Getting started with Windows Home Server

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paul151

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#26385 21-Sep-2008 00:06

Hi team,

I have this exciting bit of software and am in the process of planning to build a box to run this on.

I'm thinking a lower spec intel dual core on a mobo with 4 x sata and a tower with a 400w psu

Reading a thread on homeserverhacks.com I see a push to up the mem to 2 gig away from the reccomended 512mb - has anyone here done this in a box they have built and noticed any worth in doing so?

Also do you think a 400w psu is the way to go or could I get away with a 350w model, my plan is to have 2-4 sata internal drives and perhaps (if need be) expand out to 1-3 external drives via usb

Regarding the cpu, would a Celeron spec'd system work ok, or does it need to be pent4 or dual core ?

I'm excited about this os and looking forward to the remote login, mirrored folders, media sharing opportunites it affords.

I can't understand why there are not more posts on the homeserverhacks site about building your own box... this site seems fixated on the HP box and the oragami you have to perform to mod it :-)

I'll keep you posted on my progress and thanks for any feedback, advice you have for me..

Cheers, Paul.

paul151

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#169692 7-Oct-2008 21:06

paul151: I'll keep you posted on my progress and thanks for any feedback, advice you have for me.

Hi,

Well I built this a week or so ago and set it up with a lower end dual core intel chip, 2 gig mem, 2 x 500g hdd, 1x320g hdd and into a case running extra cooling fans and a 400w psu.

The install ran smoothly in the main and I have now configured 4 pc's on my home network for nightly backups and have enabled remote access.

Remote access works ok but at this stage is somewhat limited by the telecom plan I am on which limits my upload speed to around 160kbps. I did get a letter from telecom saying they were going to up my monthly gig limit and drop the upload speed cap in the next short while so I hope this will improve things.

I have also installed an add on pack that allows me to view the RA logs.

So overall we're off to a good start and now looking for extra things I can do with my whs.

Cheers, Paul

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Nety

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#169708 7-Oct-2008 21:46

Not sure if it would be something you would like but the number one plugin for me is Lightsout

http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk/index.php?s=98a2c29ccfa6d5e7a0977e6d3b6341c8&showforum=89

It allows you to set the home server to sleep when no one is using it but wake up when anybody starts a home server connected PC as well as waking up for backups. If you want it to stay awake between certain hours (for remote access or whatever) you can set the hours that it is allowed to sleep as well.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

paul151

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#170013 8-Oct-2008 22:33

Nety: Not sure if it would be something you would like but the number one plugin for me is Lightsout

Thanks for this

I will certainly check it out. I'm also interested in what I can add on to enable additional media center functionality.

freitasm

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#170016 8-Oct-2008 22:47

I am running Windows Home Server on an old P4 HT 3GHz, 3GB RAM and 2.5 TB disc total. Not much for media center - you can share your content for streaming, but it won't be seen by Windows Media Center. I just use it as storage and have the media center machine using the mapped drives.

On this WHS I have a drive just for virtual HD - I run a few virtual machines using Microsoft Virtual Server - and still have 400 KBytes free when all those are running (a couple of small Windows XP virtual machines plus a bigger Windows Server virtual machine with my Exchange server).

The big thing is coming now from MyMovies... The same folks who created MyMovies for Media Center are doing a beta of MyMovies WHS. All the functionality, database, DVD backup is on the server - very cool.

paul151

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#172346 20-Oct-2008 19:54

paul151:
Nety: Not sure if it would be something you would like but the number one plugin for me is Lightsout

Thanks for this

I will certainly check it out. I'm also interested in what I can add on to enable additional media center functionality.

I've installed this and like it but I did need to play around with my network adapter to get the WOL working correctly.

The only downsides are if my server is sleeping I can't get access to it via my remote access url.

The other pain is if my 'monitored' pc's are sleeping then my xbox360 will lose contact with WHS after it also puts itself to sleep - while I'm still streaming music etc from it!

Cheers, Paul.

paul151

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#172350 20-Oct-2008 20:03

freitasm: I am running Windows Home Server on an old P4 HT 3GHz, 3GB RAM and 2.5 TB disc total. Not much for media center - you can share your content for streaming, but it won't be seen by Windows Media Center. I just use it as storage and have the media center machine using the mapped drives.

On this WHS I have a drive just for virtual HD - I run a few virtual machines using Microsoft Virtual Server - and still have 400 KBytes free when all those are running (a couple of small Windows XP virtual machines plus a bigger Windows Server virtual machine with my Exchange server).

The big thing is coming now from MyMovies... The same folks who created MyMovies for Media Center are doing a beta of MyMovies WHS. All the functionality, database, DVD backup is on the server - very cool.

Hi there,

Agree with your media center comments - I was disappointed about this after using the xbox360 then getting MCE working. It can be done with the Guest account on but even then most of the videos that will play with the codecs now open on the xbox will not play with the very limited codecs on MCE :-(

I would be interested to know more about running virtual machines / virtual server as I have not done anything like that before but it looks like it could be a lot of fun.

MyMovies looks cool but seems to require a few extra plugins for it to be a 'complete package' - are you using the beta for whs?

I may download this and have a go. :-)

paul151

309 posts

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#173204 23-Oct-2008 22:00

freitasm:

The big thing is coming now from MyMovies... The same folks who created MyMovies for Media Center are doing a beta of MyMovies WHS. All the functionality, database, DVD backup is on the server - very cool.

Looks like I need Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86) installed to run the client on my vista box.

MS download site says this package is not for Vista but lists a C++ 2008 do I use this or have you installed 2005 redist on your vista box?