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Johnny Bravo
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p.1 #1 · HP Home Server

If you, like me, stress over storage, you might be interested in this.

I purchased the HP Home server last week. 1TB of drives in a home server, running Windows home server softwear with some HP tweaks. I immediately installed two 500GB WD drives, which was wonderfully painless, so I'm now running a 2TB home server.

Installation as a total no-brainer. Setup of my pc's (two desktops and a laptop, two of them cabled and one wireless), was equally easy.

The unit is virtually silent. It's MUCH faster than running USB drives, and now all three pc's automatically back up nightly--the software is even smart enough that if I've got the same file on two or three pc's, it makes one backup copy for me instead of wasting space with three.

It even creates a cental itunes library, and then will stream tunes and video content to any networked device. It offers remote access to all my files and I can set up web pages accessable via password or 'in the clear'. (I haven't fussed with some of those features yet....so I'll update this posting if there is interest or if I run into issues.)

Sweet and highly recommended.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 05, 2007 at 11:15 AM

PierreB
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p.1 #2 · HP Home Server

Sounds like a lot of people here will be interested in this - I certainly am. It's not available here yet (UK) but I'll be checking it out as soon as it does.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 05, 2007 at 12:01 PM

PierreB
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p.1 #3 · HP Home Server

My mistake - Amazon are listing it for £449.99 but it is currently out of stock.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 05, 2007 at 12:26 PM

Johnny Bravo
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p.1 #4 · HP Home Server

I ordered mine from HP here in the US. They just showed them available the day I bought mine.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 06, 2007 at 03:33 PM

Dan Martin
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p.1 #5 · HP Home Server

Johnny, can the server also back up to an external drive?

My friend has a small office and is looking to build a file server for backups. They would like the contents of their file server to be cloned onto an external drive every night. Once a week they will swap the drive with one that they keep at home, so there will always be a copy off-site.

If the HP can do this, it seems like a perfect little machine for their needs. As it stands now, I'll probably be building a box from scratch, but this looks cool.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 06, 2007 at 11:53 PM

DavidLari
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p.1 #6 · HP Home Server

For those who don't want to make Micro$oft even more of a monopoly, there are alternatives that are less expensive and superior:
http://mswhs.com/2007/11/22/linux-whs-alternative-hipserv/

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 02:46 AM

JameelH
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p.1 #7 · HP Home Server

Dan,

Yes this can also back up to external USB drives. It has 4 USB ports for this purpose.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 04:33 AM

Johnny Bravo
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p.1 #8 · HP Home Server

DavidLari wrote:
For those who don't want to make Micro$oft even more of a monopoly, there are alternatives that are less expensive and superior:
http://mswhs.com/2007/11/22/linux-whs-alternative-hipserv/

Microsoft's market dominance is due to producing EXCELLENT products. Sure, for less money you can be a little linux monkey, sitting at home with your bookshelf of linux cookbooks and guides---very productive-Not!!

I'd rather buy excellent software and focus on my photography, rather than fuss with rebuilding tools poorly that I can buy EXCELLENT versions of for VERY reasonable prices.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:28 PM

Johnny Bravo
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p.1 #9 · HP Home Server

JameelH wrote:
Dan,

Yes this can also back up to external USB drives. It has 4 USB ports for this purpose.

Yep, tis fact.. I back up my image library to a USB 'Mybook' and keep a copy in my office for that very reason.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:30 PM

DavidLari
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p.1 #10 · HP Home Server

Johnny Bravo wrote:
DavidLari wrote:
For those who don't want to make Micro$oft even more of a monopoly, there are alternatives that are less expensive and superior:
http://mswhs.com/2007/11/22/linux-whs-alternative-hipserv/

Microsoft's market dominance is due to producing EXCELLENT products. Sure, for less money you can be a little linux monkey, sitting at home with your bookshelf of linux cookbooks and guides---very productive-Not!!

