Reviewing the Western Digital DS6100Windows Server 2012 R2 Ess... https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11/19/reviewin...

| TechNet Search
(http://technet.microsoft.com/)
Sign in (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/wp-login.php?aadsso_action=login)

Reviewing the Western Digital DS6100

Follow Us

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials NAS (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com

/storageserver/feed/)
Rate this article

Scott M. Johnson (https://social.technet.microsoft.com/profile/Scott+M.+Johnson) November 19, 2014 Popular Tags

2 (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11/19/reviewing- iSCSI
the-western-digital-ds6100windows-server-2012-r2-essentials-nas/#comments) (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/tag/iscsi/)
Share 0 0 0
NAS
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/tag/nas/)

WSS
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/tag/wss/)

WUDSS
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/tag/wudss/)

Windows Storage Server Features

(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/tag/windows-
storage-server-features/)

Storage
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/tag/storage/)

Windows Storage Server History

(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/tag/windows-
storage-server-history/)

Archives
October 2016
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2016/10/)(1)
May 2015
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2015/05/)(1)
March 2015
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2015/03/)(2)
December 2014
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2014/12/)(2)
November 2014
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2014/11/)(1)
All of 2016

1 of 4 09-05-2017 16:48
Reviewing the Western Digital DS6100Windows Server 2012 R2 Ess... https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11/19/reviewin...

out when you need it. With two 1GB Ethernet ports, I am able to copy files and sustain the throughput at (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
200Mb per second, which is pretty close to wire speed. It takes a very balanced server to be able to /storageserver/2016/)(1)
sustain high throughput from the disk all the way up the stack and across the network and this WD All of 2015
DS6100 handled it easily. (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/2015/)(3)
All of 2014
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2014/)(15)
All of 2013
(https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/TNBlogsFS (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2013/)(33)
All of 2012
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/2012/)(3)
All of 2011
/prod.evol.blogs.technet.com/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/00/00/00/63
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver
/2011/)(13)
All of 2010
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/2010/)(8)
/57/metablogapi/clip_image002_541D604B.jpg) All of 2009
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/2009/)(8)
All of 2008
(https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com
/storageserver/2008/)(2)

(https://msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net/media/TNBlogsFS/prod.evol.blogs.technet.com
/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/00/00/00/63/57/metablogapi
/clip_image004_6CACFD9B.jpg)

Inside this toaster-sized cube is a really capable NAS server, domain controller, remote access gateway,
streaming media player and it makes server administration and file-sharing a snap. The server runs
Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, which has all the cool small-business and home-server features that
existed in previous releases, like a simple UI dashboard for management tasks and it has the latest
storage features found in Windows Server, including SMB 3, iSCSI target, NFS, DFS, Quotas, file-screens,
file classification, storage spaces, RDMA, and much more.

For me, the most compelling features of this server are the powerful components and the redundant
options that keep the server running. This single server comes with 2 power supplies which I think is a
brilliant addition if one of the A/C adapters blows up, or your breaker trips on one electrical circuit,
the server can continue running. The data on the hard disks is protected with redundancy using Storage
Spaces and it can be setup in dual or triple-mirrored configurations to ensure zero data loss even in the
event of a 2-drive failure.

Inside the box are some pretty nice components:

XEON E3-1265LV2 QUAD core* processor this is more power than most boxes this size that use
Atom processors or even smaller SOCs.
The DS6100 I played with had 16GB of ECC memory and 4x4TB WD datacenter-class drives for a
whopping 16TB inside.
Up to 16GB ECC memory
Can use RAID or built-in Storage Spaces
Dual DC-in power supply ports
Two dedicated 2.5 boot drives with the operating system installed, preconfigured in RAID-1
Dual GbE ports that can be easily teamed together, and it can leverage the SMB multichannel
feature that will automatically balance file transfers across all the network adapters in the system. I
has able to easily saturate both ports and got 200Mb per second consistently over the network.
That is a pretty healthy transfer rate and it met my needs pretty well.

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials:

Simple IT-pro dashboard lets you configure the most common server settings, create new users
and reset their passwords with ease.
Centralized backup for up to 50 PC/Mac users via Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
Built in domain controller and full support for Active Directory services.
Built-in remote-access gateway. Give your entire organization access to their files from anywhere
on the net.

2 of 4 09-05-2017 16:48
Reviewing the Western Digital DS6100Windows Server 2012 R2 Ess... https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11/19/reviewin...

Built-in integration with Azure Backup and Office 365

There are a couple other reviews online, the general consensus is very positive:

Review: Western Digital WD Sentinel DS6100 (http://www.wegotserved.com/2013/12/08/review-

western-digital-wd-sentinel-ds6100/) One of the first small business servers to ship with Microsoft's
new Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, the WD Sentinel DS6100 offers high-end performance in a sleek
and compact package. For those that need the power, the Sentinel offers strong performance and simplicity
in spades.

Small Business Server Review: WD Sentinel DS6100 (http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/print

/ProductReviews/Hardware/small-business-server-review-wd-sentinel-ds6100.html) Virtually every
small business would benefit from having a server, but countless small firmssay, those with one up to a
couple dozen employeesdo without one under the misguided impression that the benefits dont justify
the cost and effort it takes to buy, run, and maintain a server. If that describes your company, you may
want to take a close look at WDs new Sentinel DS6100 small business server (http://www.wdc.com
/en/products/products.aspx?id=1160) , which packs a full-featured Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
operating system and gobs of redundant storage into a powerful and moderately-priced box

While this blog is focused on Windows Storage Server, I really think that this hardware and the Windows
Server 2012 R2 Essentials Operating System makes for a fantastic NAS device you get all the cool
remote-access, PC backup, media streaming and management features that were originally developed in
Windows Home Server and you get a plethora of the Windows Server features found in the high-end
versions.

Well done WD!

Cheers,
Scott Johnson
Senior Program Manager
Windows Storage Server
@supersquatchy (http://www.twitter.com/supersquatchy)

Comments (2)

Name *

Email *

Website

Post Comment

Eric
November 21, 2014 at 4:57 pm (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11
/19/reviewing-the-western-digital-ds6100windows-server-2012-r2-essentials-
nas/#comment-135)
Id love this box with Windows Storage Server (or even Standard/Datacenter 2012 R2)
instead of Essentials.

Reply (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11/19/reviewing-
the-western-digital-ds6100windows-server-2012-r2-essentials-
nas/?replytocom=135#respond)

hACK
November 28, 2014 at 6:52 pm (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11
/19/reviewing-the-western-digital-ds6100windows-server-2012-r2-essentials-
nas/#comment-172)
Essentials can be easily upgraded to Standard.

Reply (https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11/19/reviewing-
the-western-digital-ds6100windows-server-2012-r2-essentials-
nas/?replytocom=172#respond)

3 of 4 09-05-2017 16:48
Reviewing the Western Digital DS6100Windows Server 2012 R2 Ess... https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/storageserver/2014/11/19/reviewin...

Privacy & Cookies (https://msdn.microsoft.com/dn529288)

(https://www.microsoft.com
Terms of Use (https://msdn.microsoft.com/cc300389) 2017 Microsoft
Trademarks (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/Trademarks/EN-U

4 of 4 09-05-2017 16:48