Is WHS the right solution for what I want?

D

dalearyous

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 21, 2008
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so i have a very large gaming/media desktop at home that houses all my movies, tv shows, music, work files, school documents etc ...

i also have a laptop and i find myself increasingly home less and less but would love to access my files on the go. i feel like i basically need some sort of home server or ftp server. i have a fairly decent desktop just sitting around with more than enough horsepower to get what i need done. i have read up on windows home server and it seems very useful but would hate to buy it and not like it, or use the trial, love it and have to buy it and start over.

can anyone recommend a solution that would allow me to quickly and easily access my files and computers at home (remote desktop would be nice, logmein is too slow and annoying to run). streaming would be best but not required.
 
Remote desktop would probably be best, an FTP server if you need to grab files. But unless you have a nice 5+MB upload pipe streaming just isn't going to happen. For RDP you don't need a server, just one desktop set to access the outside world, then everything connects through there.
 
so setup RDP (remote desktop ___?) and some sort of ftp server on my spare desktop? any suggestions on FTP server?
 
i hate logmein

*edit* btw, remote desktop is probably the easiest thing i have ever setup. and office 2011 for mac installs remote desktop connection which is great.

**edit** AND iis manager to setup ftp server is also extremely easy, man im impressed windows

***edit*** is there a way around running something like no-ip? besides getting static IP. could i just buy a domain name and add it to no-ip so mydomain.com always points to my desktop that has a dynamic ip address. security risks?
 
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Might be easier to use Windows Live Mesh. Basically you install the app on your desktop and laptop. It keeps all of your files synced between the two as well as online in Skydrive (as a backup). You can then launch Mesh or visit the live site to connect remotely to either PC from anywhere you want.

Requires Vista/7 to install the client but you can access the remote portion on XP via web browser.
 
if WHS was free i would give it a try ... or if it allowed for streaming, it would be extremely tempting

honestly, remote desktop and ftp server works great!

so if i buy a domain at no-ip.com and setup the Dynamic Update Client on a machine that will keep the domain and my home dynamic IP synced. what if i decide to build a website for that domain and have the website hosted on a vps somewhere ... will i be able to direct the right traffic to the right place?
 
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I have had a WHS box for several years. I first used an old box with a ton of old drives. About a year ago, I picked up the ASUS WHS with 3 large, new drives. It was frustrating having the old drives fail and I hated the power used with the old hardware. I was probably pulling 150W+ with the homebrew and now should pull below 40W at all times. The case is also a 1/4 of the size.

The program does a great job of backing up my home pcs (Gaming computer and HTPC). Since both run the same OS, WHS is able to use less space for back up. My networking buddies had a name for it but basically it doesn't store multiple copies of the same file. As for internet access, you receive a free domain name and can access the files stored on it from anywhere. The speed for downloads and uploads are only limited by your home internet service.

I don't use a streaming service but I believe I have read about other WHS users installing 3rd party software that can do this. A great site for finding out more about WHS is We Got Served. They maintain a list of add-ins and have a great forum that should cover any questions.

If you decide to go with WHS, you may want to wait a bit. The new version (Vail) will hopefully come out in the next 6 months. I think it adds some nice new features plus it is 64 bit which will allow for larger hard drives (over 2TB). It will have DLNA support built in, handle MAC OS backups and the remote access interface should be friendlier. Here is preview of new features.
 
@brownkc

very interesting. another problem with WHS is that it takes a full separate computer to run. that means i would have to part with my HTPC and install WHS on it. ftp and remote desktop gives me a really quick, simple, dirty way to do what i need to do without dedicating a whole machine to it.

but WHS sounds really awesome.

note about the trial: if you buy it after trial period you have to start all over again and do fresh install.

i may keep my setup i have now and once new WHS comes out maybe ill be able to dedicate a machine to it by then.

*edit* NEW VERSION:
"The remote website now includes very cool Silverlight-powered Music, Video and Photo players, and real-time video transcoding and streaming is included for the first time – a huge feature that will be loved by a lot of users." - i'm sold

ohhh and mobile website access!
 
still very pleased with setup. bought a domain and using no-ip is great. remote desktop is 10 times better than logmein.

i have been reading about WHS and apparently its just a dumb down version of server 2003 ... when they say that, does it imply WHS is easier to use/manage server 2003? would it be in my best interest to get a copy of server 2003 or even 2008 and just learn?
 
