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Microsoft CCQ-00015 Server Software
Customer Reviews for Microsoft Windows Home Server 32 Bit 1 Pack - OEM
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Review Summary (178 Reviews): Rating + 4
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newegg
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6%
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Reviewer Product Review
Mike
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/11/2008 6:48:42 AM

Rating + 5 Great for the techie


Pros: super easy to setup and use, the system prompts you for a couple of things and just goes. Its made to run as a system that needs little or no care and feeding turn it on and forget about it (if you want - or do what I do and find all the free add-ins posted on the web and try them out!)

The system backs-up all of my computers every night, it already has proven useful on restoring a corrupt file. I also tested the hard drive crash restore - I put in a new disk into my laptop and "restored" the image - worked perfectly! I was amazed actually.

Cons: none that I can think of - sometimes a little slow copying files to it, but that is probably more of a hardware issue than software really.

Other Thoughts: Microsoft has done a wonderful job on the system and I highly reccomend it. It is a breeze to add new disk space to your server - pop in a new disk, the system detects it and asks if you want to add it to the storage area or use it as a backup disk. If you ad it to the storage area it automatically "absorbs" it into the virtual disk world and suddnely your "D:" drive grow - no worrying about partitioning or RAID stuff, it just works.

Now if they could only put this much effort into the next OS....

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/14/2008 3:33:44 PM

Rating + 3 Great product, if you know it's failing points


Pros: Fantastic featureset that brings the power of Windows Server to the home at a very affordable price.

Cons: Don't expect all of the advertised features to work. One would think that you should take advantage of multiple disks in order to provide data protection, but stay as far away from it as you can at this time. WHS Disk Extender is a broken piece of code that will continually corrupt data and bluescreen your server if you actually use it as it is described. MS is now recommending that you not use server shares for network applications (only backups) if multiple disks are present.

Other Thoughts: While not supported, I needed redundancy and reliability, so I disabled WHS multi disk feature and setup the two disks as Dynamic mirrors using Windows software RAID. I haven't had any BSOD or file corruption since!

1 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Clint
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
11/12/2008 3:50:04 PM

Rating + 5 Very happy with WHS


Pros: I have been very happy with my new WHS box that I built.

Cons: None

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

GotThumbs
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
10/28/2008 9:29:47 AM

Rating + 5 A MUST HAVE - Protect your data. AAA++++


Pros: Load free WEB-GUIDE add-in and you can stream (using it right now, while at work) your music from server using WMP or Winamp (set default extension to wma in Winamp options). Easy user/server management interface. SP1 seems to have corrected issues when having multiple HD's in system. You can setup individual logins for family and friends and setup separate access/control for each person. Backs up networked computers and allows you to fully restore from backup if desktop/laptop HD completely fails.

Cons: Would be nice to have 64 Bit version to make use of dual core system. Webguide add-in takes some tweak time to understand how it thinks and displays albums online. You can only view by Album or Artist. I loaded a folder with 100's of individual mp3's and it made a confusing mess of the music view. You need to be sure to have consistent album or artist data or you'll have 100's of individual folders (viewing in webguide) with one song in each. Start by ripping all your CDS to enjoy system. Then experiment with individual songs you've collected here and there. Streaming movies online takes more cpu power, but there are several small resolutions to choose from. You get to watch the movie still and don't have to take DVD’s with you. I'd prefer to have group security option, but that’s not available in WHS interface. note: your forced to install OS on HD larger than 80 gigs, so forget about using an old spare for the OS and then the larger ones solely for data.

Other Thoughts: Used an extra case that was laying around. AMD LE CPU is fine for low power system and streaming music or viewing photos. Need more CPU power for streaming videos in higher resolution. I'll upgrade cpu later. This was a first trial with 180day Trail version and I'm very pleased. Its definitely worth the money. I’ve got the OS on an old SATA 120gb and two WD750GP SATA drives for movies (~240), music(140 CDs), and photos. I’m thinking of installing web cameras as added security and peace of mind while traveling. Will use server for initial video storage/review. If you have an x-box console, you can use it to connect to WHS and play music, movies and pictures from server. Eventually, every house will have a central server....plug in a new coffeemaker and your house with recognize it and ask if you want to setup a brew schedule now or later. Technology is cool. Techies rule....Athletes drool!! Not much brain power needed to run across a field or court.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Pontiac Drag Racer
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/13/2008 2:54:52 PM

Rating + 5 It solved my problems


Pros: It works! Simple to use.

Cons: So simple to use I wasted money on a book hoping to find some secrets to making this work better.

Other Thoughts: Save your money on books. Just buy this software. No more nightmares about forgetting to back things up.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

brian
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/3/2008 1:33:39 PM

Rating + 5 Just buy it.......


Pros: i went back and forth on it and debated getting a NAS device. i was primarily interested in backup. i had an old P4 box i wasn't using so i decided to go this route. i am so glad i did. it installed flawlessly. i just had to get a lan driver. the backups work perfect. all features are very intutive and have simple (but powerful) choices. very powerful storage solution. drive extender works like raid for dummies. its not raid, but very similar. you can add any drives you want and it throws them all into the storage pool and creates redundancy where you want it. remote online access is a breeze (and its very cool). normally my isp blocks ports, but this just works. i don't know how because i didn't even log into my router to look at any port forwards. the server just set it up automatically. too many great features to list.

Cons: if you upgrade from the 180 day microsoft free trial, you have to do a full re-install. you can not just use the new serial you get with this product.

Other Thoughts: use the add-ins to enhance your server. there are so many good ones. and theres no reason to buy the power pack 1 version thats on newegg. buy this one while you can. its ten bucks cheaper and you get the power pack for free in windows update. my watt meter shows the server using 70-80 watts continuous. thats 6 dollars a month, so consider a low wattage processor if you are building a box to save a little coin in the long run. i had a few questions that held me back when i was looking at buying it so i did the trial version first (waste of time becasue its worth buying). if you have any questions i'd be happy to try and help. hit me up. latourbrian at hotmail dot com.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

MceeD
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/2/2008 3:12:19 PM

Rating + 4 Steady and worth it....


Pros: Easy to use... Smal learning curve. Auto incremental back ups of all windows machines. Recovery is easy. Has been very stable. Remote access to files or computers and some web functions.

Cons: the drive/ redundacy can be a bit wastfull of space vs RAID. 64b support was slow to arrive.

Other Thoughts: WHS has been very very good to me. I have used it twice to retore a failed or failing computer. Great for restoring a kids computer after they trash it. just save a fresh rebuild and always retore to that instead of fresh re-installs. You can also look through the back ups to find a missing, lost or deleted file.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

redbeard
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/12/2008 5:05:27 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent server OS for home users


Pros: Fast (I transfer to/from the shares at about 70mbyte/sec), incredibly easy to use, just works, backs up multiple computers without any interaction on my end, has a wide amount of expandability with add-ins, has never crashed or frozen, just works.

Cons: Doesn't really integrate that well with Windows Media Center PCs, had a bit of a pain getting it installed using AHCI mode.

Other Thoughts: Ignore the linux fanboy below. I have never had a single problem with it being "too slow" or with it freezing when transferring files, and I'm running with 4.22tb of space and duplication turned on for most of the shares. Yes, you can setup something similar with Linux- but only if you're willing to drop down to the command line on occasion and spend hours and hours on configuration whenever the gui tools don't work.

WHS has always just worked for me, and considering I often don't have the time or the urge to spend hours fixing issues, this is a blessing for me. People reviewing this need to remember: it's not for power users. It's for everyday people that want a simple server solution with minimal fuss.

4 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Phil
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
9/12/2008 8:21:44 AM

Rating + 2 Stay away!


Pros: Easy setup, online access, easy user account setup.

Cons: Thought I would give it a go for a solid month. This is what I experienced. It's slow, uses too much processing power for what it does. Locked up when copying large amount of data to it using robocopy. Not reliable as just a simple a file server. $$$

Other Thoughts: Go with Ubuntu server running samba. boot time is 15 seconds! serving 1TB of data. Has yet to crash or lockup! Running Samba, Pro FTP, and VMware server. Install time is 15-20 mins. Very secure. Best of all....its free! Hundreds of tutorials for setting samba up. Save money, give linux a try first.

2 out of 18 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Tom
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/10/2008 10:46:40 PM

Rating + 4 Simple OS great for home intermediate users.


Pros: As a computer technician, i can see this software being useful to the average home user with moderate pc knowledge. Some pro's of this OS include.

-Web based file upload/download with the ability to zip or make an .exe of your multiple file downloads.
-Easy to use front end (manage your users/shares easily)
-Windows media connect with all your MCE machines.
-Automatic backups and OS recovery over the network.
-The ability to have 10 users accessing shares.
-Monitoring of windows firewall and antivirus status.

Cons: The two flaws that i see with this software after running it on a server with 11 drives is as follows.

