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Is Windows Home Server Doomed?

By Alexander Grundner | March 19th, 2008 Interest Level: SMOKING HOT


Iomega HomeCenter NixedGizmodo asked the question after Iomega announced that it was no longer going to pursue its plan of releasing a Windows Home Server product like HP’s MediaSmart Server (MSRP $749). Do you buy the explanation from Iomega that such a device is “prohibitively unprofitable” due to its cost being comparable to buying a new PC?

My 2-cents: Price might be part of the reason (though other consumer-based NAS servers run about the same price for comparable amounts of storage), but I think the lack of consumer confidence in regards to stability and reports of file corruption has put a black-eye on the platform from the get-go. I don’t think WHS will get much traction in the general consumer market until OEMs get close to Apple Time Capsule’s price point of $299 for 500GB ($499 for 1TB) of storage and have all the bugs worked out.

Sure, some might argue that these are two different products entirely (here’s a feature comparison), but from the consumer stand point of wanting a device that backs up their PCs important files and shares them over a network, they both fit the bill. WHS needs to get its core functionality right before they try to sell Windows users on all the other media center-centric whiz-bang features and third-party add-ins, IMHO.

For the record… I’d like to see Windows Home Server succeed. If I can offer a suggestion to Microsoft and their OEMs, I think they should consider offering a “lite” version of WHS as a backup appliance and a balls-out “premium” version that serves as a home’s digital media power center for those who want such a product.

After further thought… Question for the audience: It’s one thing that boutique OEMs offer WHS products online, but what are the chances that WHS as platform will succeed in the long-run with the general consumer market if vendors who supply big-box retailers storage and PC solutions don’t offer WHS products on store shelves or at popular e-commerce outlets? As I mentioned in the comments, HP is the only vendor who has worked with the retail chains to make any kind of impact for the platform – Iomega, possibly, would have been another if they followed through. (Kind of reminds me of the problem Linux on the Desktop has historically had.)

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Short URL: http://bit.ly/bwnT3Q [+]  Filed in: Digital Media Servers, Industry Buzz  
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Alexander Grundner is the Editor & Publisher of eHomeUpgrade. He has been following "Digital Home" developments since 2003. He's also a fan of cross-platform, open development software and industry standards related to media, networking, and the web. You can catch his daily tech musings on Twitter: @agrundner.
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  • Regarding WHS availability at Big Box stores. I went to Best Buy this week in San Carlos, CA (pretty much on the northern end of the Silicon Valley) and the sales guy told me that the HP MediaSmart Server is a product they don't normally stock, but... "it could be ordered." I thought that was pretty lame.

    To further back that info up, BestBuy.com clearly states that the HP MediaSmart Server is "Available Online Only."
  • Jeff Johnson
    WHS is suffering more from a lack of marketing than it is from a lack of features. Once I found out about it I purchased a HP MediaSmart Server and was blown away at how useful it is. I bought it for doing large-scale central sharing of video and pictures (which it does well) but the thing that it does incredibly well is the nightly backup of all of my computers. I retired 4 of those stand-alone USB drives along with their crappy software. WHS does a full backup followed by incrementals so that you can fully restore a failed computer from scratch, not just restore user files which is the strategy that most my stand-alone drives use. I could have saved money had I known about WHS before I bought those stand-alone drives. Big box retailers could help solve the invisibility of WHS by educating their employees and putting a nice WHS display right next to the pallet of stand-alone back-up drives that they sell.
  • I am aware of all those, Josh. That's what I meant about being "presently" disappointed since HP is the only company you can actually get a retail WHS product from today. If that's not right, please feel free to correct me and link us to where they are being sold.

    UPDATE: I did a little digging around... and, yup, some of the vendors Josh posted have actually rolled out WHS products for sale on their websites (not just previews). We Got Served has a running list available on WHS hardware:
    http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/whs-hardware/

    As of today:
    HP MediaSmart Server EX475 - Available: November 2007 [Retail]
    Norco DS-520G - Available: November 2007 [Online Only]
    Leo Computer Piranha Home Server - Available: February 2008 [Online Only]
    Tranquil PC T2-WHS-A3 Harmony Home Server - Available: December 2007 [Online Only]
    Tranquil PC T7-HSA Harmony Home Server - Available: September 2007 [Online Only]
  • Josh
    Clearly you have not kept up with WHS enough to be writing about it if you think HP is the only option out there. Maybe you should check out the dozens of other WHS offerings from the likes of Velocity Micro, Tranquil, Hush, Fujitsu Siemens, Norco, LEO Computer, ACE Computers, Advantec, PC Club, S1Digital (upcoming), Exceptional Innovation (upcoming), Medion, Hi-Grade, etc.
  • @Josh - The only thing doomed is Iomega, if it doesn't get bought out by EMC Corporation. The 28 year old company (NYSE: IOM) is trading at $3.50 today. Windows Home Server... not so much. But the lack of other players in the WHS space, besides HP, is a bit of a disappointment presently.

    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfa...
  • Josh
    So your question is if windows home server is doomed because Iomega, a company who has not released any of value in six years, a company who has lost over 1/3 of their market cap over the past 5 years, a company who is about to get bought out is not going to build one?

    Ya, it's doomed.
  • Thomas
    I for one am tired of all the Microsoft haters and naysayers proclaiming their usual "doom" to various MS products. I was a beta tester of Windows Home Server for several months using an old HP box and bought an HP EX-475 when they became available. Since the production product has been available, our experience has been totally problem-free. The automatic back-ups happen every day without a second thought. The LAN streaming of everyone's iTunes music just happens, without a second thought. The remote access to our machines while on the road is painless. The various add-ins that I have installed from third parties have been useful and welcome. This is NOT a mere NAS -- it is what it is -- a home server that can restore an entire machine (OS, apps and files) in mere minutes. I say congratulations to both Microsoft and to HP! Great products!
  • Guest
    I think that MS should also be selling/pushing WHS as an OS only package as well as a hardware solution. I bought my OEM OS only copy from NewEgg, and put it on an older computer I had lying around. Since the idea behind WHS is that homes have more then one PC, it might stand to reason that there might be a derelict PC lying around that would be great for a WHS box.

    I know...the whole idea is to make cash for MS AND their partners like HP, but I love my WHS, and would be saddened to see it fall apart because all options weren't made known to the customer-base-at-large.
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