I have always associated servers with IT people (who are always very helpful when the printer gets jammed and the network goes down and emails don't get sent). But this news is music to my ears - Microsoft is venturing into digital shoeboxes that could take the place of, well, shoeboxes for receipts, important documents, CD music, and other stuff that are irreplaceable and important..
Microsoft (MSFT) believes the time is ripe for consumers to behave like businesses and turn the job of storing, distributing, and safeguarding data over to a server, a specialized computer designed for those tasks. Windows Home Server is a software package based on the enterprise-grade Windows Server 2003 operating system but with a friendly face that makes it easy to use, even for consumers with no technical background.
Home Server software is available only as part of a new hardware package, such as Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) Media-Smart Home Server, which comes in two sizes: $560 after rebate for a 500-gigabyte version, and $710 for 1 terabyte.
It surely is going down my Christmas wish list. I have two laptops at home - one that runs on Windows and another that runs on Mac. Windows is for my office stuff that I have to bring home - fast RAM but low on hard-disk memory, which is good for statistical calculations and simulations.
And the Mac is for the photos and for the music - and all the other documents that I deem it necessary to be stored digitally.
Not to mention my 1terabyte external back-up drive which I use on both Mac and Windows.
A server would probably do me good at home. Not just for sharing folders, but also for storing and backing up all the stuff that I accumulate in my two computers. Not to mention a singular protection against hackers (again, I am assuming that a server does indeed do that!).
Anyway, I am still hesitating because of two things:
1. I am no techie. I have no IT background. If it grounds to a halt, I know for sure that I am going to tear my hair out.
2. The price still is a bit steep. What would be interesting is if say apartment neighbors could share one server. In my floor, there are only four of us there. And all four of us are connected to the Net via wireless LAN. (I see their WLANs registering on mine always.) Wouldn't it be great to have one server - with sections/partitions - that are specifically for each one of us?
Oh well. I guess, I just have to wait for this.