1. Installation - the installation can be confusing to some novice users as it integrates some of the windows 2003 server installation files as well as some new setup for home server.

2. Driver support - For an operating system that launched after windows vista, its silly to not have a comparable driver database off the inital installation.

Other Thoughts: This software is NOT server 2003. If your looking for a server to store your files at home, easily manage shares and users with a simple web interface for remote needs, this software will work well. If you need a domain controller you'll need to look elsewhere(server 2003).

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ScooterGuthrie
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/9/2008 12:15:35 PM

Rating + 5 Great OS!


Pros: This thing allows you to backup & restore all computers on your network, stream media to PS3, XBOX 360, Media Extenders and other PC’s and Remote desktop to any PC in your network from anywhere.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Sometimes drivers are hard to find. I have built about 5 of these servers and I only had this problem once. If your Motherboard supports Windows Server 2003 you will have no problems. If not, you will have a 20% chance of motherboard driver problems. I should note that the only driver problems I have had are Windows Management Software that makes changes to the motherboard BIOS like fan speeds. I have never had a problem with installing Chipset drivers.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

M.S.
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/9/2008 11:15:53 AM

Rating + 4 Works for me


Pros: For me, WHS provides a simple server and backup solution. I have 4 PCs that get backed up daily now where they were never backed up before. The ability to add any sized drive to the array is a huge improvement over my old RAID-5 setup that required every drive be sized the same.

Cons: I'm not sure how happy I am with the way WHS protects data written to the array. Creating bit for bit copies of a file means I can't backup the largest contributor to my files without adding a ridiculous amount of hard drive space.

Other Thoughts: I'm not sure how big a con my con is now. With 1TB hard drives dipping below the $150 mark, even making 1:1 copies of large files is not as much of an issue as just a few years ago.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

EpiC
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/2/2008 7:14:29 PM

Rating + 5 Best Software Made By Microsoft!


Pros: If you have multiple windows computers, multiple xbox360's and lots of movies, this is your solution for home video streaming from a central location without problems... The software, although very simple, makes your home an entertainment paradise!

I have over 400 Movies on my home server, and it can stream my media to all my xbox's and my computers without a problem....I even have my photoframes hooked up to my picture shares on my server...

The best attribute to WHS is the addins and advance capabilities. I have my WHS connected to a VPN and my computers are even backuped while I am away from my home...Also, having access to all my media content anywhere in the world is just cool...

Cons: Its needs a small exchange server for family calendars and mail...but I am working on that

Other Thoughts: If you have the money and the time to build a Green server with lots of storage like I did....the purchase is well worth it....

Definitely visit addon sites, it will make the WHS even better

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

NoFoolHere
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
8/28/2008 11:14:51 AM

Rating + 4 Great for a home server


Pros: Pretty easy to set up.

Cons: Almost no documentation. Current issue with Power Pack 1.

Other Thoughts: I've been using this server software for the past few months. It's worked well for me in an older Athlon XP machine. Keeps all of the files in a central location. Some of the minor annoyances include finding an AV program that won't cost a lot as it's seen as Server 2003 by most software. I've been using Clam AV - works great and it's free. I also have the printers hooked up to it, but I had to go find the Win Server 2003 drivers for them. Not too big a deal. I recently updated one of my machines to 64 bit Vista. In order to work with WHS, I had to install power pack 1, and that is causing me some file conflict issues right now. Overall, I would recommend it for those who want a relatively easy setup for a home server.

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Max
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/21/2008 3:17:37 PM

Rating + 5 Complexity Made Simple


Pros: Very easy to install and configure. Powerful home server software that takes care of back-up and file sharing with elegance and simplicity. Connect remotely to your PCs from the internet. Very attractive and intuitive GUI. Stream audio and video without fuss. A very good next-step for anyone with more than one PC in their home.

Cons: Minimal documentation. Lacks software to sync files across PCs. Security logs not intuitive or well organized.

Other Thoughts: My version came with out-of-date connector software. Copy the update distribution to a thumb drive and use this, not the distributed CD, to install connector.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/18/2008 12:40:16 AM

Rating + 5 A product from Microsoft worth writing a review about


Pros: Set it up. Plug it in. Turn it on. Walk away. No, really it's that simple. Setup is super easy, will run on very basic hardware. If it ONLY did backups it would be worth it's price.

Cons: My encrypted laptop does not want to "connect" for some reason. I continue researching this. All other computers connect fine, so it's not Home Server's fault.

Other Thoughts: As long as I have been buying Microsoft products, I've never felt that I truly got my money's worth. This OS changed that. I feel like I got more than what I paid for, honestly.

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jim
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/14/2008 11:20:44 AM

Rating + 2


Pros: Not sure

Cons: Can't completely install connector S/W

Other Thoughts: Am having a difficult time finding Anti-virus software. Asked Microsoft Rep and was informed that the manner in which home server treats hard discs makes it difficult to get a program that will work I find this hard to believe. But after the Vista fiasco I have had there is a glimmer of belief. All systems are less than a year old.

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Techworks
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/29/2008 6:16:03 AM

Rating + 5 Great software for multiple pc homes


Pros: Newegg offers this for $30 cheaper, the backup feature just works, remote access, low requirements, 10 client licenses.

Cons: How about none.

Other Thoughts: Frankly with Power Pack 1 the server becomes more stable, i would love a simple network layout map with some info about each machne in it (ie: patches, hardware, o/s, and anti virus). Other than that i cant wait till Version 2, its supposed to come with WINDOWS SERVER 2008 as its core.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Matt
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/28/2008 1:37:40 PM

Rating + 5 Homeserver is Great


Pros: Great software, easy to install. PP1 fixes data coruption bug and many more. It is great to have my PCs backed up, all my media files where all the computers in my houes can get to them. As an added feature the remote access is great for when you forget the one file you really needed!

Cons: Need a better server PC.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

A former GPL dev
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/27/2008 2:48:36 PM

Rating + 5 I like it!


Pros: While v1.- was actually a stable Alpha, the current PP1 is
a solid performer (you have to upgrade to PP1 manually).

Pros:

No-brain backup and restore (to "Bare Iron"!). "Disk

Cloud" approach -- no need to fiddle with RAID and LVM settings. Actually, no need to fiddle with anything. Unlike Linux, it "just works" (I am very 1337 in fidling with Linux RAID/LVM and their recovery, BTW :).

Secure remote access to your home network.

Cons: Price (Linux is free). I would prefer something around $99.99, instead of $150.

Does not like junk cheap controllers, requires Server 2003 RC2 compatibility. Forget about Silicon Image-based SATA controllers! I use more expensive Promise controllers and they work flawlessly.

Does not support Server 2003 or WHS itslef as a client (otherwise I would replace my last Linux server with it, see below).

WMP 11 does not support it.

Other Thoughts: As a result, I have killed one of my two Linux servers (the home NAS one). Now the only Linux server I have is an Apache Web server which serves my home website in the "outer" (unsafe) layer of my home network. I would install Server 2003 instead, but WHS does not support backup/restore for WS2003 (yet?).

Conclusion:

If your time is free -- go with Linux or FreeNAS (a BSD-based NAS). You will have all the fun when a drive dies. Also you won't be able to backup/restore your Win computers on a whim.

If your time is worth something, just install this product and enjoy your life.

7 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Mike
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
7/22/2008 8:15:16 AM

Rating + 1 another M$ failure


Pros: Home server "sounds great" if it works, it doesnt.

Cons: Data corruption/loss when used with more than 1 hard drive.

Other Thoughts: seems M$ cant release an OS that works out of the box, avoid till PP1.

2 out of 22 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Drashna (WGS)
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
7/21/2008 12:37:30 PM

Rating + 5 WHS+PP1


Pros: Everything about it rocks, and no longer is corruption a problem. Power Pack 1 is out and fixes that problem.

Cons: I need to buy a few copies!

Other Thoughts: Wonder how long til NewEgg will wait til they start selling the PP1 version of WHS.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

metkit
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/16/2008 7:44:30 AM

Rating + 5 Perfect solution for Home enviroment


Pros: Installed on Dell T105 Server with 1.8GHZ Dual Core Processor. 2GIG Ram. 1GIG NIC. This was extremely easy to install. booted right up and have been running 3 weeks without a problem. I am running 3 Win Vista Ult. 64BIT, 2 Vista Home, & 2 Win XP. systems. 1 Vista Ult. is hooked up to my tv for media center to play movies. Awesome

Cons: Wish it could be set up as a gateway server.

