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Ok, Blog time!

Windows Home Server. It’s not very often that a Computer Operating System comes along that you can almost get excited about. Windows Home Server seems to fill a number of increasingly important roles in the average or not-so-average home. While I don’t really have a background in technology journalism or operating system design, I know that I like what I see.

Not only does it provide a central storage point for files large and small, it also offers backup and remote connection features. And the ability to host third-party applications gives it a lot more versatility.

I heard about Windows Home Server back in January 2007, and followed the progress through 2007 and downloaded the Release Candidate 1. Installing on a 3 year old Acer with the following specs:

Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHz
1 GB DDR RAM
80GB IDE WD HDD
Onboard 10/100 NIC

Installation was a breeze, utilising Vista’s pre installation environment. Minimal data entry required. I then setup some base users.

I then installed the Connector onto my two client computers, a very simple procedure. having a limited amount of space on the server, I turned backups off for my main machine (it has a lot of stuff on it) but backed up the second machine.

I like the backup feature, and when I get my new box together, will be backing up religiously. Having backed up the second machine manually (ie, it’s not on all the time, or changes much) I was able to mount the backup image on my main PC and it basically setup a virtual drive. I haven’t tried the client restore feature yet, but I’ll assume it’s pretty easy to use.

I have tested the remote access features, and am impressed. It utilises UPnP to dynamically configure the router, and my windows live subdomain gives access anywhere in the world. The ability to access any connected computer and shared folders is pretty good. I can upload and download files. You can access the Windows Home Server Console and the client machines via Remote Desktop. (Requires ActiveX plugin and Internet Explorer 6.0+)

The Drive Extender technology is also pretty neat. The first disc is partitioned into 2 partitions, the first partition is 20GB and is reserved for the OS. The rest of the disk become the primary data partition, and introduces some limitations when used in a mutli-disc setup. The limitation is that the primary data partition is where the shared folders logically reside, so the free space as seen by a remote client is a reflection of the free space of this partition, and restricts the maximum amount of files that can be copied to the Home Server at any one time. Fortunately, Windows Home Server will try and keep this partition as empty as possible to reduce problems. The primary data partition forms the beginnings of the Data Storage Pool, all additional discs are added to the Storage Pool.

Having multiple discs gives your data a level of redundancy when you choose to duplicate your shares. When folder duplication is enabled on a share, Windows Home Server will ensure that data stored in those shares is copied to two discs, so in case of drive failure, no duplicated data is lost. It is not recommended to use a RAID setup, as it makes drive failure recovery more tedious and complex. Plus, not having to setup a RAID array is easier. Imagine having to rebuild the array every time you wanted to add or change a disc to the array. You can start with smaller discs and swap them for larger ones as you need the extra capacity.

I have also started looking at WHS add-ins. I have loaded the following add-ins:

Client Info: gathers client information via WMI
ASoft AutoExit: Provides a range of tools to administer client machines, including WOL, Shutdown and Remote Desktop.

I have also installed the Windows Home Server Toolkit which gives me access to the logs and CMD in the console. It also gives a swag of diagnostic tools (for both the server and the connector software on the clients)

That will do for now. I am now embarking on a journey to build a new box for Windows Home Server (using the System Builder edition) based on the Cooler Master iTower 930 case, which provides 4 hot-swap SATA bays in the front, and has plenty of room for more hot-swap bays.