If your on the fence about WHS...

D

docmal

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
313
Just do it! I recently installed and have become a big fan of this operating system.

My home server has gone through many iterations from Redhat linux to windows server 2003 and then to windows server 2008. Although those operating systems offer tremendous flexibility I found myself facing a steep learning curve and I ran into countless scenarios where the home versions of software just didn't mesh with haveing a home network that was on a domain. I had trouble doing image based backups and restoring from the server. I had trouble getting access to the server from XP and vista home clients among many others problems.

I realized that I could invest time to learn how to really use windows server, I most certainly have the basis and skillset. However, the truth is that I am a developer at heart and I really don't care *that* much about server software. I write code and I explain it all day long and the last thing I want to do when I come home is troubleshoot a server configuration. I wanted to set it and forget it.

Well, windows home server is EXACTLY what I wanted. In fact I have yet to really find something I did not like about the OS.

Pair up windows home server with microsoft syncToy and BOOM my network is humming!
 
I'm going to assemble a WHS box as soon as I can pony up for the parts to built a system for it.
 
you can build a WHS for as little as $311.

http://www.homeserverhacks.com/2008/04/build-green-400-windows-home-server_2871.html

I'm sure most [h] posters have some of those as parts and can probably reduce that price even further.

WHS is really quite nice, you can set and forget or you tweak it all day long with all the free community addons. You can buy a prebuilt or build your own. Easy to expand on the fly.
A wonderful product.
 
Well I intend for it to have at least 5-10TB of hard drive space. Can I do that for $311?

i already have about 2.5TB in my desktop
 
You could theoretically build one for roughly $200 or less these days, using the Intel D945GCLF for $70, throw in a 1GB stick of RAM for another $20, a simple case for whatever you can find it for (with PSU of course), and storage, that's about it. Storage would be the most expensive part, of course, but the basic components to actually have a working computer minus the storage can be had - using that Intel mobo + Atom CPU - are well under $150.

I know a bunch of people making WHS boxes for media servers using that Intel mobo + Atom CPU combo, sometimes several of 'em for well under a grand and then selling 'em off for $300 a pop with 1TB of storage on 'em.

Of course, you have to figure in the cost of WHS at some point too. ;)
 
I just picked up the HP version of WHS. Love it. I wish the processor and ram were a bit more beefy on it, but The whole Home Server system rocks. Right now I have 2TB in it and am thinking about picking up either a 1 or 1.5 GB drive to fill the final internal bay.
 
I'm glad to see threads like this, because it should help me sell my WHS copy on the FS/FT forums!
 
Yikes. I found some WHS forums out there and found out why my HP server was being sluggish. I was using the Mcafee Security Plug in that came with "Power Pack 1" I disabled that and performance is night and day. I'm now giving the Avast WHS version a try. It seems to be much less of a resource drain already.
 
Hey guys, just curious but is WHS limited to 10 concurrent connections like XP? So, up to 10 computers can be browsing files on WHS at once?
 
Korialstrasza said:
Hey guys, just curious but is WHS limited to 10 concurrent connections like XP? So, up to 10 computers can be browsing files on WHS at once?
Click to expand...

I am not 100% sure but WHS is based on windows server 2003 which has no limit. So if there is a limit it is not a technical restriction but instead a restriction MS has added.
 
Korialstrasza said:
Hey guys, just curious but is WHS limited to 10 concurrent connections like XP? So, up to 10 computers can be browsing files on WHS at once?
Click to expand...
I may be wrong on this, but that concurrent "limit" in XP was blown way out of proportion, and was never really an issue to begin with.
 
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