Connecting WDX 4000 to SBS 2008 as a storage server

WD Legacy Products Sentinel Products
1

Hello,

I’m interested in using the WDX 4000 purely as a storage server on an existing Small Busines Server 2008 environment.  I have a few questions:

  1. Will there be any issues in adding it to the domain?  

  2. Will I have to do anything on the current domain in order for my users to be able to access the WDX’s shares?  There are 14 users in our domain, so the 25 user limit shouldn’t be an issue.

  3. Would I be able to add the drives from the WDX as shares on my existing SBS server, or would the users have to access them directly from the WDX?

I appreciate any feed back.

Thank you!

2
  1. Will there be any issues in adding it to the domain?  

 

Yes, WD Sentinel supports Active Directory Domain Join Capabilities. 

 

  1. Will I have to do anything on the current domain in order for my users to be able to access the WDX’s shares.  There are 14 users in our domain, so the 25 user limit shouldn’t be an issue.

 

No, once you Join your WD Sentinel to your domain and import your users (or a security group of users) from active directory to WD SEntinel, the users should be able to access the Shares. Just make sure you’ve assigned appropriate permissions.

 

  1. Would I be able to add the drives from the WDX as shares on my existing SBS server, or would the users have to access them directly from the WDX?> Users will be able toa access the shares directly from WD Sentinel, rather than getting routed through the SBS server.

Hope this helps.

-Vineet

3

#1 Vineet meant there are no problems joining it to your domain.  Just use the wizard in the dashboard.

As far as getting to the shares, they will have to point to the WD box.  But you might consider leaving the data/shares on the SBS box where it can be backed up.  Just use the WD box for CLient backups.

4

Thank you for the replies.  Sorry for not replying sooner.

What I need is a storage solution.  The office users save all files to the server in order for them to share the data.

Their server has about 2.2TB of storage, but they currently have 200 GB of space left, so I need to move on this quickly.  I also recently conneted a 1TB external hard drive that was initially supposed to be used for Installation files and some other info, but they are currently needing to use this hard drive as well and this hard drive has about 400GB left.

A lot of their files that consume a lot of storage going forward will be large hi-def videos.

I need a long term storage solution for them, this is why I was interested in the 12TB WDX4000.  If this is not a good option let me know. 

If the WDX  is a viable option for a file server, what’s the recommended way to then back up the data on the WDX?

I hope I made myself clear on what the needs are for this solution.  If their are any questions or if I need to clarify anything, please let me know.

Once again, I appreciate any and all responses.

5

Windows Storage Server Essentials will do what you want no problems.  But Windows itself has a 2Tb backup limit.  So you need to either manualy backup/copy these videos to some external 2/3tb drives and put them in a safe place or get two boxes.

The WD box has an available addin from Keep Vault I think that allows you to “sync” the 2 boxes, but I don’t like it because you have to pay a monthly fee for cloud to get this capability.

cloudberrylab.com has a nice add-in for thirty bucks one time charge that will sync folders as well.  I used the home server version on my box for the 15 day trial and it seemed to do all I asked it to.

You just plan to “store” these hi-def videos correct?  Not stream them from this box?

6

Hi Gramps,

Thanks for the reply.

So, to clarify:

This will be used as a storage device for a small law firm.

They will be using it to save their client files (PDF, WordPerfect, etc) as well as video depositions.

From the sounds of the reply, there does not seem to be a native tool that would back up the contents of one WDX4000 to a second WDX4000.  There are add-ins I could purchase.

Would I be able to use something like robocopy to synch two WDX4000 units?

I’m debating on purchasing 2 12TB WDX4000 units or 2 RAID enlcosures.  One would be used as a backup of the other.

7

Hoorah for WordPerfect :slight_smile:

Yes, you could create a bat file for robocopy and shedule a task for it.  But again for ~30 bucks the cloudberry is a GUI and send you emails about what it has done.

No clue on a raid enclosure, but would just get just raid zero if it is cheaper for the space since it is just a backup