Windows Home Server is a great addition to many home networks.  Scott Lowe gives you a peek at his home network–based on WHS–and how he uses it. 

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Steven Warren has written a couple of times recently explaining how to get Windows Home Server cialis 20 mg dosage running under VMware and polling the TechRepublic crowd about their interest in Windows Home Server.  I’ve been running Windows Home Server for just under a year now and thought I’d take a little time to explain my setup in detail and explain why I use this product when I could also simply build a Linux server to do many of the things handled by WHS.

My setup

Late last year, I bought an HP MediaSmart EX470 Windows Home Server for a project I was working on.  Prior to buying the MediaSmart system, I had built a custom system with an evaluation copy of Windows Home Server provided by Microsoft, and gave it up in favor of the HP server.  The HP MediaSmart systems ship with a paltry 512MB of RAM, but, with a little know-how, it’s not all that hard to upgrade to 2GB of RAM, which is almost a must.  Frankly, HP will probably have to address the RAM issue at some point and give customers the option of easily expanding the RAM without voiding the warranty.    The EX470 ships with a single 500GB hard drive.  In order to enjoy the full benefit of Windows Home Server, you really need multiple hard drives.  Since installing my server, I’ve added three more 500GB drives for a total of 2TB capacity.  While that sounds like a ton of space, due to the way that WHS uses disk space, it’s actually less than it sounds like.  This is not meant to be a negative point… just fact.

The MediaSmart server includes a gigabit Ethernet port and I’ve connected it, as well as my two primary workstations, to a gigabit Ethernet switch.  I also use a wireless-N network at home to connect my wife’s Windows desktop computer and my MacBook to the network.  I run VMware Fusion on my MacBook so I can run Windows programs.

How I use WHS 

I save almost everything to my Windows Home Server.  I write a lot, so all of my work is stored there, as is my iTunes library, backups of my DVDs and a lot more.  All of the computers in my house are automatically backed up to my server, too.  I have personally used WHS’ client restoration capability to restore a client computer and it’s an absolutely fantastic and surprisingly easy to use procedure.

Although WHS Power Pack 1 now includes the ability to backup the Windows Home Server to an external hard drive, a feature that was missing from the OEM release, I’ve opted to use Windows Home Server Gold Plan ($199/year, but right now, $99/year special) to automatically back up mu Windows Home Server to KeepVault’s servers.  I’ve been using KeepVault for almost a year now and am very pleased. The only disadvantage to this method is that KeepVault won’t back up files that are larger than 5GB in size, but KeepVault provides unlimited storage space.  The only files I have that are larger than 5GB in size are generally ISO files and virtual machine images and, if I so desired, I could take steps to protect even these files.  However, for performance reasons, I don’t run my virtual machines from my server anyway, although I would give it a shot if WHS included a good way to handle iSCSI.

With the Power Pack 1 release, WHS is finally ready for prime time.  Prior to this release, WHS suffered from a serious data corruption bug which, unfortunately, I feel victim to.  The resulting damage was more of an annoyance as I had to work around it, but as I said, PP1 fixes this issue and adds some additional capability.

Windows Home Server includes very good remote access capability, too.  When I’m on the road for business, I don’t have to try to remember exactly which files I need to take with me.  If I forget something, I can just browse to my server and get the file.  Configuring this capability is a breeze, too, as long as you have a router that supports uPnP, which I do.  Otherwise, it would take manual router configuration, making WHS less than desirable for the average home user.

Could I have replicated this functionality with Linux, other open source products and some scripts?  Sure.  Would it have worked.  Well, probably not as seamlessly.  Even something like WHS is a tool for me and I’ve gotten to a point where I just need stuff to work so that I can focus on getting a job done.  My WHS system protects my files at two levels-locally in the event of a client failure, and remotely in the event of a server failure-and gives me an easy way to get to my information if necessary.

Although the market need is still somewhat questionable, WHS is aimed at users that lack the technical expertise to build computers from scratch or that want to focus on the end result of the product-a working, stable server.  For those that enjoy the thrill of building something from scratch, WHS is probably not for you.  For me, however, it’s a perfect complement to my clients and perfectly fits my work style.

While there are more advanced Web server configurations, many products require the IIS Web engine as a prerequisite. Here’s how to install a simple IIS Web server through a scripted role.

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You can usually add features through the Windows Server 2008 Server Manager snap-in via a script. In the case of IIS 7.0, there are many options available for the cialis 20 mg cost feature install.

One way to ensure a consistent configuration for applications that require IIS (e.g., SQL Server) is to use a scripted installation. For IIS, the package manager can install the features locally. To install a basic IIS configuration, run the following script:

The command provides little interaction and, by default, does not provide feedback of any type if an incorrect parameter is passed after the /iu parameter. Figure A shows IIS being added via the script.

Figure A

Once the scripted task completes after a minute or so, and the Window Server 2008 Server Manager snap-in performs its next refresh, the Web server is listed as a role on the system and is running. Figure B shows an updated Server Manager snap-in with this basic IIS role.

Figure B

Using this scripted install of IIS is a good way to ensure consistent server build configurations, and other Windows features can be automated through the package manager (pkgmgr). The package manager can also uninstall packages, which may be helpful for temporarily enabling a feature for a specified amount of time and for removing the feature from a scheduled task to ensure its decommissioning.

