FAQ: HP MediaSmart Server ex485 and ex487 (Page 6 of 9)

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by MediaSmartHome Team January 29, 2009 03:45 PM

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Server Storage

Q. What is the storage capacity of HP MediaSmart Server ex485 and ex 487 ?

A. The ex485 ships with one 750GB SATA drive and three empty bays, and the ex487 ships with two 750GB SATA drives (1.5TB total) and two empty bays. In both cases, expanding the capacity is extremely easy. Maximum capacity is only limited by hard disk drive capacities and number of bays (4), USB ports (4) and eSATA ports (1) on the HP MediaSmart Server. With 1 Terabyte drives, the user could conceivably have 9 Terabytes of capacity in the HP MediaSmart Server. Multiple MediaSmart Servers cannot be daisy-chained.

Q. What is the storage capacity in terms of real world content ?
A. One terabyte of storage =
~18,000 - 10 megapixel digital photos
350 pictures per week for an entire year
~2,800 hours – Windows Media lossless music (may be compressed but no bits dropped)
116 days of unique music
~500 hours – Regular TV shows
Record every baseball game of 1 team for a season
Record every episode of “I Love Lucy” and “M*A*S*H”
~70 hours – HD TV shows
Record 3 one-hour long TV shows for an entire season
Record every football game of one team for a season
From Microsoft Windows Home Server AR presentation.

From HP spreadsheet: 1 TB holds:
451,000 photos (2 MB @ 4MP)
225,000 songs (4 MB @ 4 minutes @ 128 Kbps AAC encoding)
635 Hours of video recording in “fair” mode (Hr = 1.42 GB standard NTSC format)
285 hours of video recording in “best” mode (Hr = 3.12 GB standard NTSC format)

Q: What types of hard disk drives can one use?

A: Any off-the-shelf internal 3.5” SATA I or SATA II drive will work in the HP MediaSmart Server. Today, these SATA drives are typically 7200 RPM. Any external USB drive will work with the four USB ports.

Q: Can the drives be partitioned or added as separate volumes ?

A: Internal and external drives can be added as part of the main storage volume, or as part of a backup volume, in the Windows Home Server Console. When you add hard drives to the main storage volume it merely increases the size of the volume, and you don’t need to partition them.

If you add a hard drive as a backup volume, you can backup the shared folders on the MediaSmart Server to this drive, through the Computers and Backup tab in the WHS Console. If you add an external hard drive for your Home Server backups, you can store the hard drive in a separate location for disaster protection.

Q. Does HP’s MediaSmart Server offer hot-swapping of drives?

A. You can remove a hard drive (both SATA and external USB drives) without powering down the system, but first you must “remove it” via the Home Server Console. Content is migrated off the hard disk drive to be removed; you will get adequate warnings if there’s not enough room on other hard disk drives for the content. The hard disk drive indicator on the unit pulses aqua, telling you it’s ok to remove the hard disk drive. You insert a new hard disk drive, then go to the Home Server Console to “add it” to your volume. The overall capacity increases, and the LED glows solid aqua to indicate that the storage has been added.

Q. Is there a RAID option on the HP MediaSmart Server?

A. The HP MediaSmart Server uses a sophisticated technology that is part of the Windows Home Server software called ‘folder duplication.’ By default, shared folders on the MediaSmart Server have folder duplication ‘On’, and every file in that folder is written to two separate hard drives in the array. This shared folder level mirroring provides the first level of redundancy for data on the Server.

Folder duplication works with both internal and external hard disk drives. Selected folder duplication is superior to RAID in that you don’t have to duplicate those folders that don’t need duplication – for instance, TV shows and PC backups. This utilizes hard disk drive space more efficiently. Unlike most RAID configurations in low-end (under $1,000) network storage products that require the entire array of discs to be of identical capacities, this technology allows you to add different or higher capacity hard drives as they become available without sacrificing space on the new drive for RAID.

Q: What if the master hard drive fails?

A: You can replace the master hard drive. The user has to go through user guide instructions accessible from the Control Center to populate the replacement master drive with HP MediaSmart Server software.

Q. How would HP’s Personal Media Drive and HP Pocket Media Drive be used with the HP MediaSmart Server?

A. The HP Personal Media Drive (PMD) and HP Pocket Media Drive can be connected directly to the HP MediaSmart Server using any of the four USB ports available. The HP MediaSmart Server does not have a PMD expansion bay. The value proposition of the PMD is centered on portability and mobility where as the Server hard drives are designed to be permanently attached.