A few weeks ago, I received the Windows Home Server HP MediaSmart Server EX475 and had the time to use it. It is now actually running in an office as a backup server.
My first impression of Windows Home Server was positive, until I actually get into the system a little bit more. Three things immediately came to mind:
- How in the world can I rename the Windows Home Server? I can’t find it anywhere.
- How in the asdf can I assign the workgroup for the home server? There’s no option for this either.
- Most importantly, there’s no way to configure the RAID. This worries me because it seems to be set at RAID 0. YIKES! Then comes the article from AnandTech about possible data corruptions (http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=413).
Of course, there has been some murmur in Microsoft camp. According to Knowledge Base #946676, data corruption may occur, and Microsoft is taking their sweet time. They expect to release the bug-fix sometimes in June 2008.
I am now backing up the content of the Windows Home Server to another “server” in that office.
Windows Home Server still needs a lot of work.