• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Question WHS2011 pc is stuck on splash screen - probably time to upgrade to a NAS?

thestrangebrew1

thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
My machine's about 12-13 years old now. I haven't really tried to troubleshoot it by unplugging peripherals or anything yet, but I figure maybe it's time to just upgrade to a NAS and call it a day. I've got 4 2tb hdds that's storing all my data, and a 20tb external that's being used as a backup for my data. I don't want to spend more than about $500 on a NAS so looking for some recommendations. Also, what does migration look like? Can I literally just plug my existing drives into the NAS and the data will just appear? I'm not sure if WHS stores the data differently and so the new NAS won't be able to read the files. Also, I'm once again looking at getting some hdds. Looking to get used ones most likely. The NAS will only be used for data storage, we don't stream content like we used to so I'm not too concerned about transcoding etc. But it'd probably be nice to have the capability just in case the wife or kid wants to watch something (highly doubtful since we have subs to almost all the freakin streaming services). Thanks.

Edit: Would this be decent? https://www.newegg.com/p/14P-006A-0...sRTGJlRin1KrcA_-sCrHJ5WnwmO8gyNhoCAt4QAvD_BwE
 
Last edited:
I posted this in another thread recently but it could also apply to you. It appears that WHS uses NTFS so you probably just plug them into another PC either diretly to SATA or with a USB to SATA device (make sure you use one designed for 3.5" HDD which usually has a power supply with it). I do know you likely won't be able to plug them into the NAS or unRAID or anything similar since they use different file systems than Windows.

In2Photos said:
Do you have any old PCs laying around? You can use unRAID on just about anything. It's a great way to extend the life of older parts and there's a lot of community participation to help with any questions. Plus lots of ongoing development and updates. You also don't have to have identically sized drives. I have a 12TB for parity, and then 1-12TB, 1-4TB, and 3-3TB drives for a total of 25TB of storage. And the operating system runs on a USB flash drive so it doesn't waste a SATA or M.2 slot to boot.
Click to expand...
 
I do have an older gaming pc that's currently not in use. Primarily because I can't get a signal to the monitor so it's mist likely the gpu. But it think there's and hdmi or vga plug on the mobo I can probably use. Even that is super old though, 2013ish so I can't even remember the specs. I also can't remember how many hdds it can hold. I'll have to take a look and try getting it running again and see how it runs. I think it may still have W7 installed.
 
thestrangebrew1 said:
I do have an older gaming pc that's currently not in use. Primarily because I can't get a signal to the monitor so it's mist likely the gpu. But it think there's and hdmi or vga plug on the mobo I can probably use. Even that is super old though, 2013ish so I can't even remember the specs. I also can't remember how many hdds it can hold. I'll have to take a look and try getting it running again and see how it runs. I think it may still have W7 installed.
Click to expand...
Up until a few years ago I ran my unRAID server on an AMD Athlon 3000, 1.9GHz, with 2GB of RAM. For file storage literally anything will work. You only need more horsepower if you start transcoding or running dockers or VMs. And it won't matter what OS it has, you won't use it anymore. The unRAID OS runs on a USB drive. You don't even need a keyboard or monitor after initial setup either.
 
In2Photos said:
Up until a few years ago I ran my unRAID server on an AMD Athlon 3000, 1.9GHz, with 2GB of RAM. For file storage literally anything will work. You only need more horsepower if you start transcoding or running dockers or VMs. And it won't matter what OS it has, you won't use it anymore. The unRAID OS runs on a USB drive. You don't even need a keyboard or monitor after initial setup either.
Click to expand...
Thanks I'll check unRAID out. WHS2011 was my first forray and the wizard was super simple. This will be my first time messing with RAID configs lol.
 
thestrangebrew1 said:
Thanks I'll check unRAID out. WHS2011 was my first forray and the wizard was super simple. This will be my first time messing with RAID configs lol.
Click to expand...
There's lots of YouTube videos and other tutorials on the unRAID site. Check them out before you get started.
 
IMHO electricity rates in California are too high to run a full-fat PC as a NAS. NAS Compares on YouTube/Web is pretty useful for reviews.

Today is Cyber Monday, so you still have a few hours to pull the trigger on a deal.

Once you have the new solution in place, can you restore data from backup? I think it's unlikely you'll be able to pull the data off of the (4) disk drives from the old NAS. You probably could do it by setting up a temporary Windows server.

Spinning rust has gotten pretty expensive. If you're buying a new NAS and drives, then a 2-bay unit should also be on the table to control costs.

I'm still running a 10-year old NAS with Xpenology (Synology DSM knock-off). I do wonder what the game plan is if the hardware fails. 😑
 
I thought about 2 bay vs 4, and only considering 4 because I have 4 2tb hdds in it right now. I could do 2 and just get 2 larger hdds. I don't plan on adding more movies, but definitely will be storing photos. And yea, hdds are freakin pricey, even with cyber monday deals. Even the refurbs are pricey right now.

Edit: I have the data backed up on a 20tb external hdd.
 
Yeah I have heard good things about unRAID, and other NAS OS's like it. Also check out Truenas and the like.
 
Well I had remembered I built an htpc that's been sitting in my home theater and hasn't been fired up for years. Turned it on last night and it booted right up. I'll have to open it up and see how many hdds it'll hold and maybe just use that for a server. IIRC it had an i3 and 8gb ram when I first built it. Should be able to do the job. Question: since it's currently using windows, couldn't I just connect it to my network, and have it visible to other devices so I can transfer files to it vs. dealing with a new OS?
 
thestrangebrew1 said:
Well I had remembered I built an htpc that's been sitting in my home theater and hasn't been fired up for years. Turned it on last night and it booted right up. I'll have to open it up and see how many hdds it'll hold and maybe just use that for a server. IIRC it had an i3 and 8gb ram when I first built it. Should be able to do the job. Question: since it's currently using windows, couldn't I just connect it to my network, and have it visible to other devices so I can transfer files to it vs. dealing with a new OS?
Click to expand...
Yeah that's a reasonable solution. Windows has built-in file sharing that can do the trick.
And since you don't need any other network services, it'd be a waste to spend hundreds of dollars needlessly.

One other option is to hunt for a used 4-bay NAS on eBay. Just as a random example, here's one that sold in September for $120. (This is not a product endorsement.) I've heard that sometimes people almost give away stuff on FB Marketplace.


 
thestrangebrew1 said:
Well I had remembered I built an htpc that's been sitting in my home theater and hasn't been fired up for years. Turned it on last night and it booted right up. I'll have to open it up and see how many hdds it'll hold and maybe just use that for a server. IIRC it had an i3 and 8gb ram when I first built it. Should be able to do the job. Question: since it's currently using windows, couldn't I just connect it to my network, and have it visible to other devices so I can transfer files to it vs. dealing with a new OS?
Click to expand...
I am not sure I would trust Windows very much for a headless/server OS. For various reasons, including restarts/updates, crashes/software issues, and that I don't really trust their networking/file sharing to work properly. I do think you could reuse the media PC, but I would look into NAS oriented OS.
 
Shmee said:
I am not sure I would trust Windows very much for a headless/server OS. For various reasons, including restarts/updates, crashes/software issues, and that I don't really trust their networking/file sharing to work properly. I do think you could reuse the media PC, but I would look into NAS oriented OS.
Click to expand...
I agree. Especially with having multiple drives for storage. I know Windows can do "Storage Spaces", but think NAS type OSes just do a better job, and offer some kind of parity/protection for drive failures.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top