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These are my assumptions but I'd like you to correct me if I'm wrong...

If the system drive fails, I lose all my computer backups. This is not a problem because there's still the real computers, so I just need to change the system drive and reinstall WHS.

But, what happens with the data stored in shared folders that are duplicated across drives? Does this data become unreachable once the system drive is changed or is it automatically discovered by the new install of WHS?

In summary, I don't care too much about computer backups as the possibility that a computer fails at the same time that the WHS's system drive is pretty low. However I do care about the files stored in the shared folders as WHS is the only place they exist.

Dennis Williamson
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JAG
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  • For what it's worth, the case where it does not find your other drives is sufficiently common to be something to worry about. It didn't work for me. – Sebastian Good Jan 26 '10 at 04:06

2 Answers2

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No, your data is still safe when the system drive fails. Just do a Server Reinstallation. More details can be found in this article

Edmund Tay
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  • Ok, thanks for the link. The answer is that a WHS reinstall will recover my Shared Folders. Also, I could potentially connect each drive to another computer and access my data though a hidden folder called \Data. – JAG May 02 '09 at 10:14
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If your primary drive fails, once its replaces you can run the server recovery procedure from the DVD. This installs the OS, and then attempts to recover the data and is usually successful. It does not recover User accounts or system settings (plugins etc).

Sam Cogan
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