Cavalry 2TB (4x500GB) eSATA Disk Array RAID Kit w/RAID Controller - $800

[sweethip]

heh...I've got a LOT of old PC's laying around...but none current enough to have eSata! ;-)

If you wanted to save some money, id say just buy some 500GB HD now add them to one old PC, then wait a couple of months til windows home server is released...

[beelzerob]

Is Win home server going to be priced as just a normal software package? (heck, is there any such thing when it comes from MS??) Or is it some kind of Vista addon?

[jkmonroe]

Is Win home server going to be priced as just a normal software package? (heck, is there any such thing when it comes from MS??) Or is it some kind of Vista addon?

its likely going to be bundled with hardware specific for the task. i figure that sooner or later it will be released to the masses, but i dont figure that will be immediate.

WHS is a standalone OS based on win2k3 server.

[sweethip]

its likely going to be bundled with hardware specific for the task. i figure that sooner or later it will be released to the masses, but i dont figure that will be immediate.

NOT TRUE... Windows Home Server will be available as a separate OS...and it will also come pre-loaded on OEM PCs such as HP, DELL, etc..

During early beta, M$ was only going to release it with a new PC only..but alot has changed since the recent build

WHS is a great concept, for those of you who are not familiar with it, it will have no more driver letter's, every harddrive you add gets added to a "pool" and acts like one big drive..with the option to make a duplicate copy of your data + it will connect to all PCs on your network and back them up, as well as make a image of each PC...
it will come with a restore disk, so if one of your PCs die on your network all you have to do is load the restore disk connect to the server and it will pull down the last image, you will be backup in about 10min
Last thing, it will come with a domain name..you pick the name, go to that website..log in and from there you can see all your data, can download, upload..and the best is that you can remote connect to any PC thats on your network

Here is a Preview, to give you a idea on how it all works
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

Here is a update from the lastest build(CTP build)
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview2.asp

[jkmonroe]

NOT TRUE... Windows Home Server will be available as a separate OS...and it will also come pre-loaded on OEM PCs such as HP, DELL, etc..

while i agree that WHS has serious potential, i have to disagree about it being available as a separate OS.

according to MS:

Windows Home Server will be available through the retail channel within a wide range of new hardware products.

OEMs will set the final pricing for their products, depending on the storage capacity and additional capabilities. We'll have more information to share in the future.

maybe you know something i dont? if i had to venture another guess, i would say that it may be available to buy separately, but be in a similar fashion to XP Media Center 2005 which could only be purchased (originally) by also purchasing hardware.

either way, its a slick looking product. i have an old Beta copy that i installed but never got around to playing with and am curious to see how it will handle a multiple OS envorinment and if VMC will be allowed to record to it over the network.

[sweethip]

according to MS:

Windows Home Server will be available through the retail channel within a wide range of new hardware products.

OEMs will set the final pricing for their products, depending on the storage capacity and additional capabilities. We'll have more information to share in the future.

jk - thats old news;-) , M$ will make this OEM, meaning you can just buy Windows Home Server and use YOUR OWN hardware...

RC1 should be available in late June

[sic0048]

I had heard about Windows Home Server before, but hadn't gotten excited about it. Now I just finished reading Paul Thurrott's reviews that sweethip posted and I can say that I will definitely own this product in the future. Actually it makes me glad that I haven't rushed to build a CQC server yet, becuase I'll wait until I can get this software.

Automated backups, redundant file storage, easy share, remote access, etc all all things that are very appealing to me.

[beelzerob]

By the way, buy.com is now offering a 500GB external driver with USB2.0 and eSata connection for $105 after rebates. It also comes with a sata to esata connector, in case your motherboard has sata connections but not esata.