc 2)
Led Zeppelin
All the Young Dudes
While My Guitar Gently Weeps II (Disc 1 of 2)
Various Artists
I Want It All
Greatest Hits II
Queen
Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through
Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell
Meat Loaf
MusicIP Mixer (http://www.musicip.com/mixer/index.jsp) can be installed on most machines, Squeezecenter etc is not required. I think its a useful way of enjoying your music library.
Do you ever have time to listen to the music, though, Steve? ;)
Listening now via Squeezeplay beta on the laptop which is synchronised to a Squeezebox receiver in the lounge, although it looks like I can generate a separate playlist for this as well. Must promise myself not to break the server whilst its working. ;D
;D
Sounds like a plan, Steve. ;)
Pleasant surprise! When I purchased Perfectdisk 2008 I must have forgot I had upgrade protection so now running PerfectDisk10 on WHS and clients. What's the difference? No idea yet apart from GUI ;D
What's upgrade protection? I don't remember having that option when I bought it a couple of years ago.
Having now looked back at the receipt, I got a discount on the original software purchase so I spent it on extended support and upgrade protection.
I think Gary did the same, Steve.
Looking for a volunteer to try this (http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/?ver=7.3) WHS version of Squeezecenter. ;D
Not seen it before in the nightly downloads. I have asked for more info @ slim devices forum before I delve in as my current standard windows exe installation works very well.
Maybe you need to get a second WHS, Steve, as a test bed for anything new you might implement on the live server? ;D
Quote from: Lance on Feb 08, 2009, 12:19:39
Maybe you need to get a second WHS, Steve, as a test bed for anything new you might implement on the live server? ;D
Well it does run on virtual box just don't fancy paying for an additional licence which I presume I'd need.
From the slim devices forum,the WHS version of squeezecenter will install from within the console like an ordinary addin and can be installed over a previous installation. Admin is via the usual web UI (not console). I think the idea is for use on a headless WHS and remote access is apparently not required to install or run SC as a service.
I did install the squeezecenter (http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/?ver=7.3) add in,by the same method as another add in . Seems to work ok, certainly less of a faff than the previous method of installation using RDP. Hopefully they will add the ability to restart the service from the console or the browser gui and on the first installation the browser gui port conflict with PVconnect/Twonky.
Another connector update details here (http://mswhs.com/2009/02/24/february-2009-update-for-windows-home-server/)
Thanks, Steve, update applied. :thumb:
Power Pack 2 installed last night with new connector, no issues so far must find out what's in it.
How to backup a MAC to WHS using superduper
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3576&start=0&sid=fddc86831bfe12e47f752d0366c76b80
:thumb:
Quote from: stevethegas on Apr 15, 2009, 22:20:21
How to backup a MAC to WHS using superduper
Wasn't that an Abba song? ;D :out:
:rofl:
I have been fanny about this am trying to avoid gardening as long as possible. I have followed a variety of instructions trying to get Apple Time machine to backup to WHS There are quite detailed instructions here (http://www.mediasmarthome.com/article/11615/Using-Mac-s-Time-Machine-with-HP-MediaSmart-Server-EX470-475/?textpage=1) which nevertheless failed despite my many attempts however I think I may have succeeded?
I created the WHS share and the sparsebundle as instructed but it always seemed to fail. I initialized a remote connection into the WHS server mac backup share and was able to watch what was going on. Time machine was creating a temporary backup sparse bundle which contained a different computer name and mac address to the sparsebundle I had created. Infuriating as I know I followed the instructions to the letter. So whilst the temporary file was available (time machine deletes it after the failure) I renamed the sparsebundle I had created obviously using the computer name and mac address details from the temporary file name. At present its working over wifi so will take a while. So duty calls :fingers:
Aren't computers wonderful. :)
Infuriating!! the mac address required in the sparsebundle is not the one I am using. I thought backup over wifi use that one no wrong it wants the ethernet one . Never mind several hours to go before I can call it a success.
Try not to grind your teeth down to the gums, Steve. ;)
If this does work reliably from the macbook. I fear another expensive purchase as one of the lads has a pc that needs an upgrade. :eek4:
A road well travelled, Steve, you start by aiming to freshen up the paintwork and end up with a new carpet and furniture. :)
I have always preferred non-drip paints >:D
;D
I have always preferred letting someone else do the painting. :)
Quote from: stevethegas on Apr 18, 2009, 10:03:24
If this does work reliably from the macbook. I fear another expensive purchase as one of the lads has a pc that needs an upgrade. :eek4:
:hehe:
Quote from: stevethegas on Apr 18, 2009, 10:03:24
If this does work reliably from the macbook. I fear another expensive purchase as one of the lads has a pc that needs an upgrade. :eek4:
Well it creates a backup using Time machine which you can restore files and folders from but I cannot yet use it for a full restore as the install Mac OS X DVD disk utility will only see a Time capsule networked backup. So work in progress.
http://www.wegotserved.com/2009/11/19/windows-home-server-power-pack-3-available-november-24th/
Finally with proper Windows 7 support :thumb:
This also looks interesting http://www.wegotserved.com/2009/11/17/how-to-restore-a-client-computer-without-using-the-client-restore-disk/
You could take the harddrive from the machine and connect it to the WHS, potentially much quicker than via LAN and obviates the need for specific network drivers and the client restore disk
thanks, Steve, that looks worth waiting for, good to see Windows 7 will be properly supported. :thumb:
Thanks Steve
Quote from: Ray on Nov 20, 2009, 21:57:37
thanks, Steve, that looks worth waiting for, good to see Windows 7 will be properly supported. :thumb:
Well I'm using Windows 7 64-bit with my own Build Windows Home server and are having no problems whatsoever, so I do not see what they can improve on with this new Power Pack, although I will install it anyway.
Colin
Quote from: wecpcs on Nov 22, 2009, 16:05:43
Well I'm using Windows 7 64-bit with my own Build Windows Home server and are having no problems whatsoever, so I do not see what they can improve on with this new Power Pack, although I will install it anyway.
Colin
So am I Colin, the only problems I've noticed is I get false warnings from the WHS connector about Anti spyware not switched on and if you map your WHS shares to' My Computer' as drives in Win 7 the capacities are shown incorrectly and it shows the drives as full on the graphics.
There's also another useful addition to WHS in that you will be able to set a PC to hibernate again after a backup is completed in win 7.
Just received my invitation to download PerfectDisk 11 bundle for WHS and PC.
Did you hve 10 running?
Yes on WHS and a couple of PC's I paid a subscription last year.
Instructions for installing Windows Software Update Services on a WHS
Both links from the same Author
http://usingwindowshomeserver.com/2009/03/06/extending-windows-home-server-with-wsus-updated/
http://wiki.wegotserved.com/index.php?title=Extending_Windows_Home_Server_with_WSUS
Yes, they were the 2 sets of Instructions I followed, Steve, very helpful.