Ask the Home Server Guy – Largest drive as the System Drive

Someone on twitter asked a question and I thought that some of you may be interest in my answer. So in the off chance that you don't follow me on twitter (which I'm sure in not the case), I've posted the question here. I also can explain it a little better when I'm not restricted to a 140 char answer.

I've heard that when building a WHS system, you should use your largest drive as your system drive. It has something to do with the "landing zone" and copying large files. Is that true?

First , let me explain what a "landing zone" is (in the context of the Windows Home Server OS, not a drive's physical landing zone). When you a copy file to a folder share, WHS needs to store the file somewhere before distributing it to other drives either by moving it or copying it (creating two copies if folder duplication is turned on). With the original WHS v1, the landing zone was drive D: on the physical drive 0 (or system disk).

With PP1, this was changed to be the drive with the least amount of space. Later the files would likely be balanced to another drive. The thinking here was that groups of files would at least start off on the same physical disk.

PP2 changed this once again. WHS now uses the drive with the most space as the landing zone for a given file. This assures that large files will get the best chance to be copied to a share.

So to answer the twitter user's question, using the largest drive as the system partition is not necessary if you are worried about the landing zone. However, I pointed out that upgrading a data drive is much easier than upgrading a system drive. So if you have a 1TB drive and a couple of puny 500GB drives and you think you may want to upgrade to the new a behemoth 2 TB drives some day, go ahead and put your largest drive as the system drive. You will get more mileage out of your system that way.

Remember you can ask a question of the Home Server guy too. Just send an email to . I'm sorry that I've been a slacker getting to them in the past, but there's been that whole new baby thing and all. :)

Ask the Home Server Guy

The election is over. It's time to get back to the emails from the Internets.

Dear Home Server Guy: Do you know of another CPU cooler that fits in the EX470 besides the stock unit? Or possible the dimensions of the factory unit? I only ask because I think mine is running a little on the hot side.

If you are talking about the heat sink, no, I am unaware of an aftermarket part that will fit. If you suspect that your EX470 is running hot because of a CPU upgrade, make sure you have a thin layer of thermal grease. If you are still seeing CPU or system temps above where you would like, I have a rather crude suggestion. It involves adding an external 80mm fan to the outside of the case. Extreme, yes. Tacky, you betcha (we'll miss you Sarah). But effective.

1. Unplug the EX470 and place it on your work surface.
2. Using a #00 Phillips screwdriver, remove the two mini screws, unlock the locking mechanism and gently position the front grill so that you can work (no need to remove it completely).
   
3. Plug any case/CPU fan into the white 3 pin connector near the front of the motherboard. I used and old 80mm stock CPU fan (as the duct and grime in the photo proves).
   
4. Making sure you don't pinch the fan wires, replace the grill and the two mini screws.
5. Attach the fan to the grill as best as you can. As this blog is titled Home Server HACKS, I thought it best to use masking tape. :) Make sure you observe the direction of air flow (fan should blow inwards). Also note that masking tape is not the best solution as it covers some of the holes in the front grill, but you get the picture.
   
6. Power up and feel the cool breeze flow!

NOTE: I would use this technique only as a last resort or stop-gap measure. If your EX470 is running hot, find the root cause (bad fan?) by contacting HP support.

 

Hi.  I'm a fan of your site homserverhacks.com and I very much enjoy reading your informative posts.  I'm in the market to buy the EX470, but I'm wondering if you have any inside information on when or even if HP will come out with a better model anytime soon.  I can either go and take a gamble and buy the 470 right now and just upgrade the memory and be happy, or wait it out until a new model comes out.  What do you think? My main purpose on buying the EX470 is for the backups of my media files and posting pictures on the web, pretty simple stuff.

First off, thanks. If its JUST the simple stuff you mentioned, I'd jump in now while prices are low (eBay has units for around $400). Or you could wait and buy someone's used EX470 after they upgrade (and after you see what features a possible new MediaSmart Server has).  OR you could build your own KPC based WHS for a little over $300.

