[gluteus maximus]

From The Register

Microsoft has slashed the OEM price of its Windows Home Server software by 30 per cent.

The firm said on Friday that the channel would get more “value” out of the system builder version, the pricing for which changed on 1 November.

Of course, many will wonder – in these head-in-the-cloud days – why such a product is desirable or even relevant to consumers. Perhaps Microsoft has been pondering the same thing, hence the price fall. The software had previously retailed from a starting price of around $150 per system builder copy.

Read more here: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/200...price_slashed/

Perhaps surprisingly, the little-known Windows Home Server has some very attractive features for people with home networks.

gm

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

From The Register



Read more here: Microsoft slings Windows Home Server in OEM bargain bin ? Channel Register

Perhaps surprisingly, the little-known Windows Home Server has some very attractive features for people with home networks.

gm

Hi GM,

Good news if you want to put together a media server - it's supposed to be quite a good OS from what I have read.

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Ashleyj

Hi GM,

Good news if you want to put together a media server - it's supposed to be quite a good OS from what I have read.

Hi Ashleyj, I haven't taken a lot of interest in it myself to be honest, but a friend who knows about these things and has tested it, raves about the network backups. It doesn't just back up your files, it actually images the disks of the other machines on the network, so in the event of a disk failure, you can one-click restore the whole machine to a new blank disk. Incremental backups are fast because it only backs up disk sectors which have changed. And it saves space by only keeping one copy of a file if you have duplicates on different machines. It also has a cut-down version of IIS so you can have your own home web site. I had thought of trying it myself; this price cut means I probably will.

But I know nothing about its media serving abilities - do you know anything about that side of it?

gm

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Hi Ashleyj, I haven't taken a lot of interest in it myself to be honest, but a friend who knows about these things and has tested it, raves about the network backups. It doesn't just back up your files, it actually images the disks of the other machines on the network, so in the event of a disk failure, you can one-click restore the whole machine to a new blank disk. Incremental backups are fast because it only backs up disk sectors which have changed. And it saves space by only keeping one copy of a file if you have duplicates on different machines. It also has a cut-down version of IIS so you can have your own home web site. I had thought of trying it myself; this price cut means I probably will.

But I know nothing about its media serving abilities - do you know anything about that side of it?

gm

Unfortunately no, only what I have seen in the PC press where someone was writing about using it for media - can't think were I read it now.

I must admit from what you say it does sound good, but probably a bit beyond my needs but I would like to hear about your experience if you go for it.