Hot off the presses, we’re extremely pleased to report that our newest OEM, ASUS, has just announced that they’ll soon be introducing a new Home Server to the market here in the US – and in other markets across the globe. Their TS Mini Home Server, powered by a 1.66 GhZ Intel Atom chipset and running Windows Home Server, will come in two configurations:

• 500GB Hard Drive (with 1 empty HDD bay) @ $349 MSRP
• 1 TB Hard Drive (with 1 empty HDD bay) @ $529 MSRP

 

The form factor is pretty sleek and comes packed with 6 USB ports and an eSata port for additional external storage options. In addition to all the great features of the underlying Windows Home Server operating system, the TS Mini will also come bundled with a free year long subscription to a 500 GB online storage service, a feature that automatically synchronizes files stored on the TS Mini with external drives, and a real time system monitoring tool.

Not to be outdone, ASUS also points to the device’s ‘green’ credentials: it’s certified ‘Energy 5.0’ compliant and consumes on average only 24.5W.

The TS Mini is now available for pre-order at online retailers Amazon.com and NewEgg.

A hearty welcome to ASUS in joining the Home Server family!

- Mark

You may have been hearing a lot about Windows Home Server recently, so now you are asking, why should I buy one, and what benefits will I get out of it? Well, to help you answer those important questions, the Windows Home Server team has come up with the Top 10 reasons to use this product! In this post, you can read a brief overview of each item, but check back soon because we will be taking a closer look at each point, along with how Windows Home Server has already helped thousands of people.

1. Image-based backup

Rest easy and know that your irreplaceable videos and pictures are always safe since Windows Home Server automatically backs up your entire computer on a daily basis.

2. Restore 

If catastrophe strikes, Windows Home Server has simple and fast data recovery with a restore feature for single files or entire hard drives that have failed.

3. Monitor

Windows Home Server will monitor the health status of your home network and immediately alert you if there is a problem.

4. Centralize

Windows Home Server stores your digital memories in a central location so you can access what you want from any computer on the network and save time by having all your things in one place.

5. Storage

With Windows Home Server, storage space grows as your needs grow. You are able to add internal or external hard drives of any size so that you can have an unlimited amount of storage space for HD movies, or your home videos.

 

6. User accounts

Windows Home Server allows you to create up to 10 user accounts. To increase protection, you can change the Shared Folders that users have access to, and enable remote access for each user.

7. Remote Access

When you are out of your home or office, Windows Home Server has remote access capabilities that make it possible for you to view, find files, and even use applications.

8. Stream media

Windows Home Server enables you to view, listen, and watch your videos, movies, and picture slideshows through playback devices such as Xbox 360.

9. Fully Expandable

Windows Home Server add-in programs can enhance and extend your home server's capabilities.  There are already over 100 add-ins available for download.

10. Easy to use

An uncomplicated, self-explanatory installation process for Window Home Server will have you up and running with minimum time and effort.

Hopefully, you are now ready to buy your very own Windows Home Server and start organizing, protecting, and sharing all of your digital experiences!

-Nicole

Since Windows Home Server is a new addition to The Windows Blog, we thought it would be a good idea to give everyone a refresh on what exactly Windows Home Server is and what it can do for you.

 

Windows Home Server was designed for households and home-based offices that have more than one personal computer. It was created to help you simplify your digital life, and provide an easy way to access your media and files from any computer, inside or outside your home. The leading benefits of Windows Home Server will help you “Share, Protect, Organize, and Grow” all of your digital content on up to 10 PCs through three basic services. These include automatic PC back-up, restoration ; document and file sharing ; and remote access capabilities. Windows Home Server software will typically be sold with new server hardware from companies like Acer and HP.

The great news about this product is that you don’t have to be computer savvy to set it up or to use it. To get your home server up and running, it only takes three easy steps: plug in the power, connect an Ethernet cord, and install the Windows Home Server connector software.

Starting to sound pretty cool? Let’s take a closer look at each of these features.

