Windows Home Server

hellarda

hellarda

hellarda

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hi,

first of all sorry if this is in the wrong section, please move it if it is :)

right, i want to set up a home server in my house. the server machine would be a dell inspiron 5000 with 2x 2tb HDD my first concern is the fact that its a dell mobo would this present a lot of problems?

being a 15 year old student i dont have much money to spend, so if there are problems cheap solutions would be much apprciated :)

cheers

ali

EDIT: would really love some help on the easiest way to setup and run it etc thanks :)
 
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thanks for the response, yer i will be using it for file server and automatic backups etc but not email or anything complicated. The automatic backups looked apealing is tha easy to setup?

Cheers
 
Well if money is tight you could install Linux with a Samba instance to enable file shares, then use the automatic backup features built into Windows to schedule backups.

The Dell motherboard wont present a massive problem, just be aware how many SATA connections you have and how much RAM you can take for future expansions.

Have you thought about a budget?

A cheaper option if you just want file storage is a NAS.
 
its not too tight. The reason i felt like doing it cos my mum needs a new pc and i thort i would use the old dell as a server i already have a copy if windows home server so i can use that? And it only has 2 sata ports thats why i would get 2x 2tb HDD

Thanks
 
You cannot beat the automatic backup from WHS though, really easy to set and forget. You can use pretty much any machine for a Windows Home Server, but I would try to get a 64bit one for the new release Veil. Personally I would look to build the PC to suit as you can probably get a few of the parts very cheap or second hand. That way you aren't paying for small hard disks and OS's you don't need.
 
hellarda said:
its not too tight. The reason i felt like doing it cos my mum needs a new pc and i thort i would use the old dell as a server i already have a copy if windows home server so i can use that? And it only has 2 sata ports thats why i would get 2x 2tb HDD

Thanks
Click to expand...

Does it have any PCI slots? Also how many hard disk drives can it fit?
 
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i think it as some pci slots but im at scool now so i will check when i get home. i was thinking of getting the 64 bit of whs anyway. But one of my home pcs will be 32 bit would this be a problem? Would it be easier to build from scratch?

Thanks again
 
right am now home thank god lol :)

anyway the dell has 2 PCI slots and 1 PCI-e slot, so would i get a SATA controller to go in one of the PCI slots? other thing would be the case is cr*p at cooling but would moving it to another case create more problems as its a mini BTX mobo?

thanks for the help
 
WHS V1 (the current one for sale) is only 32bit

The new version WHS V2 (Vail) has just come out into Beta and is 64bit (based on Server 2008)

All current Windows OS's are able to access the WHS and also be backed up by it.

WHS once installed has something called connector software that you have to install on each PC. This will then allow each PC to appear in the Back ups list and from there you can schedule back ups for each PC connected on the network.

WHS is pretty easy to install, but the set up afterwards can be a little tricky depending on what you want it to do.

2 * 2tb drive will give you a load of storage and you can switch on replication if you have any important files you are storing on the server that you don't want to lost should one HD go wrong. e.g. I have it switched on for my photos, but not for my DVD's (as I can restore from original disks)

If the PC is prebuilt I wouldn't worry about the case. The new HD's won't generate much heat, and also WHS doesn't stress the processor as it doesn't need to do much work.

You'll also need to install the WHS service packs (up to SP3 now) as they fix a lot of the initial teething problems.

Also if you search the Windows Software forum here, you'll find an excellent thread where most of us WHS people hang out and there's a lot of info in there already that may help you. If not you can post your questions in there and you'll get some excellent responses.

Taff
 
thanks taff thats helpful :) just one more quick question if one of my Pc's is Windows Home Premium will i be able to backup to the server? because on the comparison chart of the different versions, it says that you cant use backup and restore centre to backup to a network on home premium would this present a problem with the server?

cheers
 
Hi hellarda,

An example of where I've used WHS for back ups.

Current Set up WHS backing up the PC's below
HTPC - Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Netbook - Windows 7 Home Premium 32
Gaming PC - Windows 7 Ultimate 64

Prior to Win 7 upgrades
HTPC - Windows Vista Home Premium 32
Netbook - Window Vista Home Premium 32
Gaming PC - Windows Vista Ultimate 64

For all these version I've had no problem backing up to WHS. I haven't tried it with XP or earlier versions of Windows, but from my understanding there are no problems with it.

Cheers

Taff
 
sorry to bother everyone again,

I hav just installed the new 'Vail' version of Home Server on a VMware virtual PC. no everything was going fine until, i tried remote access from the host of the virtual PC. I can get onto the servers page (where you type in the IP address into internet explorer and it comes up with the shared folders and PC's etc) but when i try and remote desktop into the server a i get an error saying 'your computer cannot connect to the remote computer because the Remote Desktop Gateway server address requested and the certificate subject name do not match. Contact you network administrator for assistance'

i hav googled this error but it didnt bring up much and the stuff it did bring up was all way too advanced words for me.

so please could someone help me and explain what i need to do to resolve this problem and please could i hav the solution in nice easy to understand terms

cheers
 
Probably because your certificate is for your_name.homeserver.com and you've connected via an IP, think I had this way back when as well, think you have to disable something in the "Remote Session".

Will try and take a look when I get in.
 
If you just need to get onto the server to maintain it, you might want to try installing logmein onto the WHS and using that to access the server from the other PC's.

I use it to access my WHS (albeit V1, not Vail) when I'm away from home.

Not sure if is compatible with Vail though but worth a try. Of course you have to log onto the WHS directly first to install it. So you might have to connect a keyboard/.monitor to it to do.

Taff
 
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