Earlier this year, Microsoft announced its upcoming Windows Home Server product; a sort of beefed up NAS based on Windows Server 2003 SP2. A few days ago, Microsoft released the first release candidate for Windows Home Server, and since I was admitted into the beta program, I downloaded this release and transformed my trusty desktop x86 into a Home Server.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2006-03-12
Member since:2006-03-12
"I mean that I run into comparisons *made by others*."
So you can compare it then. I'm confused why you even mention it.
Although I am shocked it cannot do something as simple as record Video, to play on another machine.
Seriously though I'm not even sure what use this may have. Your article just says its a very expensive fire server from a hardware; software perspective offering no *server* software to do anything...why not buy a NAS device for cheaper. It must do something.
Member since:2005-07-06
You didn't read the article, did you, Segendendum? It says *right there* that you can stream audio, video, and graphical content.
I don't think you understand what streaming is, or what people mean by it. It isn't downloading files over a file sharing network, nor is it accessing something over a remote file share and CIFS, nor is it accessing something through a web interface either. That's so several years ago and so not interesting it isn't even funny. You don't need a Windows Server, or even a Linux one, to be able to do that. How long do you think I, and even people running peer-to-peer networks, have been doing that?
Hell, it's not even using things like Active Directory properly to make life easier for you, and giving you single sign-on on to your PC or any other device you own. Making sure that your PC and server passwords are the same so you have to do all the synchronising? Give me a break. I'll give you one guess why.
People want to stream audio and video in a meaningful way, and it's still quite a way from the functionality of something MythTV. Arguably, Microsoft's DRM commitments will stop them from really doing what people want. People want to rip their CDs and DVDs automatically to their server, bring up a meaningful menu on a client and watch any film they want without having to go and find the disc. They want it recording TV shows twenty to the dozen on that oh so brilliant storage so people can watch them whenever they want, and continue to watch them whenever they want (what was all that about linear storage again?)
Unless it does that then it's nothing more than a doorstop to just about everyone except people who think that spending money on a server that can't do proper RAID (pretty essential on a server that will never see a sys admin in the home), can't do automatic TV recording behind the scenes, doesn't have a means for ripping DVDs and their information for easy access is hip, cool and the latest thing.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Can it run a web server and stream audio and video so I can have my own youtube internet radio station with podcasts or is this 1997 technology?
I fear you're going to be out of luck there. Microsoft does not want this competing against other version of Windows Server and other Microsoft products, just as they don't with SBS.
If streaming does go in in some form in the future, expect it to be annoyingly restricted.