Other Thoughts: Connector software for Vista 64bit systems is out under beta. I have installed this and it works perfectly.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/11/2008 10:36:13 AM

Rating + 5 Great Home Server


Pros: This product work great for media storage and media streaming. The backup option is great and work for me without any issues. I also have the HP mediasmart server and between building one and the pre-built option from HP I had no problems

Cons: N/A

Other Thoughts: System Spec. A8R32-MVP Deluxe Opteron180 2 GIG RAM and 4 x 1 TD WD Green power. Will be expanding to 9TB later. I am currently using the PP1 RC and this is a must for anyone that is worried about the data corruption issue. With this still not full release be careful, but I have tried to break it and can not and tried to cause a corruption, still has not caused any problem

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/8/2008 9:02:21 PM

Rating + 5 No buggy for me....yet


Pros: Snooze EZ set up and maitenance. good Addins Tivo addin is great. Quick EZ add HD space with out worring about drive size matchups

Cons: Still nervous since I have multiple drives and dtat redudnacy on some shared files. But this isn't my only back up solutions

Other Thoughts: Runs on anything, but it really likes a pentium duel core and 4 gig of ram, have not been able to tax it with five different computers doing write/read requests at the same time I am streaming a TIVO program.....

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Gringott
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/21/2008 8:20:27 AM

Rating + 4 Better than the evaluation


Pros: This is a great system for someone like me who works with servers all day long, and dosen't want to mess with one at home. Once you have it set up it just does what it is supposed to do - keep your stuff in one place and server it up without pain. Once the Power Pack 1 is released the "corruption bug" will be gone; however, I ran the evaluation version for months and never had a problem. My favorite feature - I stream TV shows in DIVX or XVID to my Apple TV over wireless so I can watch them on the "Big Screen" (and not pay iTunes to see something I already have). Another plus - unattended backups of your home PCs.

Cons: Vistax64 "connector" software is still beta. You can access WHS from Vistax64, but only as "shared folders" and no backups at this time.
If you want all the functionality of SBS or Sever 2003 or '08, get that. This is not a Domain Controller, Exchange Server, etc. Too often on the WHS forums people complain that this $150 software doesn't have the functionality of the $998 software. Be aware if you try the evaluation first - it will expire but tell you in System Properties that you have two months left. Not a "bug" of the OEM version sold by the Egg.

Other Thoughts: This is an evolving product that works well now and will only get better.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

loki_racer
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/16/2008 1:47:51 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Great for backing up computers. I have 2 desktops and a laptop that are all backed up onto Windows Home Server.

Windows Server with a console and toned down controls.

Cons: Upgrading to 802.11N and 10/100/1000 was key to speedy backups. Almost impossible to backup on a/b/g in under 12 hours.

Now connector software for Vista x64, although the Power Pack, which is in RC1 beta, is said to fix this.

Other Thoughts: I am running this on a system that might not even meet the minimum requirements listed by MS. I am also using 2 USB drives as part of the backup driver.

It is almost impossible to to stream media off this box and watching media on the box is jittery as well. This is my fault since I built the system out of spare parts. I have read that upgrading to 2GB or more makes this OS fly.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Hogie-One Kanobi
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/13/2008 9:12:49 AM

Rating + 4 Good, but could be better


Pros: Works with Xbox360 to stream avis. Does backups of machines in household without issue. Nice headless windows box.

Cons: Wont let you run More than 4GB Ram, or vmware (it breaks virtual network switching somehow). Virtual PC works, but...

Other Thoughts: If I ever have to redo this server, I will probably put CentOS or Debian on the host, then have WHS inside a VMWare guest. I can add hard drives in the HOST and assign the whole thing to WHS, so I can convert back later if needed.

Dual Dempsey 5050/4GB RAM/4x Seagate 1TB NS SATAII drives

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Prairie Dog
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/13/2008 8:15:42 AM

Rating + 5 Home Server


Pros: Good program overall. Perfect for home services. My installation was very easy to accomplish. No installation issues.

Cons: Doesn't allow IDE drives to be used for this purpose. Some SATA or SCSI drives will not format properly on older motherboards like mine. If you are resourceful you can get by this but you should still use an SATA drive. NO RAID allowed for this program. Not for the primary drive anyway.

Other Thoughts: May want to invest in a newer motherboard for this.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Coke
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
6/12/2008 6:04:02 PM

Rating + 5 Outstanding product!


Pros: I've used WHS on a DIY server I built for roughly 6 months now. I have had ZERO issues and am using it to backup all 5 machines on my network. I have used it to gain remote access to my machines as well as to the shared files and folders stored on the server, with no problems. I find it to be very stable, robust, and worth every penny. I use it to stream music to my home theater system through my Tivo with no glitches. Installation and setup take some time but are reasonably intuitive and straight forward.

Cons: I seriously can't think of one single con.

Other Thoughts: The person who gave this a one star due to corrupted data when adding a second drive must have had another problem of some sort. When I began using the product, I only backed up select data due to capacity restrictions. Since then I have added three additional drives one at a time totaling a terabyte of space, I backup entire machines now, and have had no problems whatsoever.
I also recommend a trial available from MS that works for 120 days and is totally free.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Morphine
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/11/2008 1:58:04 PM

Rating + 5 Beats the pants off a NAS


Pros: Amazing functionality for a large home network or small business, yet its simplified so you don't need to be a network/server guru to setup and maintain. Runs on that older machine you weren't sure what to do with. Headless operation. Print server, backup, remote access, many add-ins available; all make this a much better solution over a NAS where remote access is only viable through the manufacturer's website.

Cons: I don't have a UPNP router (and I don't need one), but the setup process makes it seem you NEED one. Just have to forward the ports on the router. It's not clear what you are giving remote access users rights to at first. Also, I use firefox and the "computers" tab won't show up unless you use IE. It lists the names of the computers connected to your server, even if the person doesn't have access to them. This is more information than the person needs to see and it bothers me for some reason.

Other Thoughts: Hardware used: AMD 3200+, Asus K8NE-Deluxe (754pin), 1GB RAM, 750GB (3x250GB) SATAII, U-Verse 10Mb/1.5Mb DSL.

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darqen
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
6/5/2008 12:56:47 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: a cheap version of server 2003 works great and made for people who do not know how a server works. many of great add-ins that rock.

Cons: none

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

LwrdrHaven
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/4/2008 6:41:03 PM

Rating + 5 Pretty good


Pros: Cheap way to get a nice file server, backup solution and remote access to your desktops. System has been very stable for me.

Cons: No Vista x64 connector. Data corruption bug with multiple drives. Both resolved in Power Pack 1 - whenever that actually ships.

Other Thoughts: Can't complain too much here - though, if I had to do it all over again - I'd go with the HP boxed solution. Media connect works decently - but can't rate music/videos. Couldn't get the cheapo Nvidia RAID to work with this system and it took me awhile to go against my better judgement and use the Microsoft way of using multiple drives. Seems to work ok - cept for the corruption bug that whiped out one set of backups. Not a biggie or deal breaker for me though.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Suss
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/2/2008 7:29:03 PM

Rating + 5 So far, so good.


Pros: Windows server 2003 with home server software. I am using the computer as the server, and to go on the internet.

Cons: I wish I knew more about how to really unleash the power of this thing. I will have to learn.

Other Thoughts: I run squeezecenter on this for my logitech squeezebox.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

TS2
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
6/1/2008 12:28:41 PM

Rating + 4 Reasonable Product


Pros: It performs well for what it was designed to do. You must read the documentation before installing or you will lose data. For the past 5 months it has done what MS says it will do as long as you don't try to manipulate advanced settings WHS performs well.

Cons: None.

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Laharle
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
5/29/2008 6:11:55 AM

Rating + 1 If only it worked


Pros: The idea is great. Backup your computers, allows for easy web publishing, addons to a console that runs on computers other than the server, easily share files.

Cons: The backups dont work right. My 2nd to last one failed completely because one system file had a file path greater than 250 chars. The next night it tried again and failed because the previous backup failed.

Minor annoyance on the addons for the console, it makes you disconnect every time you add/remove an addon.

The file sharing allows you to duplicate data for redundancy but it had the same problem as the backup with 250 characters in the path. After fixing the problem, the console would still tell me the file was too long.

Other Thoughts: When the server gives you a full screen warning every time you log in saying that making any changes to this server may prevent it from working, that's your first sign that it's not the best idea. Also, it was kind of confusing during installation and bootup. Everything on the server says windows server 2003. It makes me think that the home server part is just a program and really could run on any windows server.

5 out of 18 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

TechGuy
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/26/2008 4:32:00 AM

Rating + 5 Great Server OS for a small Biz or at Home


Pros: Automatic backups of all computers in the background, makes it easy to share files and folders among computers, Very easy to setup and install, A lot of amazing features that allow the end users to use it easily with out any tech help or anything. You can easily had more hard drives, printers, etc.

Cons: limit of 10 computers and users and nothing you can do to add more (Since this is a Home Server it is understandable) other then that no other major complaints.

Other Thoughts: I bought this for my church to use as their server since they only had 3 computers at the time (now it's doubled to 6). This was a great thing for them, they now have backups of all there computers this allowed to easily swap out some of the old computer and put in a new one by grabbing the back up files on the server, also they use it to store and share their quickbook files and database. So far there have been no problems with this in the last half year. So far a great product.

