I’ve installed this addon and am very impressed with the integration if you do build your own Windows Home Server

Information on a genuinely interesting little utility was posted in the WGS forums on Tuesday.  Normally, your computer will recognize your WHS as a computer on your network.  If you would like it to show up a drive under “My Computer”, try out this automated version of Jesse Torres’ instructions on how to do just that.

via We Got Served

I thought I’d pass on some good advice for the support team at Drobo regarding trying to get a Drobo (v2) working over the firewire connection on a Windows machine.

Their setup guide goes as follow…

1. Shut down computer
2. Disconnect ALL FireWire devices from computer
3. Disconnect power from Drobo
4. Restart computer
5. Go into Add/Remove or Programs/Features and uninstall the current ubCore driver completely by following the prompts making sure to restart the computer if prompted, as well.
6. Go to  http://www.unibrain.com/download/download.asp and Install the correct Unibrain driver listed under ubCore versions (For end users who need to connect 1394b external storage and webcams)
7. Restart computer
8. Launch Drobo Dashboard
9. When Drobo Dashboard says, “Ready For Connection” connect FireWire cable from Drobo to FireWire port on computer
10. Connect power to Drobo

I had immediate success getting this working on a new Vista machine using a generic low profile PCI-E card, unfortunately I didn’t have any joy getting it working on a Windows Home Server system (which is based on Windows 2003 Small Business Server). I suspect this is due to the type of new technology mixing with such an old OS.

Windows Home Server is a great platform to backup and share files across your internal network (and even have an external website if you wish), I’ve found it very impressive at backing up client pc’s and being very easy to manage.

This platform is very well served by third parties developing very specific addons, that are easy to add and manage within the home server connector software.

Here are some recommended reading, hints and tips to get started.

Microsoft Windows Home Server Trial Edition
Windows Home Server Trial Edition

A beginners experiences
Setup and installation experience
Adding power management to home server

A great site for addons
Whs Plus

Recommended addons
Lights Out (power management addon)
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