Windows 7 Pro vs. Home Server for HTPC and Home Server?

F

fiterfly

n00b
Joined
Jun 21, 2011
Messages
8
Hello, everyone,

This post is related to my previous one about the HTPC but a different question, so I thought a separate thread would be better for Google-friendliness.

As I mentioned in my other HTPC post, I am looking to maybe have the HTPC serve double-duty as a home server to store pictures, music and also image backups of other computers in the house. The reasoning is that it is low power and constantly on anyway, so why not?

I was originally going to buy Windows 7 Pro with an eye to having to remote log-in or FTP in to the HTPC when I am away to access the files. I could then use Windows Media Center when using the box as an HTPC.

It also occurred to me that I could install Windows Home Server on it instead, which would make it a more powerful home server. Without ever having seen it before though, I don't know how well Windows Home Server would work as an HTPC to run MediaMonkey, stream shows off a browser, and eventually record TV shows if I bother to buy a TV tuner.

It seems like I would need to choose between a good HTPC and a mediocre home server (getting Windows 7 Pro) or having a good home server that may make a weaker HTPC (getting Windows Home Server). Why Microsoft won't include Media Center in Home Server is beyond me. I would imagine there would be plenty of people out there who don't want buy two computers (and two copies of Windows) and leave them on constantly in order to have both an HTPC and home server.

What are your thoughts? What would be the better OS for a double-duty (home theatre + home server) PC?

Thanks in advance for your comments!
 
fiterfly said:
As I mentioned in my other HTPC post, I am looking to maybe have the HTPC serve double-duty as a home server to store pictures, music and also image backups of other computers in the house. The reasoning is that it is low power and constantly on anyway, so why not?
Click to expand...
Because it's a very dumb idea. I've done it for six months WHEN I HAD TOO and it was a nighmare. This has been asked many times before so check out previous threads for the long answers.
It also occurred to me that I could install Windows Home Server on it instead, which would make it a more powerful home server. Without ever having seen it before though, I don't know how well Windows Home Server would work as an HTPC to run MediaMonkey, stream shows off a browser, and eventually record TV shows if I bother to buy a TV tuner.
Click to expand...
Home Server has NO MEDIA abilities at all. For Home Server you will need to run a separate box anyways. Hell, Home Server won't even run 90% or the average programs BECAUSE it's a server OS.
It seems like I would need to choose between a good HTPC and a mediocre home server (getting Windows 7 Pro) or having a good home server that may make a weaker HTPC (getting Windows Home Server). Why Microsoft won't include Media Center in Home Server is beyond me. I would imagine there would be plenty of people out there who don't want buy two computers (and two copies of Windows) and leave them on constantly in order to have both an HTPC and home server.
Click to expand...
It really isn't that big of a deal. Both systems are geared towards different objectives. That's why you have to choice one or the other. Again, check out the previous threads but this is a monumentally dumb idea.
 
CrimandEvil said:
Um, SageTV was bought by Google and now is no longer available. You can't buy it any more.
Click to expand...

Annnnnd damn. My bad. I was wondering why no one was recommending SageTV anymore. Well now I know
 
If you really want all the functions on the same metal, then run home server in a VM on the HTPC. Problem solved.
 
Thanks for the links to the other threads. My search terms were OS-centric, so that topic of discussion eluded me.

I like the idea of installing home server and running a VM. I had seen a blog post from somebody who tried it a couple years ago and he didn't quite like the result.

I guess the main reason I'm considering it is that I don't have a large amount of data to store on the home server, i.e. less than 400 GB. I probably need another 200 GB for transient data such as movies that I watch and delete. Therefore, my requirements don't seem as demanding as some.

I think for now I'm just going to grab regular Windows 7 and get me an HTPC. I'll carry on my current home server-less lifestyle until I have spare parts to put together a separate box.
 
fiterfly said:
Thanks for the links to the other threads. My search terms were OS-centric, so that topic of discussion eluded me.

I like the idea of installing home server and running a VM. I had seen a blog post from somebody who tried it a couple years ago and he didn't quite like the result.

I guess the main reason I'm considering it is that I don't have a large amount of data to store on the home server, i.e. less than 400 GB. I probably need another 200 GB for transient data such as movies that I watch and delete. Therefore, my requirements don't seem as demanding as some.

I think for now I'm just going to grab regular Windows 7 and get me an HTPC. I'll carry on my current home server-less lifestyle until I have spare parts to put together a separate box.
Click to expand...

