Whatever Happened to Windows Home Server?

IIRC there was some discussion here re: WHS 6-12 months ago.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Whatever Happened to Windows Home Server?

A couple of Thursdays ago, I took aim at a handful of risky, uncertain
or unproved technologies that I thought unworthy of your money. Another
item could have made that list, if only I'd seen it get any attention
this year: Windows Home Server.

This is a bundle of Microsoft software made for computers you hook up to
your home network and then park in a closet or some other out-of-the-way
location. Once configured via another Windows computer, a WHS machine
collects your music, pictures, video and other files to share them with
devices in your home (and, through a Web interface, any other
Internet-connected computer) while also backing up your data.

This software debuted in late 2007; its most public support came from
Hewlett-Packard, which introduced a line of MediaSmart servers made
specifically for this version of Windows. They start at $550, before
rebate, for a 500-GB model. Microsoft, for its part, gave Windows Home
Server a big push at the January 2008 Consumer Electronics Show --
including a series of cringe-inducing "Stay-At-Home Servers" posters CES
attendees could study while waiting in the show's endless bus and taxi
lines.

But those marketing efforts, plus a series of tweaks and bug fixes (as
documented on Microsoft's blog), don't seem to have gotten WHS much
traction in the mass market. As far as I can tell, it's remained
invisible to most consumers -- my only recent sighting of a WHS computer
was a lone HP MediaSmart, seen collecting dust towards the back end of a
nearby Circuit City a few weeks ago.

Only one reader has expressed any curiosity about WHS in e-mail to me.
One other has mentioned buying WHS -- though he did have good things to
say about it:

It is one of the few Microsoft products that works exactly as
advertised. I bought the software (about $160). Installed it on an old
PC. Installed a small piece of software on five PC's in my house. Closed
my eyes and magically everything gets backed up daily.

Microsoft and HP spokespeople did not provide any sales figures, or even
the usual, vague "we're pleased with this product's reception" comments.
But a Nov. 3 story at the computing-business news site ChannelWeb
suggests things can't be going that well -- Microsoft recently cut this
software's price by a third.

The resellers quoted in the piece don't sound too positive about its
prospects among home users, either:

Todd Swank, vice president of marketing at Nor-Tech, a Burnsville,
Minn.-based system builder, was surprised by the move, given Microsoft's
history of sticking to its guns when it comes to price.

Home Server continues to generate market interest, but the
complexity involved in setting up the software has this far limited its
appeal to tech-savvy users, according to Swank. "Everyone who uses Home
Server loves it, but it just intimidates the hell out of home users," he
said.

Have you bought a Windows Home Server device? Have you thought about
getting one? Had you seen any mention of one before reading this post?

By Rob Pegoraro | December 2, 2008; 12:45 PM ET | Category: Windows

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fas...windows_h.html

Hi!

(warning: the rest of this post hasn't got much of anything to do with Dell.
you may wish to skip it)

> Whatever Happened to Windows Home Server?

Well, here's what I thought at the time...because I did consider getting
one. Which is worth what you paid to hear it (hopefully not much!)...

I well remember HP's Windows Home Server (WHS) powered device, mainly
because I had recently re-subscribed to PC Magazine (where it was advertised
and discussed at the time) and also because I was looking for some kind of
network attached storage device (which, so far as I know, WHS can provide).

I also looked at a Netgear SC101 and a Linksys NSLU2 to fulfill this need.
The SC101 was complete garbage, so it went back to the store and the NSLU2
replaced it a little bit later on.

That was the first thing--a brand new in box NSLU cost about $70 from eBay
and I might have spent $250 on the first external hard drives I used with
it. So we'll call that $320, or less than a WHS device.

Per Linksys, the NSLU2 is a storage device and that's it. But because they
complied with the GPL, people could get their hands on the firmware and
customize it to provide additional applications (for which storage would not
be a problem). That suddenly meant that a lowly $70 NSLU2 could (if I wanted
it to) be used for web serving, music sharing, photo sharing, multiprotocol
file sharing...almost anything the WHS could do for a fraction of the price.
And there would be no limits other than the capabilities of the hardware.

By comparison, what is WHS? Can it be expanded in almost any way? Does most
of its functionality work in a diverse computing environment? (I have what
would probably qualify as a "diverse computing environment", consisting of
Windows, DOS, Linux, at least two OS/2 machines, an RS/6000, a classic Power
Mac and several newer Macintosh computers.)

The NSLU2 has been absolutely reliable and does what it claims to do. It
works across multiple platforms. WHS...who knows? It came out alongside the
disaster known as Vista. I would have a hard time trusting it on that basis
alone, not to mention that I haven't seen HP design a "good" computer since
the days of the Vectra 486. Most of their computers are poorly made crap,
and I see many more of them in for service than I do anything else (that
includes Compaq after the HP takeover).

Oh, and the NSLU2 is also *open* (see "diverse computing environment" above)
to almost anything that can handle SMB ("Windows") sharing, FTP or HTTP. WHS
probably plays with the Microsoft Gizmo Of The Day And That's About All,
Really.

