Windows Home Server - Installation & Exploration

Thanks to Linode for sponsoring this video!

Back in 2007, Microsoft released Windows Home Server. Targeted at the consumer market, it gave users an easy way to back up all of their data, stream media to an Xbox 360, and more. I recently tracked down a new-old-stock copy, so let's unbox and explore it!

● Affiliate Links (these links will earn me a commission if you purchase something through them at no additional cost to you):

● Follow Me:

● Music/Credits:
Background Music:
"Ersatz Bossa", "Rest" and "Sixteen Twenty Five" from the YouTube Audio Library

Outro Music: Silent Partner - Bet On It
Source: YouTube Audio Library

Some materials in this video are used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, which allows "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, commenting, news reporting, teaching, and research.

#MichaelMJD #Windows #Server

[CamelCasee]

I used to think home servers would become more popular than they actually did.

[commentarysheep]

I like how Home Server feels like a weird mix of XP and Vista.

[jwaire]

This was released back when Microsoft's Windows division still catered to consumers. I miss the old Microsoft that used to try new things even if they didn't work out. The HP Mediasmart Server was pretty cool looking with all of its LEDs and compact form factor. The drive extender feature (kind of like RAID but not) was pretty cool and I wish they would have continued to develop it.

[timm]

Back in 2007 I used this to set up a small business server just for file storage and client back ups. I loved that system. The jabod system did not encrypt the disks, so when the system eventually died, all I had to do was move the disks to another system and copy the data off. Once Microsoft discontinued Homeserver the cheapest version of windows server was $750 instead of $50. The Homeserver was really the only product Microsoft ever made to compete in the network attached storage market.

[paullittrell]

I was one of the lead support analyst for the HP MediaSmart Server's and our biggest headaches was when the standard byte size sector for hard drives moved from 512 to 4098 sectors, because the sys partition required 512 k. So I spent the last year of the servers lifetime helping customers recover data from the data partitions.

[tookeydookey]

I would love for you to tackle more Windows Server OS'es, maybe doing a history video on them all or something.

[SupertigerDev]

0:00: Intro
2:43: Unboxing
3:49: Installation
10:16: Entering details
11:28: Exploring the desktop
12:13: Sponsor - Linode
13:15: Setting up the client computer
17:01: Exploring the Home Server Console
23:36: Outro

[battokizu]

I got this from a neighbor who did stuff for microsoft, it was very nice to play around with. Having an xbox 360 helped make it a nice media center experience since it was easy to use a low powered pc to handle file transfers, this was an incredibly smooth experience.

[fuelvolts]

I had a Technet account when I was in college in the early 2000s. I had a old PC running a 900 mhz AMD Duron with a bunch of old hard drives running Windows Server 2003 from Technet to stream my (allegedly) Limewired/Torrented music and movies to my TV. Also hosted game disc images for my modified Xbox 1 and XBMC. Was super fun and nerdy. That thing was rock solid and only ever got rebooted if the power went out in a storm.

[AureliusR]

Wow, this actually looks like it was a useful piece of software. The fact it makes backups so easy would have been a blessing for so many people who just didn't (and still don't) run backups.

[jdatlas]

Oh gods that’s a blast from the past, I actually used to run a home server with this forever ago :D

[joedry]

I used to run this, and afterwards the 2011 version that came after before I went Linux and Nextcloud for my home server. Good memories!

[iRaven]

The same username/password requirement between the server and client(s) makes sense- it's how Windows' SMB file sharing works by default. Attempting to access/browse an SMB share will try to authenticate using your currently signed in credentials first, if it doesn't work it normally prompts you for different credentials. MS probably recognized this and forced this requirement on WHS to avoid confusion with the intended audience.

[NoahClevinger]

Windows Home Server is such an interesting product. Thanks for covering it, Michael!

[JustPyroYT]

Please make a Video where you show EVERY copy of Windows you have. It would be really cool to see :)

[Fifury]

I used this back in the day, it was a real breath of fresh air compared to the actual Server OSes. The hard drive pool was a nice feature too - removed the hassle of adding additional storage - you could just add another USB drive and it added it to the pool! I tried a few other MS servers after support for this finished and ended up just using Windows 10 on an old laptop as it met all my needs.

[milmachine]

Best part of WHS was the image based nightly backup. It only backed up the bits that changed so the nightly backups were quick. I used it to upgrade PCs to SSD's also. I ran WHS and it's R2 for years until they quit supporting home server, and now I run server essentials. I loved restoring any of my kids PCs from whatever they did to them easily.

[starbuck]

I have great memories of Windows Home Server! Back in 2009 I built a 22 tb home server with some third party software that allowed me to rip my DVD and Bluray disks, download cover art, and use it to serve my Windows Media Center pc. I had 11 2 tb Western Digital Green Drives and one 500 gb black drive or the os. Unfortunately I lost it in a house fire in 2014. I'd probably would be still would be using it today! I loved the drive pooling feature so much, that I built a Windows 10 computer using a third party program called Drive Bender that I use as a file server and Plex.

[Spooky]

My new favorite channel! Ive never been so excited for an unboxing

[seshpenguin]

I still have a home server PC! (HP MediaSmart), though it's running Alpine Linux with NextCloud now.