Shared Folders
Out of the box WHS creates a music, videos, pictures, public and software shared folders with an option available to stream the media folders to devices on your network using Windows Library Sharing.
The summary page shows the available folders, how big they are and their status:
For each folder you can set access permissions, as well as decide whether or not to duplicate the folder. If a folder is duplicated, then if WHS has 2 or more drives then it will store the folder on two or more drives, so that if one drive fails the folder will still be intact. As you can see above I have enabled duplication for my music folder (there is no way I could face ripping all my CDs again), photos folder and the personal folders of the users on my WHS.
Server Storage
The way that WHS handles storage is one of its strong points. If multiple drives are installed, WHS presents this to the user as one storage space rather than multiples, and it manages in the background where files are actually stored. Adding or removing drives is very simple, and can be controlled via the interface. If a new drive is purchased then WHS will format it for you and add its storage to the available space.
If you want to remove a drive and replace it with a bigger one, then WHS will move the files onto the remaining drives allowing you to slot in the bigger drive. For instance I currently have 3x750GB drives installed in my WHS, and I will shortly be adding a 500GB Western Digital drive. If in the future I need more space I will be able to quickly swap out the 500GB drive.
Although not quite RAID, WHS has some very amazing file transfer speeds which makes me suspect that files are stored and retrieved from multiple drives concurrently. Another reason that I suspect that this is happening is because when I added my 2nd and 3rd drives, WHS spent a fair amount of time ‘balancing storage’ i.e. sharing the files out amongst the drives.
Network Health
This tab shows the overall health of the home network and any PCs that are running Windows Vista, and uses a traffic light notification system. Notifications appear if server sapce is running low, if the server or individual PCs needs updating, if PC security isn’t adequate and if PCs have missed a backup.
Add-ins
One of the many great features of WHS are the add-ins developed by both Microsoft, 3rd parties and enthusiasts that add additional features to Windows Home Server. Already there are some great ones out there which add functionality like being able to stream files remotely (default is files are downloaded and played), Windows Mobile access tools, Amazon S3 online backup integration, Remote LAN wakeup and other system and info tools. Add-ins can be added and removed easily via the console, so the server itself doesn’t have to be ‘touched’.
Summary
Overall I’m stunned by how good Windows Home Server is. It does almost everything I could ever want it do to. The only feature that the service is missing in my view is an online backup option, so that files are available if the whole server dies, including any duplicate folders. I’m sure though that these will appear in the future and already I’ve discovered Jungle Disk that integrates with Amazon S3 and provides 100GB of storage for $15/mth for 100GB.
The beauty for me of WHS is the ease of use. It is so easy to configure that any household that has a spare PC lying around could set one up in under an hour, and be able to access all of its benefits within another 20 mins. If you need to manage more than 2 PCs, have a lot of shared files, want an easy to use RAS solution and a server that will grow with you, then you should definitely have a look at Windows Home Server.
