I have an EX 475 that I bought I think not long after it came out. It works ok, but as far as I know is not supported particularly strongly by HP and I'd like to plan to transition before something goes wrong. Additionally, while discussing options, I guess I'd also like to discuss a few related matters.
A Windows Home Server lets you easily access your files, photos, videos and music from any PC or TV in your home, or even while away. The complete line of D-Link Network Cameras easily plug into your digital ecosystem.
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I thought in buying from HP and Microsoft I was buying from two companies who would be there for me during those rare dark hours when something does go wrong and we need our backups to be in-place, accessible, secure from intruders, up-to-date and completely (no hassles, 100% user friendly to non-technically-inclined folks) easily brought up and running on something new. I bought the EX 475.because.
I am not strongly technically inclined and have no desire (or more importantly, time) to be such, and this inclination remains in the criteria for buying anything new. I don't know that it's critical to me to discuss the details of what has been good or bad about the HP WHS or MS WHS experience, but it does seem important to lay out the criteria that are still in place for me when I buy. As to my options, I will consider getting another WHS device, but I can't seem to bring myself up to speed quickly on what is going on. The learning curve seems to be getting away from me.
Why do there seem to be so few integrated major OEM WHS-specific devices? Are there any that are supported well and enthusiastically by good manufacturers? Any with 24x7 support, paid or otherwise? As best I can tell, perhaps with some caveats, tt seems that HP has abandoned selling home-oriented WHS devices with full support and everything (software and hardware) sold and integrated together. Yet, there seems to be general enthusiasm for purchasing WHS separately and then buying hardware and installing it. This all seems backward to me.
MS was known for compelling OEM manufacturers to install MS operating systems on hardware, but in the end, they don't seem to do that on WHS hardware. Yet, Windows 'Home' server, if it is really consumer-oriented, would seem to be the one place where we consumers would specifically need one great go-to place for support and everything else. Sort of something you get if you buy from a major OEM which has promised to stand by an integrated device? Along the same lines, the other thing about WHS that has struck me since I bought it is that the online discussions seem so to be largely for hobbyists/etc. And not so much for those of us who just want it to work with little hassle. Again, if it was intended to help address the backup and file- and media-serving needs of those of us who are not technical then this has not quite gone in that direction.
I realize it's fun for many people to get into and discuss the hardware and software in a technical way, but some of us wanted to try to avoid a lot of that side of things. So, are there recommendations in this group for the latest in WHS devices, WHS manufacturers, or competing non-WHS devices? Is there a succinct explanation as to where HP stands at this point? Perhaps there are historical discussions/links here that cover some of these issues?
For those who found HP's abandonment of some or all of its space here to be something where they moved on as customers, are there any devices (synology, drobo, netgear, seagate, etc.) that particularly seem like very good improvements? I'll leave it to others to post recommendations, but, for me, I have kept my MSS and continue to use it reliably.
A couple disks have failed in it, but with the redundant storage I lost nothing. Lost a power supply fan last week but it is easily replaced with instructions found in this community. There are instructions for replacing the entire power supply if necessary - and that seems to be the normal point of failure. If it's doing the job why change? Most of my (commercial) clients have moved on, generally to larger systems, more disks, etc. Some have stayed with WHS (2011) and some have gone on to MS Server solutions. Two went to Linux.
One is trying to set up an Apple solution - without a lot of success! All these (except the last) have seen significant increases in data storage and/or clients and just out-grew the MSS around the time HP pulled the plug and MS did away with the heart of WHS. Four clients have stayed with their original MSS and WHS. Of these two have external enclosures with additional disk drives. One client has installed two additional MSS units and divides up 18 clients between them, synchronizing the shared data nightly or on command if urgent. (The shared data is read-only to all but one client and is generally NOT updated during the working day.) All the clients that have stayed with the MSS have been very pleased.
They have found older units available (mostly from other clients who moved on). Other than one loud fan (not a PS fan) nothing has failed. If the MSS with the original WHS is doing the job, why change? Apply the updates and enjoy the continually dropping cost of ownership! (And the replacement units are all getting less expensive every day!) Why change?. If the MSS with the original WHS is doing the job, why change? Apply the updates and enjoy the continually dropping cost of ownership!
(And the replacement units are all getting less expensive every day!) Why change? Hi John: Thanks for your points in response.
