Windows Home Server

With a desktop PC and a Media Center PC in my house, I've been contemplating a means of central storing for a while. With a wide array of NAS devices, what's to choose? And why not a full server? With the availability of Windows Home Server since last year, the answer is easy: Let's build a server!

With a broadband network in the house, separating the data from the user interface makes sense! A separate device in the house for storage of music, video and pictures is the future. More and more media-extenders are hitting the market that plug network data directly into your audio and video equipment. Many consumer electronic devices even come with a media extender included.
With a dedicated device, all this media is available instantly anywhere in the house. Or, anywhere in the world, if the device is attached to internet.

All of this can be supported by an off the shelf NAS device. A full server is only required to support tv server functionality. The MediaPortal community has been developing tv server software for a while now, separating the tv cards from the mediacenter pc. This, and the fact the hundreds of GB of harddisk capacity are no longer needed in the mediacenter pc, offers new potential for the ultimate sleek and silent htpc.
WHS makes RAID-like protection of your essential data easy. Already I have double copies of my pictures and music collections on different hard drives, but synchronizing remains a pain in the butt.

With that in mind, we're looking for an energy efficient and affordable server solution, with slots and room for up to 4 tv cards.

Microsoft released a hilarious "children book" about Windows Home Server:



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