Recommended WHS Add ins

[Trace]

I've decided to go with WHS, now I need lots of add ins to take the most advantage of it. I'd like to see what you guys use and what has been most useful to you.

Trace

[crenn]

I haven't used WHS so I can't recommend anything. To be honest, I don't personally see the point of WHS.

[SXRguyinMA]

what is it?

[Oneslowz28]

When slaveofconvention sees this thread I am sure he will have a few to recommend. He is a WHS guru!

[Trace]

Alright, let's hope he sees it then!

[SgtM]

what is it?

Windows Home Server

EDIT
Can't make any recommendations since I haven't used it. I've always used Linux for my home server.. which I eventually took down. I should remedy that.

[Axis Machine]

In the meantime I hope this can help.

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/?...424&page=0%2C0

[slaveofconvention]

Actually, I only use a single add-in. The main bugbear I had with my server was the inability to tell which drive was which from within the software. My server has 10 drives in total, and several of those are the same size as one another - as you can see from this pic, the native WHS disk management screen doesn't tell you a whole lot about the drive, other than that it's there and how big it is....

I installed the "Windows Home Server Disk Management Add-in", specifically version 1.0.9.8 by Sam Wood - Tenatacle Software, which gives you a lot more information - this is the enhanced disk management screen.

This offers real-time temperature and activity monitoring (assuming your controller supports it - some of mine do, some don't, but the real bonus for me is the ability to build or modify a wireframe of your server. You can then click on any drive in the server, in this case the 500gb Maxtor, and on the right, it shows me exactly where it is in the server, specifically the top drive in the bottom drive cage, on the right.

I don't want to spend more money on more controllers, so I increase my server space by replacing the smallest drive with the largest one I can afford at the time. This has a secondary benefit too - it tends to mean the drive coming out is usually the oldest drive in the machine and all things being equal, probably the closest to old-age failure.

Right now, there are 3 identical 750GB samsungs in there, and 3 almost identical 500GB samsungs, so knowing exactly which is which is definitely a bonus.

You can see here the temperature monitoring and activity turned on - I tend to keep them turned off because, frankly, I don't really need to know lol

It also lets you know exactly how full each individual drive is, although I don't really see a huge benefit in this personally....

EDIT - I just checked and this is the latest version - available here if you're interested.... - http://www.tentaclesoftware.com/whsdiskmanagement/

[Trace]

Thanks!

[slaveofconvention]

You're only planning on using one hard disk from what I've seen so this might not be of much use after all lol - course, it does give you temperature monitoring, for what that's worth :p