Ask the Home Server Guy: Part 3-D

Today is the third installment of Ask the Home Server Guy and what better way to celebrate than to do what every great “part 3” has done throughout history. Do it in 3-D! Jaws 3-D. I rest my case.

In this episode I talk about migrating backup data to a new Home Server, connecting a printer and selectively restoring certain files.

So put on your 3-D glasses and let’s get started.

Dear HSG: I have a homemade server using WHS that  has been working fine but I got an HP Media Smart Server so I could use the computer for something else.  What is the best way to move the backups from the homemade one to the new one if possible?  And do I uninstall the Home Server Connect off all computers before I install the new server?

You can easily migrate your backup data from your old WHS to your new MediaSmart Server. Just follow these steps:

1. Establish a remote desktop session on your new MediaSmart Server.
2. Open a command prompt (Start, Run, type “cmd” and press return)
3. Type net stop PDL
4. Type net stop WHSBackup
5. Open a Windows Explorer window and navigate to
   \\oldserver\d$\folders\{00008086-058D-4C89-AB57-A7F909A47AB4}
   (where “oldserver” is the name of your old server)
6. Press Ctrl-A to select all of the files then Ctrl-C to copy them
7. Now navigate to
   D:\folders\{00008086-058D-4C89-AB57-A7F909A47AB4}
8. If there are any files and/or sub-folders, delete them.
9. Press Ctrl-V to paste the files into the new server’s backup folder. This process could take some time (depending on how much backup data existed on your old server), so kick back, put in that old VHS copy of Jaws 3-D and take a load off.
10. When the copy if finished, go back to the command prompt
11. Type net start WHSBackup
12. Type net start PDL
13. Lastly, you will need to re-install the connector software on all of your client PCs.

 

Home Sever Guy: My desktop just died and I'm thinking of replacing it with WHS. I want the HP model, but can't figure out how it will handle my printer. Best I can figure is that it won't. So am I stuck building a custom system or buying a network printer?

Although it is not specifically supported, there is no reason you can’t hook up a USB printer to one of the USB ports on the MediaSmart Server. The fine folks over at MyHomeServer.com have an excellent tutorial.

 

Dear Home Server Guy, I want to install Windows Vista on my home machine. Can I restore from my home server just documents and data off of that machine or do I need to do a complete restore?

You do not need to do a complete restore. Windows Home Server has a cool feature that lets you can open up you backup set as a mounted drive in Windows Explorer at any moment in time (i.e. a Time Machine if you will). Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Windows Home Server Console (double click the WHS icon in the tray) and click on the Computers & Backup tab
   
2. Double click on the computer that you want to retrieve the files from.
3. Select the volume (date) that you would like to use
4. Click the “Open…” button.
5. You will see an “Opening Backup” dialog a the volume mount is prepared. This process which will take some time (mine took 4-5 minutes).
6. You will see some warning messages at the drive mounts. Ignore these by clicking Restart Later.
   
7. When the volume is completely mounted, you will see an Explorer Window open; mine was drive Z:. This will be a “read only” copy of your backed up drive at the time and date you specified How cool is that?
   
   
   
8. You can now open another Windows Explorer window and drag/drop files onto your new hard drive to your heart’s content.

Did I mention that this selective restore feature was cool? What I meant to say that it was really cool!

 

That’s all for this installment of Ask the Home Server Guy. As always be sure to send your questions to .

Ask the Home Server Guy: Part Deux

It would seem that Ask The home Server Guy is a big success. Since announcing the series I’ve been inundated with hundreds of emails. Some of your questions were so tough that they have me stumped! This week I will address some of the low hanging fruit while I research some of the tough ones. Me and my “stupid question” comment. :)

 

Dear Home Sever Guy: I am a new WHS user and I have an external 750 drive that is a SATA drive. I have a lot of data on it that I need to “import” to the WHS drive space. Can I just plug it in to the internal SATA port and just move/copy the files? It would seem that I can just drag them off the external disk over to their desired locations on D:\shares\share1 directly, but am not sure if this is violating some principle of WHS drive extender. Share1 is shared out from the admin tool and it is marked as duplicate.