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Mike
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
5/25/2008 8:17:47 AM

Rating + 1 Great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Scam


Pros: None !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cons: Another product MS uses to steal money, seems nothing can come from MS in true working form, a server software that corrupts data when a second or more hd is added is simply useless.

Other Thoughts: the releases i have seen lately from MS [including the service packs] have been nothing but trouble, look to Linux

0 out of 42 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/23/2008 7:24:58 AM

Rating + 5 good buy


Pros: Does what is says it will do. with no problems

Cons: Won't let you connect wirelessly to server. only to share folders, good security feature though.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Mike Barr
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/22/2008 9:36:05 PM

Rating + 4 Win2003 Lite


Pros: Excellent value. Huge amount of features on top of a Windows Server 2003 base. The PowerPack / Hotfix Pack is right around the corner, which will fix the Drive Extended corruption issue. Being able to remotely access my files and computers, and store my files on a dynamically expanding dedundant array -- after extremely little effort on my part -- makes this worth every penny.

Cons: DOES NOT BACKUP XP PRO x64 BOXES, and requires a workaround to even install the console software on x64. Apparently there is Vista x64 client software in the works, but XP Pro x64 users are SOL forever.

Other Thoughts: I will be moving to Vista x64 soon, so the XP x64 issue will be moot for me. However, it's still a glaring issue which should be more readily disclosed to potential buyers.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

DrA
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/22/2008 5:09:17 PM

Rating + 2 Not for 64 bit Vista


Pros: Easy setup

Cons: MS should make it clear that client PC's with 64 bit OS are not supported!

Other Thoughts: Thought this was a great idea, so I spent $$$ and built mine only to discover that Vista 64 is not supported. This is not well defined in MS product descriptions and ads. Partly my fault for not researhing further. I updated all of my Home PC's to Vista 64 thinking that this was the future but it appears that the BIG MS can't keep up with their own technology - too busy counting their $$$ ?

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/21/2008 7:19:38 AM

Rating + 3 Still needs work


Pros: Nice interface, built on a solid 2003 server OS, great ideas for data management, disk error recovery works well.

Cons: The great ideas are poorly implemented. The backup service has a horrible time staying up and running. This is of course very important when one of the main functions of this OS is to back up your PC's. When it does work, it works like a champ. It just doesn't work often.

Other Thoughts: This thing needs at least 6 more months of tech support work and patches. It's got a lot of great features, and if it gets to be half as stable as XP, it'll be a great OS.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

IndyDad
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/19/2008 5:37:33 PM

Rating + 5 WHS works gr8


Pros: Installed like a charm. I would highly recommend.

It backups up our 3 computers nightly, streams music and serves as a file and media center.

I was able to restore my sons Vista computer after he downloaded a virus. I was also able to rebuild the server itself after the servers boot drive took a nose dive. I lost no data, and I have duplication turned on.

I love the fact that I can access it from the internet, share files and photos with family and friends.

Cons: Cant copy our 300 dvd's 2000 photos by itself.

Other Thoughts: I have not encountered the file corruption as others have stated.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/19/2008 12:07:03 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: I've had a good experience with this product thus far. I've actually already used the system restore on one of my computers (I backup 2 regularly) and it worked flawlessly. It only took 30 minutes to get back up and running.

Cons: Computers need to be left on in order to backup on a consistent basis. (To be fixed with Powerpack update 2Q/08 I hear.) Sometimes backups fail and the error message given is not very descriptive as to why...

Other Thoughts: It would be nice to see a native solution for better power management. I don't need 24/7 access to my server and I hate running it all day however the current add-ins allowing the system to shut down are a pain to get working perfectly.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/15/2008 1:19:03 PM

Rating + 1 Good concept Bad implementation


Pros: Great concept, easy to use server for home. Provides backups for all computers on network, so forth.

Cons: Home Server has a process called "Load Balancing", this process creates nothing but problems. It seems to be some sort of defrag for the file system, but creates corrupt files constantly. And worse of all there seems to be no way to turn it off (google the problem for more information). It seems a lot if not everybody is having this problem. I have had to reinstall 3 or 4 times because it stopped booting. I have had this software since its release. I eventually turned off all the home server software and have had no problems since. But of course, backup and other home server services are no longer available.

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ephotosaver
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/14/2008 6:53:55 AM

Rating + 5 Windows Home Server OS Install


Pros: I've been waiting for a Home Server product like this. Thank you Microsoft for creating the OS for us home users. First I opted to built my own Home Server system with a motherboard and CPU that were just sitting in a box. Contrary to some problems that other users may have had with setting up the OS, things couldn't have gone smoother for me. I did my research too. Prior to my server, I have three PC's in the house with digital content busting out at the seams and no way to organize it. No backups were being completed on either PC. Now all of our digital content is stored on the server using the supplied shares. I am streaming my music from my server to my PC at work. WoW!I can access my server and PC's from any PC on the internet because it has its own URL. Backups are being completed every night now. Its easy to add drives when you need to. The install went perfectly and the OS has been up and running like a champ for close to 3 months. 5 Star Product.

Cons: None!

Other Thoughts: Got a great price on the OS form Newegg.com. Quick delivery with no shipping cost. 5 Stars

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

DrunkGamer
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/11/2008 4:32:49 PM

Rating + 5 Works like I had hoped...


Pros: Whenever something new like this is introduced, you can read all the reviews you want but in the end, you need to identify why you are getting it (vs. how sexy it might be for others) and make sure the functional areas you care about are addressed. I want a centralized server for printers, file storage, and remote access. It delivered on every count. The back-up paradigm is new and different and sounds great so I'm using it - but I've not tested it yet to make sure it works when I need it.

Cons: None other than it's not free :P

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

MoonHowler
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
5/8/2008 1:55:43 PM

Rating + 1 Beware


Pros: A great concept. It installed very easily. I loved the idea of automatic image backups. I'm enjoying learning Linux as I build a working home server.

Cons: I was so excited when I installed WHS. I loved the way it did automatic image backups. But the backup service kept stopping. After many hours I got it working again. Then one day I needed a restore. Corruption! I was relying on WHS to backup my system, and it did not. I switched to an alternative backup strategy (not using WHS), but kept using WHS for network shares OOOPS! Corruption! I was floored. (I switched to a NAS appliance for network shares.) I still use WHS for a print server. It seems great at that, better than the NAS I had been using. I've been using it as a print server for more than one year. As soon as I finish my Linux server, I'll toss it altogether.

Other Thoughts: This product is so seriously buggy and UNRELIABLE it will probably never be fixed. I think it's a great concept that has not been implemented. Consider waiting until they version based on Windows Server 2008 comes out.

6 out of 12 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

drcybernut
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/8/2008 12:39:26 PM

Rating + 4 GREAT EXCEPT...


Pros: daily configurable backups, shared folders, **32bit WHS Connector, Server 2003 backbone, simple configuration console, password consolidation and mismatch nag...

Cons: **64bit WHS connector DOES NOT EXIST as of yet (workarounds don't offer much), when passwords for the same user differ between server and client machine a nag comes up and offers assistance to the user (very simple to understand) but would prefer forced sync from the server.

Other Thoughts: works great using a workgroup rather than a domain, Microsoft needs to ADVERTISE that WHS doesn't support any 64-bit OS's!!!

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Boheeber
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/6/2008 1:12:15 PM

Rating + 5 Overall good product


Pros: Unattended full backups; remote access to the PCs running Vista Ultimate and XP Pro. There are some helpful third-party addins.

Cons: No remote access to the PC running Vista Premium; the as-yet-unfixed file corruption issue.

Other Thoughts: Installed this on a new budget build with 2 GB of RAM and a 1.8 AMD Brisbane processor. Added 4 500 GB Western Digital hard drives and so far have not needed any additional storage. The drive extender technology baffles me as far as file management works (not RAID and not quite JBOD either), but when the corruption issue is resolved, it really won't matter HOW it works as long as it DOES.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Boheeber
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/6/2008 1:11:50 PM

Rating + 5 Overall good product


Pros: Unattended full backups; remote access to the PCs running Vista Ultimate and XP Pro. There are some helpful third-party addins.

Cons: No remote access to the PC running Vista Premium; the as-yet-unfixed file corruption issue.

Other Thoughts: Installed this on a new budget build with 2 GB of RAM and a 1.8 AMD Brisbane processor. Added 4 500 GB Western Digital hard drives and so far have not needed any additoinal storage. The drive extender technology baffles me as far as file management works (not RAID and not quite JBOD either), but when the corruption issue is resolved, it really won't matter HOW it works as long as it DOES.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/4/2008 3:15:35 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Works well. Was nice to get all of the photos and music in one place Works with any computer in our house!

