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5372
July 21st, 2008 17:00
building a NAS server
I have several older PCs that I have sort of turned into 'network attached storage' units by basically installing XP, installing several hard drives and then connect it to my router via an ethernet connection. I would then basically change each installed internal drive so it has sharing properties and then map each to my main PC as a separate drive letter. It has been working good for the most part, but I'm wondering about trying another way. I thought about maybe trying to install Windows Home Server on an older PC. Does this program then take ALL the internal drives (3 of them) and make them look like one big drive throughout my network when I try to map a drive from this PC? Is there maybe another alternative to Windows Home Server? Something that might also be cheaper?
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AlanKS
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July 21st, 2008 18:00
I have been using WHS for some time, even before commercial release and in general have been happy with it. there was a bug which caused problems with files that were opened on the client from the shares on the server but the recent service pack (called Power Pack 1) seem to have resolved that.
I am using a GX270 MT chassis as my host, due to the fact that it only natively supports 2 HDD's I have fitted an ICYBox 3 drive cage into the CD ROM bay as you only need the CD during the build. From then on you do not need a screen, keyboard or mouse attached as you do the standard management from a dedicated console screen.
The O/S has a special disk management utility as a background task that ensures data is mirrored across multiple drives or partitions so there is no specific need to use RAID. It will automatically backup your client PCs and the kit comes with a bootable CD that you can use to rebuild a PC if it has a catastrophic failure and you can protect up to 10 PCs with this feature include in the price.
The O/S is a modified version of Windows SBS 2003 and many of the utilities built into SBS can be enabled, I have used the RDP function to install and configure DHCP and DNS, don't use Windows backup because it does not understand the unusual drive configuration. Drives can be added at any time to be included in the available storage space or, with the release of Service Pack one designated as a server backup destination as can USB drives. It can act as a print server and it includes tools to publish secure access from the internet.
Would I do it if I did not have the hardware and some good knowledge of the server O/S? Probably not, Netgears' ReadyNas or the Buffalo TerraStation range do most of this out of the box but being an inveterate tinkerer and having access to the O/S make it a nerds dream! It is also useful if you have XBOX360 of MediaCentre as it can integrate these well to make a complete media system.
Go to the following link to lead to blogs, guides etc.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/support.mspx