For more information on the package manager, read the TechNet article Package Manager Command-Line Options.

Copying Excel data to a different location can send your calculations into a tailspin.  Avoid problems by using Paste Special to copy values rather than formulas.

Suppose you have a worksheet with columns and rows chock full of calculations, running the gamut from Sum functions to If tests to vertical and horizontal lookups. The calculations are correct and your data is pristine. You save the worksheet.

Now you need to use a subset of that worksheet in another worksheet. If all you’re going to do is print the subset of columns or rows, you can simply hide those rows and columns, print what you need, and unhide the columns and rows later to restore the sheet to its normal state.

But if you’re going to e-mail a copy of the sheet to a coworker or a third party, you may not feel comfortable simply hiding certain rows and columns. You may want to delete them instead. The problem is, of course, if you start deleting rows and columns, you’re going to get error messages in the cells that depend on the cells you deleted.

The solution? First and foremost, save a copy of your pristine worksheet cialis 2.5mg under a new name. Just go to File | Save As and add “_work” to the end of the “real” name. Select the entire sheet and then copy it. Without moving the cursor, go to Edit | Paste Special. Now, select the Values option, as shown in Figure A, and click OK. When you do, Excel will replace all the formulas with the values they’re currently calculating and displaying. At that point, you can delete columns or rows and move cells around without generating a single error message.

Figure A

Note

If you use the Paste Special | Values option and the data you’re pasting contains calculated dates or numbers formatted as currency, the date calculations will be pasted as the Julian date value, and the currency will lose its dollar signs and commas. To preserve that kind of formatting when you convert calculations to literals, simply choose the Values And Number Formats option instead of Values.

Thanks to Word’s mail merge fields, you can automate the process of producing different letters based on criteria you specify. This example shows how it works.

When you need to send two or more different letters to your clients based on a value in a field in the client database, you don’t need to compile two separate mailing lists. Using the If… Then…Else rule with the INCLUDETEXT field, you can process both letters at once. For example, say you have saved two documents, one containing the body of the letter for clients located in Missouri and a second containing the body of the letter for clients located in Illinois. To create one mailing that will send the appropriate letter to each client, follow these steps:

1. Click below the greeting, where you want to insert the body of your letter.

1. Click the drop-down arrow of the Insert Word Field button in the Mail Merge toolbar. (In Word 2007, click Rules in the Write & Insert Fields group of the Mailings tab.)

1. Click If…Then…Else.

1. Click the Field Name box drop-down arrow and select State (Figure A).

Figure A

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1. Click in the Comparison box and select Equal To.

1. Click in the Compare To box and type MO.

1. Click in the Insert This Text box and type This is the text for MO.

1. In the Otherwise Insert This Text box, type This is the text for IL.

1. Click OK.

1. Right-click the field in the document and select Toggle Field Codes to display all the field codes (Figure B).

Figure B

1. Select the following text inside the quotes: This is the text for MO. (Do not select the quotes.)

1. Go to Insert | Field. (In Word 2007, click Quick Parts in the Text Group of the Insert tab.)

1. Click Field.

1. Under Field Names, select IncludeText (Figure C).

Figure C

1. Click in the Filename Or URL box and type the full pathname for the file containing the body of the letter for Missouri clients.

1. Click OK.

1. Right-click the field and select Toggle Field Codes.

1. Select the following text inside the quotes: This is the text for IL. (Again, do not select the quotes.)

1. Repeat steps 13 through 15.

1. Click in the Filename Or URL box and type the full pathname for the file containing the body of the letter for the Illinois clients.

1. Click OK.

When you right-click the field and toggle the field codes, your rule should look like the one in Figure D, substituting your filenames for each of the letters. When you run the mail merge, Word will print the letter that pertains to the value of the State field in each client record. (If you prefer to enter the field codes entirely from the keyboard, be sure to use Ctrl + F9 to enter the brackets.)

Figure D

Note that you can use the If …Then… Else rule with INCLUDETEXT to print out different letters for any number of values in the field. Simply create a different If…Then…Else rule for each value, with INCLUDETEXT as the first variable and blank (nothing between the quotes) for the second variable.

Columns are easy to create in Word — usually. Newspaper columns flow from top to bottom and then snake around to the top and down to the bottom again. In Word, you just click a button and like magic, you have newspaper columns. On the other hand, parallel columns are a bit more troublesome. These columns are read left to right. You can use tabs, but the guesswork makes these columns awkward to work with. Moving or deleting a column is difficult at best. Displaying the tab characters make the chore easier, but you still have to delete or move items one by one.

Tina Norris Fields, a Michigan colleague, recently shared an easy way to create parallel columns: Use a table and then inhibit the borders. Now, that’s magic!

Use any method you like to create the table. I usually enter the first few rows and then let Word create the table based on the existing items. If you know the dimensions, you can create the table first and then enter data. It doesn’t really matter. Use the AutoFit format and let Word adjust the table as you enter the columnar data.

When you’re done, turn off the table’s borders as follows:

Word will gray out the borders on screen. However, Word won’t print the borders, which you can easily confirm by viewing the document in Print Preview.

Using the table structure allows you to easily move or even delete parallel columns.