View topic - Windows Home Server FAQ online, beta could be imminent

pr0gram the pr0grammer

Windows Home Server beta 2 might be coming quite soon ... the official Microsoft forums for Windows Home Server are accessible (whether they are exactly open to the public or not I'm not sure). They have quite an interesting FAQ which reveals a few more pieces of information:

- The Windows Home Server connector software (that takes care of backup etc) runs on XP SP2 and Vista only, however you can still connect to the shares with anything that does SMB. This is a little disappointing, I was expecting Windows 2000 support, but its no biggie.

- You can join a Windows Home Server to a domain during setup, however after 24 hours the licensing system on it will realise you're on a domain, and lock the server. That makes sense, why would you want to run it on a domain anyway? You'd already have a server in that case ...

- You cannot at this time have dual NICs, because its designed so that you have it connected to a router which handles your internet sharing. Fair enough.

- Beta 2 will be a DVD image only

- Apparently, Beta 2 is already built. On the FAQ page about installing from a DVD, they have the CRC there for the Beta 2 release so I'd assume it's already built.

- You can use its backup system to backup 10 machines. That's not bad, considering if you want to you can back up more anyway by just copying to the SMB file share.

- Limited to 10 users, but if you're in a typical home who needs more than 10 users?

- Recommended requirements, 1GHz, 512mb of RAM, DVD-ROM and more than one HDD. USB2.0 if you're going to use external storage (obviously). Though it runs on a 550MHz P3 apparently. You will need a graphics card while you install it, however you won't need it after you've installed it. Onboard graphics will do just fine.

So, there's some interesting details. The forums are here:
https://forums.microsoft.com/windowshom ... ?siteid=50

I'm not sure if it's a great idea to jump in and start posting, considering I found this from an unofficial Windows Home Server blog, We Got Served.

longview · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:56 am

I may have to try this on my server, it seems Home Server would fit my needs perfectly, who knows, maybe this will stop me from switching to Linux/BSD on my storage server...

Does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade from XP or would I have to reinstall?

empireum · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:06 am

longview wrote:

I may have to try this on my server, it seems Home Server would fit my needs perfectly, who knows, maybe this will stop me from switching to Linux/BSD on my storage server...

Does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade from XP or would I have to reinstall?

Given the fact it's based on Server 2003 R2, this is very likely not going to work.

XDude · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:50 pm

so, who plans on using this product when it becomes avalible?
I just want an idea how popular it is.

___ · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:10 pm

i would if i had a server to run it on

expert01 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:15 am

Hey guys, home server beta 2 has been out since january 24th!

Admin comment: Please use the image uploader for images in the future.

Luckie · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:36 am

How do you got access to the Downloads?

expert01 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:47 am

I emailed them and got an invite (told ya I gave the idea to them, they must have felt like rewarding me). I'm downloading it now.

___ · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:46 am

lucky you!

Luckie · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:32 am

expert01 wrote:

I emailed them and got an invite (told ya I gave the idea to them, they must have felt like rewarding me). I'm downloading it now.

could you please upload it to andys ftp?

expert01 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:42 pm

It's going, but I don't want to give out a key. Should I attempt to hack it and upload that version as well?

XDude · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:34 pm

expert01 wrote:

It's going, but I don't want to give out a key. Should I attempt to hack it and upload that version as well?

you can install it without a key?

expert01 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:47 pm

No, but you can make it accept a fake one!

pr0gram the pr0grammer · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:26 pm

expert01 wrote:

I emailed them and got an invite

Who did you email?

dirtwarrior · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:53 pm

Recommended requirements, 1GHz, 512mb of RAM, DVD-ROM and more than one HDD. USB2.0 if you're going to use external storage (obviously). Though it runs on a 550MHz P3 apparently. You will need a graphics card while you install it, however you won't need it after you've installed it. Onboard graphics will do just fine.

Looks like its a lot more fat than xp or 2k3 server :shock:

___ · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:39 pm

expert01 wrote:

It's going, but I don't want to give out a key. Should I attempt to hack it and upload that version as well?

could be the first betaarchive release

empireum · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:29 pm

___ wrote:

expert01 wrote:

It's going, but I don't want to give out a key. Should I attempt to hack it and upload that version as well?

could be the first betaarchive release

Yeah, thought about that as well...

Vista Ultimate R2 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:38 pm

___ wrote:

expert01 wrote:

It's going, but I don't want to give out a key. Should I attempt to hack it and upload that version as well?

could be the first betaarchive release

Wouldn't that be a bit dangerous though? I mean, Microsoft would come sniffing round here if they found out about it (which they probably would)...

empireum · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:53 pm

Vista Ultimate R2 wrote:

___ wrote:

expert01 wrote:

It's going, but I don't want to give out a key. Should I attempt to hack it and upload that version as well?

could be the first betaarchive release

Wouldn't that be a bit dangerous though? I mean, Microsoft would come sniffing round here if they found out about it (which they probably would)...

Very good point indeed. Therefore, I'd rather restrict such a "BA release" thing to old betas as it was the case on OSBA...

Namronia · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:57 pm

is it based on 2003 or Vista? the design looks like vista, but i heard its based on 2003

empireum · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:59 pm

Namronia wrote:

is it based on 2003 or Vista? the design looks like vista, but i heard its based on 2003

2003 R2.

Vista Ultimate R2 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:10 am

I wonder why they've chosen to base it on an old product, rather than Longhorn Server?

Namronia · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:16 am

its cheaper then (i thnik)

empireum · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:18 am

Vista Ultimate R2 wrote:

I wonder why they've chosen to base it on an old product, rather than Longhorn Server?

Well, maybe they wanted to build this on something "not brand new and therefore proven in real use" or something like that, maybe because they are planning to release it before Longhorn Server or just to keep the system requirements down... Not really sure...

expert01 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:09 am

Namronia wrote:

is it based on 2003 or Vista? the design looks like vista, but i heard its based on 2003

It's based on Server 2003 but it uses the Vista WinPE (and I think possibly the boot loader and install program, though I haven't tried it yet).

empireum wrote:

Vista Ultimate R2 wrote:

I wonder why they've chosen to base it on an old product, rather than Longhorn Server?

Well, maybe they wanted to build this on something "not brand new and therefore proven in real use" or something like that, maybe because they are planning to release it before Longhorn Server or just to keep the system requirements down... Not really sure...

Products are shipping Q2 2007 with WHS installed, so I imagine they didn't want a buggy base.

Windows Home Server FAQ online, beta could be imminent

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