WHS (Windows Home Server) Advise Please

[charlien]

I'm planning on using my self-built WHS as a backup for my ATV library (currently hosted on my iMac). My first plan was to keep my couple 1-t drives attached to my iMac and copy the data to shares on my WHS. I've been thinking about this and realize I have a couple options. Should I do it as I described above or:
1. Add all the drives to my WHS and use WHS data duplication to keep two copies in the event of drive failure. Connect my iMac iTunes to the share on the WHS. Connect my ATV to my iMac library. My network is wired 1G but this seems like a lot of streaming. Will data have to flow from WHS -> iMac -> ATV?
2. Add all the drives to my WHS and use WHS data duplication to keep two copies in the event of drive failure. Connect my iMac iTunes to the share on the WHS. Connect my ATV to my WHS (running iTune) and use the data on the WHS as its library. Does ATV connect better to Apple iTunes vs Windows?

I know that keeping copies of the data on two machines is safer but it is sure messy. I have the original DVD offsite for ultimate backup in the event of a fire or other disaster.

 

[roidy]

I've got WHS running on a little Atom 330 box with 4TB of drives hooked up to it that also runs iTunes to serve out the media to my ATV and my PC. That way only the Atom box needs to be on 24/7. So I'd go with option 2. If you go with option 1 then to use your ATV both the WHS and the iMac need to be turned on. Itunes runs great on my Atom WHS because it dosn't actually play the files it only serves them out. I see you want to move your media drives on to the WHS, becareful because when you add a drive to WHS it first has to format it to add it to the storage pool, so you'd need to back up the data first before adding the drives.

 

[charlien]

I've got WHS running on a little Atom 330 box with 4TB of drives hooked up to it that also runs iTunes to serve out the media to my ATV and my PC. That way only the Atom box needs to be on 24/7. So I'd go with option 2. If you go with option 1 then to use your ATV both the WHS and the iMac need to be turned on. Itunes runs great on my Atom WHS because it dosn't actually play the files it only serves them out. I see you want to move your media drives on to the WHS, becareful because when you add a drive to WHS it first has to format it to add it to the storage pool, so you'd need to back up the data first before adding the drives.

Thanks for the quick reply. That seems to make a lot of sense. I was thinking of running my WHS on an Atom but want to be able to run VMWare on it, use it to play iTunes on it and install a TV tuner. I also want to turn on the DHCP and DNS servers on it. Not sure if an Atom is beefy enough for that.

 

[roidy]

Umm... Not sure if an Atom would be powerful enough for all that, like I said I only run WHS and iTunes on mine. I've got it tucked away in the corner of the loft (attic if your American) and never need to touch it. Can I ask why you want to run VMWare on it? Also why do you need to play iTunes on it, you only need the WHS and it's copy of iTunes to serve up the files and let other devices around you home (eg. ATV or iMac) actually play the files. Most people me included don't even connect a display to the WHS. The whole point of a WHS is to have a minimal headless box that can be left on 24/7 serving up files to other devices.

 

[charlien]

Umm... Not sure if an Atom would be powerful enough for all that, like I said I only run WHS and iTunes on mine. I've got it tucked away in the corner of the loft (attic if your American) and never need to touch it. Can I ask why you want to run VMWare on it? Also why do you need to play iTunes on it, you only need the WHS and it's copy of iTunes to serve up the files and let other devices around you home (eg. ATV or iMac) actually play the files. Most people me included don't even connect a display to the WHS. The whole point of a WHS is to have a minimal headless box that can be left on 24/7 serving up files to other devices.

The server is in my workshop. I want to use it to listen to iTunes music and watch sporting events with the TV tuner when I'm working in there. VMware is to run a few test operating systems.

 

[xraydoc]

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Roidy, question regarding your WHS box.
If you've got all your iTunes media on your WHS and want to sync up, say, an iPod or iPhone to your Mac, will your Mac's iTunes handle this cleanly with your media associated with the WHS?
How do you have it configured? Do you also add the files to your Mac's iTunes library (but leave them on the WHS box) or are you able to share the library database somehow?

 

[roidy]

I dont own and iPod or iPhone so I can't help you there. I'm using my WHS to serve media to an ATV and a HTPC running XBMC. I use the Windows connect software on my desktop PC to add media to the iTunes running on the WHS. The iTunes library on the WHS is also shared with the HTPC so XBMC can access the media. If I didn't have such a large amount of iTunes DRM'ed content then I'd replace the ATV with another HTPC running XBMC and do away with having to use iTunes altogether.