Ongoing MS Windows Home Server on HTPC via VM (1 Viewer)

[MyPVR]

Hi all,

after my HTPC is allmost finished (up to now) , I started a new project:

Running MS Windows Home Server in a Virtual Machine with VMWare Server on a HTPC

The configuration looks like this:

• WinXP Prof 32-Bit SP3 + latest updates
• MediaPortal 0.2.3 (I should update to 1.0 soon)
• PVRScheduler 1.6.8
• VMWare Server 2.0
• MS Windows Home Server Power Pack 1

At first I added two 1TB hard disks to my HTPC and configured them as RAID1 mirror. After this I installed VMWare and created a virtual machine based on a MS Windows Server 2003 profile with a 80 GB and 750 GB preallocated virtual HD. Then the WHS was installed and tata.... I got a working solution. The only thing that was left was to install the WHS connector on my desktop PC and on the HTPC. Starting the HTPC form the desktop is possible via WakeupOnLan. Getting it to Standby mode is done via a remote call from the desktop of the PowerScheduler on the HTPC. The virtual WHS works together whith MP and PVRS like a charm.

Now I'am testing the stability / reliability / performance / benefits of this solution!

What is your oppinion about this setup? Please rate it.

Regards,
MyPVR

 

[MyPVR]

Update:

The WHS was smoothly running, but after a while I encountered difficulties with the network performance:

The transfer rate between my desktop and the WHS worked as expected (85 MBit PowerLan), but the transfer rate between host (HTPC) and the guest (WHS) was awfully slow and there occured a huge among of network collisions. The virtual machine was set up with a bridged network adapter. Altering the host network setting was like flogging a dead horse. But then I found a solution:

• added a 2. network adapter to the VM
• configured it as "Host only"
• check the routing sequence on the HTPC vmnet1 (host only) -> vmnet0 (bridged) -> LAN and on the WHS vmnet1 -> vmnet0

Now the transfer rate between HTPC and WHS has got a very good performance.

Regards,
MyPVR

 

[dm15644]

Hello MyPVR,

this is an interesting project. Right now I'm thinking about building a WHS machine, and you approach may be an alternative. Can you share some of the considerations that let you choose a VM based solution over a dedicated WHS machine?

Cheers,
jayrock

 

[MyPVR]

There were many points for me to setup a WHS like this:

• No additional box/space is needed
• No additional noise is produced
• Very low additional power consumption (~ 10W)
• Low additional cost for hardware (2 1TB HDDs ~ 160€)
• Low additional cost for software (WHS OEM ~90€)
• Better usage of the existing HTPC parts
• High transfer rate between WHS and HTPC
• More powerfull than a simple NAS
• Nice backup functions
• ...

Info:

• Mounting an external USB 2.0 drive in the VM (via VMware Infrastructure) for a server backup works.
• Remote Access via "homerserver.com" works after manually configuring the router.

 

[dm15644]

Hi MyPVR,

thanks for sharing.

Cheers

jayrock

 

[Hinrich]

Hi MyPVR,

I'm not really sure, if I understood you correctly, but I think I'm trying kind of the same. I have a Windows 2008 Server and I also wanna use it for MediaPortal. So what I did is install Sun VirtualBox (which is kind of the same as VMWare) with Windows XP SP3 and MediaPortal 1.0. Did you have any problems to get MediaPortal to work? In my case, it crashes with the splash screen when trying to initialize DirectX. How much memory (graphics card and system memory) did you assign to VMWare? Maybe I should also use VMWare instead of Virtual Box...
Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[MyPVR]

Hi,

our solutions are not comperable: I did it the other way around. I installed the WHS VM on top of a WinXP (with MP) not to get any hardware (tv-cards, sound & gfx card) and software (DirectX, video/audio codecs, sound & gfx driver) issues. You installed a WinXP VM on top of a WinServer and now get all the problems with hardware & software. Are you able to turn around the installation? Which hardware is included by the WinServer machine? Is it a "true" server mainboard etc.?

Regards,
MyPVR

 

[Hinrich]

I see, sorry I didn't get it the first time. Turning around the installation might be quite some work, but maybe it's worth it. I have to think about that. For hardware, I only do have "normal" components, the only thing "special" is a raid 5 setup. But you're also using raid 1, so it should be okay. But thanks for your input and keep on writing, it sounds pretty interesting!

 

[MyPVR]

I'am thinking about some available options in your setup and here is a straightforward solution...

If I would own a dedicated WinServer and a dedicated second machine I would check a different setup:

• Dedicated Server with Windows Server 2003/2008 with a MP TV-Server installation for recording/streaming tv and shares for any data.
• Dedicated Client with Windows XP/Vista with a MediaPortal Client installation as HTPC.
• Perhaps it's possible to use FireFly or something similar on the WinServer to stream music/videos/photos rather than only live tv and recodings. In that setup streaming clients like the XBOX360 or the EVA8000 from Netgear can be used additionally.

Regards,
MyPVR

 

[MyPVR]

Update: Added pic of my home network.

Info: After exchaning my old HDTV with a Panasonic TX-L37V10E (DLNA 1.5) I can access the WHS directly with the LCD. It's possible to stream the stored videos (mpeg) and photos (jpeg) simply be the VIERA tools from LCD. Perhabs I'am going to give TwonkyServer a chance and try to get access to the recorded shows (DVR-MS) on the HTPC as there was a free license included with the LCD.