Stay Away from Home Server Day Care

Joe Wilcox News Commentary. Microsoft's clever marketing touts the "Stay-At-Home Server." But what if the children—eh, files—disappear under its care?

That question has lingered since December, when Microsoft acknowledged that Windows Home Server will sometimes delete files. Yesterday, Microsoft updated a support document with more details about the malcontent behavior.

Forgive my asking, but isn't a server supposed to protect data rather than abuse it? The problem isn't getting resolved soon. An unattributed Windows Home Server blog post yesterday stated that: "Our current plan is to release beta test versions of a fix over the next few months, with a final version currently estimated for June 2008, although that date could change as testing progresses."

June? Assuming the fix really comes that late, Microsoft would have taken 11 months from Windows Home Server's release to manufacturing to correct a major flaw. To be clear: Complaints about file corruption started before RTM code shipped on retail products released in November.

File corruption problems even caught some Microsoft employees. In a pointed, January blog post, Microsoft technical evangelist Volker Will flamed:

"No longer in my home! Last week I lost about 180GB of files because Home Server failed to read its data from perfectly intact USB drives and/or from the local hard disk's D:\ drive ... I did not give up and assumed it was a hardware fault or my mistake. Reinstalled on complete different hardware, buying a 1TB USB drive, duplicating all shares, happy camper. Until tonight ... coming home from work, again all Windows Home Server icons in the client PC tray areas are red. WTF."

When the people paid to evangelize products diss them, something is grossly wrong.

Particularly for a product opening up a new category, it's unacceptable for there to be a problem with core functionality and for a fix to be so long coming.

The problem is fundamental in several ways. Data corruption or deletion occurs "when certain programs are used to edit or transfer files that are stored on a Windows Home Server-based computer that has more than one hard drive," according to the Microsoft support document. So, the problems are with file copying and data storage—both fundamental features—and occurring in the likeliest of scenarios: Multiple hard drives. Surely Microsoft must have known that the earliest adopters would be enthusiasts?

Nine programs are associated with the data problems, seven of them from Microsoft.

Maybe it's coincidence—or maybe not. Windows Server and Windows Vista share common code legacy. Windows Vista is notorious for file copying problems, mostly about performance, and Windows Home Server has a copying bug that corrupts or deletes data.

Based on interviews with Microsoft product managers, early Home Server adopters fall into three basic categories:

• Computer enthusiasts
• Home-based or very small businesses
• Medium businesses and enterprises

The last category is perhaps the most surprising. According to Microsoft, some channel partners deploy Windows Home Server for executive backup. Oh yeah, those businesses are just going to love the CEO's data being deleted on his or her stay-at-home server. For small businesses, data corruption or deletion could mean lost customers, disruption to payroll or deleted sales leads—at the least!

My advice: Windows Home Server may be built on Windows Server 2003, but the "home" means something. The software shouldn't be deployed by any business, even sole proprietorships, until the bug is definitively fixed.

"Microsoft is aware of only a very small percentage of users who have confirmed instances of this issue and believes that most users are unlikely to be affected," according to the support document. But Microsoft awareness doesn't mean that only a small number of systems are affected. More importantly, if that small number is you—and your small business is ruined or your channel partner relationship with a client is shattered—one is enough. I wouldn't recommend that anyone use Windows Home Server right now.

This is another huge Microsoft black eye. It is largely obscured by the small number of users, but it shouldn't be ignored. Enterprises should seek absolute assurances from Microsoft that no such problem could affect Windows Server 2008. Should your enterprise wait on Windows Server 2008 deployments because of the Windows Home Server file bug? Why don't you tell everyone in the comments.

Related Posts:

• CES 2008's Big Thing Is a Little Book, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 9, 2008
• Windows Server Finally Comes Home, Microsoft Watch, Nov. 5, 2007
• Windows Home Server Is Golden, Microsoft Watch, July 16, 2007
• One Plus One Equals Two Care, Microsoft Watch, July 11, 2007
• Windows Home Server Is Almost Home, Microsoft Watch, June 12, 2007
• What's What with Windows Home Server?, Microsoft Watch Podcast, May, 15, 2007
• Windows Server Is Coming Home, Microsoft Watch, May 15, 2007
• Windows Home Server Reaches Beta 2, Microsoft Watch, Feb. 13, 2007
• Live from CES, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 8, 20007
• Windows Home Server Predictions, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 8, 2007
• Microsoft Connects the Den and Living Room, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 7, 2007
• The Ghost of CES Future, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 3, 2007