Are my perceptions really correct? Oh, maybe not absolutely. I never bought
or tried a WHS device. Some are just opinions. In the end, the NSLU2 won on
price, and that was enough. Mine still runs the stock firmware and just
quietly does its thing. Windows Servers have an uptime of 30 days. :-)

William

according to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSLU2

the nslu2 has been discontinued...


"William R. Walsh" < m>
wrote in message news:SnXZk.465674$yE1.29600@attbi_s21...
> Hi!
>
> (warning: the rest of this post hasn't got much of anything to do with
> Dell.
> you may wish to skip it)
>
>> Whatever Happened to Windows Home Server?
>
> Well, here's what I thought at the time...because I did consider getting
> one. Which is worth what you paid to hear it (hopefully not much!)...
>
> I well remember HP's Windows Home Server (WHS) powered device, mainly
> because I had recently re-subscribed to PC Magazine (where it was
> advertised
> and discussed at the time) and also because I was looking for some kind of
> network attached storage device (which, so far as I know, WHS can
> provide).
>
> I also looked at a Netgear SC101 and a Linksys NSLU2 to fulfill this need.
> The SC101 was complete garbage, so it went back to the store and the NSLU2
> replaced it a little bit later on.
>
> That was the first thing--a brand new in box NSLU cost about $70 from eBay
> and I might have spent $250 on the first external hard drives I used with
> it. So we'll call that $320, or less than a WHS device.
>
> Per Linksys, the NSLU2 is a storage device and that's it. But because they
> complied with the GPL, people could get their hands on the firmware and
> customize it to provide additional applications (for which storage would
> not
> be a problem). That suddenly meant that a lowly $70 NSLU2 could (if I
> wanted
> it to) be used for web serving, music sharing, photo sharing,
> multiprotocol
> file sharing...almost anything the WHS could do for a fraction of the
> price.
> And there would be no limits other than the capabilities of the hardware.
>
> By comparison, what is WHS? Can it be expanded in almost any way? Does
> most
> of its functionality work in a diverse computing environment? (I have what
> would probably qualify as a "diverse computing environment", consisting of
> Windows, DOS, Linux, at least two OS/2 machines, an RS/6000, a classic
> Power
> Mac and several newer Macintosh computers.)
>
> The NSLU2 has been absolutely reliable and does what it claims to do. It
> works across multiple platforms. WHS...who knows? It came out alongside
> the
> disaster known as Vista. I would have a hard time trusting it on that
> basis
> alone, not to mention that I haven't seen HP design a "good" computer
> since
> the days of the Vectra 486. Most of their computers are poorly made crap,
> and I see many more of them in for service than I do anything else (that
> includes Compaq after the HP takeover).
>
> Oh, and the NSLU2 is also *open* (see "diverse computing environment"
> above)
> to almost anything that can handle SMB ("Windows") sharing, FTP or HTTP.
> WHS
> probably plays with the Microsoft Gizmo Of The Day And That's About All,
> Really.
>
> Are my perceptions really correct? Oh, maybe not absolutely. I never
> bought
> or tried a WHS device. Some are just opinions. In the end, the NSLU2 won
> on
> price, and that was enough. Mine still runs the stock firmware and just
> quietly does its thing. Windows Servers have an uptime of 30 days. :-)
>
> William
>
>

I'm happily running Windows Home Server on a fairly low-spec DELL Powedge
SC440 server box.

Unfortunately it is one of those products that just does what it should do
without any fuss, bother or hassles. It just sits there sharing out files
and printers, downloading stuff and backing up all my other PCs on a regular
basis. It requires minimum maintenance but gives me a lot of peace of mind
that all my precious data is protected.

It did have a bit of bad press at the start with data corruption issues,
but they are history now. I started using it in beta and trial versions on
an old PC and the old DELL SC430 server that I had. However, because I
liked it so much I bought it mid-year and 'elevated' it to a new £125 DELL
SC440 server with bigger disk drives.

The HP home server boxes are neat looking, but really it is fairly hardware
independent and you can use it on almost anything. I believe the 120-day
trial version is still available for download from Microsoft so I'd
recommend that you give it a go.

