JC - Technology and Stuff

Well today’s the day when I finally shut down my Windows 2003 Server and completely revamp it. It has served me well for the past 4 years plus but I figured it’s about time to see how the latest in server software fares on it. It’s going to be an interesting few hours ahead of me and I’ll document all the fun I have the experience.

So, first things first, I need to install a bootable DVD drive into the thing. This is where I find out if it’s going to be a simple day or a frustrating one. I’ll be back soon with an update…

As a little history I first purchased my server just as Windows 2003 Server was being released. It’s a Pentium 4 and has an 80gb Hard Drive, 512kb memory and came with a CD ROM drive. That was the part I needed to upgrade. Windows Home Server needs a bootable DVD ROM drive to install. Rather than trying to install from a network drive (which I don’t think is possible) I shelled out just $26 (including delivery) for an AOpen DVD ROM drive at TigerDirect (Now on sale at amazon.com). The drive is really cool, is 16x speed for DVD read, 48x speed for CDs and supports double layer (8gb) DVDs. It also came with the latest copy of Nero software. Anyway, the DVD has been sitting in its box in my office area for the past 6 weeks or so as I waited for the arrival of the Windows Home Server software (see previous posts 1 & 2).

Anyway the whole DVD ROM drive install took me less than 10 minutes. I opened up my very dusty Windows Server case, unplugged the existing CD drive, pulled it out from its mounting and put it to one side. I hoped I didn’t ever need to use it again! I then unboxed my DVD drive, made sure the on-board jumpers were set for the drive to be a master, attached the drive mount from the old CD drive, slid the DVD drive into the case, reattached the connectors and power, closed the case  and rebooted the server. Everything went fine. Less than 10 minutes in and I had now upgraded my Server to have a bootable DVD ROM drive. That was a good value $26 purchase!

It was then time to install the actual Windows Home Server software and the rest of the timeline went as follows:

*** Please note that before performing any of the following steps I recommend completely backing up your old server ***

• 7:40am - Loaded my Windows Home Server install DVD in the DVD ROM drive and rebooted my server
• 7:43am - Server begins formatting Hard Disk (you need to enter your license key during this step)
• 7:50am - Install copies files to Hard Disk
• 7:51am - Install informs me that it will be complete in 51 minutes
• 8:01am - System reboots - NOTE: Do NOT allow the server to reboot from the DVD at this point - like I did - as if you do you have to go through the previous steps all over again - which I had to do!!!
• 8:04am - Restart installation from scratch!
• 8:05am - Server begins reformatting Hard Disk
• 8:10am - Install copies files to Hard Disk
• 8:11am - Install informs me that it will be complete in 51 minutes (again)
• 8:25am - System reboots and I let it do so completely unattended
• 8:27am - Install informs me it is starting setup and copying files (splash screen says Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server setup)
• 8:29am - Server reboots (splash screen shows Windows Server 2003)
• 8:30am - Install informs me it will be complete in 39 minutes and starts installing Windows
• 8:31am - Server starts installing Devices
• 8:34am - Server starts installing Network (31 minutes to go)
• 8:35am - Server performs Configuration (27 minutes to go)
• 8:37am - Server installs Start Menu items (19 minutes to go)
• 8:37am - Server starts Registering Components
• 8:41am - Server is Saving Settings (7 minutes to go)
• 8:45am - Server reboots (still shows Windows Server 2003) and starts up. Load screen shows Windows Home Server, Build 3790 Service Pack 2
• 8:47am - Servers starts Finalizing Installation and then reboots
• 8:48am - Server runs a CHKDSK and reboots again
• 8:48am - Server starts Updating Windows Update redirector
• 8:49am - Server reboots again
• 8:50am - Server Installs Updates
• 9:04am - Server reboots again
• 9:05am - Server Installs Updates and Installs .NET
• 9:10am - Server starts Creating volume Primary Volume
• 9:11am - Server creates and updates system and performs cleanups
• 9:16am - Server reboots again
• 9:17am - Server starts Configuring Volume Snapshots
• 9:18am - Server displays Welcome Screen (at this point I think that we’re definitely nearly done!)
• 9:18am - I setup my Administrator Password, turn Automatic Updates to ON, turn Customer Experience Program to NO, turn Windows Error Reporting to YES
• 9:21am - Server informs me I should now logoff and access it remotely using the remote access CD. I decide to Activate the Operating System first though.
• 9:22am - Log Off Server

So all in all without the extra reboot at the beginning of the process the whole Windows Home Server install took me 78 minutes. I guess that’s pretty quick and it was certainly a lot quicker than I expected. Now comes the interesting part of the installation as I actually try to use the server and finish all the setup, etc.

This next part will be the subject of my post tomorrow. Have fun!

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am and is filed under Home, PC Tool, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.