How to build your own Windows Home Server rig

Discussion in 'hardware' started by ronjor, Apr 2, 2009.

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  1. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    Article
     
    ronjor, Apr 2, 2009
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  2. Searching_ _ _

    Searching_ _ _ Registered Member

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    Windows Home Server is a Microsoft restricted version of Windows Server 2003.

    It has some limitations:
    • No active directory
    • Maximum amount of storage is equal to the main disk.
      Data is multiplicated onto the other disks for failure redundancy.
      If you have 3 @ 1 TB HDD and a primary disk of 500GB your maximum storage will be 500GB.
    • Processor usage becomes slugish while mirroring of files is taking place.
    Reviewed Here
     
    Searching_ _ _, Apr 4, 2009
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  3. Meriadoc

    Meriadoc Registered Member

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    Well MSDN sent me WHS sometime ago. Initially I hacked it into a vm and set it up on the network - and its okay. Its limited with what you can do compared to my new and expensive company bought NAS(:D ) and a FreeNAS box I've set up, but it does what it says on the tin and does it well.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2009
    Meriadoc, Apr 5, 2009
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  4. midway40

    midway40 Registered Member

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    I converted my old Dell desktop into a WHS machine 6 months ago and love it. It makes images of my computers nightly, streams media, and is the central control for the AV scanning of my clients (avast! WHS edition)
    Only thing about it is that it is sensitive to some add-ons or changes made in the desktop (instead of the console). The only add-on I have is the one avast! put on there.
     
    midway40, Apr 6, 2009
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  5. midway40

    midway40 Registered Member

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    midway40, Apr 9, 2009
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  6. Meriadoc

    Meriadoc Registered Member

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    Nice. If I had some time to put into it I'd like to use some of my old computer boxes from the 70s/80s or maybe a 'home' computer.
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2009
    Meriadoc, Apr 9, 2009
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  7. Zaraphrax

    Zaraphrax Registered Member

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    That's pretty cool. I've been considering imaging my current Server 2003 install, and trying out Windows Home Server to see if it suits my needs better, since all my current Server 2003 box does is host a few files and push out Windows Updates with WSUS. I don't use Active Directory or anything. I think I might definitely try this out. :)
     
    Zaraphrax, Apr 11, 2009
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  8. midway40

    midway40 Registered Member

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    You can order or download a 120-day evaluation of WHS from here. But if you decide to purchase it you will have to reinstall WHS as the evaluation version isn't "license-able" (if I remember correctly).

    I bought WHS when MS was selling it for $149. Since then they have dropped the price to $99 (that's my kind of luck, lol).
     
    midway40, Apr 13, 2009
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