Setting up Windows Home Server

[Jaishree]

Hello everybody
what would be the best option for configuring a small server at home.which can Share file storage for other computers and Automated nightly backup of all the workstations and laptops
we had gigabyte Ethernet and the server would be located in a remote location and which can perform backups overnight.what you recommend Windows home server or general Windows XP with backup software and a standard RAID1 application.guys let me know your opinion also..

thanks for any suggestions as always

[Steve123]

In order to configure a server to control other PCs to give them Admin privileges, then whatever you do, they are going to find a way round it unless your knowledge is superior to theirs.You can set up a custom partition set up from the start to create the raid 1.If you feel you truly need windows you can setup xp pro with it's free nt backup utility if you don't mind the archives. turn on Automatic Updates that you most likely already have running on your other XP and Vista computers.

[Shen]

My SMALL server in home with configurations p4 2180 lan 4x1tb hdds which is in mirror array and only 570gb free space.I did not know home server much, but it does look like an interesting proposition. but i belive i can still increase it to 2 more hdds for future expansion, but currently am with a linux file server distro called SME server and am getting a decent transferring speed with that.

[Big Fish]

You know what the RAID is not depending up on the operating system,because it's working managed by the on board controller rather than the common method.you need to just put down the RAID configuration screen during boot and create the RAID prior to installing the the Operating System.With Windows XP will get a good automated backup utility I know Win XP has a basic one built in, and I could probably do something as simple as run scripts every night that copy all the files.