Cons: Hard to install for me

Other Thoughts: This is on an old Nforce2 MSI with a AMD xp cpu.

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I'm_Jim
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/29/2008 2:07:37 PM

Rating + 4 Real World use from a long time WHS user...


Pros: I put in a review a long time ago and I wanted to update you on my overall experience with WHS. I was a beta tester and bought an OEM copy the first day the Egg had it for sale. I'm very tech heavy and have 30+ years of experience(way pre-DOS_v1). I run a 5TB WHS server with 6 disks in it. I have tons of stuff, music, office docs, everything, all dupped. Never lost a file. I have written a lot in the WHS forum on issues I have had but none would stop me from using WHS. It has been awesome in backups, music serving and just general storage. I do share the concern about the file corruption issue but if you don't edit files ON the WHS, you don't care. And I was the one who was posting on the WHS forum about trying to restore and had problems. The issue there was if you took say a Dell with hidden partitions and tried to restore it to a replacement hard disk with only one partition. I had problems but some said they got around it OK. Restoring to the SAME hard disk works fine.

Cons: The file corruption issue needs to be addressed so that you can edit files ON the server just like with a normal 2003 Windows server. If you don't do this, you should have a great experience with WHS. It truely is easy to set up and I can't imagine a cleaner install and setup for such a powerful product. My mother could probably do it with some coaching over the phone.

Other Thoughts: When MSoft gets that file issue resolved and maybe spiffs up the restore function to fix a few glitches, in my humble opinion, this will be "THE" NAS option for homes. And those complaining about not enough testing (like some of those WEB tech sites) you try creating a product as complicated as this and geting it 100% out the door. If this is the only really bad problem and they solve it, I would cut them a lot of slack. And I'm usually hard on Msoft (like the Vista mess). Anyway, that's how I see it...

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Phatboy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/22/2008 11:18:23 AM

Rating + 5 Pleasantly suprised


Pros: I wasn't sure if this operating system was really "Ready for prime time". So far, I have been very
happily suprised.

It is actually "Windows Server 2003 for Small Business" with features built on top. I have found NO
features missing from Server 2003. I am accustomed to using Windows Server 2003 RC1 at work.
Windows Home Server has all the same network administrative features. Home Server has slick
GUIs to make administration simple enough for a novice to use.

Cons: One stumbling block, You MUST have a UPnP router if you want to set up remote access from the
web. According to a couple of reviews that I read, you can manually port a non-UPnP router to work.
Ports 80, 443 & 4175 have to be open from the router to the server. I fought with this. Forget it. Just
get a UPnP router and save yourself the aggravation.

Other Thoughts: I usually prefer Linux (Fedora) but hats off to the guys in
Redmond. They hit one out of the park with Windows Home Server.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

idaspudboy
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/20/2008 6:23:17 PM

Rating + 5 Works pretty well


Pros: The back up feature is wonderful. It has saved me from several headaches. I have had to completly restore my laptop and desktop and it was very easy. I also like having access to my files when I am a way from home.

Cons: It took a little bit of effort to get the web server part running. But that is probably due to my router. I had to manually make the adjustments to my router to get it to work.

Other Thoughts: Overall I am happy with it. I built my server using old computer hardware. It is probably on the slow side because of it, but I have enjoyed having it.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

MicroSSG
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/18/2008 8:58:44 AM

Rating + 4 WHS


Pros: When completed by MS, it will be an essential component to the home network environment. Central storage, backup, access to common files either through LAN or WAN. MS give you 1 nnnnnn.homeserver.com domain to register for WAN access. Headless.

Cons: Corruption bug, you almost have to use a add-in giga-nic. nForce drivers are not working as of yet, had to purchase an Intel Pro NIC.

Other Thoughts: When I dissabled the Realtek on-board nic and used the Intel card my transfer rates tripled and music was able to stream. Remote capability for WHS connector lan clients is awesome.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

SorelyDisappointed
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/17/2008 8:32:54 AM

Rating + 1 Full disclosure


Pros: Great concept, ease of use, and--once it's fixed--this system will have a future. Works great if you only have one HDD in your WHS system.

Cons: Defective by design. Microsoft is only partially revealing the facts surrounding the problem and their proposed solution.

Other Thoughts: Use with just one HDD and you're fine. Otherwise, before you consider purchasing this and building your own WHS, read the article at AnandTech-dot-com titled "WHS: A series of unfortunate events" (You can Google it). A must read.

We just bought a Hammer Storage NAS from Newegg to serve as the interim backup solution while Microsoft scrambles to do damage control and provide a fix (maybe June).

2 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Steve
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/16/2008 8:01:17 PM

Rating + 5 Very Surprised


Pros: Easy install on my P4 2.8 Prescott box. No issues, nice remote access features, nice community support and plugins.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: WHS can many community site where you can add features that might night be included in the orginal install.

I can wait for the power pack update coming out soon.

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john89
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/8/2008 6:16:41 PM

Rating + 1 Unbelievable from the Worlds Largest Software Company


Pros: Great user interface. Backups ran automatically.

Cons: I installed this are on brand new Dell PowerEdge T105. Followed all the instructions. Loaded all the required Dell drivers. The Home Server came up and seemed to work great. Then after a couple of backups I started getting corrupted files on the Home Server. When viewing the backups it would hang the client computer with all the corrupted file pop-ups. These are corrupted files on the Home Server.
Contacted support (a vender does the support). Sent in the logs. They told me to delete all the back ups and try again.
After doing that still get corrupted files on the backups randomly. How can I rely on this?
Turns out corrupted files is a know issue (KB#946676) with NO FIX on the horizon because they said it happens so RARELY! And the programs that are referenced in KB#946676 as causing corrupted files? I was using the Windows COPY command!

Other Thoughts: Avoid Windows Home Server at all costs. I wish there was something out there for Windows as cool as Apple's Time Machine.

6 out of 16 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Matthew
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/8/2008 5:15:26 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent for a Home Server


Pros: Once installed it is very easy to use. It seamlessly integrates into my home network and. Remote Access is very, very useful. Does much of the heavy lifting for you!

Cons: The only negatives I have are: 1) The propensity for the system to corrupt data when modifying files directly on the server--this hasn't happened to me, however, and is easily worked around. 2) No 64-bit Vista support until Power Pack 1, currently scheduled for June. 3) The need to modify my hosts file in Vista so the server and my client computers could see one another.

Other Thoughts: Overall, I believe that this will mature into a great product. I am satisfied, despite the setbacks.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/5/2008 1:08:26 AM

Rating + 5 Superb!


Pros: Fantastic whole-network backup. Not like backup software, this lets you open the actual file structure of any of your system just as it looked days, weeks or months ago, and pull a single file or re-create the entire system. Share music or photos across your network, or via secure remote login from the outside world. Low hardware requirements means you can use an old box to support this.

Cons: No (as of yet) support for Win x64.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

TimeToLearnLinux
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/4/2008 8:35:51 PM

Rating + 1 STAY AWAY ... for now.


Pros: Great concept. Microsoft promises to fix major problem by June. Works great if you have just one hard drive. (For me this defeats the purpose of having a "server"). If they really fix this in June, I will likely update and give this O/S a better rating because the concept is truly excellent.

Cons: It's Microsoft, rolled out before ready once again. Has a fatal flaw in the kernal that corrupts data, but only if you have more than one hard drive in your system.

Other Thoughts: If I sound dissapointed, I am. This is a *backup* solution for critical data and, for now, I can't rely on it. Microsoft's argument that "not that many people have the problem" just isn't good enough. I simply can't roll the dice with our data like that.

Before you get it, know what you're getting into. See Knowledge Base article KB946676. I think it's worded in such a way as to obscure the significance of the problem, so go to the MS forums under the Windows Home Server topic. There you will find people who are speaking freely about it and some of them are not happy.

4 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Fly2husker
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/3/2008 9:01:59 AM

Rating + 5 WHS works great


Pros: Upgraded from the evaluation copy. Really, No significant problems. 5 drives are connected to a repurposed HP desktop running 922 GB. Very easy to manage laptop backups. This just runs and works as intended for a repository of data files. Probably the best MS program I've every used. I'm a bit of a novice at server stuff, but really, this is easy!

Cons: None really. There is a data corruption issue that has been reported but I write and read itunes and DVD copies directly to the disk array with no problem at all.

Other Thoughts: Do your research on the upgrade, but I did create a backup of all my data and did a reinstallation. The upgrade took hours, but all of the data was there when the upgrade was complete. I did receive a few error messages regarding updating in the final step. I simply updated manually from the settings option and rebooted. The install completed at that time.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Swantonsoup
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
3/29/2008 6:17:33 PM

Rating + 5 Way better than Time Machine


Pros: Ross said this product was inferior to Apple's Time Machine. I believe this couldn't be further from the truth. Apple's Time Machine backs up your computer to an external hard drive automatically. Special? Not at all. My WHS stores all my information, backs up my computers, offers redundancy, manages my downloads, manages permissions, streams my data, and gives me remote access. I love it. If you want to backup your computer, buy a hard drive and use Time machine or some free software. If you really want a home server, pick this up.

