Windows Server Is Coming Home

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates previewed Windows Home Server—as he did during the Consumer Electronics Show in January—and discussed potential user benefits. Microsoft unveiled the software, which is based on Windows Server 2003 R2, at CES. The server software is geared for the consumer market.

For a more first-hand take, please listen to our podcast with Steven VanRoekel, director of Microsoft's Windows Server Solutions Group.

Quick recap on today's news: Acer, LaCie and Medion will join HP as Microsoft partners shipping products using the Windows Home Server software. The list of new partners is surprising, as none are traditional server manufacturers. Their embrace of Windows Home Server says much about the software's potential for hybrid server-storage devices.

Microsoft also will offer Windows Home Server to system builders. As was the case with Windows XP Media Center Edition, Home Server will only be distributed by OEMs or through the system builder channel; consumers will not be able to buy retail copies of the software.

Software partners for Windows Home Server include Diskeeper and SageTV. Microsoft also announced the Code2Fame contest, which offers prizes for new hardware or software supporting Windows Home Server.

The question looming over Windows Home Server is who would want it? Consumers are skittish enough about complex technology—and all the connotations around servers point to big companies with large IT management staffs. Additionally, some analyst studies indicate that most consumers drop the content where they create it, rather than backing up or moving to a central storage device.

Microsoft's clever Stop Digital Amnesia Web site seeks to emphasize the importance of backing up content.

Microsoft has tried to remove some of the complexity, by automating some processes. For Windows PCs, the consumer creates a disk during server software setup that sets up an automated process for backup and synchronization to the server. Capabilities include discreet backup and backup with versioning. If, say, the same photo is on two computers, the software backs up the one most recently changed. Versioning backup is a nice workaround for consumers that won't bother with saving content to a central store. Home server also backs up only changed bits, to minimize networking and computing overhead.

The automated backup process will work with Windows Live OneCare. VanRoekel said that there would be OneCare support for Home Server backup when the software is released. Microsoft expects Windows Home Servers to be available in the autumn.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft will provide search utilities, which will offer some extra benefits for Windows Vista users. The indexed content will be available right from the Vista search box.

Microsoft will provide consumers with a Web address off the Windows Home Server domain for remote access to their storage content and even desktop applications. However, the facility requires that the router connecting to the Internet supports UPnP (Universal Plug and Play).

Last week, I asked VanRoekel about the appeal to smaller businesses. The majority of businesses in the United States are sole proprietorships and most of the rest employ fewer than five people. The easy networking, backup and, more importantly, remote access seems like it would have great appeal to very small businesses—operations that might never invest in Windows Small Business Server. I hear from small businesses and solution providers that remote access is one of Small Business Server's most popular features.

If the Home Server team is really forward thinking, there will be future support for Live services—more than what is planned for Xbox and Windows Media Connect devices. Microsoft should let Office Live or Windows Live customers store some information in the cloud but keep some on their Home Servers.

The storage devices would be natural for streaming music or recorded TV shows to mobile phones or notebooks outside the home, too.

Related Posts:

• Windows Home Server Reaches Beta 2, Microsoft Watch, Feb. 13, 2007
• Live from CES, Microsoft Watch, January 8, 20007
• Windows Home Server Predictions, Microsoft Watch, January 8, 2007
• Microsoft Connects the Den and Living Room, Microsoft Watch, January 7, 2007
• The Ghost of CES Future, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 3, 2006