We store all of our music, video and photos on Windows Home Server. You can buy a range of different servers off the shelf from Lenovo, HP, Acer and others, but I built our own 4-bay, 8TB server as a weekend project. It installs on the network with a quick wizard, and as well as providing a huge amount of network storage for our digital stuff, also backs up our home PCs every night using an image-based backup feature which can subsequently restore an entire PC in 15 mins. It’s very cool.

Windows Home Server works neatly with Windows 7 PCs, automatically configuring your Music, Video and Photo libraries with content from your home server’s shared folders. Open up Windows Media Center, and it’ll spot you have a home server on the network. That opens up a few more cool features – of course, all of your music, video and photos are waiting for you to play in Media Center, but there’s more. TV recorded by Media Center will be automatically copied to a Recorded TV share on your home server, where it’s accessible to any PC on the network, and ensures your Media Center doesn’t get glooped up with hours of video. Want to play back a programme? Go to Recorded TV and Media Center, and all of your TV is presented, as if it’s on the Media Center itself. But in truth, it’s tucked away safely on your home server and will stream with a button press.

You can check out how much storage is available on your home server at any time through a natty pie chart in Media Center, and manage which programmes to keep or delete in the usual way. But if you’re on the move a lot, you’ll really love the combo’s final trick – record TV on Media Center in high or standard definition, and as well as syncing the recording with your home server, you can automatically create compressed copies of your TV programmes at lower resolution for use on a Zune HD or other mobile device. So you’ll have two copies of your TV programmes on the home server – one for watching back on the big screen, and a second that’ll look great on your mobile device.

Check out this walkthrough on the Windows Home Server team blog to find out how it all works, and if you’re looking for a cool project for the weekend, setting up the almighty Windows Media Center + Windows Home Server + Zune combo is one to try.

It also includes 5 hot-swappable hard disk drives with capacities up to 10 TB (you can order it with either five 1 TB drives or five 2 TB drives). And it’s scalable with USB and eSATA connections. The server runs Windows Home Server as its OS and uses Intel’s D410 single-core processor running at 1.6 GHz. Prices start at $1,199.99 (€1,239 in Europe) for the 5 TB option.

Engadget says the new server offers “vaguely HAL 9000esque styling” like all the other LaCie 5big devices…which really just makes it that much cooler.

(via WeGotServed)

The top four things that are new in Vail are an extended ability to stream media outside the home/home office, multi-PC backup and restore, simplified setup and user experience, and expanded development and customization tools.

However, the most important new “feature” is the fact that Vail is only going to be a 64-bit OS. No 32-bit version will be released.

To run the beta, you’ll need a 64-bit system with a 1.4 GHz x64 processor, 1 GB RAM, and at least one160 GB hard drive.

To see a demo of Vail in action, check out the YouTube video here.

The program airs nationally on both the WE and TLC networks. Other local markets will air the show, too, starting April 9th. The full schedule is available here on the WHS blog. 

In addition to the extra storage, MediaSmart owners can watch the recorded shows on either a PC, Mac or TV by way of the Home Server’s remote streaming option.   

With the Libraries integration, WHS users can install the WHS Connector on computers running Windows 7 in order to access the server’s shared folders from within their Libraries, just like how other network shares can also be added to a particular Library.

Other changes include the addition of Windows Search 4, a TV archive, and a console view which you can read more about in the full list of updates available here. 

Windows Home Server users won’t have to do anything special to receive the update assuming they already have Automatic Updates turned on. If so, the update will be installed automatically. 

• Image based backup (as opposed to file-based backup)
• Automatic integration of your Windows Home Server into your Windows 7 libraries for quick access to all your media.
• Windows Search 4 has been implemented for faster search and indexing times.
• Better support for Home Server on netbooks with low resolution screens. 
• Further support for Media Center to access media content on your Home Server.  This gives you a menu item in your Media Center to connect to your Home Server.
• The ability to archive your TV recordings to your Home Server - in various resolutions. Ability to save specifically for Media CEnter playback, Windows Mobile phone playback, and the Zune player.
• A quick view that allows you to see the amount of storage on your Home Server, drives, shared folders and other stats and health info.

Donavon recommends that you create a separate account just for your Windows Home Server so as not to confuse your followers with these automated messages. 

For installation instructions including screenshots, check out this blog post. You can download the WHSTweet add-in here.

The System Builder SKU for WHS is a great version of the OS for do-it-yourselfers who want to pick out their own hardware and build their own devices.

A WHS box gives you the power of of Windows Server but with all the functions you would need in a home environment. On the WHS platform you can centralize your home network’s frequently accessed data like photos, videos, and music, while also backing up your multiple machines. The data stored on a WHS can also be accessed outside the network, thanks to the built-in web server functionality that lets you access your files from a web interface.

If you’ve been thinking about installing WHS on one of your home machines, now is a great time to buy. 

The SQUASH server also offers near-silent operation thanks to its fanless CPU cooling system. A 1.66 GHz Intel Atom 330 Dual Core CPU keeps the power consumption low which saves you money while conserving energy.

There are two different variations on this server – the SQA-5H-1000 and the SQA-5H-2000. The 1000 is the entry-level unit featuring 1 GB RAM and a 500 GB HDD. The 200 has 2 GB of RAM and a 1 TB HDD. Because Tranquil is a UK-based shop, prices are in pounds, not dollars. The 1000 unit is £399.00 and the 2000 unit is £499.00.

The server comes in both black and white and is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Units will begin shipping on November 6th.