Earlier in the week website Lifehacker.com asked its readers which software they used to power their home servers and unsurprisingly Windows Home Server was in the top 5 with many Lifehacker readers expressing the term "It just works" when logging a vote.
The full article can be read here.
Would you like some tips on how to manage your storage in your home?
If yes, then blog Sytone’s Ramblings has some great tips on how to organise your photos and movies amongst others for easier organisation. Although not specific to Windows Home Server, the article is a great read for Home Server users.
Read it here.
The Home Server Show podcast #36 is a follow up on last weeks "Before you Build". The podcast which runs for 26 minutes is available from here.
Acer in Japan have announced that their easyStore H340 series of Home Servers will be initially available in 2 configurations. The H340-S1 will have 1 x 1TB of storage space whilst the H340-S2 will have 3 x 1TB drives, totalling 3TB.
Both machines are powered by the Atom 1.6Ghz 230 with 1GB of memory and have space for four internal hard drives. The Intel 945GC Express chipset allows further expansion, allowing 5 external hard drives to be attached via USB 2.0 and 1 eSATA drive too.
Both units will be available in Japan from March 6th and will cost $610 for the S1 and $916 for the S2.
Microsoft now believes that there is a lot of people who are not willing to spend much on server software let alone hardware, but may actually be interested in a basic Windows Server.
Chief executive officer Steve Ballmer said in a conference call with financial analysts that within the next two month, Microsoft plans to announce a "low-cost, low-price, low-functionality Windows Server SKU" called "Foundation Edition," He compared this software to the netbook craze, which enabled Intel to sell millions of processors into a newly created computer segment within a short period of time which enabled Microsoft to leverage this market to sell millions of Windows XP licenses.
Steve Ballmer continued. “If you take a look at it, as server prices, hardware prices have come down, we don’t exactly have a netbook phenomenon, but if somebody can buy a $500 server, they’re a little loathe to spend $500 for the server operating system that goes with it,” the executive said.
There is room between Windows Home Server ($100) and the standard business server for a product that would act a bit more like a standard server and can be configured in more ways than WHS. Small Business Server is the standard choice for entry-level Microsoft servers which includes the standard server, Exchange, Share Point, Server Update and Forefront ($1000). Standalone standard server pricing currently begins at $470 for the Web Server Edition.
Paul Thurott who wrote about this new server two months ago said that the Foundation Server will support all the key Windows Server roles except Hyper-V virtualization. The primary target apparently surrounds the popular “emerging markets” theme, but if netbooks are any indication, there may be a substantial opportunity in saturated markets as well: Early adopters, enthusiasts and perhaps even home businesses. Thurott said the Foundation Server will sell for about $200, which should enable system vendors to come up with a sub-$500 server package.
From TG Daily.
The Windows Home Server Challenge continues on internet television channel Tekzilla.
This weeks episode has viewers questions which will be followed next week by the WHS benchmarks and the real world differences between 100Mbps and 1000Mbps gigabit Ethernet speed.
The part on Windows Home Server starts approx 21 minutes into the video which you can view here.
The latest update for Windows Home Server (KB961030) is available and will be automatically deployed via Windows/Microsoft Update.
This February 2009 update resolves 3 issues with Windows Home Server:
Once updated the version information in the console will show:
Windows Home Server Console: 6.0.1800.0
Windows Home Server Backup & Restore: 6.0.1800.36
Windows Home Server Drive Extender: 6.0.1800.24
Windows Home Server Remote Access: 6.0.1800.0
Windows Home Server Storage Manager: 6.0.1800.24
If you are running version 1.0.2.28 (Beta 3) or version 1.0.3.30 (Final Release) of the add-in WHS Outlook or have tried these versions in the past then you may need to install the latest version or do some registry editing.
NOTE: The problem has now been corrected in version 1.0.3.31 and higher. You can identify the version of the WHS Outlook add-in that is currently installed on your WHS by opening the WHS Console, selecting the “Settings” link on the Console’s ribbon/toolbar, and looking at the Installed tab of the “Add-Ins” panel of the WHS Settings window that appears.
It has come to the authors attention that a flaw exists in the add-ins uninstaller that causes the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) feature of WHS to stop functioning when the WHS Outlook add-in is uninstalled.
WHS Outlook uses Microsoft’s Windows Installer engine to facilitate the installation (and removal) of the add-in in the WHS Console. This adds 4 values to the RDC branch of the Windows Registry, but when the WHS Outlook add-in is uninstalled from the WHS machine, its Windows Installer package wrongly removes the entire RDC branch of the Windows Registry instead of just the four values it added. This results in the complete and immediate loss of all functionality of the RDC feature, thereby causing you to no longer be able to connect to your WHS machine via the WHS Console or via a RDC session.
How To Correct The Problem:
Another build list, this one by Carlo Mendoza which is currently enclosure free and is based around the DQ45EK mini-ITX board which offers cool, compact and silent operation and is also low power.
Read it here.
Another great article for owners of HPs EX485/487 is on accessing your media remotely.
The five page tutorial takes you through the various steps for enabling remote access, including adding users, configuring your router and how to setup the dynamic domain name service. This is all concluded with troubleshooting procedures in case you may need them.
You can read it here.