I do agree with the idea of acknowledging that it is working quite nicely for me so far, and the system has helped me out of a couple of of jams over the last four years or so. That said, given that HP had long projected only half-enthusiasm for the product and finally made it official that they were pulling the plug, and given that in theory a top goal for me is to own a system that is very clearly supported by a major capable well-funded not-going-anywhere party, it seems prudent for me to look ahead. I am interested in owning something where when the moment of crisis hits, I will not be left poking around forums and trying to figure out electronics. I have zero capability in, and zero interest in, replacing a power supply or fan on something, ever.
I will do it if I have to, just as I will figure out how to replace a flat tire if I have to, but I am the opposite of you in that I do not work as a computer professional and am not interested in (or capable of) working as one, and I bought WHS partly for this reason. So, if owning a backup system is partly about planning ahead and being realistic, and if I foresee that it will be overly difficult for me to deal with the worst-case-scenario when it comes, then it seems prudent for me to consider moving before disaster strikes. I am interested in owning something where when the moment of crisis hits, I will not be left poking around forums and trying to figure out electronics. I have zero capability in, and zero interest in, replacing a power supply or fan on something, ever. I will do it if I have to, just as I will figure out how to replace a flat tire if I have to, but I am the opposite of you in that I do not work as a computer professional and am not interested in (or capable of) working as one, and I bought WHS partly for this reason.
So, if owning a backup system is partly about planning ahead and being realistic, and if I foresee that it will be overly difficult for me to deal with the worst-case-scenario when it comes, then it seems prudent for me to consider moving before disaster strikes. To be brutally honest, there is no sure-fire way to be completely 'ready' when disaster strikes.
It doesn't matter whether you've got yourself a shiny, brand-spanking-new box with all the latest gear, or a tried and true HP EX475. If a power supply blows out or a hard drive goes kablooie, you're going to be stuck fixing it. Sure, if it's under warranty you'll get the dead part replaced at no charge, and if you got a really sweet service plan, a tech might come out to your house to install it for you. But in the end, you'll be the one needing to get things back up and running. Believe it or not, replacing a power supply is easy. If one conks out on you, pretty much all you've got to do is replace it and you're up and running again. Having the system HDD croak is a much bigger pain in the hind end, as you need to reinstall the OS, get it linked back up to 'see' the backups again, etc.
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Even the best warranty in the world isn't going to help you there. In my experience, I've replaced a lot more failed HDDs than I have PSUs, and many of those have been system drives. So whether you keep your EX47x or upgrade to a newer box, if the PSU dies it's a pretty easy fix, but if the system drive dies you're in for a lot of work. There's no 'easy' way around it. Even I as an IT professional find myself poking around the forums when something goes wrong.
I wish I could tell you there was an easier way, but there isn't. If it was all easy, these forums wouldn't exist.
To be brutally honest, there is no sure-fire way to be completely 'ready' when disaster strikes. It doesn't matter whether you've got yourself a shiny, brand-spanking-new box with all the latest gear, or a tried and true HP EX475. If a power supply blows out or a hard drive goes kablooie, you're going to be stuck fixing it. Sure, if it's under warranty you'll get the dead part replaced at no charge, and if you got a really sweet service plan, a tech might come out to your house to install it for you. I wonder if the answer is to have two or three separate 1 or 2-HD wireless NAS devices and then have them each back me up once per day or so, and then I am never without backup and I can throw one away if it breaks and not bother about this nonsense of having to become a computer pro when it happens. I am pretty unhappy with MS.
I have been on and off since 1989 when I bought my first, but over many years it has seemed to me they have done a poor job of helping actually do backup, and this just seems like icing on the cake, on that point. One irony here in my view is that the company has been known for pressuring hardware vendors to include windows with the hardware, but they don't seem to be doing it with WHS. The ironic net-effect for me is that i seem to be left without a go-to trustworthy place to sell me a WHS device. I'm not aware of any WHS 2011 devices available for purchase by consumers here in the US. This is supposed to be available in NA once all of the Easystores have been removed from the retail stream, but I can't see any OEM gear out there either. My suggestion in the absence of an OEM out of the box WHS would be an out of the box NAS, most come with backup software bundled that should be fairly simple for non-techies.
You might also want to consider a. These are atom powered nas units in various different storage sizes, RAID 1 and 5 support, but from a WHS user perspective these are running Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, which isn't a far cry from what you were used to, and it comes with software to automate backups as well.
