Vista and Windows Home Server (WHS)

Lang Murphy

I've been playing around with Windows Home Server (WHS) for the past couple
of weeks. (There -is- a tie-in to Vista coming... just be patient...) I'm
pretty impressed.

What impresses me most is the relative simplicity of setting up a home
server that:

> Automatically backs up, daily, all client PC's that have the WHS connector
> software installed.
> Lets one add diverse drive types to the "storage pool" without having to
> have a degree in hw configuration.
> Provides a quasi-RAID 1 feature that duplicates shared files if the server
> has more than one hd.
> Automatically creates a "Shared Folders on the Server" link on the desktop
> for PC's with the WHS connector software installed.
> Allows one remote access to shared folders and PC's via https.

The last feature is where we come to the tie-in to Vista. And that feature
isn't just for road warriors, imho. Visiting Grandma and want to show her
the latest photos of the grandkids? Oops, forgot to copy them over to the
shared folders on the server? Need to access one of your home PC's directly
to get to your Pictures folder? Gee, I hope you have either Vista Business,
Enterprise, or Ultimate installed on that PC because any Home flavor of
Vista does not support Remote Desktop hosting. Meaning... can't get there
from here.

Many folks might read this and say "Big Whoop! I don't need that anyway."
Which in many cases will be true. Point being, if you're interested in
having a home server and interested in the ability to access your PC's via
the web, then you might give a second thought to which flavor of Vista you
buy. Are there server OS's out there right now that offer this capability
and more? Yes! Are there any server OS's out there -anywhere- near as easy
to install and configure as WHS? My guess would be no. The point is, again,
if you think you might be interested in having a home server to backup PC's
and provide file sharing and do it all in the simplest fashion possible, and
also access your server and PC's remotely, specifically the latter, then
consider with aforethought which flavor of Vista you buy for your client
PC's at home.

Hope everyone has a great July 4th!

Lang

xfile

Hi,

Thanks for sharing.

I'll be interested to know how easy or if it's possible to set up WOL (wake
on LAN) for this home server and learn from others' experience. Well, I
admit that I am too lazy to try it now.

The only thing that I cannot do on the XP Pro system at home for file
storgage (junkyard is more a correct term for it) is to set up WOL. Well,
at least not as easy as I want to go through.

But in any case, thanks for sharing and happy July 4th.


"Lang Murphy" <> wrote in message
news:...
> I've been playing around with Windows Home Server (WHS) for the past
> couple of weeks. (There -is- a tie-in to Vista coming... just be
> patient...) I'm pretty impressed.
>
> What impresses me most is the relative simplicity of setting up a home
> server that:
>
>> Automatically backs up, daily, all client PC's that have the WHS
>> connector software installed.
>> Lets one add diverse drive types to the "storage pool" without having to
>> have a degree in hw configuration.
>> Provides a quasi-RAID 1 feature that duplicates shared files if the
>> server has more than one hd.
>> Automatically creates a "Shared Folders on the Server" link on the
>> desktop for PC's with the WHS connector software installed.
>> Allows one remote access to shared folders and PC's via https.
>
> The last feature is where we come to the tie-in to Vista. And that feature
> isn't just for road warriors, imho. Visiting Grandma and want to show her
> the latest photos of the grandkids? Oops, forgot to copy them over to the
> shared folders on the server? Need to access one of your home PC's
> directly to get to your Pictures folder? Gee, I hope you have either Vista
> Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate installed on that PC because any Home
> flavor of Vista does not support Remote Desktop hosting. Meaning... can't
> get there from here.
>
> Many folks might read this and say "Big Whoop! I don't need that anyway."
> Which in many cases will be true. Point being, if you're interested in
> having a home server and interested in the ability to access your PC's via
> the web, then you might give a second thought to which flavor of Vista you
> buy. Are there server OS's out there right now that offer this capability
> and more? Yes! Are there any server OS's out there -anywhere- near as easy
> to install and configure as WHS? My guess would be no. The point is,
> again, if you think you might be interested in having a home server to
> backup PC's and provide file sharing and do it all in the simplest fashion
> possible, and also access your server and PC's remotely, specifically the
> latter, then consider with aforethought which flavor of Vista you buy for
> your client PC's at home.
>
> Hope everyone has a great July 4th!
>
> Lang

Lang Murphy

"xfile" <> wrote in message
news:.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> Thanks for sharing.
>
> I'll be interested to know how easy or if it's possible to set up WOL
> (wake on LAN) for this home server and learn from others' experience.
> Well, I admit that I am too lazy to try it now.
>
> The only thing that I cannot do on the XP Pro system at home for file
> storgage (junkyard is more a correct term for it) is to set up WOL. Well,
> at least not as easy as I want to go through.
>
> But in any case, thanks for sharing and happy July 4th.
>

<snip>

xfile,

I must admit I have zero experience with wake on lan, but I believe it's
primarily a hw solution. I don't see why one couldn't use it on a WHS if the
BIOS and hardware support it.

