Al_Borges Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 had to replace my old DLink 655 router after ~ 5 years of good use - it seem like all routers have an expiration date . 5 years is about the expected life for me. Based on reviews on Maximum PC/ SmallNetbuilder etc, I purchased a ASUS RT65U model. I have been pleased overall with this as a router - but purpose of the post isn't a router review - but a mention of the very capable NAS qualities of this router ASUS's firmware for this router is based on the open "DD-WRT" router software. What makes this interesting to the home server crowd is that is it able to serve a USB disk as a "SMB" compatible resource on your local network. Hooking up a USB drive to a router isn't new - but what is new in my opinion is not having to load a special client on each machine and the speed of the file transfers I averaged ( three runs) 18 mb/sec network transfer rate for both a small file set ( 1000 files totaling 400 mb) and a large file set ( 1300 files , 40 gigs) Also able to stream a blu ray rip in MKV format directly to my HTPC with no hiccups or stutters. This is better than my first WHSV1 Box ! Now, these numbers are for a single user hitting the system - Even though the Router has a fairly capable processor ( dual core Marvel Arm chip) for a router , its probably no match for a true server or perhaps a PfSense Pc based router. but still a useful capability. - especially those of us that have stopped using WHS and haven yet gotten a Synology or such NAS. in my current layout, I am backing up the 4-5 machines in my house ( depending on which daughter is home on any given day) using Acronis True image. I just back up restore images this way. 1 backup per week for each machine. For my data, I am using a combination of crashplan and skydrive for continuous backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 Interesting idea. I agree that consumer routers have about a 5 year lifespan (they're pretty much obsolete by then anyway IMHO), but I also agree that a PC running pfSense or Untangle or such will last much longer, and perform better. Question re: Acronis: how do you handle automation of the backups, or do you perform them manually. For me, one of the biggest advantages of WHS is that I don't have to think about it. Can Acronis wake up a sleeping computer, perform a backup, and then put it back to sleep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Borges Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 Yes, Acronis 12/13 run scheduler services that wake them up and I have them set to make the restore images at night One of the side benefits of running SSD's is that the restore images are much smaller - 50 - 100 gigs depending on the SSD Each machine is schedule for a different night ( don't know what I would do if I had more than 7 boxes backing up !) so the backup is easily finished while everyone is sleeping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 If you did nightly Incremental backups you could likely get them all done while everyone is asleep. That's what my WHS2011 does. That way you could have more than 7 computers and gain the advantage of having more up to date backups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Borges Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 I only image once a week or so, so this is not a big deal WHS2011 was not working for two of my UEFI based machines So I moved on Has the UEFI issue been resovled for WHS2011? Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Yes, WHS2011 now supports UEFI with the update. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2781272 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 My point about doing nightly backups was that each backup would be smaller and take less time, so you could backup more computers in a given time frame. And yes, WHS2011 does do UEFI now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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