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How can I copy large files to my home server? Told there is not enough space?! RRS feed

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    Hi,
     
    Hope someone can help me. I have just setup my Home Server on an old laptop. The laptop has an 80GB HD. Attached to the laptop I have 2 1TB USB drives. I have made one drive for storage and the other for backup.

    What I'm trying to do is transfer over a whole heap of data (about 600GB) I have on another 2 external HDs (200GB and 500GB) that I use on my Vista laptop (that I use everyday). When I try to copy over the data to a Home Server share, I get told there is not enough free space. I am aware that files copied to a HS share are put on the D drive of the HS first before they are copied onto the other drives. My D "data" drive on HS is only 55GB. Adding to the problem is that I also have some large files among all my data that range up to about 80GB. I have read the post here on this forum but this does not help as I can't really replace my measly 80GB laptop HD with one of my 1TB USB drives and install HS on it!

    I've look on the HS and can see that shares are duplicated to the "storage" drive which can be accessed from C:\fs\D\DE\shares\. I tried creating a new folder in on of the share's folders, but noticed it did not showup when accessing the actual share through \\homersever\..... What I was thinking of doing is powering down the server and uplugging the external 1TB "storage" drive, plugging it into my Vista laptop (the one I use) and copying the files over that way, then reconnecting it to the home server and hoping the files will eventually show up under the shares.

    Would this work? Or can anyone point me in the right direction?

    Regards.
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 5:09 AM

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    foo_ said:

    Hi,
     
    Hope someone can help me. I have just setup my Home Server on an old laptop.
     

    FYI, setting up WHS on a laptop is not supported.

    foo_ said:

    The laptop has an 80GB HD. Attached to the laptop I have 2 1TB USB drives. I have made one drive for storage and the other for backup.

    What I'm trying to do is transfer over a whole heap of data (about 600GB) I have on another 2 external HDs (200GB and 500GB) that I use on my Vista laptop (that I use everyday). When I try to copy over the data to a Home Server share, I get told there is not enough free space. I am aware that files copied to a HS share are put on the D drive of the HS first before they are copied onto the other drives. My D "data" drive on HS is only 55GB. Adding to the problem is that I also have some large files among all my data that range up to about 80GB. I have read the post here on this forum but this does not help as I can't really replace my measly 80GB laptop HD with one of my 1TB USB drives and install HS on it!

    Do you have Folder Duplication turned on?  If so, that's your problem.  You don't have enough space for 2 copies of the data.  If not, you should not have a problem with hard drive space as long as you have updated your server.  Please open your Console and see what the component numbers are (Settings button, Resources tab).

    foo_ said:

    I've look on the HS and can see that shares are duplicated to the "storage" drive which can be accessed from C:\fs\D\DE\shares\. I tried creating a new folder in on of the share's folders

    Never ever ever do that.  Logging into the server desktop for any reason is unsupported and adding a folder like that (inside C:\fs\anything) is a sure-fire way to end up with a malfunctioning server and quite possibly a Server Reinstallation.

    foo_ said:

    but noticed it did not showup when accessing the actual share through \\homersever\.....
     

    Correct.  That's because WHS doesn't work like that.

    foo_ said:

    What I was thinking of doing is powering down the server and uplugging the external 1TB "storage" drive, plugging it into my Vista laptop (the one I use) and copying the files over that way, then reconnecting it to the home server and hoping the files will eventually show up under the shares.

    Would this work?
     

    No.

    foo_ said:

    Or can anyone point me in the right direction?

    Regards.

    Just copy through the network shares once you have your server up-to-date and enough storage space (if you're using Folder Duplication).

    • Marked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 10:35 AM
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:21 AM
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    foo_ said:

    I wasn't aware HS is unsupported on a laptop. I'm currently using the evaluation version with the intention of purchasing it soon.

    No problem.  Just wanted to let you know. :)

    I have folder duplication turned on. I tried turning it off but it still does not seem to work. My version numbers are below. Are these up-to-date?
    Windows Home Server Console: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Backup & Restore: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Drive Extender: 6.0.1800.8
    Windows Home Server Remote Access: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Storage Manager: 6.0.1800.0

    No.  Please click the button that says Update Now... in the Console (Settings button).  You are missing the November update that deals with Vista and WHS free space.  Keep updating/rebooting until it says you have no new updates (at which point 3 of the component numbers should be 6.0.1800.24).

    foo_ said:

    Edit: In regards to folder duplication and space, don't I have enough space? I thought by adding 2x 1TB USB drives, one as storage and the other as backup, the "storage" drive would store files that don't fit on the D drive partition of the laptop HD and the "backup" drive would be where Home Server files and duplicate files would be stored. Is this not correct?

