Comments on: Windows Home Server on the Home Stretch

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 02:57:29 +0000

I don’t think that the Beta testers are going to get anykind of deal. They’ve never done that for public testers with any version of Windows, but if you’re part of the closed testing group (typically about 1,000 people) you would get a free copy.

By: spock1982

spock1982 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:48:12 +0000

I have been Beta testing the Homeserver and I like it a lot. It simplifies the whole process of sharing files and makes backing up your workstations very simple and routine. Adding storage space is also very simple and straightforward with all the hard parts handled by the OS. I am hoping that the Beta testers get some kind of deal on the final product because I really would like to keep this around.

By: OldManDeath

OldManDeath — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:29:26 +0000

For me, I really do not have the time to go through learning all that I need to know about Linux to setup my own. I also expect that these should be relatively cheap with a smaller amount of hard drive space.

With the ability to add drive space and the low cost of drives now, it would not take long to save up to add additional storage capacity.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:44:57 +0000

OldManDeath wrote:

I am one who is looking forward to Windows Home server and will be buying one as soon as I can after they are out.

I'm also pondering whether to get one. They would definitely be nice since you can swap out the drives as needed.

motang wrote:

Pretty neat idea, I would get one if I didn’t know how to make my own using free/open source software. Either way this would be a huge hit for Microsoft if they market this thing right and the PC manufacturers (like HP) have a killer price on these. :D

Yes, they will definitely have a big market for this. I think it would have been better if this sort of stuff was out several years ago (I read that the idea came up in 1999 to build something like this but got rejected). Of course storage is so abundant now that it is more affordable.

Inferno_str1ke wrote:

It’s an interesting idea - though I would prefer to make my server rather than get one pre-built. But I guess it isn’t aimed at me, it’s more for families going forward with a couple of PCs networked together, who all want to use and share the same stuff like they could when they were all on one system (and because Vista’s networking stuff is still slow and dundery).

I'm pretty much the same way you are, but this is appealing because it is small and compact. They aren't really full-blown computers which means they will take up less room than a typical desktop PC and offer a lot of storage bays.

By: Inferno_str1ke

Inferno_str1ke — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:46:34 +0000

It’s an interesting idea – though I would prefer to make my server rather than get one pre-built. But I guess it isn’t aimed at me, it’s more for families going forward with a couple of PCs networked together, who all want to use and share the same stuff like they could when they were all on one system (and because Vista’s networking stuff is still slow and dundery).

By: motang

motang — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:54:31 +0000

Pretty neat idea, I would get one if I didn’t know how to make my own using free/open source software. Either way this would be a huge hit for Microsoft if they market this thing right and the PC manufacturers (like HP) have a killer price on these.

By: OldManDeath

OldManDeath — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:48:44 +0000

I am one who is looking forward to Windows Home server and will be buying one as soon as I can after they are out.

I just have way too much digital media that I would hate to lose. It is a pain to keep backing it up manually.

It will also be nice to be able to expand the storage as your needs arise.

Having one central place for everything will be nice as I currently now have stuff on my desktop as well as portable hard drives attached via USB 2.0.