Microsoft just selected me as one of the beta testers for the Home Server software. I was going to use an older Dell Dimension, but I also have some pictures on it I want to save. Is there anyone at Dell who could give me a deal on a box with a raid and 2 GB of RAM? would like Dell to be in the running with HP on this. Who at Dell can I talk to? I don't need or want a gift, just a really sweet deal. I don't need monitor, keyboard or even an operating system.

I am about to give up on this idea. I can not find any "home server," I don't know who to alk to and Dell is not showing any interest.
Many of the machnes say "not for use in a residence."

I may just use what I have. But I wanted Dell to shine.

Sigh.

How do I get Dell to respond - does anyone read this?

N word from Dell. I guess I will use my older Dell and not try for a modern server. I still don't know anyone at Dell and never got any resonse to this idea. Why ask for ideas if you don't answer questions?

I am so not illusion. I thought that someone from Dell would give me an email link.

Sigh. I like Dell and want them to have success. I made my career as a library computer person buying Dell.

Now they will not answer me.

You should see the correspondence when I sent email. They told me how to get a rebate. I said "Sell me a computer" They said (nothing).

Just try to sell me a computer.

That will do nicely.

Gary Masters

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Subject: Re: Dell Support Request: Other Question not listed #kptx# (KMM2536578I4735L0KM)

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This section may get ideas for Dell and I hope so. But my effort to get a new Dell and test it for the Microsoft Home Server (HP is fully on board with this) has failed. Not only could I not generate any interest from Dell, I can not even get their home office division to talk with me. And many of the server machines are mareked with a notice "not for use in a home." Hello! This section may be a good idea, but its performance really is not performing. Nada. Zip. DOA.

FROM http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/07/16/ship-it.aspx< We did it. Today we are announcing that Windows Home Server has been released to manufacturing (RTM). We have finalized the software and now handing it off to our OEM partners. The evaluation version (with 120 day evaluation period) and the system builder version are also heading into the distribution channels and will be available in the next couple of months. French, German and Spanish versions will be finalized shortly, and OEM products will hit retail shelves this fall.

So why would Dell not talk to me about my beta test opportunity. I wanted to buy a Dell for that purpose and could never get a conversation going or even the name of anyone to call.

So I made no progress.

Cogratulations on releasing the product. I could have gone to another computer company - but I LIKE Dell.

Does Delll like me?

Still waiting for a contact point to Dell. Will anyone talk to me? Email address? Telephone number?

Dell Needs a Windows home server edition.

MS finally has done something right.

Its not for everyone, but neither is a XPS 720 h2o lol

Just a thought, but definitely check out the specs and capabilities of having one of these in your home, especially if you have more than two comps.

-EpiC

Features = Automatic backup of every computer on you network, Remote access, with vista ulitmate you can use the Windows Home Server (WHS) as a proxy along with your windows live account to control computers on your network remotely as well, Plug and play drives, smart data writing.

Also, you can utilize this with your xbox 360 as a media center too. Since this is a headless machine (no montior) you can stick it behind your entertainment center and never have to look at it.

MS has allowed third party programmers the ability to create apps for various media tasks. Hp has released its verion, HP smart server and other than it being an HP, its look and spec are very nice.

It runs off of the server 2003 platform but it is really easy to use and set up. Every review I have read said that there is ZERO troubling shooting for a common user.

Its not for everyone like I said, but for myself; 2 xps's, macbook pro, and another laptop, this machine would be ideal for me. If dell offered it tomorrow, i would buy one.

I will give dell 2 months to come out with their version, then I will just make my own.

my 2 cents

-EpIC

This is a dup of another thread I saw yesterday saying Dell needs a home server box.

Yeah, dell forum search didn't register it...so I created it, then saw it right after mine on the recent ideas tab...

Mine is better ;)

I thought Windows applications have now been sychronized to work with with Linux servers..is'nt it?.....;)

When i think of total integration, I think of

Xbox 360 - Video streaming/ Games/ HD dvds
Vista Ulitmate - Windows media center/ PC / DVR
Windows Home Sever - Backing everyhting up/ Remote access to everything

Syn all of this together, add your iphone and itunes to the WHS libaray and you got yourself a always connected, anywhere access digital life. Linux or not, everything syncs with each other on the MS end and it take little or no effort - I am excited

-EpiC

Hi Epi ...C...;)

Hey Petzy :)

You found my idea lol ;)

and don't judge me based on my wanting an MS machine ;)

This is Davmcn's style...calling .."Hey Petzy"....;~

Out do MS' and add exchange server already configured for outlook at a rock bottom price.

