I've been wanting to setup a Windows Home Server for a while but didn't want to shell out the $80-100 for WHSv1. Now the VAIL beta is out and Microsoft is offering free beta testing so I decided to give it a go!

I didn't have an extra computer to convert to a home server so after a bit of looking I bought this PC off of Craigslist:
Compaq
Pentium 4 521 2.8GHz Single Core 64-bit CPU
2GB DDR2 800 RAM
40GB HD

Got it for $50, after purchasing it I upgraded the network card to Gigabit LAN and installed a WD 1TB Green 32MB cache SATA 3 hard drive.

Setup with VAIL was quite easy and after installed, everything was good to go! I set up all the computers in my home in the server via the new WHS Dashboard. Everything you need to do can be configured from any PC on the network. So far the server has been running great and I have all 4 computers backed up now.

I am also very impressed with my step up to Gigabit LAN, I am averaging 69MB/s between the server and my PC. I just transfer a 800MB file in 11 seconds.

Anyone else BETA testing VAIL? Also what hardware are you running?

Sounds like an awesome idea!

I may look into this in the future. I need a large data center/server for house. And by large, I mean storage size, not processing power.

Does VAIL automatically duplicate your data (RAID1) like WHS? Because I am not a fan of having duplicate data on my server knowing how many TB of data I'll have to be storing.

asnorton44 wrote:I am also very impressed with my step up to Gigabit LAN, I am averaging 69MB/s between the server and my PC. I just transfer a 800MB file in 11 seconds.

Crap, at that rate it'd take me 5.9hrs to back up my computer.

does windows home server have active directory or is it pretty much networked like a workgroup?

i dont have the time and am not really in to computers enough to learn umbuntu server that im currently using and might give this a try.

is the is the download like a trial or permanent?

As far as I know you can use the program until VAIL goes retail, undetermined at this time I believe.

Its networked like a workgroup, if I click SERVER on the workgroup computers it will pull up all the shared folders.

You can also set it up so you can access your server and computers from anywhere via internet: