daztrue said: I'm obviously missing something here! As I understand it, if my OS on my desktop/laptop is transferring data 64 bits at a time, and yet WHS only does so 32 bits at a time, surely data transfer between PCs and server will be limited to 32 bits at a time?!

I believe you may be (missing something). The "pipe" between your clients (desktops/notebooks, etc) is your network. It is probably a 10/100 connection via ethernet cable (CATV). Your network card is moving data between your system and the WHS, probably at 100 MBps. Your PROCESSOR is handling data at 64 bits. So hopefully, you'll notice a performance boost over a 32bit OS especially if your system has additional RAM to support it. Remember, a 32 bit OS can only address 3GB of RAM.

As (I think it was Matt) points out, the server is running WHS which is a 32bit OS. You can have clients (the software running on your desktops/notebooks to connect to your server) with either a 64bit OS or 32 bit OS. Perhaps in some future time, we'll be able to EASILY upgrade the RAM in the server, especially since it is reasonably priced these days, and the processor so it will adequately support a 64bit WHS software.

There are bottlenecks all over the place. Your RAM may have a FSB speed of 667Mhz, 800 Mhz, 1066 MHz, or possibly 1333 MHz. Your hard drive may be 5400 RPM spindle speed, or 7200 RPM or possibly 10k or, if you are a devout gamer with deep pockets, 15k. These days the interface is most likely SATA. But if it is an older IDE drive that MAY affect performance. The on board cache on your drive(s) may also affect performance. Unless you are planning a rebuild or new system, try to be a glass is half full kinda guy and accept that performance is what it is. It is not likely you could "tell" the difference in most cases without benchmark software to show it to you. If it seems to whip along satisfactorily, be happy.

If you are pulling music or videos off the server to run real time, many of the above may bog things down (ie, slow RAM and not much of it, a 5400 RPM spindle speed IDE drive with 1MB cache).  

One other thought comes to mind, often, shared network drives (and I have heard, corrupt print drivers) can affect performance noticeably for file actions where explorer is checking all connections.

gak said: I guess I still am not clear on whether I can run both 32bit and 64bit systems on the server. Below is from the HP site for the instructions on how to upgrade the server: "Will the HP MediaSmart Server Work in an 64-bit Only Environment? Yes, the HP MediaSmart Server can be used in an environment populated only with Microsoft Vista 64-bit computers, provided you have followed the steps given in this document. Once the 64-bit software has been installed, the Microsoft XP or Vista 32-bit computer can be removed from the network." Some of the postings seem to disagree with this. Can I run both 32bit and 64 bit computers on the server and if so where do I get the 64 bit software to connect the computer?

The HP MediaSmart server runs Windows Home Server - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

The clients (computers) you connect to it will run various versions of Windows operating systems - keeping it simple for this discussion. You may have a desktop with XP Pro 32 bit, another with Vista 32 bit and a notebook with Vista 64 bit. They can ALL connect to the server.

All my systems have the Windows Home Server connector software installed. This is on the server. You can use Windows Explorer to find and run it. You can open windows (not INTERNET) Explorer and enter this:

\\yoursvr\Software\Home Server Connector Software\

where "yoursvr" is the name you give your server

This will display a list of files including setup.exe. Run that from a client to install the connector software. The client can be running WinXP 32 or WinXP 64 or it can be running Vista 32 or Vista 64. If the systems you connect to the server are all WinXP64 of Vista 64 that does not matter. They will run the 64 bit OS. The WHS software is 32 bit software - see the link above for everything Microsoft is willing to tell you about WHS.

Again, the connection between the two systems is your ethernet network. Systems running 32 bit Windows can connect with and interface with systems running 64 bit Windows.

If the HP MediaSmart Server ran a 64bit OS would it run "faster". Possibly. But it would also benefit from a memory (fairly easy) and/or processor upgrade. I am not sure there would be much difference with the current hardware or if it would actually be slower. The integrated NIC on the server is 10/100. I have it connected to a gigabit switch and everything else inside my network is gigabit. Moving or copying single or small groups of files moves along very well. The only time I "Notice" file transfers is when I copy/move a LOT  - gig or more. And then it probably takes a little longer (seconds) but I cannot "see" the difference. 

I think any performance lag would show up if you were streaming media from the server, which I do not do. Mine is just a file server.

Does all this only have to do with that older version of MSS software? My version is 2.5.xxxxxxx. I have 3 machines. 1 Win XP32, 1 WIn Vista 32 & 1 Win Vista 64. Installed on the 64 bit machine with the disk just like the other 2 and had/have no problem. Should I be expecting some?