Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 64bit for £35.64 @ CCLOnline
Overview
Designed specifically for families with digital lifestyles, the affordable and easy-to-use Windows® Home Server 2011 provides a familiar, simple, and reliable way to store, stream, share, and automatically back up your photos, videos, music and other important documents.
A bit cheaper than the post over a month ago, so seemed worth sharing.
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All Comments (19)
Jump to unread Post a CommentTotally. Runs on a stock HP Microserver, is easy for non-technically minded people to setup, includes simple backup software for each of your Windows clients...
Oh wait, that's Windows Home Server, not freeNAS.
Totally. Runs on a stock HP Microserver, is easy for non-technically minded people to setup, includes simple backup software for each of your Windows clients...
Oh wait, that's Windows Home Server, not freeNAS.
It's a good price and until recently I'd have wholeheartedly recommended WHS2011. However like many HUKDers I recently got an SSD for my laptop and decided on a clean install of Windows 7. Since then I can still access my server using Remote Client, but the Launchpad software says my laptop is offline, and backups fail with an authentication error. Hours of Googling have failed to resolve this and I've had to give up and go back to backups on an external drive - because my laptop has Win7 Home Premium it won't backup to a network share.
Windows is great when it works but when it doesn't you shouldn't assume that having paid for the product that the support will be any better.
http://www.ebuyer.com/267548-microsoft-windows-home-server-2011-licence-and-media-1-server-ccq-00128
Also, where is Time Machine support in WHS?
Hopefully far FAR away. :|
Edited By: dezontk on Jun 10, 2012 07:44
True, although being adept at using linux isn't totally comparable. Also if anyone is genuinely interested there are video tutorials on pretty much everything these days. Linux isn't an alternate to Windows.... it's really needed for a lot of core things these days.. from web servers to the OS structure of choice for security experts.
WHS is a brilliant OS imho. As are things like the above mentioned FreeNAS.
They all serve their purpose.
Also could I share and store files from Mac and windows to a hard drive on this
Eg
Main os
Drive for movies
Drive for back up
Drive for files
Well it does have the advantage that its a far more secure platform and you dont have to worry about the 3500 security vulnerabilities in the average Linux distribution...
Although I would be tempted to wait for the Windows 2012 version that will include SMBv3 multistream, thin provisioning and deduplication in the OS...
Edited By: richto on Jun 10, 2012 11:24
Totally. Runs on a stock HP Microserver, is easy for non-technically minded people to setup, includes simple backup software for each of your Windows clients...
Oh wait, that's Windows Home Server, not freeNAS.
Typical user scared of shell, your loss...financially too. Ain't no Windows install can max out two Gbe channels on a stock Microserver, you have to not spend money to get that.
Also, where is Time Machine support in WHS?
That would perhaps be because there is only 1Gbe channel on a stock Microserver.
Actually Windows Server significantly outperforms Linux for SMB network data transfers on the same hardware:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=windows%20storage%20server%20benchmarks&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CH4QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flexense.com%2Fdocuments%2Fnas_performance_comparison.pdf&ei=SXjUT8SxOozJ8gPhwKWTAw&usg=AFQjCNHgkUwDKOdUxzkgh5C3nrQszyB-1g
Edited By: richto on Jun 10, 2012 11:39
Totally. Runs on a stock HP Microserver, is easy for non-technically minded people to setup, includes simple backup software for each of your Windows clients...
Oh wait, that's Windows Home Server, not freeNAS.
Typical user scared of shell, your loss...financially too. Ain't no Windows install can max out two Gbe channels on a stock Microserver, you have to not spend money to get that.
Also, where is Time Machine support in WHS?
That would perhaps be because there is only 1Gbe channel on a stock Microserver.
Actually Windows Server significantly outperforms Linux for SMB network data transfers on the same hardware:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=windows%20storage%20server%20benchmarks&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CH4QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flexense.com%2Fdocuments%2Fnas_performance_comparison.pdf&ei=SXjUT8SxOozJ8gPhwKWTAw&usg=AFQjCNHgkUwDKOdUxzkgh5C3nrQszyB-1g
Add an Intel dual Gbe card? Why would I state it can saturate two channels otherwise?
