How to: Rebuild and Expand Windows Home Server Storage

By on July 1, 2008 in How to Guides, Windows Home Server, Windows Home Server v1

Many thanks to Graham Jones, Microsoft MVP and President of the Vancouver Technology User Group (VANTUG) for writing this guide to rebuilding and expanding your home server storage. Over to Graham:

You have an OEM Windows Home Server built 6 – 9 months ago to try WHS out (and loved it); bought 2 medium sized HD’s (say 250GB) to save money (at the time); never thought that you would come close to filling them but then discovered video and grandchildren; want to delay/avoid adding storage via USB or eSATA (looks messy or so my wife tells me)?

With the price of 500GB HD’s continuing to drop, or 1TB if you are really space hungry, this is an opportunity to start again and replace those HD’s with larger ones and at the same time preserve those precious digital treasures that you have accumulated. The original HD’s can come in handy later if you wish to add more internal storage or use them for Shared Folder backup via external storage.

This is not difficult to do as long as you follow the steps carefully. However, before I describe the procedure we need a few disclaimers. Please do not attempt this unless you are totally comfortable with the following:

1. If the server was built by somebody else, you are confident that you can open the computer, remove the existing HD’s and install the new ones, and without violating any warranties.

2. You are familiar with Remote Desktop to connect to the home server desktop from a networked PC.

3. You understand that you will be accessing the WHS file system behind the scenes and any mistake may result in data corruption.

Please follow these steps carefully:

1. Connect external HD(s) to the server but DO NOT add it (them) to the storage pool or designate it (them) as a drive for server backup (part of Power Pack 1). You may need more than one external drive depending upon what you have available, how much Shared Folder storage you have and how large the WHS PC backup data base is. Single Instance Storage is a major benefit here. Having friends with external HD’s can also help.

2. Connect to the server using Remote Desktop.

3. Make sure that nobody is using the WHS Shared Folders, ie changing the storage on the server. Copy the contents of the Shared Folders that you wish to keep to the external drive(s). This is an opportunity to do some clean-up. You can access the Shared Folders either via the Shared Folders shortcut on the WHS desktop or under D:\shares. The external drive(s) will appear as E: drive, F: drive, etc. and can be accessed via My Computer. This can take quite some time but it is important to make sure there are no snags.

Remember this may be your only copy until the re-installation is complete. For example, you could connect the drive(s) to one of your desktop PC’s and check that you can read the drive(s) and some files. It is not practical to check everything but you know what should be there.

4. The PC backups are stored in D:\folders\{00008086-058D-4C89-AB57-A7F909A47AB4}. We need to copy the contents of this folder to an external drive as follows:

a. Open a Command prompt: Click Start > Run and type CMD (hit Enter)
b. Type net stop PDL (hit Enter)
c. Type net stop WHSBackup (hit Enter) to stop the WHS Backup Service
d. Type exit (hit Enter) – it is not necessary to restart the PDL and WHSBackup services since we are going to re-install the WHS OS.
e. Copy the contents of D:\folders\{00008086-058D-4C89-AB57-A7F909A47AB4} to an external HD. Again it is important to make sure there are no snags. However, unlike the Shared Folders, if we cannot restore the DB files it may be less of an issue since you can re-create the latest PC backups from the PC’s if necessary. Possibly losing the older backups may or may not be an issue depending upon your circumstances.

5. Open the WHS Console and make a note of the User Account info (you will need this later) and any other info that might make you say s……ugar I should have made a note of that, eg. any settings for add-ins.

6. Shut down the server either via the Console or via the Start menu on the server desktop.

7. Remove any external HD’s

8. Disconnect the server from power and the LAN, open up the server, remove the existing HD’s and install the new drives. Make a particular note as to how the existing drives are connected so that can be repeated when you install the new drives. Why can this be important? In this case we have two drives of equal size so it is not that important. However, it is beneficial to have the largest drive as the system drive (ie the drive containing the C: partition and OS) because of the way files are handled when they are copied to the server. Before WHS decides where to store the files and possibly where to store any duplicates the files go the system drive for processing. Therefore large files could have a performance impact if the system drive is small.

9. Re-connect the server to power and the LAN.

10. Boot the server using an RTM DVD (build 1500.6) of WHS and follow the New Installation instructions through to completion.

11. Open up a Remote Desktop connection. At the moment we are in the public beta of Power Pack 1. If you are in the program (if not, why not?), upgrade the server to the latest build of PP1. Copy the .exe file to the Software Share on the server and run. Follow all instructions until the install is complete. This could be done at a later stage if you wish, eg. after restoring the Shared Software folder which may already contain the .exe file.

12. Open the WHS Console from the server desktop and add back ALL of the User Accounts. This is important so that when the files are restored User Accounts can be associated with them. My thanks to Jonas Svensson of Microsoft for providing this helpful tip.

13. Re-connect the external drive containing the PC backup data base. Copy the files (not the folder if you have one) from the external drive to D:\folders\{00008086-058D-4C89-AB57-A7F909A47AB4}. After OS re-install this folder will contain one file, Commit.dat. This file needs to be replaced by the copy from the backed up files.