    No, that is not correct.  Folder Duplication only works on drives that are part of the storage pool (not backup drives).  The drive you have set as the backup drive is used to copy data from the server to an external drive (for off-site storage).  Based on your current storage pool info, the most you could have in Folder Duplication is approx 55 GB of data.

    • Marked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:52 AM
    • Unmarked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:52 AM
    • Edited by kariya21Moderator Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:57 AM more info
    • Proposed as answer by kariya21Moderator Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:57 AM
    • Marked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 10:35 AM
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:50 AM
    Moderator

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    foo_ said:

    Hi,
     
    Hope someone can help me. I have just setup my Home Server on an old laptop.
     

    FYI, setting up WHS on a laptop is not supported.

    foo_ said:

    The laptop has an 80GB HD. Attached to the laptop I have 2 1TB USB drives. I have made one drive for storage and the other for backup.

    What I'm trying to do is transfer over a whole heap of data (about 600GB) I have on another 2 external HDs (200GB and 500GB) that I use on my Vista laptop (that I use everyday). When I try to copy over the data to a Home Server share, I get told there is not enough free space. I am aware that files copied to a HS share are put on the D drive of the HS first before they are copied onto the other drives. My D "data" drive on HS is only 55GB. Adding to the problem is that I also have some large files among all my data that range up to about 80GB. I have read the post here on this forum but this does not help as I can't really replace my measly 80GB laptop HD with one of my 1TB USB drives and install HS on it!

    Do you have Folder Duplication turned on?  If so, that's your problem.  You don't have enough space for 2 copies of the data.  If not, you should not have a problem with hard drive space as long as you have updated your server.  Please open your Console and see what the component numbers are (Settings button, Resources tab).

    foo_ said:

    I've look on the HS and can see that shares are duplicated to the "storage" drive which can be accessed from C:\fs\D\DE\shares\. I tried creating a new folder in on of the share's folders

    Never ever ever do that.  Logging into the server desktop for any reason is unsupported and adding a folder like that (inside C:\fs\anything) is a sure-fire way to end up with a malfunctioning server and quite possibly a Server Reinstallation.

    foo_ said:

    but noticed it did not showup when accessing the actual share through \\homersever\.....
     

    Correct.  That's because WHS doesn't work like that.

    foo_ said:

    What I was thinking of doing is powering down the server and uplugging the external 1TB "storage" drive, plugging it into my Vista laptop (the one I use) and copying the files over that way, then reconnecting it to the home server and hoping the files will eventually show up under the shares.

    Would this work?
     

    No.

    foo_ said:

    Or can anyone point me in the right direction?

    Regards.

    Just copy through the network shares once you have your server up-to-date and enough storage space (if you're using Folder Duplication).

    • Marked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 10:35 AM
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:21 AM
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    Hi kariya21,

    Thanks for your prompt reply.

    I wasn't aware HS is unsupported on a laptop. I'm currently using the evaluation version with the intention of purchasing it soon.

    I have folder duplication turned on. I tried turning it off but it still does not seem to work. My version numbers are below. Are these up-to-date?
    Windows Home Server Console: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Backup & Restore: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Drive Extender: 6.0.1800.8
    Windows Home Server Remote Access: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Storage Manager: 6.0.1800.0

    Edit: In regards to folder duplication and space, don't I have enough space? I thought by adding 2x 1TB USB drives, one as storage and the other as backup, the "storage" drive would store files that don't fit on the D drive partition of the laptop HD and the "backup" drive would be where Home Server files and duplicate files would be stored. Is this not correct?
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:44 AM
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    foo_ said:

    I wasn't aware HS is unsupported on a laptop. I'm currently using the evaluation version with the intention of purchasing it soon.

    No problem.  Just wanted to let you know. :)

    I have folder duplication turned on. I tried turning it off but it still does not seem to work. My version numbers are below. Are these up-to-date?
    Windows Home Server Console: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Backup & Restore: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Drive Extender: 6.0.1800.8
    Windows Home Server Remote Access: 6.0.1800.0
    Windows Home Server Storage Manager: 6.0.1800.0

    No.  Please click the button that says Update Now... in the Console (Settings button).  You are missing the November update that deals with Vista and WHS free space.  Keep updating/rebooting until it says you have no new updates (at which point 3 of the component numbers should be 6.0.1800.24).

    foo_ said:

    Edit: In regards to folder duplication and space, don't I have enough space? I thought by adding 2x 1TB USB drives, one as storage and the other as backup, the "storage" drive would store files that don't fit on the D drive partition of the laptop HD and the "backup" drive would be where Home Server files and duplicate files would be stored. Is this not correct?

