Windows Home Server - Another Look

rgharper — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:37:00 GMT

Those who visit my Web site from time to time will note that the new article there (http://rgharper.mvps.org/) starts the series I promised on Windows Home Server. I'm going to split things up just a bit with the "heavy lifting" stories (installation, updates, configuration, etc) being done on the Web site and the blog site hosting stories about how Windows Home Server can bring convenience, saftey and value to your home network.

It's really a shame (in my most-humble opinion) that this product isn't widely available at retail. As noted on the Web site, the hardware requirements for WHS are very modest, it needs very little processor speed to run well. You'll want a fair amount of memory (2gb would be my recommendation). However, hard drive space is the lifeforce of your WHS system. Since the server will store backups of the computers on your network, plus any documents or files you put on the server, you'll want to have a lot of hard drive space available. Figure on 1TB (one terrabyte, or one thousand gigabytes) as a good start for a small to mid-sized network.

But in any case ... stay tuned as the series plays out both here on the blog and on my Web site.

Oh yeah - before I split here's a couple interesting programs to look at:

Microsoft Equipt is a subscription-based way to get essential software for up to three computers at home. The annual license fee gets you Microsoft OneCare for protection and security, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 and Windows Live tools for one low price.

Also, Microsoft continues to offer The Ultimate Steal - qualifying college students can snag Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate Edition for $59.95 - that's better than 90% off the suggested retail price of the software if bought retail.

Richard G. Harper - Microsoft Windows Support and More

Windows Home Server - Another Look