HP Mediasmart Server

[mauiblue]

Aloha to all. For a while now I've been searching for a backup solution that would allow me to backup all my digital photos, movies, documents, etc. and take out most of the worry about losing part or even all of my precious files that I've accumulated over the years. I've used a few backup software programs, setup mirrored RAID arrays, and used external hard drives but none of these really made me feel secure. Online backup sites looks interesting as I've started researching them and thought maybe that would be a good route to go as part of my quest for secure backup solutions.

Now I've discovered NAS. Yes, I've been out of the loop for a while but since discovering NAS I am really thinking this is the way to roll. The HP Mediasmart home server is looking like the technology to go with. It also has the option of online backups with Amazon S3. The more and more I look at it, I think it would be a great investment for my backup and digital file needs. I do have a couple computers in my home and I'm looking into building a Photoshop/Premiere Pro rig in the near future. The HP Mediasmart home server is a bit pricey but if it will help me protect and enjoy my data it is all worth it.

I'm wondering if there are other forum members that has the HP Mediasmart Home server and what their take on it. I know I could build a WHS box but I am more interested in what others think about the HP Mediasmart server than suggestions in building my own. Mahalo in advance.

 

[bsobel]

WHS in whatever flavor is really wonderful for backup (and with the HP extensions or jungledisk great for offsite storage to s3 as well). I dont think you'll go wrong with the unit.

 

[taltamir]

ZFS and the top secret google file system are the only two safe (for your data that is) file systems in the world right now (NILFS is being made for linux, not there yet though).

http://opensolaris.org/os/community/zfs/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: taltamir
ZFS and the top secret google file system are the only two safe file systems in the world right now (NILFS is being made for linux, not there yet though).

http://opensolaris.org/os/community/zfs/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS

Um, what does this have to do with the question asked?

 

[taltamir]

If a person asked me "should I eat plenty of cakes or plenty of bacon to have a healthy diet" I would answer neither. He asks people because he admits that he doesn't know everything about the field. One of the things he probably doesn't know about is ZFS. If he decides, as an informed decision, that it isn't for him, excellent. But I can't in good conscious recommend bacon or cakes as a staple food to someone who genuinely wants to eat healthy just because that is what he specified.

 

[sxr7171]

The MSS is great, I've had one for almost a year and love it. I don't think there is a better simple solution available. The older EX475 model has a port multiplier eSata port that lets you hook up a port multiplier enclosure for 4 more drives and then the 4 USB ports allow another 4 drives. So you could have 12 drives with this system.

Some people even use the USB multi-enclosures and have 20+ drives connected to it. I don't recommend that though.


In any case the real need for a custom build comes when you want more than a NAS. Say you want to run server software like Twonky or Squeezecenter or MusicIP, then you might want a faster machine. Or if you expect to do some major transcoding. Those are the reasons I want to build my own. All that stuff runs fine on the MSS but it takes time to run.

 

[RebateMonger]

I have about six HP MediaSmart servers at clients now. Plus several other WHS servers that are non-HP. The clients range from households to home businesses to 20-to-30-person companies. The WHS servers are only being used for backups of the their desktop computers, since many (most) of my clients have "big" servers to take care of their file share needs.

For homes and small offices, I believe the best approach for file shares is to LEAVE them on desktop PCs and then back up those PCs with Windows Home Server. If you move all your files to the WHS, then you have to back up the WHS server just like any other server, maybe enabling WHS folder redundancy, too.

WHS' desktop PC backups, as bsobel notes, are fantastic. There's nothing else out there (except maybe the Macintosh Time Machine) that does what it does so thoroughly and so automatically and is so easy to use and maintain. Many people underestimate the value of the "full system image" backups. Until they get hit by a desktop disk failure or a malware infection that can take hours (or days) to repair without WHS.

If you also want offsite backups, then S3 is a possibility. It depends on how much data you have and your budget. It can be a bit pricey for large quantities of data. One approach I've taken is to use Carbonite ($55 a year for "unlimited" backups) to back up THE DESKTOP CLIENT(S) that hold the "really important" data that you can't lose no matter what disaster strikes. If you do it this way, you now have the original data on the PCs, the WHS backups, plus the offsite Carbonite backups.

 

[mauiblue]

Mahalo to all that had posted to my thread. Looks like I will be taking the plunge and aquiring one of these MSS. I will look into the online storage pricing of Amazon S3 especially since this service is embedded in the system and just might it a bit more convenient to set and use.

 

[pjkenned]

I really love WHS. I built my own as I needed over 10TB, and also didn't 100% trust WHS's file system versus gold old hardware raid 6 + hotspare. At the price, the MSS is great. Plus, I think HP has some custom Apple backup utility which may be a selling point for you one day.

 

[California Roll]

I absolutely love my (home built) WHS. For people wanting to buy a solution, HP unit is great (and pricey). You might want to look in the Acer Easystore H340. It's finally on sale at Amazon and Newegg for $400. If you need 2TB of storage, you can get it for $450 at NCIUX. HP 750mb unit is typically $450-500.

The key differences I've seen between the HP and Acer are software. HP includes better compatibility with Macs as well as ability to stream media to handheld devices (iphones, smartphones, etc.). If these aren't needed I think the Acer is a good choice.