swoon wrote: brennok, have

[quote=swoon]

brennok, have you considered using something like SyncToy or similar for your situation? It has its own set of pros/cons like WHS data duplication feature, but for the need that you describe, it should be considered.

You mention using WHS 2011 and it would be a good solution for you assuming you need the features it offers like backups for your PCs, remote access, etc. Going with WHS 2011 would allow you to retire your existing WHS and stick with a single machine to do all of your backup/server duties.

[/quote]

Truth be told I never looked into synctoy. I keep putting everything off hoping magically extra space will appear on my server :).

Most of WHS2011 features are overkill for me since I can keep WHS V1 for handling backups of my OS drives. I also don’t use remote access and never even got it working on V1 since my FiOS Westell router wouldn’t configure properly. Much of my playback happens on TiVos which actually copies shows from the server to the TiVo for playback so other than potentially slower transfer speeds I don’t have to worry about streaming issues some have with V1.

I have recently started looking briefly into a NAS to see if it would just solve my dilemma like George suggests, but I haven’t made much progress. My two active Win 7 machines have space for drives, but the one is maxed currently for Sata ports so I would have to look into an expansion card which I have heard mixed results. If I went this way I would probably have to add a 4 to 3 possibly hot swappable bay since I already have 6 drives in my main machine.

My other PC only has the OS drive so I could add I believe 4 more drives before I need an expansion. This of course brings me back to just backing up the recordings. Do I grab a Nas just to Sync/backup the 4 drives or do I use Win 7 to back up Drive D to Drive E?