Windows Home Server V2 ("Vail") Release date?

[CMetaphor]

So, my new fileserver Gnosis has been up an running for almost a month already and it's sad cause its OS-less for the time being. But wasn't Home server V2 supposed to come out in early Oct? Has anyone heard any rumors on this? Its like its just disappeared from all the news sites I read... Thanks guys.

 

[DCCV44.2223]

I think it's "end of year". Beta in April, Refresh in Aug... The beta refresh is fairly usable, but I haven't found anything that would make me want to upgrade... well, other than 2k3 going EOL in a couples of years time.

 

[CMetaphor]

I think it's "end of year". Beta in April, Refresh in Aug... The beta refresh is fairly usable, but I haven't found anything that would make me want to upgrade... well, other than 2k3 going EOL in a couples of years time.

From what I've heard there are good performance improvements over the original Home Server since this one is based of Server 2k8R2 (Which i use on Behemoth and like). Hopefully it'll come out a bit sooner than that...

 

[MikeFallen]

Yeah i herd that its coming in the fourth quarter...i'm using the preview now and impressed with it so far

 

[matsta31]

That v2 vs original Home server, what are the upgrade ?

 

[Linus]

I'm stoked for Home Server V2. Waiting for production software to take the plunge though.

 

[CMetaphor]

That v2 vs original Home server, what are the upgrade ?

Think windows vista vs windows 7 and youre on the right track, hehe.

I'm stoked for Home Server V2. Waiting for production software to take the plunge though.

Yeah i agree Linus, I want the full version before installing and configuring everything for my file server... i have a bad feeling that if i install the preview i won't be able to install the final V2 over it, but will have to format/reinstall instead (a waste of time).

 

[DCCV44.2223]

i have a bad feeling that if i install the preview i won't be able to install the final V2 over it, but will have to format/reinstall instead (a waste of time).

MSFT never officially supported installing RTM on top of beta/rcs so it's pretty much a given that a reinstall is necessary for people who are running Vail betas.

However, I remember reading a message in the MSFT WHS support forum (I think) saying that if you exclude the system drive from the storage pool, power down, remove the set of storage pool HDDs, then format and reinstall Vail on the system drive. Once Vail is reinstalled and you reconnect the set of storage pool HDDs, Vail should recognize and reconfigure it. It been awhile since I read that so I maybe mistaken, I'll see if I can dig up the message tomorrow.

Edit: Here's the thread

Vail Deal Breakers\Complaints

Relevant messages are:

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 5:31 AM

You can take *all* hard drives from one Vail server (or all minus one if all volumes are duplicated) and connect it to a different Vail server *that has no storage of its own* (that is, only the system volume is present). The target Vail server will recognize that a foreign disk set (aka 'non-default server storage') is connected. At this time the user will be able to promote the foreign disk set to become the default disk set for the target Vail server. Promoting to default does not format disks; it retains all data, establishes the association with the server, fixes all SMB shares etc.

Bulat Shelepov, Test Lead (Drive Extender), Windows Home and Small Business Server Team

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 7:40 PM

There's a new feature in Vail that allows keeping the system volume on a separate drive (e.g. if you want to keep the system volume on an SSD, or use RAID mirroring to protect the system drive etc.) By default after the installation, the system drive will contain the system volume and a Drive Extender data partition. In Vail, you can remove the Drive Extender partition from that drive, leaving the system volume and a bunch of unallocated space. If you then remove all data drives, your system will have a system volume and no default storage pool.

Bulat Shelepov, Test Lead (Drive Extender), Windows Home and Small Business Server Team

 

[Chilly]

Fsck Vail, I want Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials ("Aurora")!

Windows Small Business Server 2011

Active Directory, Personal Folder Redirection, File back up, etc on the cheap and easy to use!