Home server is still better

I'd love a WHS. for homes it needs to be quiet & the feature set needs to be kept low to keep the base unit price down (sub AU$1000 / US$800)
sure have a more fully featured option in the range with other features like nas / tuner / etc

My thoughts exactly steve ;)

So I see three parts to Dell's Windows Home Server response;
a) the fully specced media centre with NAS, removable drives, option for tuner(s), multi-card readers (SD...) ~US$1500-2000
b) the basic box ~US$500-800
c) the upgrade option for your old pc ~$100 (http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/75748/Windows_Home_Server__Upgrade_your...)

I've used a home server for a dozen years; but no one makes the hardware that matches what I think would make an Ideal Home Server.

1. Very LOW power

My home-server is an always-on device (basically on 24/7 for the past decade or so) so electricity usage is an important factor. For both environmental reasons and for my own power bill, I want a Home Server to be as low power as possible. It should be using low-power embedded chips like the linksys wireless devices. It's an ARM CPU plenty powerful enough to run OS's capable of file sharing and yes, even streaming video to more powerful machines in my living room and home office. I use VLC to stream video from my Pentium II home server - and it barely uses the CPU (though not transcoding on the fly - but you can do that ahead of time if you need it).

2. No moving parts

No fans. No internal hard drives. Again, as an always-on device; I don't want moving parts that (a) cause heat, and (b) can fail. Stackable external hard drives (see below) would be much more convenient than having to open the home server to add or replace hard drives anyway. With the low power chips described above, it will not make much heat and not need cooling fans. For example, the Linksys appliences mentioned don't have fans. Over the life of my own home server one hard disk got replaced; but otherwise it works fine. If it had no internal drives it would have worked maintenance free for a decade.

3. Wireless enabled -

The last thing I need is another box in my living room or home office. I want my home server to use wireless (802.11g at least) so I don't need to run wires from my garage.

4. Use stackable external hard drives so I don't need to open it to add storage.

Ideally it could be of this form factor - so I could buy off-the-shelf external hard drives.
Using external hard drives instead of internal ones makes the home server easier to upgrade; and all it really needs is a few USB2 ports on the back.

5. A very stripped OS

Since this is a server, it certainly doesn't need a GUI, and whatever RAM it has should be used for serving. Windows uses more memory for it's background image than Linux needs to run. There's no excuse to put an OS with a GUI in a server box.

6. No Graphics chips whatsoever inside.

No, not even on the motherboard. That's one more chip that adds power; adds cost; and uses resources that has no place in a server. Again the Linksys appliances are a good example that you don't need one.

7. Low cost

My Pentium II computer does perfectly well streaming videos and files; and my linksys box is perfectly capable of running webservers, etc. There's no reason a home server should cost much more than a LinkSys wireless device or an old Pentium II machine off of Ebay.

8. Use an OS that doesn't get viruses.

It's pretty obvious what the good and bad choices are for this one.

9. Totally silent.

Again, a 24/7 on device in the home should be totally silent - no fan noise - no disks spinning when they're idle.

Basically - I think the perfect Home Server would be practically the exact functionality and electronics of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G (which, of course runs Linux just fine) plus a USB2 port for external storage, in the form factor of this http://www.123macmini.com/accessories/guide/images/ministack.jpg so I can stack already available external drives on it; and perhaps a little more memory.

But the main ideas:
1) Dell - please if you make a Home Server product - make it extremely low power like the Linksys appliances.
2) If you make a Home Server product - please make it have no moving parts for reliability.
3) If you make a Home Server product - make it use an OS that's relatively safe from viruses.

Very good idea!

I've seen the WRT54G series with a friend, it is a wonderful piece of equipment.

.chris:

What's the minimal system requirements for windows home server? Will it run on low power embedded chips? Will it run with no internal hard drives? Does it need antivirus crap because it uses an insecure OS? Does it waste memory on a GUI - which a server basically doesn't need? Does it - along with *all* the hardware - cost about $50 - which is what the linksys appliances cost?

The answers to all of those are good reasons why windows has no place on a home server (or any other server, for that matter).

What are the specs, chris? Is it just the software? Or does it come with the hardware? From the idea, jmx was indicating a hardware with a stripped-down OS.

@.chris:
http://techgage.com/article/windows_home_server_preview/

* Minimum Hardware Requirements Processor - 1GHz Pentium III or higher
* RAM - 512MB RAM
* Hard Drive - 80GB Internal Hard Drive
* CD/DVD - Any Bootable DVD-ROM Drive
* Network - 10/100 Network Interface Card

That's seems to be about 10X the electricity of the kinds of devices I proposed.

and from the same article...

If you don’t have a system available but want to use WHS, the hardware requirements aren’t strenuous, and a basic desktop machine can fit the bill. I configured a Dell Dimension E520, with a 2.8GHz Celeron, 160GB HD and 512MB of RAM at dell for around $480.