NEVER copy files directly to the D:\shares folder. You can easily copy files from an external drive directly attached to your WHS, but you will have to use the folder shares just like you would if you were remote. For example, if your external drive was drive E (as it was for me) then select the files and/or folder you wish to copy then double click this icon (right) on the desktop. You can now drag and drop to your heart’s content without fear of messing up the WHS file system.

 

Dear HSG: I have a HP Home Server that I am currently using to backup my home PC. I also have a 64 bit HP Pavilion Laptop that I cannot install the Home Server software on. Is the updated software for 64 bit PCs now available and if so where can I download it?

64-bit supported is included in Power Pack 1 which is currently in public beta. The release date has yet to be announced, but I would expect is before too long (weeks not months).

 

Hi Home Sever Guy: Maybe you can help me with this. So far HP support hasn't been able to, though they've given it a good  try (Thanks, Marc at HP). The connector CD installs great on all my PCs except for one, running XP Media Center (SP3). When I go to open the console, I get a message telling me:

"The pre-release version of Remote Desktop Connection has expired. To download the full version of Remote Desktop Connection, go to Windows Update or contact your system administrator."

Any ideas?

I have never seen this problem personally, but there is a long discussion about this topic here. Good luck and let me know if that fixed your issue.

 

Home Server Guy, How do I get my HP EX470 MediaSmart Home Server to reboot after a power failure?  It would seem that for an "always on" server, this would be automatic.

You can “fix” this BIOS setting by following the instructions here. Be very careful if you attempt this as you could potentially brick your server as you are changing BIOS settings blind. I have NOT attempted this on my MediaSmart Server. If you build one of the VGA adapters then by all means, go right a head. The easy approach is to buy the cable from this enterprising individual and then safely change the settings.

 

If I haven’t gotten to your question yet, I’m working on it so please be patient. As always, If you have a question for the Home Server Guy, send it to .

Ask the Home Server Guy

Today I’m starting a new segment called Ask the Home Server Guy where you ask the stupid questions and I pretend that I care and give you an answer. Oops. Did I say that out loud? :)

Seriously, send in your questions about anything and everything Windows Home Server related and I’ll do my best to answer them. Send your questions to (note the spiffy new domain name).

Let’s get started…

Dear Home Sever Guy: I’m a bit confused as to what the iTunes application does on the HP MediaSmart Server. I mean, can you just leave your music on the shared storage and point iTunes there to sync. What am I missing?

Not exactly. You don’t point your iTunes library to your shared drive. Instead, the iTunes server (actually it’s called the Firefly Media Server project) runs on the WHS and you see the server as a shared device in iTunes running on each of your clients.

HP also distributes a piece of client software that periodically updates the shared folder with music you have added to your local iTunes. This way the whole family can share all of it’s music. Little 10 year old Madison can stream her father’s copy of Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight” and Mom can listen to 17 year old Connor’s “Shame On A N*gg*” by Wu-Tang Clan. See, everyone wins!

Home Sever Guy: Do you think building a custom WHS box is wiser than buying a pre-built system like the HP EX470?

The HP EX470 (or HP MediaSmart Server) is a great machine and it’s what I use as my main WHS. Buying a ready to run EX470 is definitely a lot easier than building a DIY box, but there are advantages to both. DIY machines can be cheaper as you can use an old machine that may already be collecting dust in your closet. Or you can start from scratch and build the $400 Windows Home Server. Bottom line is that if you have the cash and don’t have the time, I’d go pre-built and right now, the pre-built most people run is the HP EX470.

Dear Home Sever Guy: We have two Macs in our home and thought it [Windows Home Server] allowed for Macs to backup as well. Am I mistaken?

Currently there is no “connector” for a Mac. A connector the small little piece of software that runs on each client and provides for, among other things, automated backup. You can however use the shared drives from your Mac and possibly automate a backup to use them. This solution would be outside of the normal WHS backup procedure and you would loose the space saving "duplicate files" feature of the WHS backup.

That’s all for this installment of Ask the Home Server Guy. Be sure to send your questions to .