With my home server stable and running FlexRAID. I decided to install the following:
They see like simple installs but could not be further from the truth. Data Protection Manager was easily the most complex Windows application I ever installed.
My 2TB Seagate drive died on Friday. I had no idea it was on its way out and I lost a bunch of movies, music and game backups. My most important documents were backed up but it was still a bummer to discover all that data was lost.
These involuntary purges are not welcomed but they I don’t mind them. We’re all digital hoarders and the occasional purge is sometimes necessary to save space and put things into perspective.
This also reignited the research initiative for my future home server with VMWare ESXi. Will it work out? I have no idea until I try real hardware. In the meantime, I have installed ESXi 5.1 on a Oracle VirtualBox VM. I’m trying to install FreeNAS on the ESXi install but I’m encountering issues with the installation.
I will continue test this virtual setup but it could ultimately be for my own amusement as VMWare ESXi and the ASUS P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi/AP motherboard will undoubtedly have compatibility issues. Th
Got my Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA Hard Drive and successfully installed it into my Shuttle ST20G5. Windows Home Server 2011 recognized it and I was able to configure/format it within seconds. With that simple step out of the way, the long task of migrating 450+ GB of data from my HP Media Vault NAS to the 2TB hard drive within the Shuttle.
After getting my hands on the retail version of Windows Home Server 2011 (sans license key), two failed installs and a pre-mature catastrophic driver related failure resulting in another re-install: I got my Windows Home Server up and running.
It took a bit of experimenting (which resulted in that catastrophic failure I spoke of), but I was able to get every device recognized in this 6 year old Shuttle ST20G5. I only have a 200 GB drive in there working as the “OS drive”, but it is up and running.
I enabled the web access which allows me to access the home server via the web from anywhere in the world. And I tried streaming multiple SD videos simultaneously without a hitch as well. As soon as I get my Seagate LP 2TB 5900RPM 3.5″ SATA hard drive 64MB, I’ll start backing up computers and implementing Dropbox syncing and all that fun stuff.
I was thinking of implementing a RAID 1 setup, but with the age of this Shuttle hardware I didn’t think it would be a good idea. After a bit of thought, I decided to stick with a single 2TB drive for now and simply use this tiered approach for data “backup”.
It’s a bit much for home, but at least my data will be safe. Hopefully.
My next objective is to get a hold of a Windows Home Server 2011 license. I have 29 days to do so before this trial period ends. It costs around $110 USD, but I can’t find a North American retailer that will ship to Canada. As days tick away, I may need to call in a favor in order to get a copy of it.