David Flynn12 October 2007, 1:51 AM
Want to load Microsoft's new Windows Home Server OS on a home-built server box or your old desktop PC? It'll cost you around $200, and maybe $9 for a mouse.
While Microsoft's hardware partners including HP, Gateway, Iomega and LaCie prep their bespoke home server systems running WHS 1.0 as off-the-shelf solutions for consumers, the OS itself has made its way into the ‘system builder' channel as an OEM edition.
And although OEM versions are meant to be sold as part of a system, apcmag.com had no trouble lining up a copy of the software on its own.
A quick search on price comparison site StaticIce revealed 22 stores selling the OEM edition Windows Home Server, with prices ranging from a bargain basement $203 at NSW e-tailer PC Meal up to $269 at Victoria's Computer and Components Warehouse.
That $66 gap is proof that anyone wanting to roll their own server should shop around. Another reason is that you'll need to check if the store will sell you Windows Home Server outright or if it has to be part of a hardware bundle.
 Self service: Australian 'channel' stores are selling the allegedly OEM-only Windows Home Server on its own for just over $200 |
When apcmag.com placed an anonymous Joe Average call to PC Meal we were told that we'd have to buy a complete server system, despite the product being listed on its own for
$203.50 without the usual OEM edition caveats (not even in fine print). We were also able to click through the online order process for Windows Home Server without a $1,000 server suddenly appearing on the order.
 Aopen mouse: the $9 entry ticket to buying an OEM copy of Windows Home Server. |
By comparison,
Skycomp listed WHS for
$206 (allegedly discounted from an rrp of $340, which is odd as Windows Home Server isn't a retail product) but the salesman advised that we'd need to order "one small item of hardware" along with it. He suggested it could be a floppy drive, a mouse or even a USB memory key. The cheapest candidate on Skycomp's site was an
Aopen mouse for $9, so we figured that a copy of Microsoft's widely-applauded Windows Home Server OS for $215, with a side-serving of mouse, was a pretty good deal.
But Penta Computers offered up WHS for $212 without the need to buy any extras, a straight-up deal we confirmed in a phone call to the inner-Sydney store.
The ready availability of Windows Home Server is certain to bring a smile to enthusiasts wanting to set up their own server, either by upgrading an old desktop (it runs quite fine on a 1GHz processor with 512MB of RAM) or rolling a custom-built server inside a miniature case stacked up with several fast fat hard drives. (The boffins also suggest a quiet power supply and large slow-turning fans to keep the air moving without sounding like a wind tunnel).
Microsoft may also turn a blind eye to blatant OEM sales of Windows Home Server. The company is certainly aware of enthusiasts' desire to try the OS on their home-brew systems, as it originally intended for the software to be available only to brand-name hardware partners. The decision to distribute WHS through the channel (but not the mainstream retail market) was a deliberate step to putting the software ‘out there'.
As has happened in the past, from the days of Windows 95 OSR2.1 (the first edition of Windows to support USB devices, but one that wasn't sold directly to end-users or made available as an update) through to the Media Centre Edition of Windows XP, these smaller dealers have supplied hobbyists and tech-heads with an OEM-only OS, usually but not always accompanied by hardware ranging from motherboards or hard drives through to, yes, a humble mouse mouse.
Indeed a few short months ago apcmag.com raised this issue with Joel Sider, Senior Program Manager for Windows Home Server. When apcmag.com asked "Will users be able to buy a single hardware component (like a hard drive or case) and get the Windows Home Server on disc, as was the case with OEM editions of Windows XP?", Sider replied a coy smile, "The scenario you outline is possible and could very well happen."
In fact, it looks like it's happened without any cumbersome hardware getting in the way of the deal. After all, who needs yet another third-rate mouse when all you want is Windows Home Server?