Getting Started with Storage Server
Getting Started with Storage Server
For my testing I installed two Western Digital Red 4TB drives which had previously been formatted in another system. The drives are immediately available to the W2000 as Windows Server mounts them normally. This is another departure from how a NAS will typically operate, as new drive installations with a standard NAS require a destructive partitioning before the embedded OS can access them. While there are many options for formatting and sharing storage in Server (including the new ReFS), I simply created a mirrored virtual storage pool from the two drives and formatted it using NTFS.
As many uses as some NAS units have, the primary function is still network sharing of the drives installed. This is handled extremely well with the W2000 and Windows Server Essentials, once a small utility is downloaded and installed on your system. The Server Connector software does just that, and Microsoft's page explains the process.
Getting started is as simple as opening a browser on the PC you'd like to attach to your Storage Server and navigating to http://<servername>/Connect (substituting your server's name of course). I used "StorageServer", and upon visiting the page for the first time you'll see that a link is provided to download the software.
Once the computer is configured and Windows restarts, you’ll be prompted to log in to your new domain. As to the username and password, the credentials can be the same as your login to the server, but this isn’t recommended. Of course there is full control of users and access available to you as the server administrator on the W2000 itself, but I won't go that deep here.
The "Launchpad" in Windows provides access to key features from the server
Your computer's backup is significantly enhanced by default once the system is configured. File history is enabled and your system will start backing up to the server automatically.
The backup process working in the background
As to storage, this is configured on the server. I shared my virtual array to the network and this is accessible to any PC on the network, just as it would be with a standard NAS. And as this is a simple SMB share I was able to easily connect to it from a Mac as well, with no additional software needed (although Microsoft makes a Mac version of the Connector software available).
These steps do not even come close to scratching the surface of what the W2000 can do, and represent only a high-level overview of only a couple of aspects of a shared network using Storage Server. Working knowledge of Server 2012 (or just the desire to learn) will provide a staggering amount of additional functionality.
Next we'll take a quick look at overall performance and I'll cover my final thoughts about Storage Server and the Thecus W2000.
What does the “windows
What does the “windows embedded” description mean exactly?
How is this any different than buying an OEM copy of “Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials” and installing it yourself on a standard X86 PC?
The licensing is for that
The licensing is for that device, and 50 clients (vs 25 clients on a standard essentials R2)
Windows Embedded means you
Windows Embedded means you cannot purchase the software from NewEgg for example. It only comes on OEM boxes and as I type this Thecus is the only OEM that offers windows storage server 2012R2 essentials. And FWIW there is no user limit and no cals required. Though the practical limits apply. There are just so many computers that can be backed up in one night and just so many folks could rww in without dragging it to a crawl.
Most of the comments posted
Most of the comments posted here relate to small but fairly sophisticated business applications – not surprising as that’s the W2000’s target market. But I’m sure there are thousands of home users who, like me, want to go NAS but don’t want to go with a Linux-based OS. (It took us too long to master Windows!) With that in mind, I hope you’ll entertainment some questions whose answers may not be so obvious to lots of home network users who know Windows 7/8 well (but are Server-clueless) and would quickly spring for $350 to have a Windows-based NAS.
1)Can you access the NAS via the internet – with PC’s, tablets, smartphones, etc?
2)The mirrored disks you refer to: Is that RAID 1?
3)If one disk dies, can you continue to use the good one while you replace the bad?
4)If the W2000 itself dies, can you connect the removed disks to a PC and easily access them?
5)What is the max. capacity for each of the 2 drives?
6)Is it ready for DLNA and UPnP connections, or will I need to add something?
Not to appear to be fawning, but I’ve got to say that your review is one of the clearest, well written and illustrated that I’ve ever come across. Bravo!
Old post, but I’m reserecting
Old post, but I’m reserecting it. I got one of these off the newegg deal for 100 bucks. I’m not a Windows user & find their implementation of server to be overly complicated in comparison to the many Linux flavors. That being said, I kinda wanted to try it but the embedded system was corrupt. Like any good geek, instead of returning it I cracked it open, upgraded the RAM, upgraded the ssd, and threw openmediavault (had xpenology on it too). I found something very odd when I was in there though. Others have reported this too. There was a single stick of adata 8gb RAM in this thing. I replaced it with 2 sticks of 2x8ddr3l for 16gb. It obviously only recognizes the first 4gb (I wasted the 16gb cause it was lying around). I understand why a system would only be capable of utilizing 4gb on a 64bit unit. No need to explain it. I also understand that Intel rates the processor for 4gb. No need to rehash that. But we all know those limits are usualy bunk. I’ve seen other similar chipset capable of utilizing more. That coupled with several people having 8gb sticks in their units on the w2000 makes me think this is a BIOS limitation & not a hardware one. Any ideas? Anyone edit the BIOS?
I installed windows 10, Plex,
I installed windows 10, Plex, Sonarr, and MCEBuddy for a great media server experience. The Atom can’t handle transcoding but I have the bandwidth to view eveything in original format and works great. Since it runs 24/7 minimal power consumption was my #1 priority and this setup has been flawless.
Necro ? Maybe, but good info
Necro ? Maybe, but good info for those owning.
Not the W2000 but the W4000
I found 8GB(2x4GB) that works in my W4000
G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-8GBSQ
Boot and then reboot and it is discovered in the BIOS and OS of choice.