Category: Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server RC1 Install, part 2

~ rbonini

Its nearly a week since I last wrote.

The first install went all the way to its completion, did the admin password thing and all. The only problem was that the Server logged in automatically on startup. I tried everything.  There might have been a few other things not working 100% but I can think of them right now.

So I  re-installed and this time it was perfect. Got everything working like a Swiss car. Copying my data back on to the server took a while, from a external USB drive. And then I backed up the PC’s which took even longer.

The Windows live domain wizard is very nice and sleek. I like the way it recognized me and presented me with the previous domain I’d used with the old install.

The router configuration wizard doesn’t work, again portfwd.exe hogged system resources, like 98% of the cpu and prevented anything from getting done. The solution to the resource hogging is to disable the service via the Administrative tools in the control panel.

I think it might be useful to get a list of compatible routers. It would be worth it to get a router that plays nice with WHS(otherwise there is no point to remote access).

The new install screens are very nice. You’re kept up to-date with the progress (I recall that a few people were unhappy with the Beta 2 install in this regard).

The thing is that with each new release, I find myself having to go less and less into the Console or even Remote Desktop. With each release, WHS is becoming more and more headless in the true sense of the word. 

All things considered, WHS might not be the all-in-one solution with WSUS, SQLServer ExchangeLite and so on, but it does exactly what it intends to – serve.

Windows Server Centro

~ rbonini

According to Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft’s mid-market server is approaching the CTP stage. 

Centro is bundle of

Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, System Center Essentials 2007, SQL Server 2005, ISA Server and other Forefront security technologies.

Sounds rather good.

Its a pity that I’m out of machines to beta ( err, CTP) test on.

The funny thing is that this is the first that I’ve heard of Centro.

The significant thing is that this is a 64-bit only product. Which is interesting when taken together with the rumor that Windows Home Server 2 is also to be a 64-bit only version.

Its a possibility that this [is part of] a push by Microsoft to get people to adopt the 64-bit architecture. A rather chicken-and-egg problem. Do you wait for a larger x64 install base? Or do you force people to move by releasing x64 only products? 

It depends largely on a) the current size of the x64 install base in terms of the x86 install base and b) the barrier-to-entry in terms of architecture transition costs. The you have to factor in multi-core machines into this. Question: Is it even possible to get a multi-core x64 machine?

It’ll be interesting to see where Microsoft goes with this

Life as a Beta

~ rbonini

Steve Rubel  is right on ( for the philosophically inclined):

From adolescence onwards, you’re in a perpetual beta mode. As an adult you’re constantly learning new skills and capabilities, even as you age. The best and brightest among us are constantly growing. As a human being, you really don’t “ship” (as the technology parlance goes) until you’re dead.

For the geeks among us :

This week Apple, a company that certainly strives for perfection, launched a new beta version of its Safari Web browser. It’s buggy on both the Mac and Windows and lots of people are grumpy. It even broke several of my Dashboard widgets.

Yet, Apple, as a technology company, seems to be allowed to make such mistakes. They are permitted to learn and grow out in the open by slapping the “beta” label on products and services. Everyone else, however, is expected to be perfect. That’s like asking Curt Schilling to pitch a perfect game every outing. It’s ludicrous.

 

And so, in a eureka moment, I figured out why  Google has  two thirds (maybe more) of its software with a Beta tag, even though the software works perfectly well.

Seriously, people ( or should we say beta testers??) are more forgiving with Beta software. I mean, that’s why we’re testing the software in the first place.

This’ll keep me warm  in the long hours ahead as I prepare my Windows Home Server for an upgrade to Release Candidate 1.

Windows Home Server RC1 Install, part 1

~ rbonini ~ 2 Comments

Hmmm. What’s new in an install process that I can say?

 I’m still doing a little testing of beta 2 it seems, since this is the second time today I’m trying to remove one of my drives so that I can copy all my data off  to said drive to save said data being turned into random bytes by the uncontrollable, tyrannical Redmond installer. Ok, that was a bit theatrical, but you get my drift.

I downloaded said installer last night and set the server to remove the drive in question this morning. said drive still shows up as still being connected despite the wizard being left for “several hours” ( that’s the only time estimate given,which is useless).

I’ve now got to burn said installer to DVD while I wait. While I go and do that, you can look at the these installer screenshots, if you’re geeky enough.

Update: The Wizard has been running for 3 hours now, and the progress bar is less than a fifth of the the way across. I’m thinking of taking more radical action.

Update:Soon after posting the above update, I used remote desktop to bring up the Management Console, changed drive letters for my external hard drive so I could access it and started copying files over like mad. It took , oh, 6-7 hours to copy every thing across. I’ve actually got it installing now. Here’s to the install working first time.  

