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Microsoft Windows Home Server
Introduction
It's been over nine months since Microsoft announced the Windows Home Server at CES 2007 in Las Vegas. There has been a lot of hype, and a very strong enthusiast community stands behind it. Microsoft has set out to create a simple server - one that everyday folks can use and manage, which won't require an MCSE or the neighborhood computer kid. One thing that sets this product apart from most other Microsoft products is the relatively-open beta nature of the product. At first, Microsoft tested the product in-house, with their own staff and family members, and managed to keep it all under wraps. After the announcement at CES the company announced an open beta in which anyone could apply to be in the beta testing. I was one of many who were accepted into the program and got my hands on the second beta of the Windows Home Server application. Late in August Microsoft announced the gold version of WHS, and after about five or six weeks of anxious waiting, it finally became available at US outlets like Newegg for around $185. So how does the final 1.0 version of Windows Home Server stack up? Fairly well, read on for more details. Author's Note: Some sections of this review may be regurgitated from my previous review of the Windows Home Server beta. You may want to refer to the previous review for more insight on how some of the features work. Additionally, I would like to thank my sponsors for this review, Seagate for sending me two 750GB HDs and Mushkin for sending me two 512MB sticks of DDR2-800 RAM. Hardware Configuration Windows Home Server has a very low threshold for the PC's minimum requirements. A 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, an Ethernet port, and at least one 80GB HD is the baseline. An additional hard drive is required if you want important data duplicated in case of failure. Microsoft also requires an Ethernet port because of the large amount of data that will be transferred between the PC and the server, which specifically backs up your PC. The client software defaults to backing up everything, so if you have 150GB of data it will try to back up all of it, and the backups will be painfully slow over wireless B/G. The box I configured was a Shuttle XPC box with a 1.73Ghz Pentium M, two 750GB Seagate drives, 1GB of RAM, and a DVD burner. I chose the Pentium M chip for its low power consumption - the entire system idles at 55-60W, which is about $1 per week of 24/7 usage. Not bad considering how much it could save me in terms of time if I happen to lose or delete an important file. I could save a little more power by switching to a Mac Mini with external HDs (~40W) and installing WHS via Boot Camp (not officially supported but the research I've done says its possible and will likely work since Windows 2003 Server works).
Page 1: Introduction & Hardware Configuration
Page 2: Installation of Windows Home Server & Client Software Page 3: Client Console and Restore CD Page 4: File Serving Page 5: Backup Page 6: Windows Media Connect Page 7: Remote Access Page 8: Plug-ins Page 9: Conclusion 
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