Final Thoughts
The HumuHumu server is a very neat looking, quiet box. It was nice to have the choice of a different colour other than the usual black colour!
The inclusion of a USB stick which is used to recover the OS was a very good move on the part of HumuHumu. This wouldn’t have cost them very much (its only a USB stick with an image after all) but it was a very nice move on their part. In the event of needing to perform a server recovery you already have everything you need ready to go. As the server doesn’t come with a DVD drive, not everyone will have access to a USB DVD drive, so like I said, nice move.
One thing that might put people off is the lack of being able to add additional drives “internally” within the case. There are no spare ports on the motherboard to allow connection of either another hard drive or a DVD reader/writer. So basically you are limited to the single 2TB drive that is pre-installed.
However, there is an eSATA port which you can use to connect multiple drives to (as long as you buy an eSATA drive bay), along with multiple USB ports.
This may or may not be an issue for you. Personally I would much prefer to have at least 2 drives internally, but that’s just my preference. It also depends on what you want to do with the box. If you just want to use it primarily for PC backup, then it’s configuration, along with an external USB drive to perform server backups is probably adequate.
The Atom processor didn’t cause any issues, and again, if you just plan on using the box for backups, some file sharing and the occasional streaming media event then its perfect. If you were planning on doing media conversion and other CPU intensive tasks then this may not be the box for you – although this is a general comment on Atom based Home Server’s as well, not just with the HumuHumu box.
Price wise, the HumuHumu Windows Home Server 2011 box retails for £478.98, with the Western Digital 2TB External USB Drive selling for £99.99.
UWHS is also the home of the Official Support Forums for HumuHumu, so if you any questions, or need some help, just pay the forums a visit below.
Visit the official HumuHumu Support Forums on UWHS
Andrew,
Thanks for the great review. I’d like to just mention that our Home Server can actually take an additional 3.5” internal SATA drive via the DVD bay. HumuHumu is happy to accommodate customers who want a solution with a very large storage capacity and we have updated our website to include the option of either a 2TB or 3TB additional HDD at time of purchase. If you want to fit your own HDD, you can purchase an optional bracket fitting kit as well.
We have also completely updated our website recently and I’d invite readers to take a moment to visit us to see the new layout.
Many thanks
Leonard Powers
Technology Director
Thanks Leonard – in order to add the additional hard drive you would need to remove the eSATA port, correct?
Andrew,
Thats right. You you would need to remove the eSATA port to free up the internal SATA socket.
Leonard
I really don’t see the point in buying a server if it isn’t easy to add and remove harddrives, and it has room for more than one inside by default, preferably 4-5.
It just makes very little sense to me.
Not everyone will want, or need multiple internal hard drives in their server. There is always the eSATA option and the multiple USB option. Personally I would want more internal, but thats just me, and that isnt what everyone wants.