Cons: The corruption bug is unfortunate but will be fixed soon.

Other Thoughts: My server backs up my entire family's computers and makes file sharing simple. It streams HD video to my Xbox and serves as a media center. I'm also excited for PowerPack 1 (equivalent of a Service Pack except with a focus on security & features instead of simply security).

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

PhillyRick
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/28/2008 11:24:36 AM

Rating + 5 Nice Product


Pros: This OS packs nice backup utilies plus a very handy web utility acessed via the WHS console. If you decide to turn on web access your server is generated an SSL cert via the web access wizard. After running the WHS for a few days its obvious WHS will be updated in the near future as it sits WinServer2003 and Server2008 has just launched.

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: The other cool thing are the 3rd party add-ins you can run on WHS. Many of the add-ins are free and they do everything from publishing files(Vids Music & Photos) to your TIVO to adding the ability to stream music & videos over your own secure web server plus a whole lot more.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/27/2008 1:32:27 PM

Rating + 5 Works extremely well


Pros: Backs up all computers on home network on frequency you select, up to nightly. Cloud disk array is a good trade off vs. various flavors of RAID. Ability to add disks of any size at any time to increase pool is excellent for real world use. Ability to mirror critical files ensures copies on two drives for files placed in a shared folder.

Cons: Most of the cons listed here are from people who do not understand the technology, or choose to violate the written guidelines. Unfortunately, it was the anticipation of exactly this kind of moronic behavior which drove MS to keep this out of normal distribution channels (that's why you have to buy it as an OEM, and are bound by OEM rules). If you play with the files on the server, you will corrupt the system. This is clearly stated in all documentation, yet some geniuses insist on going on the server and editing files. If you use the console, there is no corruption problem. No pity. Read. Learn. Grow.

Other Thoughts: I run a raid array (Raid 5) on one machine where redundancy of data is critical. WHS does all the other backup chores in the background. It streams media and allows for remote access to shares via the internet. Very cool.

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Reggie
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/23/2008 7:11:09 AM

Rating + 5 Great product!!


Pros: Very simple to install and get running.
You get your own dedicated website login to access your computers from the Internet.
You can see the health of all of your computers at once.
I have 6 computer setup.

Cons: The data corrupting bug is a problem that MS will have fixed by June.

NOTE: DON'T INSTALL IN A SYSTEM WITH MORE THAN 1 DRIVE!
Wait found the June patch before doing that.

You can't remote login each computer from the local desktop console, you can only do that from the Website.

Vista Home is not supported as a computer that you can remote login into, but XP Pro is supported. :(

Other Thoughts: I think it is unfortunate that MS calls this Windows HOME Server (WHS), but if any of your computers are of the HOME type, you will lose some functionality, but if your computers are greater than the HOME versions, you will gain all the WHS has to offer.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

booberandpuzz
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/19/2008 4:12:40 PM

Rating + 2 Stay away unless you really know what you're getting into


Pros: I have nothing to add to Microsoft's marketing hype ... if only the product lived up to half of it.

Cons: Complicated ... it's supposed to be simple. Unreliable ... it's supposed to be set and forget. Truthfully, I have nothing to add to the THOUSANDS of gripes on the Microsoft WHS support site and forum. The biggest one: reproduceable data corruption if you have more than one hard drive installed. MS promises a fix later this year. Let's see, #1 purpose: backup. #1 problem: data loss. What could go wrong?

Other Thoughts: If you really want this, be prepared to spend some late nights with bloodshot eyes. BG is trying hard to restore his karma by giving away millions. He needs to. His company is really screwing the pooch lately (and the consumer). By that I mean MORESO THAN USUAL.

I only found out about the data corruption bug because I went to the support site trying to solve another problem. I'm afraid I'll be wanting a refund and I guess I'll be learning Linux after all.

10 out of 30 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Chucksteer
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/17/2008 7:09:18 PM

Rating + 5 Works like it should


Pros: I'm not a network admin but am very PC familiar. Works as advertised. No data loss seen after 2 months of use. 60Gb of pictures and 45Gb of FLAC music and all seems well so far. Backup is useful and I like the ability to duplicate selected common folders across disk drives.

Cons: The addins really don't work well. I would really like to add some of the functionality advertised by the addins.

Other Thoughts: Based on previous reviews, I am still keeping duplicate set of files. Not a problem yet as I have over 2Tb of storage across my home network. It would be really great to have working addins.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Super Abe
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/17/2008 1:42:27 PM

Rating + 5 Great home server solution!!


Pros: Super easy to install and setup. Great for streaming videos, photos & music to my Xbox 360. Storage management is a no brainer. Redundant backups is great. Data backups are quick and automated.

Cons: The file corruption problem!.. I would like to see a fix sooner than June.

Other Thoughts: If you are in the market for a centralized home server solution for your home or small business, this IS your solution. I have tried many different backup solutions over the last few years and finally, Microsoft met and exceeded my needs and expectations. Everyone who leaves negative reviews for this product didn't give it a fair shot.

Microsoft offers a free 120 trial if you want to test drive WHS before you buy (which I would recommend).

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Ross
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
3/16/2008 10:39:05 AM

Rating + 3 This ain't no Time Machine


Pros: Automatic daily backups of all your computers. Media Server (streams audio and video to compatible, netowkred players). Really cool.

Cons: This is not an appliance. If you're not a networking and Windows expert, stay away.
Does not protect itself from drive loss. If you system drive dies on the Windows Home Server, you lose all of your configurations, user accounts, and backup database.
VERY DIFFICULT TO RECOVER SYSTEMS WITH OEM SERVICE/UTILITIES PARTITIONS, SUCH AS DELL LAPTOPS, LENOVO LAPTOPS, ETC.

Other Thoughts: aLL-in-all, this is a toy for techies with much free time on their hands. Sadly, this is probably the best backup solution for Windows users.
For comparison, Apple's Time Machine, while not a "server", is built in to the OS and ships with every Mac, works with any external drive, and requires the user to answer just one question. Recovery with Time Machine is ,truly automatic, and hardware independent.
What is going on up there in Redmond?

0 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/14/2008 8:53:29 PM

Rating + 4 Good...almost great


Pros: I purchased this product based upon Newegg.com reviews. Given the variable experience of others, I was prepared to face some headaches. Install on my home-built machine was seemless - I had all the drivers ready for install on a USB Key. Started with 1TB WD internal drive and able to add a 750GB Seagate Freeagent Pro via eSATA card 1 week later. Connector software works well after you work through firewall issues. Additional backups are very quick after the first backup event has completed.

Cons: Installation could be a major hassle if you're not prepared. I would recommend that you review the comments of other users in this and the Microsoft WHS forum - the provided documentation is poor at best. It took quite a bit of time to configure one my three computers for backup given some firewall issues. The data corruption issues with this product are known and currently prevent me from taking full advantage of some of the sharing capabilities w/o fear of data loss/corruption (they don't have an effect on the backup process/data).

Other Thoughts: I think that once the data corruption issue is adequately addressed, this product will perform all functions as advertised. Now that I have it properly configured, backup is seemless and w/o thought. For those with somewhat more than basic home networking and computer savy this product can be setup on a "home built" machine with minimal hassle. If you have no networking experience or little patience for computer challenges, it might be best to look at other products with better documentation and a more simple setup process. Likewise, for networking professionals you may be better served with a more high-powered software solution. This is a niche product that serves my current backup needs very well.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/14/2008 1:09:13 PM

Rating + 5 WHS - pretty cool


Pros: Excellent product. Relatively easy install, no brainer backup. I'm a System/Storage Admin so I tested the heck out of the bootable restore CD and it worked EVERY time. Feed it a bunch of hard drives and it backs things up nicely. I'm also using the folder sharing and printer sharing with no trouble. I've resurrected all of my older IDE drives (80,120,160,250gb, etc.) and WHS has no problem with them. Even using an add-on PCI/IDE card for more IDE drives with no trouble. Be sure to transplant your stuff into a large tower, though.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: I heard that the propeller heads built this product before Bill heard about it and started selling it. This probably accounts for the reason that it works so well and is so cool :)

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

tengeta
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
3/11/2008 8:41:35 PM

Rating + 2 If you know how to do servers... stay away


Pros: I previewed this on my home server (not really a home server, a system i setup myself as a server) and really found some of the features to be of excellent use. The fact is my sister and mom are both paranoid of me seeing their stuff and refuse to let me back it up, then run up and complain their HDD crashed and they want me to resurrect their data from the dead. This would smack that around easily... but I guess technically I could see their stuff (they really don't get i'm the admin on both their machines, and if i really wanted to... well i think you get it at this point) I'd say this is a decent server system to run if you have the following and nothing more: 1 HDD, and a machine thats way too strong for a home servers benefit that just transfers files and backs stuff up.

