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Lets really get this fire burning, have you tried the WHS trial download yet
I have been using FreeNAS for a while and trialing true server upgrades in the mean time. Tried Amahi and ClarkConnect, both good packages that I kept on my consideration list. Tried Ubuntu Server, a bit off putting for Linux amateurs as you boot to a command prompt. Decided I didn't want to learn the commands so binned it off.
Finally I tried Windows Home Server. Tell you what if it is a Windows PC network there is no contest. Firstly it is easy and familiar to set up, this makes you feel confident that your server is running right. The thing it does best though is the backup of PCs & Data. If you have 2 or more hard disks in it you simply tell it which shared folders you want a redundant spare of and it ensures there are two copies at all times. This to me is preferable to RAID as it has no reliance on a specific motherboard or RAID card to recover data in case of hardware failure, it works with any mix of sized disks and it allows you to easily split what is backed up and what is non-critical. It then wakes on your PC's at night to do a full backup of them too. All this through a very easy interface that is pre-configured.
I can honestly say I didn't want to go down the MS route (£80 down the drain), but I do think it is the easiest and best featured solution for a Windows Network.
I have been using FreeNAS for a while and trialing true server upgrades in the mean time. Tried Amahi and ClarkConnect, both good packages that I kept on my consideration list. Tried Ubuntu Server, a bit off putting for Linux amateurs as you boot to a command prompt. Decided I didn't want to learn the commands so binned it off.
Finally I tried Windows Home Server. Tell you what if it is a Windows PC network there is no contest. Firstly it is easy and familiar to set up, this makes you feel confident that your server is running right. The thing it does best though is the backup of PCs & Data. If you have 2 or more hard disks in it you simply tell it which shared folders you want a redundant spare of and it ensures there are two copies at all times. This to me is preferable to RAID as it has no reliance on a specific motherboard or RAID card to recover data in case of hardware failure, it works with any mix of sized disks and it allows you to easily split what is backed up and what is non-critical. It then wakes on your PC's at night to do a full backup of them too. All this through a very easy interface that is pre-configured.
I can honestly say I didn't want to go down the MS route (£80 down the drain), but I do think it is the easiest and best featured solution for a Windows Network.