For your purposes, there would be no point to paying for a full license to Server 2003/2008. WHS is much easier to install and maintain and would do what you want.
 
My understanding is that they use the last mature Server OS as the base so WHS v1 is Server 2003 and WHS v2 is based on Server 2008. I believe the backbone is still the Server OS. They just give it a pretty face and UI for the common man. Some features like a fancy RAID are also more difficult to pull off with this setup.
 
dalearyous said:
if WHS was free i would give it a try ... or if it allowed for streaming, it would be extremely tempting
Click to expand...
There are add-ins for WHS (And other versions of windows) that will allow media streaming. Check twonkymedia for an example.

What you really want to check out is the beta of the next WHS, "Vail." It includes all the remote access, RDP AND media streaming built in. The media streaming is pretty slick too.

honestly, remote desktop and ftp server works great!

so if i buy a domain at no-ip.com and setup the Dynamic Update Client on a machine that will keep the domain and my home dynamic IP synced. what if i decide to build a website for that domain and have the website hosted on a vps somewhere ... will i be able to direct the right traffic to the right place?
Click to expand...

This is another benefit of WHS, you get a Homeserver address, {your server}.homeserver.com, as a part of WHS for free. It's also an HTTPS address. IMHO, it's a much better solution than a lot of other options. It's more secure, and offers a ton of features.

If you want to play around with it go to: http://connect.microsoft.com/ register and download the Vail beta and give it a try. I expect this version will be available and usable for a good 6 months to a year before it goes inactive.

I've been using it for a while and it's extremely stable for me.
 
what kind of video playback does the vail have?

my problem is in order to begin messing with it i will have to give up my HTPC. which is fine as long as i can play videos in the interface
 
If it's just accessing files look into something like tonido.
I use it to access files from anywhere with a web connection - including my blackberry and friend's iphones.
You can set up shared directories, a web based music streaming application, a money manager type application, a blog, web based torrent portal etc...
It gives you a web portal to your files, music etc.I use it almost every day.

I run mine on linux but it's available on windows too. It's fantastic software and it's free (as in beer).
--

As for remote desktop-ish type stuff. I set up a dynamic dns account on my router, then I use "NoMachine" (NX) to remote to my linux box, very little latency - and it's going over SSH so it's secure. Tons faster than VNC, IMO. The NX client can also do vnc connections if you need that too.

I'm big on no-cost software for personal use, and generally find that the paid versions are usually worth mentioning at work depending on the need.
 
dalearyous said:
what kind of video playback does the vail have?

my problem is in order to begin messing with it i will have to give up my HTPC. which is fine as long as i can play videos in the interface
Click to expand...

It uses a silverlight client to stream stuff. I've been able to play WMV, MS-DVR, AVI, MP4... It supports all the major formats.

What OS is your HTPC running? It should be possible to test Vail out as a VM on that machine and you will gain most of the features you are looking for. You just would need to use a VM that supports a 64-bit client as Vail is 64-bit only.

If you are running a Win 7 media center, take a look at "Remote Potato." It's a pretty nice free add-in for WMC.
 
so what if i can get server 2008 for free? i was granted access to my school's msdnaa program and pretty much any and all microsoft software is available for free.
 
It would be WAY overkill and more hassle than you would want to properly setup/secure/maintain. I'd just use WHS.
 
Post up with your results, I'm running whs but I've been thinking about switching to check out 2008. (I've got a technet sub.)
 
will do, just stay subscribed to this thread. it will probably be a week or so because the only thing my server box is missing is a video card and i am about to replace the one in my main rig and move it on down.
 
server 2008 is up and running. i will provide a more lengthy post soon once i get some more roles setup and other functions setup
 
I agree with one of the posters above... Live Mesh 2011.... You can have it to completely sync your documents, music, desktop, videos, pictures and everything else over the internet. It's also great as a backup, as you have two FULL copies of all your files.
 
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