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From various blogs and articles around the traps, WHS was touted as going RTM in May/June.
Has anyone heard anything more solid ??
Also mentioned was that WHS will only be sold OEM or with preconfiged devices like the HP mediasmart server...which was touted at $500US for a 1TB rig... I just hope an oem copy wont exceed the $150-200 AUD mark...Im comparing that to OEM Vista, which is a whole OS, whereas WHS is a lite version of server2k3(I hope thats an accurate description??) Im not really interested in buying a HP esque rig atm, and quite like the shuttle mini tower(nano-itx) rig Ive put together.
Not having had *any* experience setting up server software/configs, I have to admit WHS has been dead easy to setup... I know Im not exactly a tech newbie but my forte is really gaming/hardware/OCing...and now MCE(thanks to here mainly). I have found WHS pretty easy to do and the interface intuitive and pretty!
As my setup isnt connected directly to a router but by wired LAN to my mce rig I had to play around with a couple of things.... but all up and running well now.
If MS were targeting mildly software savvy people and pushing ease of use, then I have to admit theyve gone a great way towards succeding. If I can do it, alot of others can too. Im thinking of people like clients I have built HTPCS for, who are interested in a centralised storage and backup solution - Most of them would be very interested in something like this, if at a reasonable price.
As they will be sold oem or pre config only, I guess by the time the units make it to consumers, that system builders/vendors will provide the appropriate support and perhaps (mild)training required to get a good handle on it.
Kudos to MS for responding to a perceived need and making a decent job of it(IMHO anyway). A couple of extra tweaks would make WHS great, but Im sure they could be figured out by clever coders as add-in later on....eg. centralised EPG updating across multiples platform(as suggested by another member here) incorporating websheduling perhaps.
If anyone knows some more details about release and pricing - let us know !!
The first place that the local WHS pricing will turn up is on the Ingram Micro or Synnex price lists. As soon as it appears there expect it to be picked up quickly by every online retailer.
i.
__________________
Media Center: Zalman HD160 Black | Phenom 9600 | 4 GB RAM | 3 x 250GB HDD | Radeon 2600XT | Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe/Wi-Fi | Pioneer PDP-LX808A
WHS:Intel C2D4300 | Intel 975BX | 2GB RAM | 8 x 500GB HDD | Radeon 2400Pro
The following Member(s) said "Thank You!" to imelda for this information:
HP will release a Home Server (currently called the "HP MediaSmart Server") in Q2 of 2007. It features a 64-bit AMD processor under the AMD Live! brand, and can be expanded to include as much as 6 terabytes of storage space. It also includes four internal HDD bays and four USB 2.0 ports. In a Channel 9 video interview, Windows Home Server General Manager Charlie Kindel said that early Home Servers will cost about the same as a low-end PC, or around $500.
Each Windows Home Server will feature a domain name - known as livenode.com but homeserver.com at release time.
good info drew - I wonder how much storage comes with that $500 ??
astro
Well I have more info for you Astro.
Up to 6TB of storage can be achieved using seperate 750GB drives with four 5.25 drive bays and four USB2.0 ports - think they could give you more USB ports. I doubt for $US500 though you'll get 6TB of storage, more like 300-500GB.
No word on how much storage there is by default.
1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 80GB of free space on the primary drive, and an Ethernet connection.
1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 80GB of free space on the primary drive, and an Ethernet connection.
Geez...I reckon it might be a bit sluggish once you get some data on it.
I first tried mine on my trusty old P3 700 overclocked to 933 (been that way since day 1) and it was starting to drags it's feet.
1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, 80GB of free space on the primary drive, and an Ethernet connection.
thanks again drew !!
But those specs !!! O deary my!! You could pick those specs at a compy market for sub $100 - or if you have re-furb connections - for free !! I can name more than a dozen people off the bat that have better specd components sitting in a box in their cupbaord....where did they even get 1GHz cpus from !!!
We all saw Vistas rec specs and then realised how ridiculous they were as far as achieving decent functionality.
As the regs may have noticed, I'd like to rant on/expand a bit further as I know there are 'WHS curious' passers by lurking here....When I was in this curious phase it seemed like you were all chatting to each other and things werent too clear, especially to server newbies(like myself) !! >>>
I'd recommend a 1.8Ghz at the least to be on the safe side, and a gigabit LAN for quickest transfers if your network is going to be mainly wired. If adding wireless client pcs, youre best off going for 802.11g at 108mpbs, rather than 54mbps(especially if your going to be beamin n streamin larger filesizes) 802.11a is also an option here.
If you got the $$$, and have large spaces to traverse, you can go the pre-N or MIMO route.... I havent met anyone that has *really* needed that though....
but of course, most of us will be stuck with what we have already !! (802.11g 54 in my case)
and 80gb...how many backups are you going to get on that !! For friends and clients that have been WHS curious and have given it a try(and used up the rest of my product keys!!) a sub $100 250gb drive is affordable enough, and will get you a bit more mileage. Plus, you can always chuck it in somewhere else if you dont like the server idea.... eg. a backup drive, internal or external etc....
