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Should a complete "noobie" to WHS install Vail? RRS feed

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    I ask this because I would like to set up a WHS at home to serve media to an HTPC but I don't want to install the current version only to find that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to upgrade to Vail when it goes into production.   So should I start off with the Vail preview and upgrade to production, or start off with the current version of WHS?  Is this too risky for a "noobie" to do?
    Thursday, April 29, 2010 11:33 AM

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    Even if you go right to v2 with your installation, it is very likely you will have to reinstall to the final version, and there is no direct upgrade path planned, according to the HSBS team.

    Remember that Vail is beta, so you could run into bugs, possibly serious enough to lose your data.  It's a risk which you will have to evaluate for yourself.

    If you do choose Vail, do read all the documentation before installing, as there are some issues even in the installation process.

    Good luck and welcome to the world of WHS!

     

    Thursday, April 29, 2010 11:44 AM
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    If you have never built a computer, or installed an operating system, Vail is not where you want to start. As another poster has pointed out, you will have to reinstall several times between now and release, and there's no guarantee that your data is completely safe. (Microsoft has released this as a public beta, so the odds of that are low, but beta means don't run it in production.) And you will almost certainly be forced to start from scratch for the RTM product.

    You will probably also find Windows Home Server V1 fairly frustrating to install as a complete novice, to be honest. It is, however, a released product, and these forums will offer a lot of help...

    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Thursday, April 29, 2010 2:25 PM
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    Even if you go right to v2 with your installation, it is very likely you will have to reinstall to the final version, and there is no direct upgrade path planned, according to the HSBS team.

    Remember that Vail is beta, so you could run into bugs, possibly serious enough to lose your data.  It's a risk which you will have to evaluate for yourself.

    If you do choose Vail, do read all the documentation before installing, as there are some issues even in the installation process.

    Good luck and welcome to the world of WHS!

     

    Thursday, April 29, 2010 11:44 AM
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    If you have never built a computer, or installed an operating system, Vail is not where you want to start. As another poster has pointed out, you will have to reinstall several times between now and release, and there's no guarantee that your data is completely safe. (Microsoft has released this as a public beta, so the odds of that are low, but beta means don't run it in production.) And you will almost certainly be forced to start from scratch for the RTM product.

    You will probably also find Windows Home Server V1 fairly frustrating to install as a complete novice, to be honest. It is, however, a released product, and these forums will offer a lot of help...

    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Thursday, April 29, 2010 2:25 PM
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    Thanks for the response.  I am not a complete computer novice by any means, but a novice to WHS.  My concern was more about the stability of my data (at this point only movies so it's not critical as I have the actual DVDs), and if there were known incompatibilities between this beta and the RTM.  I don't want to spend the money on V1 and the time setting it all up if it won't be easy to upgrade to V2 when it hits production. If the data in V1 can be easily migrated to V2, then I may go the V1 route and upgrade (or really do a rebuild of the server).
    Thursday, April 29, 2010 2:40 PM
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    There is no upgrade planned for the V1 to V2 scenario; Drive Extenter is a complete rewrite and there's no upgrade path for 32 to 64 bit OS. So you'll have to move all of your data somehow. The migration will be manual: copy from here to there, with a lot of variations on how that's done.

    But all of that is probably many months away.

    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Thursday, April 29, 2010 2:44 PM
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    Months away, and a COMPLETE thumb of the nose to those of us who are early adopters.

    All they need to do is have the install create an alternate boot partition and do the v2 install on that partition. At reboot, have that partition be primary. The stored data should never be touched. Anything that's on a storage disk vs an OS disk should be fine.

    So, essentially, "break" the storage mounts, upgrade the OS, then mount the storage back. Not all that difficult, but I'm sure from MS's perspective, not something to spend development dollars on for such a small user base.

    Monday, May 10, 2010 3:46 AM