So what to do when a WHS hard drive dies or is about too die?

[SAWYER]

I have a P4 machine as a WHS with a 1tb drive and a 200 gig drive. I use dvd backups and Carbonite, plus on my main pc..but what do do about the drives on the WHS? What if I decided to buy a new hd or replace one, what about the data on my old drives?

 

[RebateMonger]

If you want to replace a WHS data disk, just add the new disk (using the WHS Management Console) and then remove the old disk (again using the WHS Management Console). Don't physically remove the old disk until WHS says it's safe to do so.

Replacing the WHS System disk (on a planned basis) is a bit more complicated. There's a couple ways to do it, but each has its advantages/disadvantages. As with any file server, it's best to have backups. That gives you the most options.

 

[RebateMonger]

I've posted a lot more about replacement of WHS disks here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2043868

 

[Raduque]

Which drive are you replacing? If it's the storage, just add a new one in. If it's the boot drive, pull the drive, put the new one on the EXACT SAME CABLE and re-install the server. It'll pick up the data partition from the old server and rebuild your filesystem with no data loss.