Jonathan

"Tony Harding" <> wrote in message
news:...
> IIRC there was some discussion here re: WHS 6-12 months ago.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Whatever Happened to Windows Home Server?
>
> A couple of Thursdays ago, I took aim at a handful of risky, uncertain or
> unproved technologies that I thought unworthy of your money. Another item
> could have made that list, if only I'd seen it get any attention this
> year: Windows Home Server.
>
> This is a bundle of Microsoft software made for computers you hook up to
> your home network and then park in a closet or some other out-of-the-way
> location. Once configured via another Windows computer, a WHS machine
> collects your music, pictures, video and other files to share them with
> devices in your home (and, through a Web interface, any other
> Internet-connected computer) while also backing up your data.
>
> This software debuted in late 2007; its most public support came from
> Hewlett-Packard, which introduced a line of MediaSmart servers made
> specifically for this version of Windows. They start at $550, before
> rebate, for a 500-GB model. Microsoft, for its part, gave Windows Home
> Server a big push at the January 2008 Consumer Electronics Show --
> including a series of cringe-inducing "Stay-At-Home Servers" posters CES
> attendees could study while waiting in the show's endless bus and taxi
> lines.
>
> But those marketing efforts, plus a series of tweaks and bug fixes (as
> documented on Microsoft's blog), don't seem to have gotten WHS much
> traction in the mass market. As far as I can tell, it's remained invisible
> to most consumers -- my only recent sighting of a WHS computer was a lone
> HP MediaSmart, seen collecting dust towards the back end of a nearby
> Circuit City a few weeks ago.
>
> Only one reader has expressed any curiosity about WHS in e-mail to me. One
> other has mentioned buying WHS -- though he did have good things to say
> about it:
>
> It is one of the few Microsoft products that works exactly as
> advertised. I bought the software (about $160). Installed it on an old PC.
> Installed a small piece of software on five PC's in my house. Closed my
> eyes and magically everything gets backed up daily.
>
> Microsoft and HP spokespeople did not provide any sales figures, or even
> the usual, vague "we're pleased with this product's reception" comments.
> But a Nov. 3 story at the computing-business news site ChannelWeb suggests
> things can't be going that well -- Microsoft recently cut this software's
> price by a third.
>
> The resellers quoted in the piece don't sound too positive about its
> prospects among home users, either:
>
> Todd Swank, vice president of marketing at Nor-Tech, a Burnsville,
> Minn.-based system builder, was surprised by the move, given Microsoft's
> history of sticking to its guns when it comes to price.
>
> Home Server continues to generate market interest, but the complexity
> involved in setting up the software has this far limited its appeal to
> tech-savvy users, according to Swank. "Everyone who uses Home Server loves
> it, but it just intimidates the hell out of home users," he said.
>
> Have you bought a Windows Home Server device? Have you thought about
> getting one? Had you seen any mention of one before reading this post?
>
> By Rob Pegoraro | December 2, 2008; 12:45 PM ET | Category: Windows
>
> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fas...windows_h.html
>

Tom Scales wrote:
> I'm with Jonathan. I've been running it for awhile on an aging GX260
> machine with a couple 750GB drives. It does exactly what it is supposed
> to do.
>
> In my case, my favorite feature is that every machine in the house backs
> itself up every night. They wake up, back themselves up, and go back to
> sleep.
>
> If a machine dies, I stick a CD in the drive of the dead machine, select
> the backup and a perfect image is restored in about 15 minutes.
>
> Perfect if you have kids. No matter how badly they screw up, I can
> bring them back from yesterday, the day before, the week before, the
> month before.
>
> It also does load balancing of its storage, so it make any combination
> of any size drives look like a single big drive. When used as 'server
> storage', I can also designate which directories should be mirrored
> across two of the drives. If a drive fails, it rebuilds automatically.
>
> Stick another drive in, it adds it to the pool. Want a drive out? Tell
> it and it will move everything around, empty the drive and tell you when
> it can be removed.
>
> It is VERY slick. WELL worth the $150 or so it cost.
>
> Personally, I highly recommend it.

Interesting post - thanks, Tom.

Tom Scales wrote on Sat, 06 Dec 2008 11:38:33 GMT:
> I'm with Jonathan. I've been running it for awhile on an aging GX260
> machine with a couple 750GB drives. It does exactly what it is supposed
> to do.
>
> In my case, my favorite feature is that every machine in the house backs
> itself up every night. They wake up, back themselves up, and go back to
> sleep.

I have dozens of computers I don't even turn on in 6 months or more. So
how long does this process take?

> If a machine dies, I stick a CD in the drive of the dead machine, select
> the backup and a perfect image is restored in about 15 minutes.

I backup my data with the free SyncBack and it only takes seconds about
every hour or day. I do weekly full image backups to USB hard drive or
SDHC card every week or so. Total time for the latter is 10 minutes for
most of my machines.

> Perfect if you have kids. No matter how badly they screw up, I can
> bring them back from yesterday, the day before, the week before, the
> month before.

Same here. Although I don't have one external drive and I make backups
on many devices (hard drives, flash, and SDHC). So I don't depend on one
of them or two of them.

> It also does load balancing of its storage, so it make any combination
> of any size drives look like a single big drive. When used as 'server
> storage', I can also designate which directories should be mirrored
> across two of the drives. If a drive fails, it rebuilds automatically.

Same here.

> Stick another drive in, it adds it to the pool. Want a drive out? Tell
> it and it will move everything around, empty the drive and tell you when
> it can be removed.
>
> It is VERY slick. WELL worth the $150 or so it cost.
>
> Personally, I highly recommend it.
>
> Tom

I have nothing like that. I just have mirrors of partitions. And I have
enough computers that I can back one up and use another. While some
people worry about software and back it up. I worry about the hardware
too. And within 60 seconds (usually within 30 seconds) I can swap hard
drives or SSD and I am back up running once again. There are no service
contracts or warrantee that you can buy that can do any better.

--
Bill
3 Asus EEE PC 7014G ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
2 Asus EEE PC 7028G ~ 1GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2 ~ Xandros Linux