Breathing freely

~ rbonini

This TUAW post starts by saying:

Here at TUAW, we welcome all those yearning to breathe free of Windows

Which made me laugh since it reminds me of the inscription at the foot of the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

The post, although short point to a ComputerWorld article by Scott Finnie entitled: “Why Microsoft Should Fear Apple”. Its a pretty good look at the Microsoft/Apple status quo. The articles main point is that Microsoft has to act instead of just copying Apple’s innovations.

There was a time when people jokingly described Apple as Microsoft’s advanced software lab. Anyone who follows operating systems — please, be objective if your knee-jerk reaction is to disagree — has to realize that Microsoft has imitated literally hundreds of features and behaviors of Apple’s OS X. Yes, there are some advantages that originated with Microsoft (such as file icon thumbnail previews). But OS X is clearly leading the desktop OS parade. Everyone is copying Apple — and with good reason.

He puts all of this down to one main reason:

The Mac is a closed hardware/software system. The OS isn’t forced to contend with a vast variety of hardware, and the hardware is carefully vetted so that it works perfectly with the software. Apple controls the horizontal; it controls the vertical. The hardware and software are a matched set.

I agree completely with that. Microsoft has too many hardware combinations to worry about instead of concentrating on Software. Microsoft are starting to change this.

First, their much rumored Surface platform will have  Microsoft hardware and software.

Second, the Xbox and the 360 are proof of what Redmond could do once freed from hardware compatibility constraints.

Third, in terms of a new consumer-level product on the scale of an OS/hardware combo, Microsoft is working with industry partners to bring Windows Home Server to market in specially built machines.

Ok, number 3 isn’t really  something you can compare to Apple, but its close. And if memory serves, Microsoft tried to do something similar with the UMPC thing – which turned out to be a disaster of epic proportions.

So, yes, Microsoft is innovating. The question is, is it fast enough? 

Windows Home Server

~ rbonini

The black box has been humming along quite nicely for the past few weeks. I’ve nothing to actually say about its because nothing has really gone wrong.

The folder duplication works great. My only small gripe is that it keeps reminding me that duplication is failing for one file in  my Music folder. And I can’t tell it to ignore this issue. So I’m reminded of this about 10 times a day. This is actually a good thing as its driving me to get a new hard disk  – its an itch  that needs to be scratched. Once I get around to buying it, the new hard disk should take me well over 1Tb of storage. Which is perfect for SageTV (which I will take a more serious look at once WHS has been released).

The only other small thing that I’ve found is Remote Access goes out the window as the Router changes the Servers IP address and messes up the port forwarding. If the Wizard actually worked, I wouldn’t have this problem.

Its rather startling to have a Microsoft product that just works. Its uncanny. After years of using XP is till have to wrestle go get stuff done occasionally. WHS is totally a painless experience (unless you happen to be testing extreme use cases).

The rumor mill reports that a Release Candidate is due to be released in the very near future. And once again I will spend a happy weekend installing it.

Now for WHS news that is sort of connected, but isn’t really, the WHS team has a new member ( blog here). The official blog post announcement from the team:

The Windows Home Server team decided to offer a summer internship to one of our earliest beta testers and top forum contributors.  Tom Z. is a high school student from Arizona and he will be spending the next 2 months with us working on a wide variety of projects from building home server demo hardware for various events to trying to code his first add-in

Its really interesting to get an outsiders view of a) the team and b) Microsoft.

If you read a few of his previous posts you’ll see that he’s also beta testing Windows Server 2008. I assume that this will be come the backbone of WHS 2. The fact that the server can be installed in a Core configuration has interesting ramifications for WHS. if you look at the Server Storage tab you’ll  see that the OS takes up 10GB. Under a Core setup, the OS could install in 1 Gb or less.

My point is simply that WHS 1 is the beginning of something extra ordinary. I can’t think of any other company that has ever tried to target Server- grade software into the homes of ordinary people.  And bring about a product that works as slickly as WHS.

In short I’m excited at the prospect of what WHS 1 will do (as in, turning the whole network into one massive PVR via SageTv), I can’t wait to see what the Team have up their sleeves for the next iteration of this grand experiment.

 PS. This is my third post with the new Live Writer. Its a great improvement over the old one. More later.

Surface Computing, here I come

~ rbonini

Ok, maybe I’m being over optimistic about how soon Surface will be available to the average Joe.

It is a great idea, revolutionary in scope (Apple has not yet tried coffee table sized iPhone screens) and is full of possibility. It’ll go the way of the Xbox and prove to be a sell out success. Its the natural complement to Microsoft’s suite of home focused products. Media Centre is the PVR; Home Server makes sure everything is backed up and in a central, universally accessible location; your friendly 360 also has the capacity to stream music and photos as well as play games and DVDs in Hi-Def; the Zune fits in here somewhere as well, but don’t ask me where. Now Microsoft comes in an turns the coffee table into an interactive experience that ties in with all the above and acts as a thin client for them plus bringing its own functionality to the table.