I'd rather buy excellent software and focus on my photography, rather than fuss with rebuilding tools poorly that I can buy EXCELLENT versions of for VERY reasonable prices.

You have major misconceptions about Linux. There are many turnkey appliances running it embedded. A lot of folks are running NAS units and don't even know that Linux is underneath the hood.

I'm not bashing the MS product, just offering another option for those who want to look into it and don't mind saving $300. I think it's better that people know there are alternatives and make an informed decision.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:38 PM

Forrest Egan
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p.1 #11 · HP Home Server

David,

Where can I buy a turnkey NAS that's based on LINUX and is $300 cheaper than the HP Home Server?

I don't have the time or patience to learn to setup a LINUX box (although I build Windows PCs all the time). But if you know of a turn key LINUX-based solution that's $300 cheaper than the HP Windows-based Home Server, I'll drink the Kool Aid.

Forrest

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:47 PM

DavidLari
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p.1 #12 · HP Home Server

Did you folks not click on the link I provided, text of which is pasted below:

Today I have details of another Linux based product that claims to offer all the features of Windows Home Server. Its HipServ from Axentra Corporation based out of Canada. It has recently been released by LaCie on one of their NAS drives and sells for $199 USD which includes both the software platform pre-installed and a 500GB NAS drive. It allows you to do automated backups from Windows or Mac computers in your home - it is fully Mac compatible with OS 10.3 and 10.4, and they’re working on testing with Leopard now. It allows you to access content remotely through a browser, or from a mobile device (WM5, WM6, Blackberry and iPhone). They even include a DLNA compliant and Windows Media Connect media server on board, so you can access content from your Sony Playstation 3, xBox 360, Roku, and others. Axentra are also working on a VM version of the product which will run on a Windows based PC as well.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:54 PM

Forrest Egan
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p.1 #13 · HP Home Server

DavidLari wrote:
Did you folks not click on the link I provided, text of which is pasted below:

Sorry, that is no way a replacement for the HP Home Server...no expandability.

Edited by Forrest Egan on Dec 07, 2007 at 10:57 AM GMT

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:56 PM

cogitech
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p.1 #14 · HP Home Server

Forrest Egan wrote:
David,

Where can I buy a turnkey NAS that's based on LINUX and is $300 cheaper than the HP Home Server?

I don't have the time or patience to learn to setup a LINUX box (although I build Windows PCs all the time). But if you know of a turn key LINUX-based solution that's $300 cheaper than the HP Windows-based Home Server, I'll drink the Kool Aid.

Forrest

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=509

Sells for $183 at local shops here in Toronto.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:57 PM

cogitech
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p.1 #15 · HP Home Server

Forrest Egan wrote:
DavidLari wrote:
Did you folks not click on the link I provided, text of which is pasted below:

Sorry, that is no way a replacement for the HP Home Server...no expandability.

Edited by Forrest Egan on Dec 07, 2007 at 10:57 AM GMT

Here's one that is expandable, for even cheaper:

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&cid=1175233152539

Sells for $124 locally.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 03:59 PM

cogitech
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p.1 #16 · HP Home Server

There are all kinds of these things available that do the same things as the M$ one for way cheaper.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 04:01 PM

joekraft
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p.1 #17 · HP Home Server

The OS itself is also available for less than $200. Not hard to set up *at all*. I built my own, and it can be a good way to make use of all those old drives laying around.

For those that are interested, another big draw is the ease with which you can integrate extra drives- just plug in an external, and you can have it integrated into the pool.

V. highly recommended.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 04:04 PM

Melor
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p.1 #18 · HP Home Server

Johnny, I have been reading about the WHS from HP for a while now. If you may entertain a question: About the scheduled backups. Do you have to leave the computers on each night you want to perform the backup? Will it turn off the computers after the backup or do you have to do that manually? My hope is instead of shutting down the computers, I could run a "backup and shutdown" routine when I wanted to perform a backup.

