Now a few of you out there, even self professed tech heads may be wondering what WHS is; I for one a few months ago did not know what it was. Well to cut a long story short after a lot of googling and installing in virtual pc software, I now understand/know what WHS is.
Bassically it is server software that has been not watered down but simplified and streamlined for the home market. So to this end it backs up all the computers that are connected to it (up to a maximum of 10) allows streaming of media and is compatible with the xbox 360 with its media extender, it also alows for shared storage space and individual log-ons so that files can be shared on the server but only one or a select group of people can access the files. Lastly files can be down and uploaded from anywhere in the world via the wonders of the internet, provided its turned on of course. (I say lastly but of course it has many other features, just there the main ones)
The main draw of building one of these as i imagine it is for most people is the backup fuction, as not only is it a pain in the preverbial backside reinstalling an OS and doing all the things that come with that. But many files simply cannot be replaced. Also even if you don't want a complete image backup of your computer like the server does (more on that later) I for example have 500GB of media files on my computer that i would like a second copy of for safe keeping and for streaming, so this is a big plus.
So sounds like a good idea? I thought so, which is why im building me a server. There are for the less technically minded and richer people amongst us prebuilt options, the most mainstream at the moment being the HP mediasmart. However i ordered parts for my server so i could put them together myself, (this method will save you hundreds of pounds-just a heads up)
Here's what i bought from http://www.ebuyer.com
- MSI G31M3-F iG31 Socket 775 onboard graphics 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard
- Intel Celeron Dual Core E1400 2GHz (800MHz) Socket 775 512KB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
- Extra Value 2GB DDR2 667MHz Value Memory Non ECC Unbuffered
- Coolermaster 460W eXtreme Power Plus PSU - 20+4pin 4+4 ATX12v 4x SATA 6pin PCI-E
- Hitachi DeskStar 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM (I bought 2 of these)
- LiteOn 20x DVD±RW Dual Layer & Ram SATA Black Bare Drive - OEM
- Casecom KB-7760 Black ATX Midi Tower Case - No PSU, No Case Fans Included
Now all of this plus a few SATA cables i bought off ebay came to around £303 which is in my opinion very good value for money, try getting that in a shop- i double dare you.
This spec is above and beyond what is recomened to run WHS (1GHZ P3 or equivilant, 512mb Ram 80GB HDD) you might wonder as to why i bought such 'high' specced parts, well i wanted it to be future proofed-at least for a bit. I guesstimated that it would run Vista quite well so anything else should be a simple.
Right well these parts haven't actually arrived yet, but when they do and it's assembled, i shall finish this post and let you know the outcome.
-GingerFox
No comments:
Post a Comment