After having some issues with my home built Home Server machine, I’ve decided to upgrade and go for the HP MediaSmart Server EX490.
I’ve been reading up on the HP Mediasmart server EX490 and it seems to be the right tool for my needs. I am so far very impressed by it. Very easy to setup and run anyone can do it!
Here’s a few pictures of my Home Server :
I’ve also purchased 3 Seagate 2TBs Hard drives to boost the internal storage capacity up to the current possible maximum of 6TBs + 1TB from the system HDD.
I like how small and sleek the EX490 is compared to the machine I’ve built.
I felt a little bad for the old machine though so I did a clean reinstall of WHS on it with minimal addons. What I did next was to make it my “secondary” server. I use it with the sole purpose of making backups of important folders from my main server. This also means I can disable File Duplication completely on my main server.
I’ve found Robocopy VERY useful in transferring files over from old to new server. Just write a simple batch script and just leave it running! No more stressful GUI stuff 🙂
I’ve also setup the secondary server with SyncToy 2.1 and used the built in Windows Scheduler to automatically sync important folders every day. I have also used an addin called LightsOut to further manage when my server switches on and goes into hibernation/sleep. You got to think about the environment (and your wallet) too!