I'm not aware of any WHS 2011 devices available for purchase by consumers here in the US. This is supposed to be available in NA once all of the Easystores have been removed from the retail stream, but I can't see any OEM gear out there either. My suggestion in the absence of an OEM out of the box WHS would be an out of the box NAS, most come with backup software bundled that should be fairly simple for non-techies. You might also want to consider a. These are atom powered nas units in various different storage sizes, RAID 1 and 5 support, but from a WHS user perspective these are running Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, which isn't a far cry from what you were used to, and it comes with software to automate backups as well. Thanks, these seem like a few good ideas.
It seems like HP has backed off the WHS product, but also perhaps MS also if there are so few hardware makers integrating it with products here in the States. Maybe the Windows storage product amounts to a replacement, to some extent. The Western Digital product is intriguing, but there are many intriguing products.
Microsoft and HP may have backed away somewhat, but other companies appear to think my dollars might be ok with them in this area. Thanks, these seem like a few good ideas. It seems like HP has backed off the WHS product, but also perhaps MS also if there are so few hardware makers integrating it with products here in the States. Maybe the Windows storage product amounts to a replacement, to some extent. The Western Digital product is intriguing, but there are many intriguing products. Microsoft and HP may have backed away somewhat, but other companies appear to think my dollars might be ok with them in this area. Actually I have M$ Storage server that came with a couple of NAS's I picked up a few years ago as stop gaps to moving to a pair of HP P4500 SAN's.
The NAS's with WIndows Storage Server on it are HP AiO 600's, aside from some early issues with HDD FW, they have been rock solid performers and are still in production albeit in diminished roles once I got ESX up and running on the P4500 SAN's. My experience with Windows Storage Server is that it is a full fledged Windows Server implementation. I don't think you can use it as a DC, however it can be used as a member server. Unless you need for some reason to have an internal domain, it should be fine.
Home Server Forum
The biggest thing for Storage server is that the OEM implementations I've seen have had custom Snap-ins for ease of creating and managing shares, etc. Much like HP implemented WHS v1 with custom software. You'd have to do a little more digging with what Western Digital is offering but it looks like a really nice set up offering pretty much everything WHS had going for it. I think Western Digital has a custom dashboard for control, and along side the ability to do automated back ups it offers dual gigabit NIC's and a couple USB 3.0 ports and a built in DLNA server.
AS far as ease of use for a non-techie, I think you'd really have to do some searching and see if there are user groups and or forums around, it doesn't appear quite as user friendly as WHS but not having had the opportunity to lay hands on one of the Western Digital unitsI couldn't say for sure on those, on my own experience with our 2 AiO 600's it was as easy as provisioning another server on my domian, setting up iSCSI connections for dB use and what not but I've been doing this for quite a while. Jlsoaz - Have you considered an online/cloud backup system (ie carbonite, etc.)? If you are just backing up PC's/data and not doing media storage/sharing/etc. From the server it might be something to consider.
If you don't think an online/cloud backup system would work well for you, can you let us know why not? That will help the user's here to recommend solutions to your specific needs. Another thought is to try and find a computer business that does stuff from small businesses and have them configure/setup/mange/repair/etc. A home server/backup solution that works for you. They'd do all the repairs for you and would be your tech support.
Yes it would cost more, but all the technical responsibilities shifts away from you. Hi Phil: I think what I really wanted in 2007 or 2008 was a wireless extremely consumer-friendly extremely secure NAS for backup and I guess streaming (but backup is the higher priority). One that would be supported enthusiastically both by hardware and software makers and which could fit in with my other HP purchases.
I do think in the end I got a good product (although I had to sit through MS's fix of their data corruption problem, and there were one or two other things that got a bit quirky as one expects with gen1 products). Eventually though Microsoft seems to have at least partially betrayed us (in abandoning a key feature?) and HP seems to have made a questionable decision to abandon a product where they seemed to have a leadership position. That said, for my next move, I guess I'm interested still to find a company which more or less fits the original criteria. As to offsite, I'm ok with it I guess except I think it seems a bit less secure from attempted intrusion than a local NAS which is not enabled for the net. As to a local part-time techie, I have paid for one and will do so in the future, but that is not a magic bullet and after all, all I want is secure reliable backup and recovery on one computer, maybe a couple more as the years go. At the least, I would like to decide myself on new hardware for eventually replacing my mediasmart server.