A few months ago I wrote about Windows Home Server and how wonderful it was, at least from the demo and other information I received. In the past 2 weeks I have been able to actually take one home and I don't think it will be leaving any time soon.If you run a small business, have a family with numerous computers, or both, or have a large collection of documents, pictures, music or other files, Windows Home Server is a very solid solution, for you or your customers. With daily backups of all the 6 computers on our home network I don't have to worry about anyone losing homework or family memories. If someone accidentally deletes a document, it is retrieved in seconds.
The other important feature is that all the users on the server can get to their documents remotely from any internet connected computer with a browser. You can even access running PC's on the network via remote desktop in case you need to find something on a particular machine. So your son can create a word document on his computer, save it on a shared folder, and continue working on it in the school library without having to carry a copy of it with him.
If you want, Microsoft also gives away a free domain name like http://myserver.homeserver.com/ which you can use to either log in and access your documents or computers but, more importantly, if you have family and friends all over the world, like we do, within 30 seconds you can have pictures or music online by creating a web site for it. Updating is a breeze, you just drop and drag your pictures or any other documents into shared folders on the server and you're web site is updated.
The system has a lot more features and with add-ins you can give the server even more functionality. The other nice feature is that, once it has been installed, it can run "head-less", without monitor, keyboard or mouse, so it can be put somewhere in a corner or closet.
Don't think for a moment that you need a high powered machine either. It runs fine on a P4 machine with 2GB of memory as long as you have plenty of storage space, either internal or external via USB.
I would like to suggest trying this yourself to see if this something for you or your customers. Microsoft has made it very easy; they'll even send you the 120-day evaluation software for free by filling out a form here.
Your storefront carries a few servers, from HP and Systemax and the software itself but we'll probably see some more manufacturers coming out with these servers as the interest seems to grow. Just search for Windows Home Server in the storefront to bring up a list of available products.
