Monday Update for Feb 23rd

 

I’m continually posting the Monday update later and later!  Pretty soon it will be the Tuesday Update!

Leave me a voicemail!

Skype me at:  CONNEXXLLC  Tell me what your thinking and I’ll get it on the next podcast.  If you want to leave a message and not be on the just say so in the voicemail.

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Reader Submitted Deal of the Week: Hitachi 1TB Hard Drive $87.99 Free Ship!

Please take a look at last week’s posts.  Our new bloggers are busy writing for you and these articles are fantastic.  Thanks guys.

The Home Build section is growing!  Please take a look and submit your builds to me.  I’ll get them online as soon as I can.  I promised a key to HP’s Upline for any submitter.  Well, it seems Upline is not taking new subscriptions at the moment.  Did we kill it???

Last week’s podcast was the biggest show I’ve ever done.  It think it may be the longest running, and it certainly is the most opinionated show I have done.  I enjoy talking about Windows Home Server and I most certainly have my opinions on it.  Some may not agree with them but If I’m ever wrong I’ll be the first one to admit it.  It happens too, just ask my spouse!  There were a couple of topics on this episode that received the most attention and if you have not taken the time to comment why don’t you pop in and leave us your two cents.  I would like more feedback on these subjects.  More on that after the click.

Multiple Copies of Files

I had a question from one listener that I would like to address.  “Does single instance storage compare backup files to shares in order to only have a single copy of a file?”  This is a big “No” and to be sure about myself I got some help on it from the Microsoft Forums Guru, Ken Warren.  I talked about the situation where you may have a folder full of stuff.  Actually, I talked about the 100Gigs of rips on your desktop. If you backup your computer you now have two copies of these rips.  That’s a good thing!  If you copy these rips to a shared folder you now have 3 copies.  If you turn on duplication you now have 4 copies.  If you back up your shares to an external drive you now have 5 copies!  Ok, I understand you probably deleted the copy on your computer but that is still a lot of redundancy.  Don’t get me wrong, Windows Home Server is meant to do this exact thing.  Back it up, make duplicate copies, etc.  My point was and still is, look at your data before you backup because you might be creating some unwanted redundancy.   I raise this up because unlike some opinions I do feel storage is an issue with WHS.  I am amassing video content in a huge way.  My once abundant 2TB server has but a few gig left.  I challenge you to own a Hi-Definition camcorder for 18 months and not be worried about disk space!

Does recommending a file transfer by external drive take away from the WHS experience and overall goal of the product?
I’m thinking so.  If you have to remote desktop i can completely see this argument.  I can totally agree with this argument but is it the fastest method of transferring large amounts of data?  I suppose time is the issue here.  What method do you prefer to use?  After my initial setup I don’t transfer anything via external drives. Also, don’t forget that using an external drive to copy data has two parts.  One is to copy data to the drive and the other is to copy it to the server.  Which is faster? Network? eSata drive?  USB drive?   All are great questions that can be tested but the question is does sneakernet take away from the ideology of Windows Home Server and what it’s trying to sell to new users?  I think the answer is yes on that one.  I have been persuaded but your not getting my external drive away from me!  ha ha ha

When you listen to my show remember that some of my opinion is derived from my home use of this product but a large majority of my opinion comes from what I see when I install for customers.  Enthusiasts may keep a tidy network but not all users do.  I’ve done several installs where I am transferring over the network and at the same time I’m at another PC cleaning files and copying to an external drive.  When your at a customers house it’s not always easy to tell that customer that this file transfer will go for another 24 hours so don’t touch it!  Sometimes that just doesn’t work.  If I can cut that in half and have the copy process happening on the WHS via external drive and not via their pc I’ll take it.

The Big One

This argument is one that I may have to punt on.  Everybody seems to have an opinion and even PP1 improvements have not quelled the arguments.  What am I talking about?  The OS drive size argument.  What is the best size for the OS drive?  Remember that WHS will partition the drive into two drives.  One 20Gig drive for the OS.  The remainder for data.   Ok, this is where I’m stopping!  It’s your turn.  Sound off everybody.  Skype, E-Mail, or Comment.  Actually, you the listener have prompted The Home Server Show to action!  You will see more on this topic in the future but I would still like to hear your opinion.

Lastly, when I put the notes down for the “Before you Build” show I was aware that I had amassed many different tips and notes.  All that info could quite possibly turn someone away from the product.
But, if you boil down what I went over you will see that it’s basic stuff.  I think this will be more evident when I make a checklist for new installs.  I tried to say at the end of the show that even if you only did a few of the steps mentioned you would still have a great WHS that works.  Windows Home Server was designed to work in all types of situations.  I just tried to make a list that helped people have a smooth running network.  To fend off any problems that might occur before the install starts.   It might have been to much for a new user.  Maybe that’s the Advanced New user podcast and we should have a TRUE, new User podcast.  If you felt overwhelmed by all that information I do apologize and please let me know your opinions on it.  But hey, if I saved one person from backing up a virus to the their server or realizing that their router was not compatible with UPNP then I did my job as a podcaster. 

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