Microsoft Windows Home Server System Builder with URP1 (OLD VERSION)

by Microsoft

Product Features

• Easier remote access, View thumbnails of your photos when accessing them remotely
• Drag and drop multiple files to upload from Internet Explorer 6 and 7,Allow remote access to only specific folders depending on the user.
• Compatible with home computers running Windows Vista 64-bit editions,Back up and restore shared folders to an external hard drive,
• Automatically wake home computers from standby for energy efficient backups.
• Processor power management is enabled using the Server Balanced Process Power and Performance power scheme as the default setting
• And adds new features to improve how you protect, connect and share your files and digital content
• Can easily back up, access, share, and store all your family's digital media
• Can experience just got easier, faster, and more reliable
• Improved file transfer performance when using multiple hard drives, Health monitoring of all files stored in shared folders
• It combines all previous updates, fixes known issues, and adds new features to improve how you protect, connect and share your files and digital content
• It combines all previous updates, fixes known issues..

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B001E5Q8CO
• Item model number: CCQ-00061
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 23, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,142 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #13 in Software > Operating Systems > Microsoft Windows > Windows Vista

Product Description

Microsoft Windows Home Server System Builder with URP1 (OLD VERSION) features Easier remote access, View thumbnails of your photos when accessing them remotely. Drag and drop multiple files to upload from Internet Explorer 6 and 7,Allow remote access to only specific folders depending on the user. Compatible with home computers running Windows Vista 64-bit editions,Back up and restore shared folders to an external hard drive. Automatically wake home computers from standby for energy efficient backups. Processor power management is enabled using the Server Balanced Process Power and Performance power scheme as the default setting.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the most recent version of Windows Home Server (WHS), February 3, 2009

By 

Speednet - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Windows Home Server System Builder with URP1 (OLD VERSION) (DVD-ROM)

At the time I'm writing this, Amazon has two versions of WHS listed: this one with a plain white graphic, and another more expensive one with a blue graphic. THIS is the more recent version, despite its lower price.

Microsoft hit a home run with Windows Home Server (WHS). It is one of the first times I've seen a sophisticated software product that is perfect for regular non-techie consumers. It is easy to use, but does not assume the user is a moron. It does this by placing just the right warnings at the right times. Obviously, it's been user-tested a LOT.

Under the covers is is built on Windows Server 2003 SP2. That is an excellent choice, because it is a very mature operating system, and is in use in millions of computer servers around the world. In fact, one of the things I was surprised about when first booting up the software is that you really do have access to the regular Windows desktop, including Start menu and many of the normal programs and features you would expect to see.

So for me, as someone who is very comfortable working with servers, I was very happy to see that although the product does not NEED any kind of tweaking, I had full access to be able to make subtle adjustments that I wanted. For example, I was able to adjust the encryption level on remote desktop sessions to "High" (from the default Normal) in the Administrative Tools > Terminal Services Configuration application. What a great thing that Microsoft did not "dumb down" the product and restrict access for those who know what they're doing.

One of the first things you should do with any new OS install is to run Windows Update, so that it gets patched with all the latest updates from Microsoft. This install is no different, and there were in fact many updates to install (53 or 54 in total). So before playing with your new server, first run Windows Update from the Start > All Programs menu, select the "Custom" option, and check all the boxes to install everything.

Then, after you install the updates (which includes the upgrade from IE6 to IE7) and the computer reboots, run Windows Update again. Typically, in an update that large there are updates that don't install because of some dependencies, and there will be additional updates to the updates you just installed. This is common. Every time Windows Update finishes, immediately run it again -- until you see "0" (zero) next to every category on the left. Also, don't use "Express", keep using "Custom" (contrary to the "recommended" tag next to Express).

Another thing you may want to do is get rid of the Logon Warning that appears every time you log in to the server's desktop (either remotely or on the computer itself). You can do that simply by deleting "Logon Warning" from the All Programs > Startup folder in the Start menu. It is a simple HTML file, so deleting it does not do any harm.