And apparently about 10X the price too.

hmmm. It just gives you what the Home server is about. So, you actually need a system to install it on, it only answers the OS part of jmxz's idea. But jmxz's idea is totally different. He's asking for a Hardware equipment.

@jmxz: yes, either ways it is 10x the power or 10x the price. So, the stripped down, quiet device is a very good idea.

Oh - and it gets even more absurd if you look at the "recommended requirements for WHS: http://www.krunker.com/2007/06/26/part-1-installing-windows-home-server-rc/

* Pentium 4, AMD x64, or newer processor - prefer 64 bit processor even though WHS is 32 bit for now
* 512MB of RAM
* At least two internal hard drives with 300GB of primary (system) hard drive space
* 100 Mbps or faster Ethernet

A Pentium 4 for serving files? The ARM chip in the LinkSys is far far more appropriate.

This is making me think jorge's recent "Windows causes Global Warming" posting was not a joke after all.

No, jmxz. From that article itself, it was quite clear that it wasn't a joke.

.chris:

* "1st off you need ram, or how will this run?"
16MB of ram is reasonable for appliances like this You can notice that the Linksys appliances I've been comparing it to come with 8 or 16MB. But 512MB of RAM for a similar Windows device? WTF? Are you intending to play first person shooter games on your home server?

* "hard drive?"
As stated in the Idea - it's better (more reliable; easier to upgrade) if they come with stackable external hard drives.

* "CD/DVd drive"
Now I think you're trolling. This is a server - not something you'll be interacting directly with. Transfer the data to it from your computer in your living room or home office.

* "network"
Agree - I said it should have a wireless network.

jmxz, don't feed the trolls.

hehehe, jorge!!!

For reference, Tivos also have 16, 32, or 64 MB of RAM -- and they're rendering all the video.

Point made, jmxz, I think?

Perhaps -- but no doubt Microsoft is sending lobbyists to Dell trying to tell them that you "need" whatever Windows Home Server's system requirements are.

If Dell people actually read these I was thinking all the supporting info available might be useful.

I'd love to hear Dell tell Microsoft "see, you don't need that much memory - because Cisco and Tivo can do it with less" and have Microsoft explain that Windows Home Server needs the memory for animated flying folders on the GUI when it's serving files.

LOL @needs memory for animated flying folders on the GUI...!!!

@jmxz: TiVo is the best example! Most owners of TiVo don't even know they're running Linux! TiVo tries to prevent its customers from messing with it but the amount of hackery that can be done fills more than several Windows Servers :D

@.chris: "Its a network hub. so it needs the memory for it"

Huh? Network hubs you buy from Cisco, etc have memory measured in single digits of MB - hundreds of times less than these Windows Home Server specs.
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/acs_fix/cis2500/2505/2...
"Primary memory (DRAM SIMMs) 1 MB (expandable to 4, 8, or 16 MB) "

@jorge:

I agree Tivo's a good example - but it's overkill for serving files and streaming media. The Tivo needs to do all sorts of complex CPU intensive stuff (mpeg decoding, etc). If Dell uses anything as a starting point I think those linux-based linksys appliances are better for an always-on device.

Servers do need a GUI! Like Windows Server. It has the Windows GUI. If you have no GUI you can do almost nothing.

Almost? If its a server it can do everything without a GUI! I can even serve X11 apps remotely that are GUI, it can run a GUI OS through VMWare as well, or many of them.

@winoffice: "Servers do need a GUI!"

ROTFL! That is perhaps the funniest thing I've ever read on the internet. The only server I can think of that needs a GUI is the X11 server. Almost by definition all other servers are accessed remotely and any GUI on them is doing more harm (by sapping resources and adding complexity which can contain security holes) than good.

seeing that HP have just realsed their own media Home server using windows Home server software. Is it not a good idea that Dell followed suit as well?

the proposed spec would be a intel core Duo processor running at 2.0GHZ, 1GB RAM, 2 x 500GB hard disks as well as slot for 4 others. VGA slot as well as a Gigabit Network card. 4 USB slots,1,eSATA port, addtional need as well to add an additional 2 SATA I or SATA II to an expansion slot and which requires no tools to fit the device.

windows home server? the operating system which corrupts data you save on it? do you work for microsoft?

The idea of Windows being used as a server just makes me cringe. Especially when thinking about the web connectivity HP insisted was included. All your stuff on a server that is open to the web with Microsoft's record on security? No thanks.

I would like dell to make a Windows home server.

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/reviews/whs_04.jpg

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default...

Dupe.

@chris: "why people are demoting this, they must not know what a home server is about."

