I would venture a guess that they feel (as many do) that you need enterprise quality SSDs in a server application.
There was a lot of back and forth over the Internets about this. A lot of people run consumer stuff, but a lot of people yell at them, too!
With the price point of the Edge SSDs that xByte sells, I decided to go that route. It's about 100% more, but considering the cost of consumer stuff that's not terrible.
@Dashrender said:
But a second drive for your computer. Then restore the image to that drive and run it in your computer for a while.. There you go, confirmed the image is good.. and you're always legal.
But that is hard. (LOL. Kidding.)
That's another lesson I have learned from this. A lot of this stuff works, and is for the convenience of IT. At a cost of licensing, of course.
@Dashrender said:
You can legally image your own machine for restoring to your own (same) computer with an OEM license.
Yes but you can't legally spin it up to test that it's actually working. I mean, you can access files, but not the image itself.
All you can do is pray, and drink beer, and be happy.
@coliver said:
Recommend something like Crashplan... not instantaneous like you are expecting but the easiest way to do it.
That's actually what I use all the time. $5. Awesome.
But I've also had to restore the large amounts of data. Not awesome. 
Especially with apps and settings involved.
What about bookmarks, things like that?
Again, I've taken this down to just the most basic of users. Your grandmother. The crazy guy who lives in the next apartments who knows you work with computers.
@Dashrender said:
You are allowed to create images of each machine to be restored on the same hardware that the image came from.
If it works, which the home user cannot legally check.
@scottalanmiller said:
The answer here should be to move those critical data-storing apps elsewhere. To a server, to a hosted site... whatever. A high quality VPS starts at $5/mo. If the system isn't worth $5, it's not critical in the least.
Recommendation, for future storage ... in my brain?
Holy cow. I drive to work, and there are 18 posts!
So, I am switching to the side of 100% agreeing with you in ALL business cases. Regardless of what you run, desktop re-imaging isn't necessarily the best way to go. I am just thinking of it as a convenience. I'm working at 12. I got lunch, and my laptop gets stolen. I pick up a new laptop on the way back from Best Buy and I am back up and running as I was at 12 pretty quickly.
But ... I store all my personal stuff on this laptop too, which makes me think me reticence here is machines only on a personal level. I guess I am really thinking of a personal level. Like your elderly uncle who has all their pictures and music on their machines, but aren't backing up.
Is it really just a matter of ... hey if it is important to them they should know better? Or ... hey if it is really that important, it's more than just a personal machine and should be considered as such?
@DustinB3403 these are the ones they see:
http://www.xbyte.com/Edge-Enterprise-SSD.aspx
Hopefully @todd-at-xByte has more info.
These are the drives I was looking at, the enterprise-class. Compatible with DELl (according to them but I do not doubt it) and enterprise features like powere loss protection, etc.. And still way cheaper than DELL SSDs.
There was a lot of discussion in my other thread (threads?) about not backing up desktops because they can be replaced quickly.
My question is ... how?
I understand this is more on a personal/hobby/SOHO basis. Most companies of any size would be using VL and imaging. (Though in my 15 person company I do not.) But this is one of the questions I get asked most when not "in the office", and I'd like to know what answer you all give to the average home user, and hobby/SOHO business user.
Obviously in a pinch getting the hardware isn't a problem.
My laptop has a ton of programs on it, most of which have settings stored ... who knows where? (Mostly in AppData, but that's obviously not something that is backed up on a server.)
Is the term "quickly" more in the vein of:
quickly to get your most important program or two up and running, and not worry about your data because it is on a server/cloud somewhere? then restore everything else at a later date?
How does one remember what programs they have installed? (I guess if you don't remember, you don't need it!) How do you quickly restore settings?
If the computer does have some more advanced programs on it (say they are a 1 person shop running a donations database or something) might you change your line of thinking for an image backup? (With proper licensing, of course.) How does a 1 person shop or home user get imaging rights if your thought DID change to this?
@DustinB3403 I was looking at the enterprise-grade ones that xByte sells directly. Do all Edge SSDs work in the DELLs, or just the ones from xByte?
This is one of the topics that brought me to this forum, indirectly.
In my research (and real-world experience testing Kingston SSDs in a DELL T320) it is very hit or miss, with the hit ratio being far higher.
It seems to "work", but as @todd-at-xByte mentioned you are running totally blind. My fear was also some sort of "issue" down the road.
DIRECTLY ( ) because of this forum I've been looking into the SSD options from xByte. That is going to be my next test. It's is a little more pricey than the consumer SSDs, but not as bad as the other enterprise-level SSDs I have seen, and certainly much much cheaper than DELL direct.
There is still the question of using non-DELL equipment in a DELL, but others will chime up on that.
I never knew what soft water was until I was travelling (Indianapolis, I think) and was complaining about how slimy the water felt.
It was explained to me, and then I was like aha!
I like shooting things.
It's all I play these days. I get game obsessed. Before this was Team Fortress 2.
So no World of Tanks players here?
In my journey to enlightenment via MS licensing, I figure I'll have more stuff pop into my head. Just such a thing just happened.
I figured I'd post the time of the thought in the topic title, and separate the thoughts into threads.
THE QUESTION:
I know with an OEM license you are not allowed to image a Windows desktop So, no regular imaging, or no BMR to new hardware.
Are you allowed to image the hard drive to a new hard drive for the same system to swap out the drive? Such as when upgrading to a SSD?
Well I have my reading for the weekend.
Wait. NO NO NO. Fun, have fun. No reading.