Final Thoughts
I really like the Leo, but then I was always a fan of the SQA-5H boxes.
Noise wise the Leo isn’t silent – but it’s pretty quiet. The only noise comes from the large fan on the rear of the unit – so if you are really insistent on a quiet box you might want to swap it out – but to be honest it really didn’t bother me at all.
There are a number of ports and connectors on the Leo so connecting up different external storage drives was very simple and easy.
Performance wise, I was very happy with. I was streaming music and video to multiple sources in HD and didn’t notice a performance hit at all.
As WHS 2011’s biggest advantage over V1 is media, I am assuming that add-ins and software will come out in time that really takes advantage of the i3, i5 or even i7 processor.
My only real comment, and I have discussed this with Tranquil, is that 5th drive bay. I would have preferred not being able to remove the drive bay because I can see someone forgetting there is a heat sink there and shoving a drive in and thus damaging it. The drive bay doesn’t come out as easily as the other 4 bays, but it can be “forced” – it just gives you the impression the catch is a bit stiff.
The cost of the base model is £679 plus VAT, and there are a whole range of additions you can buy, including more RAM). There is also currently a £50 off code: WHSEB50 you can use. You can also choose between a black one and a white one.
You can also choose a language other than English. In fact, you can choose from:
- English
- French
- German
- Dutch
- Italian
- Spanish
- Swedish
The inclusion of a 24 month return to base warranty was also a good move, and should give buyers some peace of mind.
So all in all a great little box, and well worth the money. Well done Tranquil, you have done it again. Keep it up!
Andrew–
Nice box! Are these available in North America as well as UK/Europe?
Jim
Tranquil will ship them to the US if requested 🙂
Thanks for the review. I to am happy to see Tranquil take strides to promote WHS & WSS and also the recent announcement of going continental, http://www.wegotserved.com/2011/05/31/tranquil-pc-continental/
Thanks for the internal photos.
I’m wondering about reinstalling the OS. You noted that there is a OS DVD, therefor I’m assuming a server recovery or a factory restore requires a USB DVD drive and a monitor connected to the server.
If you recall http://usingwindowshomeserver.com/2009/08/02/review-of-the-tranquil-pc-sqa-5h-windows-home-server/ the silver card and reseting the server put the server in recovery mode on the network and the DVD went into your PC. This was done because Tranquil wanted to avoid using a monitor on the server. I see that no silver card is included on the 2011 boxes, does this mean that the server recovery and/or factory reset are now done at the server with a USB DVD drive and monitor ?
I am also happy to see a i3/5 server but a bit disappoint that you have to give up the 5th drive bay, it’s ok if a 5th drive was never available on this form factor, but to loose it on the 2011 box is disappointing. However you do get a better CPU. Will tranquil have a Aton based WHS2011 that keeps the 5th drive ?
With Tranquil’s ixl Media Center PC’s and excellent silent case and invisible DVD drive, I was hoping for that style on the new servers. I was expecting a box like the Awieco server http://usingwindowshomeserver.com/2011/05/25/awieco-windows-home-server-2011-or-small-business-2011-essentials-server-coming-soon/ it’s silent and you keep the 5th bay and get to use the PCI slot.
Also, nice to see Tranquil throw in the DriveBender addin & provide an upgrade path for v1 to v2.
thanks for the comments John.
The server recovery DVD allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive with the recovery software.
There is a monitor port on the back once you remove the service plate as well.
The problem is there is just no spare room in the case at all for the heat sink to go anywhere other than in the 5 drive bay.
And yes, I believe there is a SQA-5H WHS 2011 box if you want Atom.
Andrew
Hi, Great review. I’m wondering about itunes, and how I could get my Apple TV to work without the need of a client PC being switch-on. Will WHS2011 allow for this to work?
Good question Paul – can you start a new thread in our forums on this topic as I know a few people have done it in different ways.
Thanks – Andrew
Can I purchase Tranquil products in the US?
Not in the US, but you have purchase them from the Tranquil website and they will ship them to the US.
It’s between this and Awieco, so far I’m leaning towards the Awieco. (extra drive bay, and slim-line optical slot) I’d rather have the blu-ray drive built in if possible. (for easy My Movies importing) I’m still waiting to pick between Driver Bender/Drive Pool (DE 3rd party solution) but I’m ready to get a new sever asap! (EX495 is failing/freezing often lately)
If you want redundant data storage Tranquil LEO HS4 is not ready to server you, read on…
As a LEO4 user I cannot argue with the facts on the hardware, great low profile and performance is fantastic. The show stopper though is the very poor Data redundancy support Tranquil PC has adopted since WHS2011 deprecated the Drive Expander from the original WHS.
Tranquil PC has deployed a branded version of DriveBender calling it MonStor. It is proving to be a real monster! Far from delivering the reliability that Tranquil PC herald it is buggy and presents a high risk strategy for non-IT literate users in its current state. It is still very much BETA, with significant flaws I have experienced first-hand based on the current available version v1.1.7.9; including:
1. Security Access controls on folders and files does not work in a Pooled drive.
2. Client Backup’s crash the backup service when running in a pooled drive.
3. Server Folders go ‘Missing’ and need to be restored in the console! Sometimes losing ALL data they contained!
As such any user expecting to get data security form their Tranquil PC Leo HS4 had better think again.
I have reverted back to using my SQA-5H WHS v1 box for now, and have a very expensive unused ‘test’ WHS2011 LEO HS4 waiting for a stable Hard Drive pooling solution. Current options I am playing with are:
DriveBender – http://www.drivebender.com/ (This is the one Tranquil PC are re-branding, and like any re-brand are likely to always be behind the version curve by at least x1)
StableBit DrivePool – http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool
The StableBit DrivePool is the current best performer, based on a comparison with the MonStor version of DriveBender which is at v1.1.7.9 as I do not have access to the closed BETA DriveBender v1.1.8.2