59 replies to this topic

[Kazz]

I'm new to WHS but not server tech. In all candor, it has been a few years, though.

I'm building my first WHS (2011) based on an MSI H67MA-35. I'm planning on mirroring two 3Gbps SATA WD 320GB drives for the OS (drive C:) and using a single 6Gbps SATA WD 2TB drive for storage.

I'm looking for folks' lists of advantages/drawbacks most specifically as they relate to managing a drive failure and replacement. Using the OS, it seems to me at first blush, would make it all dependent upon a GUI and very straightforward.

Anything else I should consider?

Thanks.

[ikon]

Can you clarify drive failure; which drive(s) are you talking about, the OS mirror, or the data?

[Kazz]

The OS - dual 320GB, mirrored - drive ...

[ikon]

Ah. OK. Well, you won't be able to mirror those drives using Windows. Windows won't let you mirror the system drive - I tried it recently and Windows just doesn't give you the option in Disk Mangler.

That leaves you with just the onboard RAID option, unless you want to install a RAID card.

I have my own WHS2011 set up using the Intel ICH7R RAID1 feature of my mobo to mirror 2 Maxtor 250GB drives. It hasn't happened yet, but I presume I will get a warning from the system if one of the drives fails.

[Kazz]

Really? Not an option? I thought folks on here were talking about using the OS. Perhaps my choice is made for me, eh? Thanks for your experience!

[jmwills]

Most everyone has been using the IcyDock adapter for OS mirroring (see my sig line) with laptop drives. Works great and installs in seconds.

[Kazz]

Interesting. Thanks. I have my 3.5" 320GB drives in-hand though so I'm going to waste space, apparently. *Laugh* No big deal. It's all going into a circa 1997 tower case with acres of 5.25 drive bays. I purchased 5.25-3.5 bay adapters for just this purpose.

I'll be keeping those in mind when I add drives to PCs in the future.

Thanks!

[jmwills]

You could still RAID 1 those OS drives off the MOBO and use a controller card for the data drives. Nothing wrong with repurposing an old case. I wish I could find the right MOBO and PSU combo to update an almost 10 year old Dell 600SC case.

[Kazz]

I'm going to RAID 1 the 2 OS drives. The question was whether there was an advantage to using the OS over the MB. But, if WHS 2011 is incapable of mirroring (how silly is that? No drive extender OR mirroring???) then the MB it will be.

Data will be on the single 2TB. I have visions of the upgrade after that being RAID 5 of some 3TB drives. But, we'll see what time and finances dictate.

Thanks!

[no-control]

I mirror system drives all the time inside windows and WHS. We talk about it several times on BYOB. You can mirror the OS drives using the OS and then just attach the 2TB data drive. Don't spend money on a RAID controller until you have more drives. I would highly recommend getting a second 2TB drive and mirror tha as well until you upgrade to the storage.

[Kazz]

Thank God. I couldn't say they were wrong without looking at it and I don't have my copy of WHS in-hand yet - though it should all be arriving today!

This is really an experimental stage for WHS and video delivery. I'll worry about data redundancy and backup once I get a handle on what I can put on there, which formats, and how much I'll need in coming years.

That does rip open the question of on-board vs. add-in RAID controllers along with their pluses and minuses. But, I'm not ready for that quite yet.

Thanks!

[ikon]

I mirror system drives all the time inside windows and WHS. We talk about it several times on BYOB. You can mirror the OS drives using the OS and then just attach the 2TB data drive. Don't spend money on a RAID controller until you have more drives. I would highly recommend getting a second 2TB drive and mirror tha as well until you upgrade to the storage.

Well, this is a pleasant surprise for me then. Disk Manager just didn't give me the option. I have 2 identical Maxtor 320GB drives. I attached them to non-RAID SATA ports on the mobo, installed WHS2011, then went into Disk Manager to set up the mirror. It showed the unallocated drive just fine, but when I right-clicked either the OS drive or the unallocated one, there was no option to mirror the OS drive. I have more of the Maxtor 320GB drives so I may try again.

Is there some magic incantation I failed to chant at the appropriate time?

My appologies to Kazz for steering you wrong. If no-control says it can be done then I would take his word on it.

[Kazz]

Again, my server experience is a bit dated, but it comes to mind that you may have to create the partition first, before mirroring is a possibility. I'm happy to wait to hear from no-control or someone else who's been down this road recently...

[ikon]

Again, my server experience is a bit dated, but it comes to mind that you may have to create the partition first, before mirroring is a possibility. I'm happy to wait to hear from no-control or someone else who's been down this road recently...

I can check that out but, IIRC, you have to have drives you want to use in arrays clear of any partitions.

[Joe_Miner]

Well, this is a pleasant surprise for me then. Disk Manager just didn't give me the option. I have 2 identical Maxtor 320GB drives. I attached them to non-RAID SATA ports on the mobo, installed WHS2011, then went into Disk Manager to set up the mirror. It showed the unallocated drive just fine, but when I right-clicked either the OS drive or the unallocated one, there was no option to mirror the OS drive. I have more of the Maxtor 320GB drives so I may try again.

Is there some magic incantation I failed to chant at the appropriate time?

My appologies to Kazz for steering you wrong. If no-control says it can be done then I would take his word on it.

Sure. Read up (and/or watch a video):

Read: Windows Home Server 2011 Unleashed – Chapter 5 starting on page 107 – “Who needs drive extender? Implementing, Sanning, Mirroring, and RAID”

Read and watch the video at http://usingwindowsh...-video-edition/

Or go to the listings at: http://www.microsoft...s.aspx?id=20225 that Diehard provided us at: http://homeserversho...s-for-sbs-2011/

And view at least the video titled (though all are worthwhile IMHO) “SBS 2011 Essentials Learning Bites – Setting up RAID.wmv 6.0MB”

[no-control]

Magical incantation is as follows

Go to drive manager
right click volume you want to mirror
Select add mirror
Then select disk you want the mirror to reside on.
allow some time for the resync to complete.

If its grayed out convert the drive to a dynamic volume first.

[ikon]

Magical incantation is as follows

Go to drive manager
right click volume you want to mirror
Select add mirror
Then select disk you want the mirror to reside on.
allow some time for the resync to complete.

If its grayed out convert the drive to a dynamic volume first.

Hmmmm, I was almost certain I had tried that. Maybe I was too drunk er, I mean too tired at the time (j/k)

OK, trying it again on a fresh install.

[Kazz]

Adding mirror to the original drive. Yes. I recall that now. *Laugh*

Thanks!

[no-control]

system drives are mirrored via OS....



Two are offline and passed through to WHS VM and RAID! insode that via OS
The other 2 volumes are RAID5's 1 contains VMs the other is offline and attached to WHS as my video volume

[ikon]

OK, I'm trying the experiment. Had a lot of trouble getting WHS2011 to install. It would get to 59%, flash the screen very quickly, access the disk for a few seconds, then crap out with a A problem has occurred error message.

I tried different drives, changing the ICH7R SATA settings in BIOS, and other things. Nothing would work. Finally, I took the USB boot stick and burned the ISO to it again using the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool (which is how I created the stick in the first place). Well, it worked. The install is now sitting at the screen where you choose the Country or region. Updates to follow.