Windows Home Server: 60 Days Later
So it has been a couple months now since I got a Windows Home Server (WHS) and just thought I would post some thoughts on the experience so far. Though it may come off negative, I would rate the WHS a 8.5 out of 10 and have recommended WHS servers to several people.
- Overall it has been an enjoyable experience and the backup function beyond anything else is where the real value is at. Every day the home computers are backed-up and our media is now (more) centralized.
- I have played some with streaming media to the Xbox 360. The only part I am not happy with is that Windows Media Center (WMC) on the Xbox 360 can not connect directly to the WHS. This needs to be fixed and would really make the Xbox/WHS setup cool. On the PCs you can connect to WHS with Windows Media Center and it is an easy setup. I am not that big on WMC, but I really do like it.
- Remote Access was difficult to setup, but that is really due to the U-Verse modem/router. The U-Verse modem is a pain to deal with and I did solve the issue.
- I have put in a bunch of add-ins on the WHS. The only one I have some issues with is WHS tweets. I get a series of tweets every time a computer is turned on saying something like “there is no security software installed on the client”. This is because the WHS sees the client PC before McAfee is completely running. This has become an annoying email (actually about six) each time a PC is turned on. Last week my wife turned on and off here computer about 4 times. This lead to 20+ emails (have tweets forwarded to me) and I just about uninstalled WHS Tweets. I don’t know if this is a WHS thing or a WHS Tweets thing, but it is a little sensitive and should wait until a computer is on before firing off the message.
- My original plan was to have the WHS wake all the computers in the network for backup. This worked mostly fine on my PC, but the HP laptop would not go back into hibernate. This meant the laptop had been running since 2am. I have changed the backup plan to happen during the day. The only issue here is while the backup is preparing to run, it scans the hard drive for changes and can eat up a lot of system resources.
- The final issue I have is for my work laptop. Since it is not on the same network the WHS connector software can not see it. I have worked around this and can manually backup the drive, but I wish it was an automated experience like the home PCs.
There are some improvements I would love to see. Like being able to easily select what is backed-up on certain systems. My sisters laptop is a good example. I would like to be able to backup her documents (doc’s, pictures, downloads, video’s) over a remote/VPN connection. This would also be useful for a work computer to backup files. I would also like to see WMC improvements and something akin to SharePoint for WHS.
- Outside of those issues, WHS is a winner and just needs better marketing.
Related posts:
- Windows Home Server: The Reason to Own One
- Windows Home Server
- Windows Home Server (Part II)
- WHS (Part III): That was fast!
- Windows 7 Beta – Part 1
Can you explain how you got remote access to work with the uverse router. I’ve been messing with it for a week and cannot get the router configured with remote access.
Thanks!!! Charlie Greer
Charlie,
Check the post I made on getting the U-Verse router to work with my DLink router.
http://machinadei.com/blog/2009/09/10/whs-and-u-verse-remote-access/
The U-Verse router doesn’t support UPnP, so you need to have all requests sent to a router that will support UPnP. Then set that router to direct FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, Remote Desktop to the WHS.
My post covered that information with screen shots…
There were a couple posts on the U-Verse forums that got me part way, the WHS forums will tell you that it is a U-Verse issue…
Good luck
Stu admin
Stu,
Thanks! Excellent tutorial. Originally I clicked on the link in your WHS 60 days later blog and it gave me a 404 page error. I missed the link you posted at the bottom of your article. Charlie Greer
Charlie,
My bad… I moved to a Virtual Private Server a couple weeks ago. So some links will be messed up. I’ll fix that one.
Good to know that post helped some one out… Stu
Stu,
Sheeesh, I’m still ******** with this thing, lol. I followed your directions and everything seemed to go well. Put the router in DMZ mode ok, logged into the router (same as yours by the way) and entered the port settings and ip for my WHS. Still doesn’t work though.
Maybe my connections are screwed up. I have the outside line coming into the Uverse router, the router going to the D link, and a line from the D link to my WHS. Does that sound right to you?
Thanks for your time. Charlie Greer
Charlie,
I don’t know your level of network knowledge, so please take no offense if I am explaining it pretty basic. Make sure you have the cable connected between the U-Verse router (LAN) and it should go in to the DLink “WAN” connection. If you are connecting it to the LAN on the DLink it won’t work.
What you are doing is turning the U-Verse router into just a tunnel (no firewall) and using the DLink for the firewall and it has the direct connection to the internet. Stu
Stu,
No offense taken. Sometimes the simplest things are the things we miss. I went back in and double checked all of the settings and everything seems good. Router is in DmZ mode, port settings all point to my WHS ip.
A cable is conected from the Uverse router lan to the dlink wan. I then have a cable from the dlink lan to the WHS but still cannot connect. If I plug the WHS into the uverse modem I can login to the admin panel locally. When I plug into the Dlink, the WHS admin panel says no connection.
I can see and connect to the Dlink with my laptop (wireless) no problem. I can also still see and connect to the uverse router (wireless). Does the wireless mode on the router need to be disabled? . Charlie Greer
Charlie,
I think the U-Verse router has horrible wireless and prefer my DLink (more stable and secure). I would shut off the U-Verse routers wireless and test.
I do not use the U-Verse router at all (except to connect to one TV). All internet/LAN traffic /other TVs are handled by the DLink router.
Also, make sure you have set the IP for the WHS to never change (reserved). Stu