Windows Home Server


Windows Home Server prototype
Originally uploaded by ckindel.
I am writing this from the Windows Home Server blogger’s lounge in the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Bill Gates just finished up his CES 2007 keynote where the product I have been slaving over for the last 3 years was finally formally announced to the world!

I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am that the word is finally out. Microsoft is not known for keeping secrets and I’m very gratified of the great job my fellow Microsoft employees did in keeping it confidential.

But now we can yap about it all we want!

For official information about the product go check www.stopdigitalamnesia.com . I think you’ll find that site both funny and informational.

For a great overview of the product with a demo, watch CJ Saretto’s video interview on www.on10.net.

I recorded a Channel 9 video that should be going live any time now.

Now that the sheild of secrecy has been lifted I will be posting much more regularly on my blog here about the product, our technology, and our progress.

The photo you see in this post was taken today in the blogger’s lounge (with my Windows Mobile phone; hence the picture quality). This is a Windows Home Server Prototype that we built to explore innovative hardware design. I put my hand in the shot so you could get an idea of just how big (small) this particular device is. This prototype uses 2.5″ hard disks and thus has less storage expansion capability than the HP MediaSmart product will, but it was built to show another perspective of what a Windows Home Server could be.

14 comments


  1. http:// says:

    Hey Charlie, you might want to fix your link to http://www.stopdigitalamnesia.com here.

  2. bill staples says:

    looks very cool! from what i can tell it looks like it has IIS in it as it allows remote access via the web. does this mean I can run real web sites on my home server too? 🙂

  3. Jon says:

    Charlie, I have a question about Windows Home Server that I doubt I’m going to see answered officially anywhere else. Is it going to feature a functional version of IIS? I’m running a Windows 2003 Server out of my home that I would much rather have running this new Home Server software, but I run a number of small web sites and loathe Apache. Can you give me the scoop on this?

  4. monkeyleader says:

    So what does this mean for Media Center, is that a dead duck? Also I like the fact you are looking at hardware design. Not all of us will store this in a closet but rather in an AV rack so it needs to look compact and sexy to pass the wife test 🙂

    Nige

  5. http:// says:

    Great job to Charlie and the team on Home Server! You know how important this product is going to be. Get it out there!

  6. Love the idea.

    What’s its compatibility? Macs, Linux, older versions of Windows??

  7. Very cool!

  8. Karl G says:

    Besides the green glow and single-file-on-multiple-machines, what’s it got that Infrant’s NAS machines don’t?

  9. http:// says:

    So what will it take to beta test this? I have been wishing for this product for ages!

  10. http:// says:

    Charlie,

    For us UberGeeks that run a domain in our home, will Home Server be able to function in that environment? Will it be able to be part of the domain?

    Just wondering…

  11. http:// says:

    Here is a Webserver that works from any computer…

    http://www.purplenova.com/products.html

  12. Great work, I look forward to learning about it. it must have been hard to keep a secret for so long. it must feel nice to be able to talk about it.

  13. 服装批发 says:

    Already some days it happened, but please have a look at announcement of the Windows Home Server . Lots

  14. 机票 says:

    Found a couple of links from Charlie Kindel.  My understanding so far is he "owns" Windows Home…

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