New operating system Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server lets you save data and transmit audiovisual files, make backups and connect remotely via the web. It is worth mentioning that it runs very well on older systems.

If you've ever scratched your old PC when you buy a new PC, this is the time to pull out your old PC. Microsoft's Windows Home Server (WHS) proved to be a very suitable operating system. The end result you get is to take advantage of many things, although sometimes it's so simple that it makes you angry.

WHS is Microsoft's first push to the consumer server product line, the 'heart' in the home network, where other PCs can access content. WHS is now available on hardware such as HP's MediaSmart Home Server (find.pcworld.com/59144) or you can buy it as a $ 180 software package from sites like Newegg, WHS for storage. and transfer audiovisual files, backup data to multiple PCs and remotely connect via the web. Moreover, Microsoft said additional features such as home recording and home automation are also being developed by third-party manufacturers.

Other computers on the home network can access server content and settings via the WHS console application

WHS requires an ethernet connection between the server and the network (Microsoft believes the wireless network is not very stable). Through testing, installing this pre-release operating system version takes about 2 hours; Only a few problems when setting up remote web access functions, maybe your router will not run well with the system. To connect the PC clients to the server, you install a simple console application on each client computer to be able to tweak the server settings.

That's it, you can download music, pictures and standard definition video to your computer via Wi-Fi wireless network easily. With 802.11g wireless, you may not be able to watch high-definition video because of bandwidth limitations. Try connecting to the client computer running Windows XP Pro and Xbox 360, everything works smoothly. Connect to 360 very well, allowing access to video files and enjoying videos on the HDTV screen.

WHS also lets you backup all the contents of each PC connected to the server hard drive, the program will compress into 1 file and update changes every day from the last backup. This backup feature is quite attractive, it shows that Microsoft has succeeded in simplifying the process that is often thought to be complicated. You can add more hard drives to the server and even have data replication functions (essentially RAID 1 data mapping function). But more in-depth settings for the aforementioned features are mostly inaccessible, or hidden under basic wizards and check boxes.

Simplification is great, but for those who prefer to have a device, they want to access and refine more functions. Perhaps Microsoft is thinking that every home will have a home server but not a normal PC user will know what to do with that system.