Cons: Requirements... why MUST i have 40gb to use this OS that takes less than 3GB at install? I'd seriously be angry if I got a 36GB 10K/15K RPM HDD to set up the OS on the system and found that out... and if you are think twice, it won't work. Too much ram requirement for a server in my opinion, its not streaming media and it does not need it, end of story. Its smart to have a lot of ram in a server, but it should be an option, in particular to HOME USERS so they can have low end machines run server OS'es. The Windows Server 2k3 this is based on sure does, I got that OS on a system I bought in 1999 that was designed for Win98 (366ghz celeron and 256mb ram... with a whomping 6GB system drive LOL) Other than that, the OS software raids your HDD's and then runs claims it has run out of space even though you have 760GB available... maybe a glitch but I didn't bother looking into it. Data corruption seems to be an issue, I transfered stuff to the machine that was taken back as unusable data...

Other Thoughts: If you know how to set up a server without needing a wizard to do it all for you, just stick with Win2k3. It will do you much better, end of story. Actually, get WinXP and just share folders, that would even be a better server OS than this. Microsoft had a good idea, but as usual they take it nowhere. Speaking of... who buys prebuilt servers? I compared the ones I build for people to the prices of prebuilt ones... and its almost always 1/5 the price to do it yourself (thats actually factoring in the labor i charge too, but i am independent and work out of my house). Thats a heck of a difference between buying and building a desktop which almost differs none these days. Oh... and seriously, if your going to still get this and use multiple HDD's don't get differing RPM drives, I've heard of some disastrous results with this OS dealing with that.

1 out of 12 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

alb
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/11/2008 5:22:52 AM

Rating + 2 Still Not Functional


Pros: Features sound good. Nice backup of networked computers (via the 'connector' software.

Cons: Want to share a few folders on WHS to store common stuff (music, photos, etc.) on your network? (Something you can do with any other version of Windows.) Well, you can ... but you can't (safely) edit them! Don't believe the MS claims that the data corruption only happens under heavy load. I changed ID3 tags on about a dozen MP3 files (as a batch process), and they were all corrupted.

MS first reported the 'data corruption' bug in December, and it will (by their estimate) take until June until it's fixed. So either: A) they're not working on it, or B) the code is such a convoluted mess that even they don't understand it.

Other Thoughts: Search for 'wegotserved' to find a web site with a description of the current status of the 'fix', and a link to the official MS knowledge base article.

In the past I've been reasonably happy with MS OS software, but I'm VERY sorry I spent the money on this. If you're still considering it, I suggest you at least wait until the 'data corruption' fix is out before buying -- it's not very useful until then.

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

stanjam
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
3/10/2008 5:36:38 AM

Rating + 1 This is a joke, right?


Pros: None really. Well, I guess there is "some" advantage to having this product, but it seems a rather expensive way to get Network Attached Storage.

Cons: All this really is is Network Attached Storage, which you can buy very cheaply, not having to buy an entire computer and add this to it. Please.

Save yourself some money. If you have a computer lying around that will run this, and have been thinking of using that computer for backups or file storage, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY! Instead go download Fedora 8, then install Amahi home server. Granted Amahi is only in beta testing, but it already has more functionality than WHS. File sharing for Windows and Linux, and Mac. Full disk Backups. Web based functionality like Calendars, recipe books, your own family Wiki pages. Host a web site. Remote access to your files through SSH or VPN. Total cost: $0. Completely blows Windows Home Server away, and has fewer vulnerabilities.

Other Thoughts: If you are going to set up a home server, please take the time to understand HOW to set up a home server and what it is. If you just want network storage for access by multiple machines, than buy that, NOT Windows Home Server. If you want a true home server, with all kinds of flexibility, there is NO CHOICE but to Install and use some form of Linux. Amahi and Fedora 8 makes it easy to do, for free. But I still recommend learning about server administration first.

4 out of 37 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

chrisschiano
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/7/2008 11:25:14 AM

Rating + 4 Good for old hardware


Pros: Easy to install server OS for less experienced users. It has the many wizards that MS is famous for creating. It allows many advanced home use functions without the MCSE knowledge of maintaining a domain controller for home use.

Cons: It is based upon Windows 2003, consequently it works only with hardware that supports win2k3 only. Using the XP drivers is hit & miss. AVIOD NEW VISTA COMPATIBLE HARDWARE. This is especially true for the new motherboards that are devoid of floppy and PS/2 headers.

4 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
3/5/2008 8:56:09 AM

Rating + 5 Breaking all the rules/having fun


Pros: Works great on a home grown box, runs MS Virtual Server 2005, great for setting up a home training environment. I'm running in trial mode but WILL buy before it expires.

Cons: Watch out for file sharing problems, don't try to make this a raid machine...keep it to a simple 1 disk setup...yeah, maybe 2 disks are in my future but NO RAID. Keep an eye on KB946676.

Other Thoughts: I'm breaking all the rules, running on a budget home grown box. I am running MS Virtual Server 2005, SQL2000, SQL2005, Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server VPC Image (Trial)...I up'd my ram to 4GB to accomodate all this junk and remote desktop to virtual environments is VERY snappy.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat low
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/3/2008 6:07:39 PM

Rating + 4 Remote access and Add-ins make it great


Pros: Easy to setup, very compatible with other MS products, easy remote access to the server and other computers tied into the network, available add-ins are great for expanding the functionality of the server, uses Windows XP drivers, most x86 applications can be installed on the OS (add-ins get installed only on the home server application), free domain name

Cons: semi-difficult to understand if you have no networking or server background, i feel price is too expensive (but it is a full-fledge OS), no media center functions

Other Thoughts: It is a near full verison of Windows Server 2003. Being a server product, security is much more tight. This makes it frustrating for a laye person to use simple feature like the web browser. It more features in common with Windows XP than Vista. Without easy remote access and some of the great add-ins, WHS is bland and offers nothing Vista and XP couldn't. It doesn't have the bell and whistles and looks of Vista, but it will run all your applications. You can replace XP or Vista with Windows Home Server.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

AJ
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/29/2008 1:01:11 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Simple no brainer backups. Easy to add storage. The product does what it is supposed to do.

Cons: None

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Scopique
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/25/2008 11:05:27 AM

Rating + 5 Works Great


Pros: Installs easily; remote access with custom domain name (Homeserver.com); Growing list of plug-ins to enhance functionality.

Cons: Had to add the server's IP and name to client's HOSTS file in order to allow the desktop connector software to connect to the server, but that's not all that big of a deal.

Other Thoughts: It does what it promises, which is to give you a place to store your files (music, pics, software, etc) and to back-up your networked computers. I like the remote access features for storing/retrieving files from anywhere there's a web browser.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

RRCoster_5
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/17/2008 9:07:43 PM

Rating + 5 Great for Basic Home Sever Use


Pros: Able to access my files over the web and keeping my pcs on the network backed up
Lots of add-on features that can't be added for administrator
Running Windows Home Sever remotely from any other pc then the sever itself

Cons: Makes you have to erase any drive you add to it if theres any existing data on the drive your going to install

Other Thoughts: Used it on a AMD Athlon 2.4 GHZ-3GB DDR PC3200-Two 500 GB drives

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/14/2008 6:02:42 PM

Rating + 5 Box Size


Pros: I haven't actually installed this retail version...but I was running the RC 'beta' version until its expiration. My only complaint with that version was that you couldn't stream music remotely from the internet (but I believe there is now a plugin that gives that ability). If this retail version is at least as good as the RC, It'll work very well for me.

Cons: I can't think of any right now...certainly no file curruption issues though!

Other Thoughts: The box Newegg shipped this in was 12"x12"x12"!!! Keep in mind the microsoft packaging is about the size of a regular DVD box...
My setup is a 25W AMD Turion 2.0G on an MSI K8N Neo3 motherboard with 512MB of DDR and the lowest wattage Seasonic Power supply I could find that I put together specifically for server duty (a Zalman 7000B makes good contact with this mobile processor). The RC version ran great with this setup and I suspect this retail version will as well.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

MrTV
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/14/2008 3:40:35 AM

Rating + 5 Exellent Product


Pros: My wife has been pestering me for a long time to do backups of her laptop. Now it happens automagically! We also use the server for photos and a gigantic music library. It also makes it so easy to share files between different computers in the house.

Cons: You have to leave a server on all the time, so try to buy or build one that is quiet and stingy on power use.

Other Thoughts: When people realize the nice things that Windows Home Server does, this is sure to become more popular.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Joe
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/12/2008 4:33:52 PM

Rating + 5 Windows Home Server


Pros: Unbeleivable. My wife does alot of video/photo work . She filled 3 hard drives in last few years and blew them out losing some data. My friend told me about this and I said yah, yah until it did complete restores for him on 2 computers.

