FleurDeLis425 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I am curious as to how many people are using Windows 8 as a home server rather than WHS2011 or WSE2012. I have seen articles on line about doing this. I am planning a new build and I would like to stay away from WHS2011 and WSE2012 seems a bit overkill for me. Especially since I have a mix of OS's (Mac, Linux, and various Windows versions), some of which are already on a domain. I know there is a way around it, but it all just seems like a hack. Additionally, Windows 8 is appealing because it comes with Hyper-V, something I would need to spend $800 on to get with WS2012. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Borges Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I switched from WHS 2011 to Windows 8 back in January and haven't looked back Pretty straight forward. I am using stabilebits drivepool to host my shared storage. Sharing via homegroup folders is easy Using a combination of Crashplan + and Acronis for backup, including "bare metal " backup Reduced the PC count in the house by 1 and get full backup support Across the entire homegroup Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 How do you find the BMR capabilities compared to WHS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awraynor Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 I have the book from our friend Terry Walsh at WGS which may give a few more tips. You do a few things differently, but it sounds like a viable option for sure. http://store.wegotserved.com/collections/frontpage/products/building-a-windows-8-home-server-step-by-step Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Borges Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Ikon - I assume BMR means "Bare Metal Recovery" Works fine. I tested both Acronis 13 and the built in utility in windows 8. Acronis builds a "recovery" usb image for you. I keep the recovery images on a USB drive. hooked it up, and booted off the recovery stick. for the test, I restored to a spare drive An advantage of WHS is that the recovery process "discovers" the server thru the network and you then can access the backup images directly. For Acronis and other methods, the images are offline. This points to a key piece of advice , regardless of how you choose to do backups. Test it every which way !!. when you create a backup set - Make sure you can recover your files individually from the complete archive Test the bare metal recovery process Burn/Archive the recovery tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 But from an initial cost standpoint, WHS is the better bargain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awraynor Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 I agree about the cost for sure. And for some reason I was never able to get Acronis to work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oceang Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 I used to use Acronis as my main line defense. I then used WHS2011 and now W2012 R2 with Essentials Role. However, I always like to have a second string and still maintain and test my Acronis restores as well. They all work, but WHS and W2012 are more convenient and as pointed out above, WHS2011 is the most cost effective. I really like the BMR on W2012 R2 which doesn't even require a boot from a USB. Just connect via wired LAN and boot from the network and it all happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Borges Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 We are fortunate to have multiple options for homeserver /backup today. WHS 2011 is cost effective only if you don't consider the costs of maintaining a separate machine just to have a dedicated home server. Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 It doesn't have to be a separate, dedicated machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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