{"id":4034,"date":"2012-09-24T08:52:47","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T08:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noi3.org\/site\/?p=4034"},"modified":"2012-09-24T08:52:47","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T08:52:47","slug":"replace-windows-home-server-with-these-great-free-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/?p=4034","title":{"rendered":"Replace Windows Home Server With These Great Free Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"\"Microsoft has been implementing big changes lately, and none of them are sitting too well with me<\/a>. If you’re as jaded as I am about the $50 Windows Home Server<\/em> being killed off – replaced by the $450 Windows Server Essentials<\/em> – then fear not; you can get pretty much all the same functionality from these awesome free tools, and not give Microsoft a penny in the process.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\tMicrosoft has been implementing big changes lately, and none of them are sitting too well with me<\/a>. If you’re as jaded as I am about the $50 Windows Home Server<\/em> being killed off – replaced by the $450 Windows Server Essentials<\/em> – then fear not; you can get pretty much all the same functionality from these awesome free tools, and not give Microsoft a penny in the process.<\/p>\n

\tFirst off, let’s establish what Windows Home Server was awesome at:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \t\tBackups; automated system backups. I’m not sure we can acheive quite the same level of OS integration, but we can certainly get close.<\/li>\n
  2. \t\tMedia streaming and file server; a rock solid file server that’s going to give you OS-independant DLNA media streaming to devices and computers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \tI’m going to assume these are the main functions you’re after, though I’m sure there were more features.<\/p>\n

    \tSo, what can you use instead?<\/p>\n

    \tBackup<\/h2>\n

    \tCrashPlan<\/a><\/h3>\n

    \tCrashPlan is a paid cloud backup service, but they also have a free cross-platform app to manage backups, which you can use to setup a remote, personal backup system. Basically, you install the app and allocate a portion of your local drive; then on a separate machine, you install the app again, and tell it to backup to the first machine. You can use this for your own machines; or you can set up a buddy system with some friends, whereby you each backup to each other. Which is really pretty awesome when you think about it: read Matt’s full tutorial here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \t <\/div>\n

    \t\"windows{{all}}<\/p>\n

    \tWindows 7 native system imaging<\/h2>\n

    \tIf you’re running anything other than the Home<\/em> edition, Windows 7 actually already has a system imaging function built in; you can store these images on a network drive as long as it’s formatted with NTFS, then use this image to fully restore a broken machine later. It’s not quite as slick as the backup and restore that you get with WHS, but it’s the closest you’re going to get (for free).<\/p>\n

    \tDownload Tina’s free guide on Backup and Restore: Stuff Happens<\/a>, for a complete walkthrough.<\/p>\n

    \tMedia Streaming<\/h2>\n

    \tPlex<\/a><\/h3>\n

    \tPlex is still my favourite media streaming server and app; I’ve written about it before, but let’s go over the basic features that makes Plex one big bundle of awesome:<\/p>\n