So I've been running WHS v1 for over 3 yrs and it has been fine for me. Saw no reason to initially update to 2011 since DE was removed and just kept chugging with v1. However, I'm in a little bit of a tweaking mood. And I dropped back in here to check things out.
First of all...$450 for SBS2012Essentials is crazy...I can't and won't pay that. That leaves Win8 or WHS2011 or some other NAS or Linux solution that I don't know anything about. After seeing all the posts about StableBit Drive Pool, I'm inclined to go with WHS2011 + Drive Pool.
FWIW, my needs are central file storage, file duplication, streaming to PS3, utorrent, sabnzbd+, and access to files from an ipad.
(Note: My v1 WHS is a core 2 duo 6400 with 2gb ram on a Gigabyte P35-DS3R board. I have 3 drives. Drive 0 is a 1.5tb Samsung containing the OS partition and data. Drive 1 is another 1.5tb Samsung. Drive 2 is a Samsung 2tb. Drive 0 is pretty (99%) full. Drives 1 & 2 have a fair bit of space avail. Respectively 8% and 16% full.)
Now the questions:
1...on v1, I've been using PS3 Media Server to facilitate streaming to the PS3. Is this still needed? If so, does it still work OK?
2...Any problems installing utorrent and sabnzbd+ on WHS2011? My current setup has those installed and I just drop the torrent or nzb files in a folder and the apps pick them up.
3...ipad access...what is the best way to set this up? I'm not an ipad guru...was gifted an ipad2 so learning the ins and outs.
4...Installation...I see the requirements indicate a 160gb drive is needed but I also saw workarounds to use a smaller drive. I was looking for this because I now have a spare 64gb SSD (I just upgraded the drive in my primary workstation). Have there been any real problems reported doing the install on a smaller drive that would contain the OS only?
4a...Is 2gb ram "enough" for WHS2011 or should I plan on trying to find additional ram?
5...Process...Assuming installing on the 64gb SSD is fine, I presume my process would go something like this?
--disconnect all drives except the "new" OS drive...64gb SSD and install WHS2011
--perform any necessary updates and install Drive Pool
--add any or all of the old drives and begin adding them to the "pool" (my understanding is that as long as the drive is recognized, then it will not be formatted and no data will be lost). I believe I read this involves moving the folders around, etc.
Thanks for any input/tips.