Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server is currently at the Beta 2 stage.  There is a very limited external beta being conducted at this time, and its expected to open up more widely in the near future. How can you apply to be a beta tester?  Go to http://connect.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver and fill out the Survey.  Also see, http://www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver for direct information on Windows Home Server from Microsoft.

When Windows Home Server is officially released for the general public, it is intended to be sold as a complete OEM (Other Equipment Manufacturer) solution (hardware, software) already set up and ready to go with as little user intervention as possible.  Several vendors have already demonstrated some of their off the shelf solutions at CES 2007.  There are reports that it will be made available as a software only item, as well.  I personally expect this to be an OEM offering, just like XP, Vista and other systems can be purchased.  But nothing "official" has been announced at this time.

NOTE: As of now, for version 1, Windows Home Server will only support 32 bit clients of Windows XP and Windows Vista.

We hope they will add support for 64 bit clients, but for now, there is no support for them.  No version of Windows, prior to Windows XP is supported as a client.  You can use these clients to access the Windows Home Server remotely, but Windows Home Server will not provide backup capability for these operating systems.

What is Windows Home Server? 

Its a Home Server product, based on Windows Server 2003, that is designed to:

1) Complete an automated backup of every Windows XP and Windows Vista PC on your LAN, on a daily basis.  NOTE: It will only backup hard disks that are formatted NTFS.

2) Allow you to share files and folders for Remote Access.  This feature allows you to safely access your files and folders that are shared on the Windows Home server, via a friendly and easy to use web interface.

3) Allow you to connect, via Remote Desktop, to any PC on your LAN that supports Remote Desktop (RDP) as a Host (Windows XP Pro, Windows Vista Business and Ultimate).

4) Monitor your health of your network and the computers on it.  For XP and Vista computers, it will monitor the status of your firewall, anti-virus and anti-malware software. It also informs you if one or more of your PC's have not been successfully backed up recently.

Simple operation

The Windows Home Server is designed to run "headless".  Once it is setup, you don't need to leave a monitor, keyboard or mouse attached.  When the Windows Home Server Connector software is installed, you'll see a new tray icon.  it looks like a little house (representing your home network).  It will be green, yellow or red, depending on the health status of your network. You can right click on this icon and select Windows Home Server Console to access the Home Server to changes settings, and the like,  You can also right click and select Backup Now, to backup the PC immediately.  There's also a shortcut placed in the Startup folder in the Start Menu. And if you find you need to do more than the Windows Home Server Console allows, you can also use the Remote Desktop client, include in Windows XP and Windows Vista to access the server remotely, just as if you were sitting at a keyboard attached to the machine.

Remote Access