Organize:

Let’s pretend that you just got back from an amazing vacation and uploaded all of your new photos to one of your home PCs. Now, your family is over and wanting to see them, but you forgot which computer and folder you put them on. Instead of spending the time it takes to search through multiple locations, you could be using Windows Home Server and enjoying your picture slideshow. Windows Home Server provides an effortless way to organize and manage all of your media including the vacation pictures. After installation, a pre-defined set of shared folders will be shown: Photos, Music, and Videos. Windows Home Server will organize your family’s files and media, by storing them in one of the shared locations. Since all of these files will be stored in a central place, they can easily be found and accessed from any computer on your home or office network. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter which computer you put your pictures on since you can see them on any computer that is connected to your Home Server. Furthermore, if you enable user access, everyone on your network will have the ability to add and view media that is located in the Shared Folders.

*Organize devices

Protect:

I think we have all experienced the feeling of losing important files or pictures we love, and it is absolutely devastating. Everyone is aware that you should regularly back-up your computer in order to prevent loss of these valuable things. However, how often do you really find yourself doing it? With Windows Home Server, you will no longer need to run around your house with USB hard drives doing manual backups. Instead, Windows Home Server enables you to rest easy knowing that all of your irreplaceable videos and pictures are safe with Windows Home Server’s daily, automatic image based back-up and restoration feature.

 

The ability to restore individual files or even your entire computer is what makes backing up significant. Restoration can include accidentally deleted files (documents, music, pictures, videos), or complete computers. If your vacation pictures or crucial financial information accidentally get deleted, they will not be lost forever since you can restore to a previous point in time. You can also increase protection of certain files with Windows Home Server with since you have the ability to duplicate your shared folders. When you have more than one hard drive in your Home Server, your memories and files can then be stored and copied across multiple hard drives.

Share:

Windows Home Server helps families and small offices centralize and connect their digital experiences. It provides an easy and reliable way to store, access, and share whatever is most important through remote access. Like other features of Windows Home Server, remote access is fast and simple to use!

When using remote access, Windows Home Server lets you stay connected with friends and family. Once installed, your Home Server will automatically assign you an uncomplicated web address such as “yourname.homeserver.net”. You will then be able to share pictures, music, and documents through the password protected web address. From this site, you can upload media to the Shared Folders on your Home Server when using PCs that are not on your home network. This will give your friends and family the ability to log in through the personalized web address and download any pictures or files that you may have there. It is also simple to locate, view files, and even run applications from your home PC just as if you were sitting in front of that computer.

Grow:

With Windows Home Server, storage space grows as your digital life grows. The ability to increase the number of drives in your Home Server is one of the biggest innovations for Windows Home Server. You can very easily add internal or external hard drives of any size so that you will have an unlimited amount of storage for your collection of files, photos, and videos. Once you have two or more drives plugged in, the server will see this additional storage as one large drive instead of many individual drives. This will result in a much easier process when locating and storing files since you will only be searching through one virtual drive.

*Acer Aspire easyStore H-340

Your Home Server is also fully expandable meaning you have the option to download extra features to help customize your Home Server. The development community has created “add-ins” for Windows Home Server that extends its capabilities in fun, exciting, and useful ways. There are currently over 100 add-ins available for download including “Whiist” for photo sharing, and “Lights Out” for power conservation.

For more detailed information about Windows Home Server, check out the product guide at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/support.mspx.

To purchase and learn more about Windows Home Server, please visit www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver.

- Nicole

When you make the switch from a Windows box to a Mac, you are going to need to copy all of your data files over to the Mac. The quickest way to do that is over a network. Yes, you can use “old school” media such as CDs, DVDs or USB thumb drives, but this is very tedious and will take forever. Networking the Windows and Mac machines is actually not very hard. It is not quite as straightforward as networking two Windows machines together, but if I can manage to do it on my second day using OS X, it can’t be too hard. (more…)

basic networking, file sharing, folders, ip address, Mac, mac machines, mac os x, move files, networking windows, share files, share name, system preferences, Windows, windows machine