    No, that is not correct.  Folder Duplication only works on drives that are part of the storage pool (not backup drives).  The drive you have set as the backup drive is used to copy data from the server to an external drive (for off-site storage).  Based on your current storage pool info, the most you could have in Folder Duplication is approx 55 GB of data.

    • Marked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:52 AM
    • Unmarked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:52 AM
    • Edited by kariya21Moderator Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:57 AM more info
    • Proposed as answer by kariya21Moderator Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:57 AM
    • Marked as answer by foo_ Sunday, January 11, 2009 10:35 AM
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:50 AM
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    Okay, updating now. Are my assumptions below (from previous post) correct though?

    Edit: In regards to folder duplication and space, don't I have enough space? I thought by adding 2x 1TB USB drives, one as storage and the other as backup, the "storage" drive would store files that don't fit on the D drive partition of the laptop HD and the "backup" drive would be where Home Server files and duplicate files would be stored. Is this not correct?
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:53 AM
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    foo_ said:

    Okay, updating now. Are my assumptions below (from previous post) correct though?

    Edit: In regards to folder duplication and space, don't I have enough space? I thought by adding 2x 1TB USB drives, one as storage and the other as backup, the "storage" drive would store files that don't fit on the D drive partition of the laptop HD and the "backup" drive would be where Home Server files and duplicate files would be stored. Is this not correct?


    I added to my last post as well. ;)
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:59 AM
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    kariya21 said:

    No, that is not correct.  Folder Duplication only works on drives that are part of the storage pool (not backup drives).  The drive you have set as the backup drive is used to copy data from the server to an external drive (for off-site storage).  Based on your current storage pool info, the most you could have in Folder Duplication is approx 55 GB of data.

    Okay, I think I understand now. However, when I add the second 1TB drive to the storage pool it will show I have about 2TB of storage. If folder duplication is on and enabled for all folders wouldn't this mean there is really less than 2TB of available storage since about half will be taken up for duplicates?

    kariya21 said:

    No.  Please click the button that says Update Now... in the Console (Settings button).  You are missing the November update that deals with Vista and WHS free space.  Keep updating/rebooting until it says you have no new updates (at which point 3 of the component numbers should be 6.0.1800.24).


    I will keep updating and then try and copy again and let the forum know how it went. I will also change the the "backup" drive to another "storage" drive. Cheers.

    Sunday, January 11, 2009 7:08 AM
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    foo_ said:

    Okay, I think I understand now. However, when I add the second 1TB drive to the storage pool it will show I have about 2TB of storage. If folder duplication is on and enabled for all folders wouldn't this mean there is really less than 2TB of available storage since about half will be taken up for duplicates?

    There is a total of 2 TB of available storage.  If you have Folder Duplication active on all shares, each file will be stored on 2 different physical drives.  However, that doesn't mean half of the storage will be taken up for duplicates (it will only double the space used by the network shares).  In other words, if you have 200 GB of data in the network shares, you will use another 200 GB of the storage pool for the duplicated data, but that is not half of the 2 TB total (that is only 10%).

    foo_ said:

    I will keep updating and then try and copy again and let the forum know how it went. I will also change the the "backup" drive to another "storage" drive. Cheers.



    Sunday, January 11, 2009 7:14 AM
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    After installing the updates, I can now copy the files across without a problem. Thanks for you help kariya21! :-)

    One last thing, when I was looking at the file system on the storage drive earlier in C:\fs\D\DE\shares\users\... I created an empty folder ("New Folder") there to see if it would should up under \\shares which it didn't. I tried to delete the folder later but could not as I got a permission denied error. Will this folder screw up the server? It seems to be running okay at the moment.
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 10:44 AM
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    Probably, no harm will be done by the creation of that folder. However, WHS is designed for all management and administrative tasks to be performed through the WHS console, and all interaction with the WHS file system should be through the shares. The folders visible in the location you mention are part of the Drive Extender storage pool, and manipulation of them in any other way is unsupported.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 4:27 PM
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    foo_ said:

    After installing the updates, I can now copy the files across without a problem. Thanks for you help kariya21! :-)

    One last thing, when I was looking at the file system on the storage drive earlier in C:\fs\D\DE\shares\users\... I created an empty folder ("New Folder") there to see if it would should up under \\shares which it didn't. I tried to delete the folder later but could not as I got a permission denied error. Will this folder screw up the server? It seems to be running okay at the moment.


    Yes, it's probably ok to leave there.  However, what I find odd is that you had sufficient permissions to create it, but not delete it.  Can you check the Security properties on that specific folder?
    Sunday, January 11, 2009 5:11 PM
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