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:



Or view page by page, here.

Welcome to my Blog!

When I started building my mediacenter PC in 2003, I would have bet a dear thing that a PC in the living room would be common in many households very soon. Why bother with a separate dvd player, video recorder, a stack of hifi components and a zillion remote controls, when you can combine everything in neat single box? Why invest in a hard disk recorder or a home cinema set, only to find out 6 months later that it's not compatible with a newer media standard?

But these days, DVD players can be bought at prices lower than actual DVDs and they're versatile enough for most people. A mediacenter PC offers tons of features more, but is still a rarity in the living room. And to be honest, as yet I wouldn't recommend one to a less technically oriented friend. Let's face it, a mediacenter owner has to spend some time under the hood every once in a while.

Myself, I enjoy tweaking the setup, adding plugins and shopping around for parts. There's satisfaction in making my home theatre setup behave exactly the way I want, whereas a piece of consumer electronics strictly dictates how to operate it. I intend to keep you posted of my stumblings through mediacenter universe by posting my experiences on this Blog. Enjoy!