Ben Hooper wrote:

Hi,

I'm in the process of choosing a WHS device. I'm looking for an off-the shelf solution, not a 'Franken-build'. I've looked at the HP, the Tranquil and Fujitsu-Siemens boxes and all seem to have pros and cons. I love the large number of drives the HP can host, plus the fact the case doesn't need to be opened when a spindle dies – but it uses a relatively large 60W in operation. I like the low power usage of the Tranquil – plus its quiet operation. The Fujitsu and Tranquil look a bit more of a pain to change drives – although completely do-able. I like the fact the Fujitsu-Siemens can be scheduled to switch on and off. Is there a universal plug-in that can achieve this scheduling of any vendor's offering? The ability to schedule the wake-up of clients to perform their backups would be a real bonus, too. Thanks for any tips!

In fact I'm also looking for a Media Center 'HTPC' box. Ideally MS would merge VMC and WHS into one solution! One day, maybe…