I knew this was for backups but did not realize I could log in and allow others to log in and get photos and video. A complete PLUS for us and friends and family.

With the auto back up I no longer fear my wife losing data.

It does it all. Just put in a new hard drive place the restore disk in computer to be restored and all is done--- dirvers, programs, data everything. Microsoft did something great this time!

Cons: No off site back up yet but am told it is coming the first half of 2008. Can back up the home server and store off site.

Always seems to be balancing storage. Two hard drives in systems acting like a RAID.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Mike
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/11/2008 1:25:55 PM

Rating + 5 Good Product


Pros: Setp was a breeze. I put this on a ASUS P3 Barebones with a Celeron 2.8ghz and 1 meg Kingston value RAM. Right now only a WD 320 giog HD, but theres room for another and you can always add externals to it.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: I need to get more into it to learn about setting up the remote connections.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

smokingpizza
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/10/2008 9:11:03 PM

Rating + 5 Can't believe it--a 1.0 from Microsoft that actually works!!


Pros: Server 2003 capability and security with a control console anyone can use. Inexpensive for the capability.

Cons: Documentation with product is pretty useless. Get "Windows Home Server for Dummies" or one of the other good books to guide you through the install and setup

Other Thoughts: Installed and setup without a hitch other than the remote access. Remote access required manual configuration of the router, but that was expected. Online documentation is very good describing exactly what ports need to be configured. If you're not comfortable with that, get some help. You don't want to inadvertantly open your whole network up to the world. Running it on a decent but not terribly expensive box--Abit LG95 mobo with a Core 2 E4500 with 2 gigs of DDR2-667 and a Zalman 9500 with 4 750 gig WD Caviars in an Antec Solo box with 2 92 mm fans added into the front to cool the hard drives. Very fast with the gigabit ethernet.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

CG
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/10/2008 12:06:40 PM

Rating + 4 Great OS for the price


Pros: Cheap, easy to configure, simply add the server features WHS website, wholla! I just needed a simple server just to back up data on my family networked PCs.

Cons: Depending on your hardware configuration, you may need to install the drivers after installing the base system. Oh well that's Windows for ya.

Other Thoughts: Great, simple, and cheap OS with bountiful features that you can later add to your home server. Don't expect Active Directory on this OS, then you need to look into purchase Windows 2003 Server or better. For those who don't know or have the time to configure a complex system, then this one is for you.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Jason
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/9/2008 3:41:44 PM

Rating + 5 Solid easy backup OS


Pros: Easy QUICK backups (~2.5 mins/night for my network of 6pc's) -- incremental, and optimized to not back 6 copies of the same OS files. Remote access to all machines in my network (remote desktop activex control) and files is sweet.
Ability to have addons is cool.

Cons: No antivirus software; no domain; cannot modify installed components from windows 2003 Small Business as per license agreements (except for DHCP I believe). Oh, and no photo thumbnails for shared photos.

Other Thoughts: Using since early betas; finally bought the RTM version.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

chucky
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
2/7/2008 2:17:23 PM

Rating + 5 Works Great, Awesome product


Pros: Feature packed product that installs easily and connects easily. Would cost hundreds more to buy the software to duplicate the features any other way. Had no issues whatsoever with drive extender or connecting 4 wired and 1 wireless PC to the server. Drop dead simple.

Cons: Wish it was cheaper, but honestly, this is the first Microsoft product that I have purchased that I can honestly say is worth every penny.

Other Thoughts: As far as the corruption issues……every time you log in on the physically log into the home server PC it warns you against using this machine and plainly informs you that such use may break the server. Why you would choose to ignore that warning a do it anyway is beyond me, but don’t say you weren’t warned. It is intended to be signed into remotely. It is not a stand alone PC, and is not meant to be used that way. Microsoft is very clear on this. You get a warning each time you log in. What more do you need?

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Allen13331
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/6/2008 1:00:58 PM

Rating + 3 Windows Home Server


Pros: Does a good job of backing up data and managing files. WHS does not use RAID but instead uses drive extender. The end result is similar however the OS is not protected.

Cons: I had one computer that I could not backup using connector. I have worked on this problem for about a week and still can not get it resolved. No support from Microsoft since it is OEM...kind of handy, not having to support a product. Other three computers backed up without issue.

Other Thoughts: When it works it does a good job. They have created an easy to use interface that works well for beginners.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

the White Gorilla
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2008 5:27:38 PM

Rating + 1 Beware of File Corruption


Pros: It would be great if it didn't corrupt files.

Cons: There is a serious file corruption issue that all buyers must be aware of: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946676

Even users who reviewed this positively may not be aware that editing files directly on WHS may cause file corruption.

Other Thoughts: It is a server that corrupts files.

Microsoft has acknowledged the bug but details on a fix date are not available. This pretty much means that no files can be trusted on this server at this point.

6 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Mainbabes
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2008 4:15:35 PM

Rating + 4 GREAT OPERATING SYSTEM


Pros: I had a little more trouble setting up WHS than other reviewers but with the help of the web I was able to do so and it is worth the trouble. I built a new computer using an ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe motherboard and 2GB memory. I installed 2 500GB HDD’s. Building the computer was easy and only took about two hours. Installing WHS took about an hour and went without a hitch. I was under the impression that WHS setup would ask for drivers as required but this isn’t so. I found that when setup completes you are looking at the welcome screen with an arrow at the bottom center and if you click on the arrow you go to another screen wanting you to enter passwords but don’t bother. Click Ctrl-Alt-Esc and a warning screen comes up but click on the show desktop icon on the bottom left. Now put in the motherboard driver CD and load the necessary drivers. I had to load the Ethernet driver to get the new server to see my network. Prior to this I tried the load the Connector Software on another

Cons: A little difficult to get up and running if you are unfamiliar with loading drivers and setting up routers.

Other Thoughts: I decided to build a decent machine because if I decided I didn't like WHS I would have a good computer anyway.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

barnfire
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2008 1:04:32 PM

Rating + 5 Sweet deal


Pros: I worked with H/S during the beta process. Love it for the intelligent backup. I have it running the retail version now and it is nice.

Cons: Pricey, but then again it is basically Windows 2003 Server under the hood.

Other Thoughts: Be sure to check out the plug-ins, some very handy, free add-ins for web sites and monitoring and such.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
2/2/2008 1:09:33 PM

Rating + 5 greatest Microsoft os yet


Pros: Very easy set up, 360 will notice it right away, online remote desktop works great for me, no charge for setting it up with Microsoft.

Cons: Have to find out why other pc's but my server on PS3.

Other Thoughts: Greatest product from Microsoft yet. Simple to use, sure, linux free, but alot of set up time versus this. Awesome for not the pc geeks.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

GJT186
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/2/2008 9:40:36 AM

Rating + 5 WHS


Pros: WHS is built on Windows Server 2003 platform and this Home ver. is very easy to install and run.
Performs great. You can find many books and online information on WHS.

Cons: None. Microsoft hit a homerun with WHS.

Other Thoughts: Good time to build your own Home Server. Very happy with Newegg,com

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Homerr
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/26/2008 1:11:50 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Ease of setup, drive pool, backups, add-ins.

Cons: No 64bit connector, but that is on the way.

Other Thoughts: One of MS's great products

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Brad
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/25/2008 7:40:27 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: I have not had any problems either installing or configuring WHS. The product works as advertised. If you disire things such as remote access and system backups, this is the OS you want to use.

Cons: I don't like the fact that although the OS is based on the Windows 2003 server engine, you are warned that using most of those utilities may "break" the WHS server.

Other Thoughts: Over all I like the system. Just follow the set up instructions and you should have a pleasant experience.

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Bales in Dallas
Tech Level: somewhat low
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
1/24/2008 11:38:57 PM

Rating + 5 I'm won over


Pros: **Once set up, it just works in the background as advertised.
**After the initial backup, backups are very quick.
**Console connection to server has low system impact on the host system.

Cons: **Installation and setup info is non-existant - better buy a good book on WHS to go along with the OS!

Other Thoughts: I really like WHS. I built a simple system using an AMD 64 LE-1600 single core CPU, a Gigabyte AM-2 motherboard, 1 MB of DDR2 memory, and a Seagate 320GB hard drive. The system is VERY quiet and runs 24/7 in background. WHS runs great on this system. I'm connected through my DSL gateway to my primary computer. The WHS console seems to have little system impact on it when connecting to the server. I find I definitely want to learn more about WHS in order to utilize its many features.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Bremen
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/23/2008 11:56:39 PM

Rating + 4 Doesn't work with 64bit Vista..


Pros: Excellent feature list, I'm sure it will be great.

Cons: The "Connector" software that you use to remotely administer the WHS machine is not currently compatible with Vista64...I'm surprised I never heard of this before installing it. See for more details.

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