I am really happy with this home server product from Microsoft, and I highly recommend it for any household that has more than one computer.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful, and pretty good for a "first release" product, December 14, 2009

By 

J. Peterson (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Windows Home Server System Builder with URP1 (OLD VERSION) (DVD-ROM)

Like most other reviewers, I agree that Windows Home Server (WHS) is a pretty good product, and I recommend it as a good solution for backup and file sharing in a home environment. Having said that, the product strikes me as a "first release" that was put together at relatively low cost by Microsoft and thus suffers from a few limitations.

Like many others these days, I have a small home network of computers owned by several family members who have typical needs such as:
- File sharing: have a central "library" for pictures, videos, downloads, etc. that can be shared by all users, and that is kept secure (protected from hard disk failure and from inadvertent damage by users).
- Backup: regularly and reliably back up the hard disks of each computer to a different hard drive.
- Print sharing: provide common access to several different printers.

To do this, I put together a low-cost, low-power "mini-server" that I built using Intel's Atom 330 processor on a mini-ITX board in a small form factor case with 2 WDC 1-TB "green" drives - a setup that is very quiet and draws less than 40 watts of power so it can be left on all the time. I have tried running Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu Linux on it to do the items listed above, but didn't find either to be completely satisfactory.

Then I discovered WHS, so downloaded and tried the free 120-day evaluation copy. My experience with that was worth the cost of purchasing WHS, so I did. However, WHS does have a few limitations and quirks that potential buyers should be aware of:

* Microsoft did a pretty good job of covering up the complications of the product's Windows Server 2003 underpinnings through the use of a remote WHS Console for connected machines, but this is incomplete and you still need to access the WHS machine directly via a directly-attached monitor/kbd/mouse or via RDP, even though you are presented with a screen in WHS that warns you against this. But for certain tasks such as applying fixes you still need to access the machine directly.

* It is specifically not intended by MS to be a print server - a very disappointing omission, because that is one the normal "shared" missions of a server. I suspect MS omitted this because installing printers is not something they could easily fit into the WHS Console. You can configure shared printers on WHS as you would in Windows Server 2003 - and I did - but one of my printers just wouldn't install for some reason. This whole area needs more work.

* As many others have pointed out, you can't easily upgrade from the eval version to the product version without doing a reinstall and re-registering users. Fortunately your data is preserved.

* I *strongly* recommend using multiple hard disks in your WHS machine to take advantage of the very nice "duplication" feature that MS has built in that replicates a copy of the precious data you have stored on WHS. Much easier than trying to do this via RAID.

* Another badly-needed missing feature is some type of mechanism that provides more control over what individual users can do to shared data. WHS only provides primitive controls such as granting read or write permissions, but this is not enough. For example, I want other family members to be able to add their photos to the shared photo library but not to be able to delete items, e.g. a "contribute" level of access to prevent a user from inadvertently destroying shared items. (I often use Microsoft's free SyncToy to do this.)

* The fact that there has only been one release of WHS (albeit updated with 3 service packs), that it still runs on a fairly old base system (Windows Server 2003), and that MS has not actively promoted the product does create some concern that it was only a trial balloon by MS that might not have a future and thus will leave users stranded. There have been rumors of a new version, but until we hear the facts this is still an area of concern.

Despite the above items, it's a great concept and it is a product that I really like because the parts that are there work very well. I just hope that MS sees fit to come out with a new version that addresses some of the obvious shortcomings of the initial version.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good product, February 19, 2009

By 

Mark de Lange (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Windows Home Server System Builder with URP1 (OLD VERSION) (DVD-ROM)

Easy to install, set up and maintain. This is a great product for any home user, or even small business, thinking of setting up a server for storage etc.
It was easy to set up an old unused Dell desktop, with the only problem being the network card was not supported. The solution was simple, just download the correct one from Dell.
Sadly these days printed documentation is a rarity, so I would suggest getting one of the many books available. I used Microsoft Windows Home Server Unleashed by Paul McFedries and so far it has covered everything I needed.