14. Re-connect the external drive(s) containing the Shared Folder files. Copy the files back to their respective folders. If there is any snag at least you have a copy to try again.

15. From each networked PC re-join the server by running the Connector software. This can be done from either the Software Share on the server (\\<server name>\software\home server connecter software\setup.exe) or from C:\Program Files\Windows Home Server\WHSConnecterInstall.exe on each client PC. It is better to use the Software Share on the server since that will always contain the latest version of the Connecter. The version on the client will only be the same if the versions of PP1 are the same before and after. PP1 has a very handy feature where it prompts you and you can do an automatic update if the versions are different.

16. We have now essentially re-built the system apart from configuring web access, media streaming and any add-ins. Now comes the acid test. From each PC open a backup (any listed backup) via the Console. If you followed the steps correctly (and the data Gods were with you) then there should be no problems. As an extra test we should back up each PC (can wait overnight for the scheduled backup if you wish) and open the new backup from each PC, again everything should be OK. Since Shares just contain regular files there should be no difficulty in access if the copying back and forth was successful.

Hopefully you won’t run into any snags! Enjoy your new found storage freedom.

Graham Jones, MVP
President, VANTUG (www.vantug.com and whs.vantug.com)


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Terry Walsh is the founding editor and owner of We Got Served. Since February 2007, the site has provided detailed coverage and analysis of the emerging home server category, and has subsequently grown into a trusted outlet for digital home news and reviews.
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  • https://technocore.homeserver.com/ Drashna

    This is actually fairly similar to a number of reinstallations I’ve done, especially when changing the System drive. Though it is a more round about way of it, it is fairly sound and should keep your data and backups intact.

  • http://www.cybergamers.nl GaMeR™

    Very nice! We should add this one to the Wiki, if Mr. Jones doesn’t mind.

  • HobbesPDX

    Please don’t think me a total n00b — but in the explanation, it says that the files can be copied (during the initial backup process) from D:\shares — isn’t this exactly what MS tells us not to do in the documentation? That the Shares use special redirects and the like, and that not all files (necessarily) are @ D:\shares?

    Just alarmed me.

  • mememe

    who is going to follow this complicated procedure?! you already have to be a bit technical to use whs in a basic way. only those with intimate knowledge of how whs works will attempt this.

    i’m so glad i simply put an 80GB hd for my system drive.

  • Graham Jones

    HobbesPDX

    Naturally Microsoft are going to warn against directly “playing” with the storage system since you are only “officially” supposed to use the Shared Folders shortcut on the client desktop or \\\shares in Windows Explorer to acces the Shares. However, once you are connected to the server via rdp you can safely read/copy from D:\shares just like on any PC. D:\shares does have all of the shares files. It would be safest not to modify anything. D: drive is a logical collection of physical drives/partitions. This should not be confused with the proprietary Drive Extender (DE) technology which takes care of where the files are dynamically physically stored/duplicated. So DE is definitely off-limits.

    mememe

    If you find the procedure too complicated then clearly it is not for you. This is why I included some pre-conditions in the article. Microsoft do recommend a large HD as the system drive for improved performance.

    GaMeR

    If it is useful I will look at adding it to the Wiki.

    Graham J.

  • Graham Jones

    JB

    Don’t be misled about the product by the apparent complexity of what I have written here. This is not at all necessary to use WHS. It is intended for us geeks who have the knowledge and inclination to make such changes. Tinkering is what keeps us happy; at least when it works :) .

    The product has been designed to be simple for the average person to use without having to understand how the storage system works. For those who want the simplest approach it would make sense to purchase an off the shelf product like the HP MediaSmart server since it is custom designed for the purpose. You can drive a car without having to understand how the engine works. The storage system for WHS is technically complex but with the objective of providing easy data backup and protection for the average person. You don’t need to know how it does that!!

    What constitutes C: and D: drives is decided by the WHS operating system. You have no choice in it. When it comes to the C: and D: drives for WHS you cannot think in traditional terms as you might experience with a desktop PC. The C: drive is basically for the WHS operating system and is only a 20GB partition on the system drive. In simple terms the D: drive consists of the rest of the system drive plus all the other drives in the storage pool, which can be zero to many. To take advantage of Shared Folder duplication you need at least one additional drive, ie. 2 in total.

    I hope this helps. If, out of curiosity, you really want to understand more about the storage system then Microsoft have a good white paper (WHS Backup and Restore) that you can download from http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/8/0/18096C95-4850-4176-9821-970691B98AAF/Windows_Home_Server_Home_Computer_Backup.pdf. I hope that it doesn’t make your head hurt :) .

    Graham J.

  • JB

    For something advertised as being so simple, this sure sound like a different product – or perhaps it really is, perhaps Microsoft just can’t make things simple anymore ?!?

    Why can’t C: and D: be on 2 different hard drives, that would make so much more sense. …or is there a way to do that !?