Where is the puny HP Microserver in that that article? Everything in context.
It's not really stock if you've added a new network controller, is it?
Anyway, the target market is home users - hence 'Windows Home Server' - and how many home users are likely to even come close to troubling the bandwidth of a single GBE channel, let alone two? No-one's claimed it's the ideal operating system for a large business, or even a serious enthusiast. I'm not trying to say it's ideal for a home user, I haven't played much with it yet but have already found some niggles, but that argument is just completely irrelevant for a home user.
Totally. Runs on a stock HP Microserver, is easy for non-technically minded people to setup, includes simple backup software for each of your Windows clients...
Oh wait, that's Windows Home Server, not freeNAS.
Typical user scared of shell, your loss...financially too. Ain't no Windows install can max out two Gbe channels on a stock Microserver, you have to not spend money to get that.
Also, where is Time Machine support in WHS?
That would perhaps be because there is only 1Gbe channel on a stock Microserver.
Actually Windows Server significantly outperforms Linux for SMB network data transfers on the same hardware:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=windows%20storage%20server%20benchmarks&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CH4QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flexense.com%2Fdocuments%2Fnas_performance_comparison.pdf&ei=SXjUT8SxOozJ8gPhwKWTAw&usg=AFQjCNHgkUwDKOdUxzkgh5C3nrQszyB-1g
Add an Intel dual Gbe card? Why would I state it can saturate two channels otherwise?
Where is the puny HP Microserver in that that article? Everything in context.
It's not really stock if you've added a new network controller, is it?
Anyway, the target market is home users - hence 'Windows Home Server' - and how many home users are likely to even come close to troubling the bandwidth of a single GBE channel, let alone two? No-one's claimed it's the ideal operating system for a large business, or even a serious enthusiast. I'm not trying to say it's ideal for a home user, I haven't played much with it yet but have already found some niggles, but that argument is just completely irrelevant for a home user.
How can you prove the machine can saturate two channels with one NIC? It's not difficult to hit the ceiling on one.
So for a home user only WHS is relevant? Wowzers, Microsoft is the king clearly! When they can come up with a storage system that is both useful, functional, checksumed and contains n-1 and n-2 redundancy built into the OS then maybe this will be a bargain.
StableBit Drivepool = $19.99 per server
Drive Bender = $40.00 (cannot be used in a commercial or business environment.$89.00 for that licence)
If the idea is to make a home server, why make it totally lacking part way though it's development?
"Drive Extender Cancellation
On 23 November 2010, Microsoft announced that Drive Extender would be removed from Windows Home Server 2011. This announcement has led to public outcry in the announcement's comments section. Criticism of Drive Extender's removal is mainly related to it being seen as a core feature of Windows Home Server and a key reason for adoption. As a replacement for Drive Extender, Microsoft states that OEMs will use RAID on their Windows Home Server products."
Still no AFP (TimeMachine for OS X, ability to stay permanently connected to your shares worldwide too) and the only answer to that is every other NAS OS around.
Maybe you should have read my post before replying to it?
"How can you prove the machine can saturate two channels with one NIC?" - I said the stock machine only has one GBE port, and if you add another ethernet controller it's no longer stock. Where you've got the idea I've said anything else I have no idea.
"So for a home user only WHS is relevant?" - No, the ability to saturate two GBE ports is irrelevant. Again, I have no idea where you got the idea I said anything else. That makes the rest of your reply even more of an attack against a straw man, but I'll draw your attention to another line in my previous post - "I'm not trying to say it's ideal for a home user".
Wowzers, Microsoft is the king clearly! When they can come up with a storage system that is both useful, functional, checksumed and contains n-1 and n-2 redundancy built into the OS then maybe this will be a bargain.
They already did:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2011/09/20/storage-and-continuous-availability-enhancements-in-windows-server-8.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2011/11/23/windows-8-platform-storage-part-1.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2011/11/28/windows-8-platform-storage-part-2.aspx
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/06/11/x-io-exceeds-15-gigabytes-throughput-demonstration-using-windows-server-2012-rc-and-singl
Still no AFP (TimeMachine for OS X )
Because OS-X has miniscule market share and no one cares. Especially Microsoft.
Edited By: richto on Jun 11, 2012 15:01