One enterprising Home Server user has integrated Vista Media Center (VMC) and Windows Home Server (WHS) in a novel way. Within his customized white case, (which he hand sprayed himself) are mounted two Micro ATX motherboards on top of each other. One is for Vista Ultimate, and thus VMC and the other is dedicated to Home Server. Off course having 2 motherboards within the one case also requires two PSUs and this setup is accomplished with a mixture of four SATA and PATA hard drives. Three are housed in the drive bay and are for the exclusive use of WHS and the other is mounted in a box within the case for Vista’s use.
The custom setup is completed with an internal mounted miniature USB powered auto sensing hub which connects the Ethernet inputs from both motherboards to a single output. And he has also bi-wired the power and reset buttons to the front panel so the switches control both motherboards at once.
Impressive stuff! More details of the build including a 10 minute video of the project is available from here.
September 30, 2008 at 1:48 am
This seems pretty silly. I did almost the same thing, which when complete and successfult I’ll post some info and picks, but I built an HTPC and loaded WHS on it. There’s a few good Media programs that do better than Media Center (support for HD-DVR, etc) and will run on WHS. It’s one machine serving a dual purpose. I also equiped it well enough (gamer board, Quad Core, 4 Gb, 6 Tb) to serve it’s dual function and support Virtual machines if needed.
September 30, 2008 at 2:15 pm
[...] for an all in combination box of Windows Media Center and Windows Home Server, Adam Thursby and Philip Churchill both spotted a project to build a combined box based on two motherboard. It has two Micro ATX [...]
September 30, 2008 at 7:27 pm
[...] If you’re the DIY type who likes to build their own HTPC and home media server, you might be interested in what James has created. Basically, he’s combined a Windows Vista Media Center and a Windows Home Server inside one PC enclosure powered by two separate mini-itx motherboards. In his setup, James also stashed in an Ethernet hub, two power supplies, and a handful of hard drives to boot Vista and backup his media. All in all, a pretty wild setup as you will see in the attached video. [via] [...]