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I'm doing the unthinkable! This April FOSS-Flap column turns-away from free and open source software to something very proprietary: Microsoft Windows Home Server. Hopefully this idea might also work for you.

My winter project has been to automatically backup a group of four aging WindowsXP computers at my church. Non-profits typically never have money to own a real server with backup capability and keeping fingers-crossed that irreplaceable data can always be recovered when problems occur. This is not smart and Windows Home Server was the best  inexpensive hardware/ software solution I could find. This graphic shows several Windows Home Sever devices.

I bought the Asus TS Mini with 500GB storage for $300 including shipping at NewEgg (now lists at $350).

Here is the ASUS announcement blurb:

Asus takes aim at the top of the home server market and hits it spot with the TS Mini SOHO series. This compact box is more than just a drive controller and some connectors. It's powered by an extremely energy efficient Intel Atom 1.66GHz processor with 1GB of DDR2 memory. Windows Home Server operating system helps you to easily store, access, share and protect your digital files.

It already includes a large 500GB SATA drive for great storage, and you can add additional hard drives without tools. If that isn't enough, there are 6 external USB 2.0 ports for external storage devices, printers and wireless networking. Or, if you want to go wired, there's a Gigabit Ethernet port. Two e-SATA ports are provided for high-speed external drives. This gives you redundancy or the ability to attach networked devices.

Automatically manage files, back up multiple computers and deliver security protection. You can even set up a personal web address to be used for remote access and for visitors. Enjoy the functionality home server system with ASUS TS Mini SOHO Home Server!

Windows Home Server software comes pre-installed. The small case device consists of a motherboard/ processor, ram, power supply, hard drive, one Ethernet jack and lots of USB and SATA connections. The efficient low wattage power supply is external like a laptop. There is room to install a second hard drive but no keyboard, mouse, CD-ROM or VGA output. The Asus manual is complete and they do supply discs to reinstall server software or restore workgroup computers if necessary.

After unpacking the TS Mini I attached it to the network with the Ethernet cable. On one workgroup computer I installed the Home Server Connector software from the CD. As part of the installation you name your server and give it a strong administrator password. (A strong password is seven characters long and contains at least three of these sets: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols). At this time I also ran Windows Update to get the latest changes. An administrative user at other Windows workgroup computers can install Home Server Connector software from the CD or the server itself by opening a browser to http://servername:55000

I was now able to log into the server from workgroup computers first using a wizard where I set a wake time on each computer for automatic backup daily between midnight and 6:00AM.

Another nice Home Server feature is shared server folders and files that may be accessed at any workgroup computer. Users added to the server with strong passwords may have full, read-only or no privileges. This is perfect for media files, data and folders.

I ran preliminary manual backups from each computer to be sure there were no issues and then waited till next morning to see backups had successfully run overnight. I'm currently using the default backup setting that runs daily backups and retains data in weekly data sets for three months. Here are graphics of my network dashboard with four computers connected (the top computer is sleeping). The second graphic shows the Home Server Settings. This is the only place where the server may be properly shut down and this is only accessed on a workgroup computer.

Asus includes software to add a second hard drive, Xtor Manager to synchronize data to external USB/ eSATA drives, ASUS WebStorage a one year account to store 500GB online and ASWM a browser-based server administration utility. Some additional Home Server add-ins are available to download at Microsoft.

So far I have have not setup remote access to the Home Server. Its impossible to set the Home Server at a fixed or static IP and DHCP and my aging router does not communicate via UPnP. This is a small hindrance and the entire network is much more secure. I have VNC connectivity into one workstation so I presently control and check the Home Server installation via my Linux box at home.

So, I really did the unthinkable... I never dreamed my Winter project would be proprietary (or headless). The server is technically headless since uses no input or output devices. Backups work well and while not open source Windows Home Server meets the need at the right cost, is extremely quiet, occupies little physical space and Windows users seem to easily accept it running in the background.

Next month I'll be back reporting on Open Source <g> and my topic will be using WordPress, not for blogging but for websites.

FOSS SIG News

The FOSS acronym stands for Free and Open Source Software. FOSS software is maintained worldwide by groups of volunteers committed to delivering quality products. There is never a charge for FOSS. You're invited to join the FOSS SIG on the last Thursday of each month from 1:00 to 3:00 PM in the TBCS Resource Center (no meetings in November and December). Our website is at http://fosssig.com

See you next month inside FOSS-Flap.

Stew Bottorf
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