Home Server

I hope its not too off topic.

Has anyone used Windows Home Server? Is it usable as NAS, backup and printserver solution for a small network with 3 notebooks?

 

i use it, i love it. it's usable for exactly that and much more, and it's much better at that than an ordinary nas.

download and try it on an older machine to get a feeling for it. demo runs for 30 days or so? or 60?

 

Is a 54Mbit WLAN connection enough for it, or does it need 100Mbit ethernet?

 

it will work, and the it will be slower. it depends on your needs. i switched to gigabit ethernet now to have backup in a matter of minutes at most. and quick data access to hd material. but it works great over wlan of course, too. (and backups are quick, after the initial backup anyways)

 

I have it. it is great. it specifically states that it will not work with a wireless connection on the box. however, you can hack it but ideally it should have 100mb connection minimum. it is a great nas, print server, and backup solution as well as remote access to your files.

 

How come it doesn't want to work with a wireless connection? That seems a little odd (although, now that I think of it, I suppose it could be security-related, if I give MS the benefit of the doubt).

 

It's not security related. MS decided that wireless would not be something offered for WHS. Remember that WHS was designed to be deployed on a headless device - without a keyboard and monitor, it would be very difficult to configure WHS to work on an existing wireless network for the target audience. Is it possible - sure, since it's been done, but it's something that I wouldn't want to bother with.

WHS works when connected to a wireless router via ethernet, it just doesn't support throwing a wifi card into the server and trying to run a wireless server.

 

It does if you hack it, but not out of the box. I found this out after i rerouted my houses wireing haha.

 

Too much work for me. It was easier to put the box next to the router in the hall closet. Now that I have an 8 port switch connected to my router (all of it in a media closet in the garage) and LAN going to each room, my custom WHS is in my bedroom closet. Even with pulling LAN cables in-wall, I bet it took longer for you to get the hack working!!

 

No, i rerouted my home network to accommodate it before i knew about the hack. Regardless, 100mb/s is too slow. Im thinking about upping to a gigabit switch.

 

Nizzy: Im running a gigabit system on my mss, doing a 20 gig backup on my desktop takes a matter of minutes on the hard wire, you will love going to a gigabit switch, even moving large files on N at 5Ghz is fast, all my notebooks are backed up wirelessly.

 

Does your switch support jumbo frames? I the ones i see that do cost about 50 dollars. Plus only my desktop and server and xbox are on wired the other 6 computers are on wireless. I dunno if its worth it for me.

 

I have the D-Link DGS-2208, which you can grab for $36.20 from Newegg (after a $10 mail in rebate). It supports jumbo frames.

I don't see a reason for you to upgrade - you can't swap the Xbox NIC for a gigabyte NIC. Unless you do a lot of file transfers on the desktop and you think it's worth investing in a new gigabyte NIC, gigabyte switch, and a gigabyte router, I would instead upgrade the wifi cards to 802.11n and invest in an 802.11n router.

 

Nizzy: Yes my switch supports up to 9k jumbo frames.
Im doing some backups and transfers today, Ill post files sizes and times, maybe Ill star a new thread with this so more people might take a look at my results.

 

Im thinking about turning my HTPC into a home server. The problem is I have like 3TB of stuff on my desktop so I need atleast that much in the server lol... I have a gigabit router I think but according to the led on the back of my pc its only going at 100mb.

 

A gigabit switch is a must have for WHS in my opinion. I was doing some file transferring and 100 mbit is just too slow if you have a lot to push. I got a DLINK and it works great.

 

I have a custom built WHS and I really like it. Right now I only have a single 1.5TB drive in it but will be adding another for file duplication shortly. It is dead simple to use and very user friendly. The home console software make server management a breeze. The best feature IMHO is the ability to mix and match disk sizes. No other server software has this, they need to be identical in size(at least in pairs) The only other nas software I would recommend is freenas. It is also very easy to use and has a small footprint, heck it can be run off of a flash drive.