Access your files from anywhere

We’ve all been there – you’ve just arrived in work when you realise the crucial file you were working on at the weekend is still sitting on your hard drive at home.

Or, after giving up your weekend, you lost the file when the power went because backing up your PC had always seemed too longwinded and complicated.

There’s a solution to both these problems – and more – in the shape of the new Windows Home Server. You’ll be forgiven for not having heard of Windows Home Server – its release didn’t come with much of a fanfare – but believe us when we say it’s still big news.

With the average home having two, usually networked, computers, it’s set to transform the way you interact with your PC.

Simplicity server

The beauty of Windows Home Server is the simplicity. The very mention of a server can fill the average home user with dread, conjuring up images of vast rooms filled with flashing lights and computers the size of filing cabinets. However, this breed of home server lives in a tiny case, and is designed to be as inconspicuous as it is functional.

As we rely more and more on our PCs to store family photos and music collections, backing up is an essential part of home computing. Not making a copy of your files has gone from a lack of responsibility to plain idiocy, and the thought of losing an entire lifetime of photos and memories, in as much time as it takes a hard drive to corrupt, is unthinkable.

An interesting development in Windows Home Server is that it’s designed to run without a monitor, so you don’t need to interact with the operating system at all.

Running a computer using a brand new version of Windows without a keyboard or monitor may sound confusing, but with Windows Home Server you never need to see the operating system in action.

To use the server, just plug the unit into your router and install the connector CD on your existing computers. Then everyone on the network can log into Windows Home Server to access files as a collective, rather than having holiday pics on one PC, half your music on another and access issues on both.

The Windows Home Server enables you to become the network administrator for your home, without having to know anything about networking. Previously complicated tasks, such as creating user accounts and setting access rights to files, are easy and all the options are available at the click of a button.

Windows Home Server is also an always-on system, designed to run things like Backup while you are asleep and your system is idle.

Unlike other Microsoft operating systems, Windows Home Server has been released to manufacturers to be installed on pre-built systems only, so you won’t be able to install it on your old machine.

The first unit loaded with Windows Home Server to hit the shelves is from UK company Tranquil PC. It prides itself on green computing, and have produced a home server that requires less than 22W at full stretch and only 4W when idle (about 97 per cent of the time).

Thanks to a lack of fans, the Tranquil also runs silently. Heat is dissipated by pipes, which are capable of cooling a 35W consumption.

Big name offerings from HP, Fujitsu- Siemens, Sony and Medion are due for release soon, too. Each comes with 500GB as standard, but is capable of up to 5TB of storage with the addition of extra hard drives.

These home servers are due for release in the next month or so and will be priced at around £400, making them seriously viable alternatives to 500GB external hard drives, which only offer a fraction of the functionality.

Access your files from anywhere