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    I have an external drive with data on it I wish to add to a shared directory on my home server. Can I connect the USB external drive to my Home Server, copy the files off it to a shared directory on the home server, then add the external drive to additional storage?

    Monday, December 22, 2008 4:48 PM

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    Easiest is to connect the drive to some other computer on your network for the copy, then move it to the server afterward. Windows Home Server won't expose the contents of the drive to your networked PCs, so you would have to connect to your server using physical console or remote desktop if you connected it there.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Monday, December 22, 2008 5:56 PM
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    Easiest is to connect the drive to some other computer on your network for the copy, then move it to the server afterward. Windows Home Server won't expose the contents of the drive to your networked PCs, so you would have to connect to your server using physical console or remote desktop if you connected it there.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Monday, December 22, 2008 5:56 PM
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    But if you have alot of data like I did, the above method would take an extremely long time (or at least for me it would have taken somewhere around 24 hours if not more) unless you have a gigabit network in your home. Im running on Wireless G speeds so that was painfully slow. 

    Remembering that remote desktop into the server is not the "supported" way to do this...
    You will save yourself alot of time if you just connect the external drive to the WHS and remote desktop in and copy it straight to the shared folders. And im sure you are already aware of this, but be sure you copy all of your files over to your shared folders BEFORE you add the drive to the storage pool.
    Monday, December 22, 2008 6:18 PM
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    Hi,
    Just note that some external USB drives create problems when used as part of the storage pool. In general, these are down to things like power saving settings either on the unit, or on the USB port but can be disk spin-up times etc.
    Also, you should only use one external USB drive per USB controller on your server, plus, no hubs for multiple drives.

    Colin

    If anyone answers your query successfully, please mark it as 'Helpful', to guide other users.
    Monday, December 22, 2008 7:14 PM
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    So the short answer is yes, use remote desktop and copy all files, then add the drive to the pool?
    Monday, December 22, 2008 8:34 PM
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    Yes!

    Good luck,

    Colin



    If anyone answers your query successfully, please mark it as 'Helpful', to guide other users.
    Monday, December 22, 2008 8:44 PM
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    Thanks to everyone!
    Monday, December 22, 2008 9:04 PM
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    ssmarc said:

    So the short answer is yes, use remote desktop and copy all files, then add the drive to the pool?


    Yes.  However, you should copy to the UNC path (\\server\share), not to D:\shares.
    Tuesday, December 23, 2008 3:32 AM
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    Colin Hodgson said:

    Hi,
    Just note that some external USB drives create problems when used as part of the storage pool. In general, these are down to things like power saving settings either on the unit, or on the USB port but can be disk spin-up times etc.
    Also, you should only use one external USB drive per USB controller on your server, plus, no hubs for multiple drives.

    Colin

    If anyone answers your query successfully, please mark it as 'Helpful', to guide other users.


    I can vouch for this. This caused alot of pain for me. I started off with two external usb HDDs and after all is said and done, I now have two internal HDDs and two empty WD myBook enclosures. haha. I was better off just takin the drives out and sticking them right into the server. If you really want to use a usb hdd, plug it in and store backups of your server on it and keep it (the usb drive) in a safe place.
    Tuesday, December 23, 2008 8:02 AM