But those specs !!! O deary my!! You could pick those specs at a compy market for sub $100 - or if you have re-furb connections - for free !! I can name more than a dozen people off the bat that have better specd components sitting in a box in their cupbaord....where did they even get 1GHz cpus from !!!
Hi Astro
I am going to bite... can't resist... maybe I should revert back to that picture you like so much...
Coming from a server background, I don't see a huge issue with a low powered 1Ghz CPU for WHS if it keeps power consumption, temperature and noise levels down. The number of users we used to run on lower end servers with many more users - these 1Ghz CPUs would have been a luxury. At this stage we can't compare the included 1GHz Athlon64 variant with an overclocked PIII, but I'm willing to put money down on which one would run circles around the other.
My guess is that HP know that people like us aren't a good target market for their product because we think we can do a better job than them for less $$$, which in reality means we would prefer to load it up with higher spec'd hardware. While the HP unit isn't one that I wouldn't consider buying for myself, when it comes to family and friends it would be something I would consider, especially for people running their business from home and really need to backup regularly. I hate getting phone calls from family and friends with computer support issues, and would prefer to give them the HP support number to call. I don't ask them to come around and give me their goods and services for free, so they should respect the same from me. That's just me getting old and cranky though and having less free time than I would like.
The part that this overlooks is what they have done with additional hardware and software capabilities such as their headless recovery solution, the management LEDs on the front of the case giving foolproof consumer exposure to imminent hardware failures etc Some of these capabilities won't be available on our home built machines for quite a while, most case manufacturers will need some convincing to start building in the additional functionality.
It would be rare for me to recommend a non HP or IBM server as opposed to building a lower cost offering out of off the shelf parts. When it comes to servers the cost shouldn't be a driving factor, the reliability and manufacturer support, warranty, part replacement are key factors. WHS may not be viewed as something mission critical when it is first released, but for those who rely on it they will quickly view it this way. Look at how upset people get when Media Center drops TV channels and they can't watch a tv show - that's nothing compared to losing valuable data.
What we might see as short comings with this machine, the average user won't see. They won't be trying to load a bunch of additional software on via terminal services, they will treat it just like a NAS device, set it up and let it glow happily in a corner.
There was another comment in the thread about the 4 USB ports, my guess here is that each has their own controller, so you have four different buses. Some motherboards may offer more ports, but they may not be offering addtional bandwidth.
The 512MB of memory is more of a concern for me. I rely on Media Connect for a few devices scattered around the house, and as my library has grown memory usage has gone through the roof.
The other concern I have around the HP machine is what they will charge for additional hard drives that slot into their solution. No OEMs sell rebadged brand name hard drives with their own physical connector at anywhere near the market value of regular drives. Hopefully the drives aren't priced to the point where adding external storage is a cheaper option.
This machine is also MS's "hero" launch machine, and is the one they have been using at public events for 6 months or so, so I would think that any performance issues would want to be avoided if possible. None of the press who have seen those machines in action have picked up on any speed issues, but machines in a demo booth aren't exactly loaded with a real world setup, but how likely is it really going to be that there is little more than disk activity occuring on the server as opposed to anything CPU intensive?
If a market builds for prebuilt WHS solutions that start to match the additional work that HP do with hardware and configuration, then things will really start getting interesting. If they allow the use of standard hard drives with a reasonably priced caddy, maybe have some more internal drive bays, well, then I might be tempted...
i.
__________________
Media Center: Zalman HD160 Black | Phenom 9600 | 4 GB RAM | 3 x 250GB HDD | Radeon 2600XT | Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe/Wi-Fi | Pioneer PDP-LX808A
WHS:Intel C2D4300 | Intel 975BX | 2GB RAM | 8 x 500GB HDD | Radeon 2400Pro
Last edited by imelda; 26th May 2007 at 05:20 AM.
Reason: I kept thinking of extra things to type. and my spelling sucked.
The following Member(s) said "Thank You!" to imelda for this information:
Im sure there are people who've stress tested WHS more than the display booths at CES.
Im no server expert by any means, but how about this scenario(taken from what WHS would be doing if I ran it full time post purchase)... would a >1Ghz, >512mb config be more favourable.
1. server rig connected to router.
2. mce pc recording HDTV to whs, up to 2 channels at once.
3. secondary mce pc/gaming pc recording HDTV to whs, up to 2 channels at once
4. kids pc, watching vids to listening to music off the server
5. one older pc, acting as a 'faux extender' watching stremed video/rec tv/music off server wirelessly
noting also:
on any of the mce rigs, whilst 2 channels or 1 channel is being recorded, either pc could be used for watching a video file/recorded tv file.
and/or>> I could be copying/transferring video files that have been edited to the WHS...I hope I could simply edit them from the whs folder without needing to copy back and send back(I havent really tried it yet)
but with the whs rig handling this all the time, concurrently... surely >1ghz >512mb would be more deisrable ??
it'd be interesting to know, but a mute point for me...my rig with the $70 2Ghz AMD 3800+ cpu will be the one used if I was going to do the WHS thing seriously
Thank goodness you got rid of that ugly dog avatar 