I was actually thinking the other way around. Run 7MC on the metal and have WHS as the guest in the VM. I setup WHS 2011 in a VM (though not on my HTPC) and gave it an 1850GB virtual drive on the box and it seems to be running just fine. There would be too many complications virtuallizing the media center.
 
Ah yes, now I see. That's an interesting point, since WHS probably has much lower requirements. Well, I'll definitely go ahead with Windows 7 Pro then and explore the WHS aspect of it later. I think in the end, it's probably worthwhile when I have other spare components laying around.
 
I'd go with Pro on the server and having a seperate silent cheap box. If you don't need a full PC you can always use all the different variants like Apple TV, Boxee, Asus O Play, XBox 360, etc. You won't have the ability to customize your UI and only the 360 will let you run WMC extender and record TV shows if that's what you need. Most will play any file format, display photos, run Hulu/Netflix, stream audio if that's all you need. They're also all low power (cept for the 360).

Sage TV has an awesome product with it's extenders but they got bought by Google. The most versatile would be an HTPC, but the choices are endless, ITX, mATX, ATX - Atom, Fusion, i3 - Integrated GPU/Sound v external dedicated. I went with HTPCS, but I also have a hacked Apple TV with XBMC that works ok though I still prefer WMC with Mediabrowser for customization, UI, and presentation.

The old WHS with data pooling was great, if you had 10's of GB's of information, allowed you to add and subtract drives with different sizes in one storage pool but was omitted in V2. V2 has great streaming features if you want to access your data remotely, and both allow easy backup of your data. Problem is they don't integrate all that well with WMC, iTunes, etc though there are work arounds they're PIA. Ultimately it's what your needs are, and what your future needs will be ;)
 
Currently, I'm running Win7 Ultimate on my HTPC because I had gotten a killer deal on it through work. What features of WHS are you looking for specifically?

I had run WHS for a while on an older Shuttle with a pair of 500GB drives in RAID1. The cool thing about WHS was the GUI for automating backup of multiple computers. With only having my laptop and my wife's laptop though, I ended up moving those drives to a *nix-based NAS and using the rsync.exe file out of DeltaCopy to automate backup each night. This worked very well until I ended up getting rid of my 1U systems (one of which was the NAS).

If your other computers happen to have Win7 Pro, you can use the built-in backup system to backup to a network share on the HTPC. If they use Win7 HP, this isn't an option as MS had crippled the backup features in HP.

With that said, you could still easily use a third-party program (like the rsync.exe file from DeltaCopy) in combination with Windows Task Scheduler. The way I had it set up for a while was incremental backups of each of our laptops every night. If you're just after having a backup copy of everything, this works absolutely great though it is a bit more work to set up initially. WHS really is easy to get setup right away but might not be necessary depending on what you want and what you are comfortable doing.

The storage pool features of the old WHS (I've not used anything other than the original) was cool, but not necessary at all if you're only looking at ~400GB of data.

Win7 Pro also gives you similar features of mounting drives as part of a folder, doesn't it? That would essentially be the same functionality.

Windows Home Server is cool for the "ease of use" but just about everything it is capable of can be done on a different OS with a little bit of legwork.

I'd go with the Win7 Pro setup hands-down.

Once we are settled into the new house, my ESXi machine is going to end up with an OpenSolaris/OpenIndiana VM for NAS duties, and our laptops will likely run rsync on a nightly basis again.. unless I feel like trying out WHS again, but I highly, highly doubt it.
 
Thanks for all of your advice. I'm going to go with DuronClocker's suggestion and just get an HTPC with Windows 7 Pro. I think that I'll get the HTPC need taken care of, since I'm not at the point of needing a home server yet with the small amount of data I have. I plan on using the home network and built in Windows function, maybe with FreeFileSync to simply have the HTPC store a backup copy of pictures, documents and music periodically as a separate backup. A home server should come along when I have spare parts.
 
CrimandEvil said:
Because it's a very dumb idea. I've done it for six months WHEN I HAD TOO and it was a nighmare. This has been asked many times before so check out previous threads for the long answers.
Click to expand...

Not a dumb idea at all... it is just impracticle using current OSes.

If you have a box powered on 24hrs/day, and it is not being used to its limits, there is no logical reason why it would not be able to play some media.

But I do agree, for now 2 systems are the best option. I have both. AND wish everyday for a solution that puts this in a single system.

Hell my dream is to have a HTPC, home server, and gaming rig (that can shut off GPUs when not gaming), DAW into 1 box.

End of day dreaming.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top