Windows Home Server 2011 Computer - Model 1005 (one-year hardware warranty)

What can Windows Home Server 2011 do for you?

·         Restore your PC from a hardware failure including your boot hard drive.  Restore your valuable personal data, application programs, and even Windows.

·         Recover a file that was accidentally deleted.

·         Go back to an earlier version of a document that has been changed.

·         Organize your personal media collection of photos, music, and movies in one location.

·         Stream your photos, music, and movies to your PC’s or even to a TV.

·         Access all of your data remotely from anywhere you can get Internet connection with a PC or smart phone.

·         Like your smart phone or tablet, WHS 2011 supports specialty apps called Add-ins.

·         Also a perfect fit for small businesses with fewer than 10 users or 10 PC’s for PC backups and shared storage.

Custom configurations available.  Choose your AMD CPU, RAM size, and number and size of hard drives with RAID 1 or 5 or not.  If you already have a license for Windows Home Server 2011, I can provide the server fully configured so you can activate with your license.   If you have a price point, I will try to configure a server to match.  Post a question to this listing and I will respond with a custom quote.

If you want to learn more about my standard servers or discuss a custom version to fit your requirements, give me a call:  Larry +1-805-328-4178. 

Windows Home Server 2011 computer specifications:

·          You set your own server name and password unlike other builders who don't perform the setup process correctly.

·          CPU – AMD Athlon II X2 250 dual-core 3.0 GHz

·            RAM – 8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz

·          All 64 bit hardware required for Windows Home Server 2011

·          Gigabit Ethernet for fast data transfers

·          Power Supply  – Antec Basiq 430

·         Case  – Cooler Master Elite 371 (19.13” x 16.25” x 7.25”)

·          Quiet and efficient fans for optimum cooling

·          Includes installed and activated legal copy of Microsoft Windows Server 2011 with CoA  (Microsoft license limits sale to Canada and US)

·          All Microsoft updates installed

·         Builder is Microsoft Developers Network member and Windows Home Server 2011 beta tester.

·          Passmark Burnin test for 24 hours which extensively tests hard drive, memory, and network interface

·          Microsoft and motherboard discs included for server reinstall

·         AMD RAIDXpert RAID manager software installed and configured for Models with RAID

A photo above is of the inside of my Model 1005 which includes 6 hard drives.  As you can see from the photo, I take pride in a clean assembly.  I also use the same care and attention to detail during the software install, initial configuration, system testing, and burin-in.

Strategies for home computer data protection.

My wife and I regularly use three personal computers:  my wife’s desktop, my desktop, and my company laptop.  I assign value to the data stored on the hard drives of my computers into two categories – (1) data that can’t be replaced like family photos and (2) other data that could be a hassle and maybe expensive to restore, but it can be replaced.  

I also have an iPhone, iPod Touch, and an iPad which regularly get synced to my PC.  If I lose my iPhone or upgrade to a new model, I can restore all my data and apps.  Protecting those smart phone backups stored on my PC is part of my overall data protection strategy.

Window Home Server 2011 in concert with some additional tools provides a number of different backup resources:

·         Automatic PC Backup.  One of the most valuable features of Windows Home Server 2011 is its ability to automatically and completely backup up to ten of your family PC’s daily during the middle of the night.  This feature not only backs up all of your important data like photos and iPhone data but also creates a complete image of your PC hard drive.  If your PC hard drive were ever to fail, the only negative impact is to your wallet.  Purchase a new drive that is the same size or larger than the original and easily restore everything to the state of last night’s backup.  Also works to upgrade your primary hard drive to a larger one to gain storage capacity.

·         WHS 2011 Server Backup.  A software feature of WHS 2011 is the ability to copy some or all content from server storage to a backup device, e.g. an external USB drive.  You can create a copy of selected server contents including your personal files, PC backups, and even a “bare metal” full recovery in case a complete server restore is ever required.  In that unlikely event of a natural disaster, this external drive is the new technology version of the shoebox full of family photos which you can grab and run with.  Some 3 TB external USB drives won’t work as the external backup.

·         RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks).  As large hard drives at sizes of 2 TB and bigger become increasingly affordable by home computer users and as we collect more and more data, it is worth considering technology used by large corporations to protect their data.  All files on the server can be stored on multiple drives so that if one drive fails or has errors, the others continues to provide error free access.  If a drive fails, replace the failed hard drive and use AMD’s RAIDXpert RAID console to rebuild the new drive. 

·         Offsite.  Although the server data protection strategies above will allow you to recover your data in case a PC or server fails – they do not protect against loss due to fire or natural disaster.  Today, several companies provide unlimited backup storage offsite on their servers for a very affordable fee regardless of how much data you want to store.  The practical limitation is the relatively slow speed of our Internet uplink connections.  I use Carbonite to store my most valuable data including family photos that can’t be replaced.

Maybe I am paranoid, but I use a combination of all of these tools for my family computer data storage.  In my opinion, the most important of all of these is the automatic and complete backup of each PC.  My wife takes lots of digital photos which get downloaded from her camera to her computer.  Every day starting a midnight, WHS 2011 performs an Automatic PC Backup of all of our PC’s including hers.  I implemented Windows Home Server 2011 Server Backup because it has a feature that allows me to recover a file or document that may have changed over time.  I can look back at a version from a week ago or recover a document that I deleted or changed.   Windows Home Server 2011 Server Backup also will allow me to restore the server in case of a boot hard drive or other hardware failure.  Now that 2 TB hard drives are affordable, I also implement my storage using RAID.  In order to protect against that unlikely but still possible fire or natural disaster, I use Carbonite to automatically backup my irreplaceable personal files to an offsite backup service provider.

Planning Your Storage Capacity

The one question you need to answer is how much useable server storage capacity do I need?   My desktop PC running Windows 7 has quite a few programs installed but still uses less than 40 GB for program files and program data.  My server storage required for music that is in my wife’s or my playlists is less than 10 GB.   Similarly, my photos are not well organized so there are lots of duplicates but even then I only have 15 GB of pictures.  Documents and a few other random files take up another 10 GB or so.  So with storage for program files, program data, music, photos, and documents that totals less than 100 GB, why am I proposing a server with 6 TB of useable storage?  The answer is simple – video!  My movies average a little less than 2 GB each so my personal server with 6 TB of useable storage after PC backups, music, photos, and documents still has room for thousands of movies and TV shows. 

 Planning for the future is important.  While RAID storage is great for data security, adding more RAID protected storage capacity later is a bit tricky.  If you are thinking about RAID, it is better to start with more RAID capacity than you will need. 

Starter System

If all of this information has your head spinning,  this is your first home server, you only have two or three home PC’s, and you don’t have much video storage requirement, I recommend my Model 100 or 200 Server.  You can attach an external USB drive to perform daily backups of the complete server including Window Home Server 2011 operating system, your applications, and all of your valuable data. 

One-Year Limited Warranty – Using eBay standard policy, I will cheerfully refund your entire purchase price if a server is returned in good condition within 7 days.  However, you would be responsible for the return shipping and handling cost.  For one-year following the date of the original server purchase, I will repair or replace any server hardware component or the complete server which has failed under normal operation not due to abuse.  No additional warranty for the server is either expressed or implied  including any hardware or software component or your personal data stored on the server.  By purchasing the server, you agree to this limited warranty.  Support with setup and operation of your server is only an email away.