Windows Home Server

How Windows Home Server takes care of your home LAN.

Backup

Ok, you say, this is supposed to backup every PC on my LAN every day?  Man, how much storage (disk space) is that going to take?  Not as much as you would think. The backup strategy used by Windows Home Server is very unique.  It doesn't operate on the file level, it operates on the cluster level.  This is why it only backs up NTFS formatted drives. And you can decide which drives and folders to exclude from the backup, if you wish.

Say you have two Windows Vista Home Premium and two Windows XP Home machines on your LAN.  All have the Windows Home Server Connector software installed  Now, as an example, here's how things work.

1) PC #1 running Vista Home Premium gets backed up.  Every used cluster on all hard disks is examined and copied to the server. Once that's complete the server moves on to the next computer. 

2) PC #2 running Vista Home Premium gets backed up.  Every used cluster on all hard disks is examined and compared to a "database" of clusters that have already been copied to the server.  Since both PC #1 and PC #2 are Vista Home Premium, there will be many clusters that are duplicated between the two machines.  The clusters on PC #2 that match the clusters already backed up from PC #1 will not be copied.  The database will simply be updated to show those clusters belong to PC #2, as well. The cluster is used because each file on the hard disk takes up a certain number of clusters.  And a file will always start at the beginning of a cluster.  It doesn't matter where on the hard disk the file is, WHS only examines the contents of a cluster.  An identical file on another PC will take up the same number of clusters, and the contents of each cluster will be identical to the first PC.

3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the XP Home machines.

4) Ok, yeah, but how can I save more space?  Ok, you've copies of all the MP3 files in your music library on all 4 computers.  If they are identical copies, only the clusters in the first copy will be backed up.  The other 3 PC's just get a notation that those clusters belong to them, too.  Pretty slick, huh?  The same applies to pictures, videos and any other file types.  As long as the clusters are identical, they don't get duplicated.

5) For the daily backup, only files that have been changed or added are backed up from each of the machines.  And again, if you have the same "new" file on more than one PC, it only gets backed up once.

6) If  a particular PC's backup fails, the Windows Home Server system tray icon on the client PC(s) will turn yellow to warn you.

Cool item #1: If your PC's are set to go into Standby after a period of inactivity, they will wake up at some point during the specified backup period (set at the Server and adjustable) to be backed up.

Restoring a PC

If you need to restore one of the PC's on your LAN, you can do this one of two ways. 

1) If you just need to restore some files that have been deleted or become corrupted, you can open an earlier backup and just extract the files you need from the backup.

2) If the computer you need to restore is completely unbootable, you simply pop a CD into the drive on the "broken" machine and boot the computer from the CD and follow the prompts.  Your PC will be restored across your LAN.  Simple, easy and efficient!

Network Health

Windows Home Server communicates with the client PC's on your LAN, via the Windows Home Server Connector software. It works with the Security Center in Windows XP and Windows Vista to monitor the status of your firewall, ant-virus and anti-malware software. It will also inform you if one, or more of your PC's hasn't been backed up in the last two days (we're hoping to get this changed to an adjustable number of days).