News
First Update for Windows Home Server Released
- By Keith Ward
- September 25, 2007
Windows Home Server (WHS), Microsoft's first-ever server for home use, gets its first update today.
WHS is designed to be an entry-level server for home users with multiple computers. It provides a central repository for documents, photos and other data, with centralized backup and management.
It's made to be simple to set up and operate.
WHS, first announced to the world last January, was released to manufacturing on July 16. There was no official "launch" of the product. Since WHS is available through system builders, it's up to the OEMs to determine when WHS servers will be commercially available.
As of today, there appear to be very few available.
None of the main system builders scheduled to have WHS products -- including Hewlett-Packard Co., Fujitsu-Siemens Computers, Gateway Inc., Iomega Corp., LaCie Ltd. and Medion AG -- have WHS available, and a buy.com search turned up no WHS servers for sale. Microsoft's own WHS Web site also has no listings yet for resellers of the servers. Tech support for system builders became available on Aug. 27, so it's apparent that product should be coming soon.
Microsoft's WHS
blog listed the updates to functionality:
- "A text message has been added to the "Windows Home Server
Update" step of the home server setup explicitly instructing users to
not reboot their home servers.
- The
installation of the Windows Home Server Connector software can fail due to
firewall software installed on a home computer. The Windows Home Server
Connector software and corresponding help files have been updated to
help further identify and troubleshoot issues with firewall software or
incorrect proxy server settings on home computers.
- Remote Access configuration steps and corresponding help files
have been enhanced to help a user better understand and troubleshoot
issues with their home network router/firewall and broadband provider's
offering.
- Based on feedback from our customers and
partners we have made changes to provide additional guidance on
creating user accounts and passwords on Windows Home Server. The User
Accounts tab in the Windows Home Server Console has been improved to provide additional information and user education about user accounts and passwords to first-time users of the product.
- Network
interruptions may occur in a home network environment because of some connectivity problems. This update enhances the backup technologies in Windows Home Server, helping customers backup a home computer if a network interruption occurs.
- The file system driver
installation required to mount a backup on a user's home computer
incorrectly reports that it requires a reboot to complete installation.
A text message has been added to the Opening Backup dialog to ignore
the reboot request.
- Our OEM hardware partners
pre-configure and pre-activate their offerings with a Windows Home
Server product key. In the initial release, users were asked to enter a
software product key, which was an unnecessary step. Customers who
purchase non-OEM built systems will still be required to enter their
software product key."
The update is available
through Windows Update, and the blog entry indicates that OEMs and distribution partners have gotten the update.