Not sure if this is the right place to post this, so mods please feel free to move this thread if need be. I've been thinking about getting a home server for 7 computers, a Tivo, and something that may be able to be compatible with lighting/AC controls once I upgrade them. I've heard decent things about Windows Home Sever, but HP is no longer supporting their products, so I'm not sure about them. I know Vail is probably going to get a release date soon, so I'm not sure if I should wait or not. There are some low priced systems on newegg, but most of them are HP, so again I'm not sure if their worth the risk. Anyone have experience in home servers, and good software for them? Thanks
I don't have home server anymore. But I used to use well qualified personal computer for home server. The only different that you have to have the operating systems, Microsoft Windows Server (Home Edition). If you know what you're doing, a home computer would do.
I've got a couple of servers at home. Both are surplus rack mount units; I use them for an experimental website, VPN access, and several file shares with remote backup. One is Windows Server 2003, the other 2008. I am actually considering replacing them both with a laptop running Ubuntu Server with an external hard drive and a virtual Windows server. Which will cut down considerably on the heat and noise. I don't have any experience with Windows Home Server specifically. If you want a Windows server but don't need Home Server, you can get academic versions of the commercial server OSes through DreamSpark (assuming you're not running a business with them).
For a turnkey experience, the HP servers have been good. I bought an HP LX195 (atom-based) server around 18 months ago and has done its trick but is a little underpowered. I upgraded a few months before HP dropped the line to a HP EX490 and then upgraded the CPU myself. It now has a ton more speed but is still thrifty from a power consumption standpoint. It streams both video and audio and also acts as a central fileserver. If you can pick up an EX490 for $350 or less it's a good buy. as imalcolm says, you can also set up a server and have it do the same thing yourself - good if you have leftover hardware. What the current version of Windows Home Server adds is the drive extender technology which makes it seamless to add capacity and handles replication without effort. Otherwise you would need some sort of RAID strategy for redundancy. Finally, with respect to Vail, not everyone is really hot on it due to MS dropping drive extender and relying on the OEM hardware providers to provide RAID.
