2012-11-21, 20:57
My current setup is a HP MediaSmart EX470 home server that runs WHS 2008 with 4tb of drive space connected to a computer to which I just recently installed Windows 8 (& of course running xbmc).
Well I finally filled up the space on the server and am weighing my options of what to do. I have three 3tb WD Red discs that I will use. Trying to decide between:
1. Simplest, Just keep things as is and swap out the current HDs for the larger ones.
2. I’ve been researching the ‘Storage Spaces’ option in Windows 8, and have been leaning towards ditching the server altogether and just installing the drives all in one machine. Mainly because I very rarely use the server for anything other then streaming movies to the htpc so the other traditional advantage of a home server are largely lost on me.
The main complaint of the new Storage Spaces that I’ve read, slow write speeds, isn’t much of a concern to me apart from the initial moving of stuff over taking forever. The main advantage of the Storage Spaces option over my current setup is that it offers parity whereas the WHS 2008 only does duplication which eats space.
My last thought on this option may be untrue as I’m not very knowledgeable about hardware – would the storage drives in a machine that is only used on occasion (when using xbmc) last longer/ be less susceptible to corruption then compared to always being on so to speak in a server?
3. Upgrade my MediaSmart’s hardware and install Windows Server 2012 which offers parity + whatever other benefits a home server. Disadvantage – I’m not really keen on spending money to upgrade this machine.
Lastly, I know there are other storage options (unraid & whatnot), but at this point I am not wanting to learn new setups (call me both too lazy & too busy).
Thanks for reading the long rant & for any opinions
Well I finally filled up the space on the server and am weighing my options of what to do. I have three 3tb WD Red discs that I will use. Trying to decide between:
1. Simplest, Just keep things as is and swap out the current HDs for the larger ones.
2. I’ve been researching the ‘Storage Spaces’ option in Windows 8, and have been leaning towards ditching the server altogether and just installing the drives all in one machine. Mainly because I very rarely use the server for anything other then streaming movies to the htpc so the other traditional advantage of a home server are largely lost on me.
The main complaint of the new Storage Spaces that I’ve read, slow write speeds, isn’t much of a concern to me apart from the initial moving of stuff over taking forever. The main advantage of the Storage Spaces option over my current setup is that it offers parity whereas the WHS 2008 only does duplication which eats space.
My last thought on this option may be untrue as I’m not very knowledgeable about hardware – would the storage drives in a machine that is only used on occasion (when using xbmc) last longer/ be less susceptible to corruption then compared to always being on so to speak in a server?
3. Upgrade my MediaSmart’s hardware and install Windows Server 2012 which offers parity + whatever other benefits a home server. Disadvantage – I’m not really keen on spending money to upgrade this machine.
Lastly, I know there are other storage options (unraid & whatnot), but at this point I am not wanting to learn new setups (call me both too lazy & too busy).
Thanks for reading the long rant & for any opinions
