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Drive Extender Functionality Coming to WHS2011

Windows Home Server 2011 will have an add-in by a third party which will provide similar functionality to what Drive Extender (DE) had.

The add-in StableBit DrivePool will let you add multiple hard drives into one combined storage pool on the Windows Home Server 2011. You can create folder shares on this storage pool, and each folder on the pool can either be duplicated or not duplicated. Files placed in duplicated folders will be protected against single drive failure by being placed onto two separate hard drives.

StableBit DrivePool Folder View

The folder view

As you can see this will allow you to add (and remove) drives of various sizes and types to the pool and folder duplication will copy your files to another hard driver (as was the case with DE), which will protect your shares against a single drive failure.

StableBit DrivePool Folder View

Added a folder

Features:

  • Combine all your hard drives into one big storage pool (except the system drive with the OS).
  • Add and remove drives from the pool at any time without re-partitioning or manually moving folders.
  • Create duplicated folders on the storage drive pool that are protected against single drive failure. If a drive fails on which a duplicated file was stored, the contents of that file will remain readable even without the drive.

Here are the 5 screen shots from the add a folder wizard:

StableBit DrivePool Add a Folder 1 StableBit DrivePool Add a Folder 2

StableBit DrivePool Add a Folder 3 StableBit DrivePool Add a Folder 4

StableBit DrivePool Add a Folder 5

The add-in is currently at ALPHA stage, and a fully functional Technical Preview version will be available in the coming weeks.

StableBit DrivePool Added a Folder

The drive pool

Its great to see a third party adding the Drive Extender functionality back to WHS2011. Information from Covercube.

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Comments (6)

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  1. TheBeagle says:

    If this Third Party Add-in actually works, then it will likely save WHS 2011 from is present course of doomed failure. I, for one, will be extremely anxious to try this new Drive Extender software. Please keep n top of this latest development and make sure we know where and when we can get a copy to try on our own systems.

    This is the best news I’ve heard concerning WHS since Microsoft adopted its present stance (a/k/a Inverted Cranial Rectal Syndrome)pertaining to the removal of DE from the Version 2 software. Many thanks to the developers of this Add-in. Best regards. TheBeagle

  2. MilesM says:

    This is such a fundamental requirement for WHS2, if a third party can do it as an add-in why can’t MS do it as part of the server OS?

  3. Brian says:

    What (s)he ^^^ said. The RC release without DE has me scoping out a new box to put version 1 one, this news will delay my Newegg order while I wait to see how StableBit DrivePool pans out.

  4. Ron V says:

    Is this add-in available for DL yet? I just moved “upgraded” (read as “Sideways and down the slope”) from the original version of WHS and was sorely disapointed by the lack of DE. DE was a major feature IMO, now management of drives is … cumbersome.

    Ron

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