Mary Jo, while usually right on the ball with Microsoft, takes a differing view:

But do I really need a table at a restaurant (or in my home) to tell me the best food pairings for my wine choice? Or to generate for me a customized version of a map of local attractions?

Unless there are some surface-computing form factors that don’t look like a chunky coffee table or a retail-store kiosk, I have zero interest in a Surface. For now, the first iterations of Microsoft’s Surface Computer seem a lot to me like the first “Origami” ultra-mobile PCs: Products in search of a market. (And not very well-designed products, at that.)

True. But if there is no market, there no reason why one can’t be created. Microsoft is doing exactly that by starting off with enterprise-level deployment in hotels and suchlike. Once people see “the Surface” in action, they’ll be wanting one as well.

I’m not a wine buff, but I do enjoy a good meal. And have no problem taking instructions from an ultra cool coffee table (for the acronym lovers among us that’s: UCCT).

Windows Home Server AntiVirus

~ rbonini ~ 2 Comments

I’m following up my previous post on this.

I left a comment on McAffe CEO David DeWalt’s blog (great blog, if you ask me) asking about a WHS version of McAffe Antivirus.

I just received an email reply from Customer Services (they prefer me not to post it). Although they do not have a home-use version at the moment, they will consider it if future demand dictates. Which means I’ll have to go to the Small and Medium Business section to buy it.

I’d like to congratulate McAffe for their great response and customer service (Even though I’m not a customer, yet). Which brings me to the latest post at the Security Insights Blog:

McAfee’s goal is to help our customers protect what they value. Everyone – parents, small businesses, Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies – have information and assets that they value. And McAfee is here to help you protect them. But what about McAfee? What do we as a company value? Clearly, our employees rise to the top of that list. The more than 3,800 of us are the heart and soul of McAfee.

Of course, our customers are just as critical to us, as are those who have chosen to trust in us as an investment – our shareholders. McAfee is a partner-focused company, so the thousands of companies with whom we partner are indispensable to our success. Our suppliers provide us with the necessary tools we need to operate. Finally, we value our communities-including our natural environment and our local neighborhoods-for these are where we live and work.

And that’s how I like to demystify “corporate responsibility” from confusing buzzwords we read in the media to real meaning within a company. At McAfee, our approach to corporate responsibility simply involves our commitments to protecting what we value: our employees, customers, shareholders, partners, suppliers, and communities. With that introduction, welcome to the Corporate Responsibility thread of our corporate blog.

You’re on the right track…

Windows Home Server and SageTV

~ rbonini

There is quite a bit of news about WHS floating around this week.

Rick at One Man Shouting has this to say:

Lots of Software partner announcements as well.  The most interesting in my opinion is the SageTVintegration.  Basically you can pump all your media to your Home Server, including PVR functionality, and use simple extenders to deliver your content anywhere. I’m not sure if SageTV allows for live TV watching, but it’d be awesome to move to a model where the only TV tuners in the home were connected to the Home Server, and all your channels and saved content were available to any TV, PC, or portable device.

Wish I’d thought of that. It makes great sense. And since my Server is in the Office/TV Room adding a tuner or two and hooking it up to the ariel would be trivial. Not sure if SageTV works in the UK with Freeview or not but its definately something worth investigating.

The SageTV website has this to say:

Enjoy all your TV, Video, Music or Photos anytime, anywhere using SageTV Placeshifter to connect to your Windows Home Server from any broadband connection

Connect your TVsat home to SageTV on Windows Home Server with SageTV Media Extender

Handles nearly every Video, Music and Photo format

Works with Cable, Satellite and Broadcast TV around the world including NTSC, ATSC, PAL and DVB

Now if I can just get the Antivirus sorted out…

Here is the Press Release

Norton Antivirus 2007 for WHS

~ rbonini ~ 5 Comments

Unfortunately I’ve not yet got Antivirus on the Server. So, having a bit of time on my hands I hit went to Symantec, since Norton Internet Security has served me well over the years.

It was not to be. Their server products are only available in 5 user license packs for some reason. And it seems their US store is cheaper than the UK store. I spent 20 fruitless minutes looking for the server products before finding them buried at the bottom of the products menu. The US store sells 5 user licenses of Antivirus 10.1 or 10.2 in 5 user packs for $47.69 and the UK store only sells it as part of a package for Small Businesses for £200+. No use to me.

I tried McAffe next. McAffe sells a minimum of 2 licenses for their Total Protection product for Small businesses for $64.79. The UK store sell the same product only in a 5 user license pack for £59.52. Now if you take the exchange rate in to account there is only  about £30 difference between them. But I would be buying 4 licenses that I don’t need.

Over to AVG. More of the same. Again 5 user licenses for £211 for a year. Waste of time since I’m looking for a single license for a single server.

Trend Micro don’t sell their Small Medium Business offerings online.

So this is essentially a wild goose chase. So if anyone has managed to get a single license of a serve edition antivirus solution, please let me know in the comments.