Microsoft releases public preview of Windows Home Server 2.0

David Flynn
29 April 2010, 4:00 AM


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Now available for download, Microsoft’s second-edition home server OS moves to a 64-bit platform and sports remote media streaming over the Web plus a streamlined UI.


Microsoft’s follow-up to Windows Home Server, codenamed Vail, has gone public, albeit in a preview edition.
The company has posted the first public beta of Windows Home Server 2.0 (or Windows Home Server v2, take your pick) on its Microsoft Connect site.

Key features in Vail include the ability to stream music and video files from your server’s media library over the Web to users logged into the server’s remote access page; an improved UI for both initial setup and ongoing operation and maintenance; and enhanced  backup and restore of PCs on the home network.



Vail represents several advances from the original Windows Home Server, which is now almost three years old. The codebase is derived from Windows Server 2008 R2, compared to the first-gen’s Windows Server 2003 foundation, and Microsoft will be releasing Vail only as a 64-bit OS requiring at least a 1.4GHz processor.

Indications are that WHS v2 will also be available to OEMs and through the channel intwo editions – Standard and Premium – although Microsoft has been mum on that subject and there’s no indication of how the builds may differ.

Microsoft is also said to be positioning WHS v2 as much for the small office as for homes (and home-based offices). The beta download also include Vail’s new new SDK for developers to create add-ins, with the rumour of a WHS app store (we kid you not!) where admins can browse and buy additional server software.



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straker135 (User):

Perhaps the Premium version will have Exchange compatability? I will be trying it out on a box made of spares this weekend. A quick build and install can be fun... The 1.3 version seems to work well (the file corruption bug that affected some users wsa addressed in 1.1) for what it is and with the correct add-in a user already can already do streaming media. A Linux server build however is still an unbeatable price.

29 April 2010, 5:29 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

vail
–verb (used with object)
1. to let sink; lower.
2. Archaic . to take off or doff (one's hat), as in respect or submission.


Hmmm....

29 April 2010, 10:23 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

deusexmachina (New user):

I'm still confused as to who this is targeted at...I work in IT and it scares the hell out of me, does Windows 7 have a built in backup routine like Time Machine that would make all of this easier?

With 1TB drives costing about $100 these days, buying a whole server setup seems like complete overkill for the home environment...

29 April 2010, 11:13 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Considering Windows Home Server is little more than a power-hungry NAS, it also confuses me. The only people I've heard say it's got a purpose are the same people who would jump at the chance to have an enema if it had Microsoft's name on it.

29 April 2010, 11:25 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

JTB (New user):

I went looking for a power efficient NAS... and once I discovered how much more I could do with WHS, there was really no comparison. My 50-watt WHS + SageTV box has replaced a file server and two TiVos that used a total of 200+ watts; it has 10x the total storage they did with room for even more; it does automatic bare-metal backups of every PC in the house; and I can now access a common library of recorded HDTV, archived DVDs, music, photos, internet TV, podcasts, and so much more from any PC or TV in the house. Yes, a NAS will do -some- of that, and when I first started researching I figured WHS was just a "Microsoft NAS." It's not.

08 May 2010, 7:49 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Quoting JTB:
it has 10x the total storage they did with room for even more


Congratulations on pointing out an advance in HDD size as a non-feature. This point would apply to any storage upgrade.


Quoting JTB:
it does automatic bare-metal backups of every PC in the house


Windows 7 can do this onto any storage out of the box. Vista and XP can also be made into WIM images, though I'm not sure if there's a graphical front end for setting it up.


Quoting JTB:
and I can now access a common library of recorded HDTV, archived DVDs, music, photos, internet TV, podcasts, and so much more from any PC or TV in the house


And there's another non-point. What can a NAS do? Oh, yes... It can share files.


Windows Home Server is a bloated NAS with some client end software bundled to make you think it's doing something special. It does have the ability to do more than the average NAS, but it doesn't because no one has bothered making it.

08 May 2010, 9:53 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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