I want Dell to sell a home server. This Idea is not suggesting a good home server. In my mind a Home Server should be:

1. LOW power

My home-server is an always-on device so electricity usage is an important factor. I want a Home Server to be using low-power embedded chips like the linksys wireless devices. It's an ARM CPU plenty powerful enough to run OS's capable of file sharing and yes, even streaming video to more powerful machines in my living room and home office.

2. No moving parts

No fans. No internal hard drives. Again, as an always-on device; I don't want moving parts that (a) cause heat, and (b) can fail.

3. Wireless enabled -

So I don't need to run wires from my garage where I have my server.

4. Use stackable external hard drives so I don't need to open it to add storage.

Ideally it could be of this form factor - so I could buy off-the-shelf external hard drives.


5. A very stripped OS

Since this is a server, it certainly doesn't need a GUI, and whatever RAM it has should be used for serving. Windows uses more memory for it's background image than Linux needs to run. There's no excuse to put an OS with a GUI in a server box.

6. No Graphics chips whatsoever inside.

No, not even on the motherboard. That's one more chip that adds power; adds cost; and uses resources that has no place in a server. Again the Linksys appliances are a good example that you don't need one.

Basically - I think the perfect Home Server would be the functionality of this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G
plus a USB2 port for external storage, in the form factor of
http://www.123macmini.com/accessories/guide/images/ministack.jpg
so I can stack already available external drives on it.

I do, I Promoted It!!!! SEEE!!!!!

Sorry whoever made this for those who demoted Make it more clear and you may get more votes.

I am sure they will come out with Home Server as soon as Microsoft ships final version of the OS

No Point Of Submitting Admins Are Gone.

hp is comeing out with Hp MediaSmart server , it Utilizes 64-bit processor technology from AMD

what about One feature Dell can add is solid state drive on dell home server

Not one more M$ Windows!

Yes, make a Dell Home Server based on Windows Home Server!

I have alot of home clients that need this server instead of running around to all their PCs with external drives.

Yes, make a Dell Home Server based on Windows Home Server!

I want one NOW!!!

Yep ,Dell are missing out on a potentially huge market. A decent server with space for 4+ hard disks . Something like a T105 in a bigger case would be ideal.

Dell should offer systems featuring the new "Windows Home Server" (WHS) OS that will be available this fall. I think the WHS will be an attractive option for many Windows users with multiple computers, and I'd like to buy mine from Dell (but will buy from HP or Gateway, if Dell doesn't offer any!).

The Windows Home Server will allow users of multiple PCs to do a whole bunch of things:
- store files centrally
- automatically back up files and system
- stream audio/video
- access files remotely via a web browser

Here's the Wikipedia article about WHS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Home_Server

Here's one review of the WHS beta release:
http://techgage.com/article/windows_home_server_preview/

Home Server can you explain a bit more thanks.

Added some more info on the Windows Home Server to my original post.

It Sounds Cool i have no sider's to this one or ones i can think of on spot.

What I'd want from a Home Server:

* Use a low power embedded CPU - like the Cisco/Linksys routers have; so it can be an environmentally friendly always-on appliance.

* 802.11g - so I don't need to run wires from it to my computer in the living room.

* A compact form factor not unlike a Mac Mini or the Linksys boxes mentioned above.

* The ability to add external storage like this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/10/20/external_storage_with_a_mac_design/
so I don't even need to open the box to add more disk space when I need it.

Basically - just add a USB2 port to the Linksys WRT54G. It's low enough power to be always-on. It's CPU already runs an OS with a web server, FTP server, etc; and is plenty powerful enough for file serving & even streaming video. All it needs is external storage devices.

Cool Idea Jmxz

Yeah. If only Cisco had an IdeaStorm of their own. I can't imagine how long it'd take Dell to do this considering how slow they are on easier Ideas (like No OS).

Yeah, Well all will come in good timing right.

It would probably be more useful if it was a linux system that ran Windows XP under VMware with user files on shares from the linux side. Then when it (inevitably) gets a virus it would be easy to reset the Windows install without a week of reinstalling users and software and such.

here is my request for the specs;
Quiet (less than 50dBA)
Energy Saver 4 compliant
10/100 Ethernet & 802.11n
Different versions; One basic with internal drive, & a more advanced version with up to 4 hot swap NAS drives
Child lock setting on power switch (if turned on, both power buttons on the front pressed simultaneously for 5 seconds to turn on or off)

i'd have thought the easy way to get a home server would be to buy a computer with ubuntu installed. it does come with sshd, ftpd, nis, dhcpd, ntpd, cupsd, smbd, mysqld, pgsqld, httpd (with php, perl, ruby, python...), nfsd... installable (in a configured state) at the press of a button.