Microsoft Serves Up Home Server

Microsoft’s new Windows Home Server could make life a lot easier for home networks.

How many computers do you have in your house? Three? Four? They’re networked together, but each contains different things. Microsoft has the answer toyour problems.   On Monday it unveiled Windows Home Server software, which will be used indevices hitting the market this fall.   How does it work? With a number of networked computers at home, a server can make it much easier to locate, store and backup files from all the machines.If the server is hooked up to the Internet, those files can even be accessed remotely, and backups performed automatically.   Microsoft has come to an agreement with six different vendors, allof whom are interested in building home servers that incorporate Windows Home Server (WHS) software. The software, which has been in development for several years, has already been beta-tested andwell-received.   The more technologically adept can even set up their own home server. All it takes is WHS software – which the company plans to retail – along with a dedicated PCrunning a 1 GHz or faster processor with 512 MB of RAM, an Ethernet port, a DVD-ROM and a video card.   It’s expected that developers and vendors will produce plenty of add-ins for homeservers. Microsoft’s general manager for the WHS project, Charlie Kindel, announced the product release in a blog posting, adding,   “This has been an exciting and rewarding journeyfor me and the team. For me, it’s been a labor of love for over 8 years.”