Thanks for any info. It looks like a slick device, and from what I read on the net a decent performer.

Paul

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 04:07 PM

Forrest Egan
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p.1 #19 · HP Home Server

So far all the options I've seen links for are one or two drive units...no way you can compare those to the HP Home Server. It has four drive bays, USB and eSATA.

From HP's web site:
"... with expansion capacity up to 6TB of storage."
"Four internal hard-drive bays, four USB 2.0 ports and and one eSATA port for storage expandability"

Ya'll are comparing Apples and Oranges. Unless you build your own LINUX box from scratch, there is no turn key solution that compares to the HP Home Server.

We're not just talking about Microsoft Windows Home Server here...we're talking specifically about the HP Home Server.

C'mon, show me one turnkey solution based on LINUX that has the same features as the HP for $300 less.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 04:12 PM

Scott Sewell
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p.1 #20 · HP Home Server

Excellent points, Forrest. I guess I like to think I'm open to more efficient and cost-effective options, but generally prefer when those options are presented in a more fact-based manner rather an opinion-based (i.e. "For those who don't want to make Micro$oft even more of a monopoly).

Something like this HP Home Server looks like a pretty decent alternative to the 2gb of external hard drives I have stacked up in my office.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 07, 2007 at 04:39 PM

Johnny Bravo
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p.1 #21 · HP Home Server

Melor wrote:
Johnny, I have been reading about the WHS from HP for a while now. If you may entertain a question: About the scheduled backups. Do you have to leave the computers on each night you want to perform the backup? Will it turn off the computers after the backup or do you have to do that manually? My hope is instead of shutting down the computers, I could run a "backup and shutdown" routine when I wanted to perform a backup.

Thanks for any info. It looks like a slick device, and from what I read on the net a decent performer.

Paul

They have to be on to back up. It will wake them from sleep or hibernate, back them up, then return them to the state that it found them in.

Full power on just isn't possible--software can't initiate a power switch---I don't think safety design features would allow a pc designed like that to be sold. It could turn them off, but I don't believe the functionality is there. Once some user groups get up and running we may find a way, as I'd like to do it that way too.

Best,
John

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 08, 2007 at 02:22 AM

Melor
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p.1 #22 · HP Home Server

John, will the software turn the computer off after a backup?

Paul

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 08, 2007 at 02:35 AM

cogitech
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p.1 #23 · HP Home Server

Johnny Bravo wrote:

They have to be on to back up. It will wake them from sleep or hibernate, back them up, then return them to the state that it found them in.

Full power on just isn't possible--software can't initiate a power switch---I don't think safety design features would allow a pc designed like that to be sold. It could turn them off, but I don't believe the functionality is there. Once some user groups get up and running we may find a way, as I'd like to do it that way too.

Best,
John

Never heard of "wake-on-LAN" ?

I guess Micro$oft never has either...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 08, 2007 at 02:45 AM

Forrest Egan
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p.1 #24 · HP Home Server

cogitech wrote:
Never heard of "wake-on-LAN" ?

I guess Micro$oft never has either...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN

I just get a kick out of all the Microsoft bashers out there...

From the Wikipedia link you provided:

"In addition, in order to get WoL to work it is sometimes required to enable this feature on the card. This can be done in Windows from the properties of the network card in the device manager, on the "Power Management" tab. Check "Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby" and then "Only allow management stations to bring the computer out of standby" to make sure it does not wake up on every single network activity that occurs."

Don't quote an article that tells how to configure the feature in Windows if you're going to imply (oh wait, you didn't imply it...you came right out and said it, "I guess Micro$oft never has either") that Microsoft can't do it.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 08, 2007 at 03:03 AM

cogitech
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p.1 #25 · HP Home Server

So... they support it, but it is not implemented in their backup product. Even better.

Edited on Dec 14, 2007 at 08:53 PM

Dec 08, 2007 at 03:34 AM


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