Windows Home Server Now Available

Published: November 7, 2007

by Alex Woodie

At long last, the wait is over: You can now go out and buy Windows Home Server to connect and protect your various Windows PCs and DVRs, Xbox gaming consoles, and MP3 music players. Microsoft and its lead partner on the Home Server front, Hewlett-Packard, made the announcement on Sunday.

The Windows Home Server, which Microsoft announced earlier this year, is a version of Windows Server 2003 that's designed to make it easy for users to back up the various documents, movies, music, and pictures that they have strewn across PCs and other devices, and to recover them if something goes wrong. Other out-of-the-box features include monitoring the security settings of managed devices and serving as a regular file server, enabling users to access their digital content using Microsoft's Windows Live Web service.

The new operating system is available today on the HP MediaSmart Server, which can be pre-ordered from several popular consumer electronics Web sites. Two versions of the HP box will be sold, including a 500 GB version that costs $599, and a 1 TB model that costs $749.

Other hardware manufacturers will make their Home Server products available in late 2007 and throughout 2008, including: the SCALEO Home Server 1900 from Fujitsu Siemens, which will offer 1 TB capacity across two hard drives, and will be sold in Europe; the HomeCenter Server from Iomega, which will include five hard drive bays when it ships in early 2008; the Life|ware Life|storage computer from the Ohio company Exceptional Innovation; and several others.

Software makers are also getting into the act, announcing or delivering products that ride on top of the Home Server platform to provide a range of capabilities, including the management of home security and automation systems (i.e., controlling the alarm, the locks, the lights, the sprinkler systems, and, of course, the romantic gas-powered fireplace). Personal blogging, media sharing, and computer security products are also among the 35 third-party products that have been certified for the Home Server platform, according to Microsoft.

For more information, visit www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver.

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