Re: WHS Windows Home Server

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2. Getting HOME server vs. "regular server 2003" ...
Would you know ... I would assume that the ISP charges for " a server" as opposed to PC ? My reason for asking is that I've been watching it since release and thinking "what can this do for users that Server2003 couldn't".


I've installed it just for the backup features. It is the best backup solution I've seen for a SOHO network. It can be installed on minimal hardware. I use a Duron CPU, 512 MB, and a couple of 500GB hard drives. Other than the hard drives the hardware was sitting in a junk pile in the basement waiting to go to the recycle depot. It has built in redundancy and is fully supported when doing bare metal restores. It even backs up my SBS server, although I recommend a second backup for this as it's not a supported solution for SBS. I also do a standard SBS backup to a USB drive once a week.

To answer your question. Server 2003 costs considerably more, especially when you add in the hardware costs to get the same level of file system redundancy. Server 2003 does not have the same backup capabilities without adding 3rd party software or doing some very advanced scripting with NTBackup. The only backup solutions I've tried that even come close to the same ease of use are Acronis and Shadowprotect which are both ~$1,000.00 to get the same capabilities for a SBS server and nine clients. Even though it's called Home Server I'm recommending it for my SOHO/SMB customers as a backup solution. I can install a decent backup solution for less than the cost of the software alone with a Server 2003 solution. All the other features are just a bonus for me.

--
Kerry Brown
MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience: Systems Administration
http://www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2/



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