The Bloog

Last year I made one of the best moves ever as far as backing up goes. I built my own Windows Home Server system. With seven systems in the home, a mix of desktops and laptops, backing up was becoming a struggle and in some cases even completely ignored. I had external hard drives that I would use, ocasionally, to backup some files here and there, on one system or another.

Then, there was the issue of media sharing. There were shares on every computer and it had become quite a mess and just a big pain. That was before Windows Home Server.

Windows Home Server has made everything a joy. It has taken the pain out of backing up of all systems, automatically and daily, and brought the pleasure back to file sharing.

I built my own system simply because I had spare parts laying around and it seemed like a waste not to use to build a server. My only purchase was the operating system “Windows Home Server”. Had I not spare parts, I would have simply gotten an HP MediaSmart Server.

These devices are just beautiful. Unlike my homemade system, they don’t take up space and they’re not noisy. They’re way smaller than online pictures will let you believe. They’re only slightly bigger than the average external drive and look just gorgeous even on a desk. 

Now the real reason of this post, besides praising Windows Home Server the OS as well as the (HP) machine, is to bring up the fact that as of recently, Mac users will also be able to enjoy the benefits of Windows Home Server in a mixed PC and Mac environment. It has to be mixed, at least for now, because it seems you still need a PC to be able to administer the server; the administration console which allows you to setup user accounts, backups, share folders and a bunch of other cool things, will only run on a Windows OS.

For more information on Windows Home Server and how it fits in a mixed PC and Mac environment, read MediaSmartHome’s article:

Managing Your Digital Lifestyle With A Mixed Mac & PC Environment