  • Graham Jones

    OK JB. Now I get your point and it seems a reasonable arguement. You would have to ask Microsoft why? It won’t be long before you cannot even buy anything as small as an 80GB drive. So it would obviously be a huge waste of space. Having said that HD space is now very cheap. Perhaps a solid state drive would be the answer in the future for the OS. I don’t pay much attention to what things are “called”. I am more interested in what things are supposed to do! I do know that Microsoft debated for a very long time what to call this “device”. Unfortunately, the word “server” may or may not be a good choice for the consumer.

  • JB

    I know, I’m a wannabe geek in my sparetime.
    Given the fact that this product is targeted for the average Joe or JB, it sure is more complex than it ought to be. My point about C: and D: being on 2 different hard drives makes perfect sense and would make those scenarios so much easier for the average Joe.

    I have 2TB of storage and transfers GB of data on a daily basis. As it is right now, that data get dumped onto the same hard drive that holds the OS and then later spread out across my additional 4 external hard drives. My so much data transfer on the primary hard drive, the tear and wear is bound to make that hard drive go bad sooner than if the OS was completly seperated.
    …they call it a server after all, so why not seperate the two and up the requirements to 2 hard drives. OS hard drive goes bad, replace and reload latest backup, if initial hard drive in the D: configuration goes bad – same deal, now it’s a nightmare; not intended for the average Joe.

    “Mommy, where did the server go?”

  • JB

    …been thinking about SSD, you think I could trick the “server” and run Partition Magic after the initial install and then seperate the 2 drives ?!?

  • Graham Jones

    WHS storage is not based on traditional NTFS partition/file management. Therefore you cannot manipulate it with products such as Partition Magic. The storage system is managed via the Drive Extender which is proprietary technology. Assuming for the moment that there are no technical reasons why the WHS OS could not be installed on its own physical drive, Microsoft would have to program it that way as part of WHS. I don’t personally know if that is possible or why they made the current choice. However, you have tweaked my own curiosity. Perhaps someone from Microsoft or the community could shed some light on that? My only current thought is that with the current setup a single drive system is viable. I don’t personally think that anything less than 2 drives (to provide redundancy) makes any sense especially when people will make comparisons with typical RAID based NAS storage. On that basis if the OS was on its own drive then a sensible minimum of 3 drives would be required.

    Graham J.

  • MDM

    Can you see an easy way to do a staged upgrade?

    I started out with two small drives (80G each) and realized that I like WHS and wanted to expand. Added a 1TB drive and want to switch the system drive to it. I assumed that the “Remove” button would be available and WHS would transfer the necessary files to the new drive and treat it as the system drive. No such luck.

    I am just starting out, so starting from scratch is possible, but I wanted to know if you know of an easy staged upgrade.

  • Graham Jones

    You can only change the system drive by an OS re-install. Just like with any OS you cannot simply move the files. When you say that you added a 1TB drive do you mean in addition to the 2 existing 80GB drives? If so this drive combination is not efficient because if you want folder duplication you will only have a max of 160GB space on the non-system drives. In reality it will be less becuase it is probably not efficient to go beyond about 80% full on each drive, giving a working max of about 128GB. If you want folder duplication you are better to start out with 2 drives of equal or approx equal size with the system drive as the larger and other drives later. If you want to preserve your existing data and PC backups then you need to do something similar to what I described here. Currently (hopefully in the future) there is no built in tool to do this. Because the process has a fair number of steps some people think that it is complicated. It is not. Each step in itself is quite simple as long as you take care.

    Cheers
    Graham J.

  • Christian

    Great report that has sparked my curiosity…

    Currently I am running my homebuild WHS and using an older laptop for Vista Media Center to connect to my Xbox360. The setup works well, but I have been reading about running WHS using VMWare and would like to look into moving the Vista OS onto my homebuild and recreate the WHS under VMWare on this machine. I have almost 1.5TB in media I do not want to disrupt spread across 4 drives. Is this procedure something I could work into that scenario?

    Thanks,
    Christian

  • Kevin Reid

    In my situation I have the following hdd installed
    2 * 80gb IDE drives (one with the sys C: Drive)
    3 * Sata 1tb drives
    a further 2.2tb on external drives
    further external drives in the backup pool backing up vital folders only.

    1 of the Sata drives is currently not included in the storage pool or in the back up pool so the total D: pool is about 4.5tb with 16% free
    my two 80gb hdds are getting a bit old and occasionally have problems, So I want to replace them.
    I have transfered all the data from the 2nd IDE drive using the remove feature, but I can't remove the drive because for some historical reason the sys drive will not boot without the other drive being present.
    I want to re-install WHS on to the new SATA drive 1tb. Can I simply remove both IDEs and re-install to the SATA and then will the existing pool be available and will duplication recreate those files that were originally on the D: area of the Sys drive
    Or should I re-build and once rebuilt do a remove of what was the old sys drive:

    Obviously with so much data it is nearly impossible and very expensive to get enough external storage to backup the whole pool, the data is all duplicated in the pool. So all data on the D: area of the sys drive has a duplication somewhere in the pool.

    Thanks

    Kev