This weekend I installed my new Windows Home Server (WHS) and I found it to be a very interesting product. I purchased one of the HP Media Server units with 1TB of storage. I purchased it at Amazon for $720. I don’t think you could possibly build one of these for that. The WHS software is $179 by itself.
If all you want is extra file storage or backup space at home you can probably get along with a USB hard drive or an Ethernet NAS unit. They would be cheaper. But if you want some extra interesting features you might look into a WHS. I think they might even fit for some small business applications. The WHS comes with 10 user CALs. This unit would be a good replacement for a small peer-to-peer workgroup.
Here’s Some of the Features:
Automated backup of connected computers –
WHS uses something called Drive Extender to map most of your storage space to one virtual C: Drive. You can add drives (via the unit drive slots or via external USB/SATA) and these will extend the size of the “C:” drive. WHS backs up PC and also sets up virtual shared folders to backup your media files, photos, and other shared documents. Additionally you can choose to have files duplicated to provide more protection.
WHS is a an interesting solution because the backups are stored in a virtual store and reduces the required hard drive space by not creating duplicate copies of files that haven’t changed or that have been backed up by other PCs.
Windows Home Server Backup provides two basic services: It backs up the entire PC and then performs incremental backups on a daily basis going forward, allowing you to restore your computer to a previous state in time using an included Computer Restore CD. It also provides a way to go in and restore individual files and folders back in time. These are all services a small business could use.
Document and media sharing
On a very basic level, WHS can and does act like any Windows-based machine with respect to file shares. It includes a number of pre-built shares, like Music, Photos, Public, Software, and Videos, and it creates a default share for each user you create. These shares, by default, have standard rights associated with them. So while even a guest has read access to the Public folder, only a user who was explicitly given the correct credentials can access the specific user shares with Full rights. The UI for configuring this is far simpler than what’s available in Windows Server software. WHS is built on a Server 2003 base.
Remote access- Websites – SharePoint 3.0
WHS manages Remote Access. It makes it easy to log in remotely. This is also a fearure small business users would find useful. I set a No-Ip.biz web address link to my RR IP and can login remotely. I also set up a hosted website (not something a small business would want to do.) I then installed a SharePoint 3.0 site! Now that IS something a small business could use!
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