Microsoft Windows Home Server: Serving Up a Network for Your Home Every Home Deserves an Easy-to-Operate Network Vangie Beal
Announced in January and now available in a variety of software and hardware configurations, Microsoft's Windows Home Server (WHS) is an out-of-the-box consumer server option designed for use with multiple home computers.
Home Server allows you to share files such as digital photos and media files, and also provides an automatic backup system for up to ten PCs. The underlying technology at work here is Windows Server 2003
SP2, but Windows Home Server, with its Explorer-like tabbed user interface, is designed to be much more intuitive than the 2003 server release of Windows. Virtually anyone can get up and running with Windows Home Server quickly and with minimal effort.
The Windows Home Server itself is configured remotely from a PC using the Home Server Console. This is the software you will install and use on each of the PCs on the network. Through the Home Server Console you can set all your server options including backup details and file-sharing options. The server doesn't need a video card or keyboard and mouse since all access is done using the Home Server Console. The server itself requires only an Ethernet card (for those do-it-yourself builders) and at least one Windows XP or Vista PC.
For the most part, Microsoft has gotten better about PC backup options with each new version of the Windows operating system. Vista's Backup and Restore Center provides Vista users with a wide variety of options, but it's concentrated only on a single PC. What Windows Home Server brings to the table is the capability to easily and quickly back up all the PCs on your home network without needing to do much more than select a couple preferences in the Home Server Console.
If you're a novice, you really don't even have to set options. Home Server will work as-is at optimal performance with its default settings. This includes full backups being scheduled to run in the early morning hours.
In Backup settings you can choose when to run the backup and also how long to keep monthly, weekly, and daily backup files on the server. When configuring the backups, you can select which drive volumes you want to back up. If you're concerned about disk space then you can go through the process of specifying the files and folders you wish to exclude. It's important to note that Windows Home Server backs up only NTFS volumes. If the volume is FAT or FAT32 it will not be displayed in the list of available volumes to back up during the setup.
When creating the backups, if WHS detects multiple identical files on the network, only one version of that file is actually backed up, which helps to lower your storage requirements. If identical files are detected, those are not added — the server simply notes their location instead of duplicating it.
Once a PC has been backed up, you can choose to do a full-image restore by booting the problematic PC with the Home Computer Restore CD, which provides a connection to the Windows Home Server. From there you simply use a wizard to restore the most recent system backup by selecting the volume as well as the date and time to restore your PC back to.
You can also restore specific lost or corrupted files, rather than a full volume to a PC by accessing the Home Server Console and dragging and dropping files, as you would using your standard Explorer window interface. All you need to easily restore files to your PC is your Windows Home Server password.
Sharing & Remote Access
Through Windows Media Connect, Windows Home Server lets you share any media located on your WHS with compatible devices. Compatible devices in this case basically means Vista or XP computer systems, media center devices, Windows Mobile-based devices, or even your Xbox 360 console gaming system.
WHS defaults to set up a selection of shared folder where you can put media such as music, photos, and other commonly shared files. Each account will also have its own set of folders to use. Access to these shared areas is determined by the user accounts that you create and allow full or read only access.
One of the most useful aspects of file sharing using WHS is remote access to your stored media. WHS gives you a free SSL secured Web address from which you can remotely access your server to upload and download content. This is useful if, for example, you're on a family vacation and want to send 2GB worth of digital images to your home network or if you want to access stored content such as music or images from you server while away from home.
Another remote access feature worth mentioning is the access to your home PC. Using WHS, you can connect to your computer and fully use the installed applications from your remote location. You can also access the Windows Home Server Console through your remote connection if you want to add or change user accounts, change file sharing permissions, and so on.
Remote access is by default turned off. To enable remote access on the WHS you simply turn on the Web access from your Home Server Console. You will need a Windows Live account to use remote access and to create your own space. When you turn on Web access the first thing WHS does is attempt to configure your router. If your router supports UPnP, it can be automatically configured by the wizard. If your router doesn't support UPnP, you'll need to set it up manually by forwarding TCP ports 80, 443, and 4125 from your router to the IP address of your Windows Home Server.
The cost of remote access is bundled with the product. There are no additional fees for using remote access or the unique Web address, and you can easily access your files remotely through a standard Web browser.
Announced in January and now available in a variety of software and hardware configurations, Microsoft's Windows Home Server (WHS) is an out-of-the-box consumer server option designed for use with multiple home computers.