Lang

xfile

Hi,

Thanks for the sharing.

For years, what I have learned is that HW says they provided such function
on BIOS and LAN card, and SW guys say it depends on HW.

So still, I haven't been able to find any easy one-step solution much like
Remote Desktop where it's pretty simple to set up or use, provided system
has to be contantly on.

I was hoping it will be included in Vista, but certainly not. So I will
keep waiting. Thanks for taking the time.


"Lang Murphy" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "xfile" <> wrote in message
> news:.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> Thanks for sharing.
>>
>> I'll be interested to know how easy or if it's possible to set up WOL
>> (wake on LAN) for this home server and learn from others' experience.
>> Well, I admit that I am too lazy to try it now.
>>
>> The only thing that I cannot do on the XP Pro system at home for file
>> storgage (junkyard is more a correct term for it) is to set up WOL.
>> Well, at least not as easy as I want to go through.
>>
>> But in any case, thanks for sharing and happy July 4th.
>>
>
> <snip>
>
> xfile,
>
> I must admit I have zero experience with wake on lan, but I believe it's
> primarily a hw solution. I don't see why one couldn't use it on a WHS if
> the BIOS and hardware support it.
>
> Lang
>

HairyFool

It is essentially an entirely hardware issue as far as the client PC is
concerned anyway. The PC is shut down as far as the OS is concerned but the
LAN card runs on the 5Volt standby bus and is listening for the correct
packets addressed to it (presumably MAC address) and then effectively
switches on the PC and it boots as normal. You would need a flavour of Intel
LanManager to get the server to start up the PC. I also find it slightly
anachronistic for a new product (WHS) to in part be dependant on leaving PCs
on all night.

"xfile" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Thanks for the sharing.
>
> For years, what I have learned is that HW says they provided such function
> on BIOS and LAN card, and SW guys say it depends on HW.
>
> So still, I haven't been able to find any easy one-step solution much like
> Remote Desktop where it's pretty simple to set up or use, provided system
> has to be contantly on.
>
> I was hoping it will be included in Vista, but certainly not. So I will
> keep waiting. Thanks for taking the time.
>
>
> "Lang Murphy" <> wrote in message
> news:...
> > "xfile" <> wrote in message
> > news:.gbl...
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> Thanks for sharing.
> >>
> >> I'll be interested to know how easy or if it's possible to set up WOL
> >> (wake on LAN) for this home server and learn from others' experience.
> >> Well, I admit that I am too lazy to try it now.
> >>
> >> The only thing that I cannot do on the XP Pro system at home for file
> >> storgage (junkyard is more a correct term for it) is to set up WOL.
> >> Well, at least not as easy as I want to go through.
> >>
> >> But in any case, thanks for sharing and happy July 4th.
> >>
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > xfile,
> >
> > I must admit I have zero experience with wake on lan, but I believe it's
> > primarily a hw solution. I don't see why one couldn't use it on a WHS if
> > the BIOS and hardware support it.
> >
> > Lang
> >
>
>
>

Frank

HairyFool wrote:

> It is essentially an entirely hardware issue as far as the client PC is
> concerned anyway. The PC is shut down as far as the OS is concerned but the
> LAN card runs on the 5Volt standby bus and is listening for the correct
> packets addressed to it (presumably MAC address) and then effectively
> switches on the PC and it boots as normal. You would need a flavour of Intel
> LanManager to get the server to start up the PC. I also find it slightly
> anachronistic for a new product (WHS) to in part be dependant on leaving PCs
> on all night.

Hummm...we use WHS in our small business...under 10 seats of Vista
Ultimate. We have WHS set to back selected seats from 11AM-2PM daily. We
shut down all seats at night but leave WHS running 24/7.
Works quite well for us.
Years ago (mid-'09's) I used client to client WOL with a small app from,
of all companies, Motorola.
Frank

ned@buckmaster.com

Hopefully they add the ability to backup a computer running 64-bit
Vista soon. That's the only major flaw I see in WHS right now....

Ned

> Hummm...we use WHS in our small business...under 10 seats of Vista
> Ultimate. We have WHS set to back selected seats from 11AM-2PM daily. We
> shut down all seats at night but leave WHS running 24/7.
> Works quite well for us.
> Years ago (mid-'09's) I used client to client WOL with a small app from,
> of all companies, Motorola.
> Frank

Frank

wrote:

> Hopefully they add the ability to backup a computer running 64-bit
> Vista soon. That's the only major flaw I see in WHS right now....
>
> Ned
>
>
>>Hummm...we use WHS in our small business...under 10 seats of Vista
>>Ultimate. We have WHS set to back selected seats from 11AM-2PM daily. We
>>shut down all seats at night but leave WHS running 24/7.
>>Works quite well for us.
>>Years ago (mid-'09's) I used client to client WOL with a small app from,
>>of all companies, Motorola.
>>Frank
>
>
>
Yeah...I too have wondered why that was not possible.
Hopefully....
Frank