The Amahi Home Server is generally user-friendly for average users, more comparable to WHS than FreeNAS. Amahi also has a few features not found in WHS: a VPN server and calendar, and Outlook synchronization and sharing. It has disk pooling, similar to the Drive Extender feature removed in WHS 2011. In addition to providing NAS, it offers backup and media streaming features. Amahi Home ServerĪmahi Home Server is a free open source solution, and offers closer functionality to that of WHS.
You can change settings via a web browser from a PC on the local network. Once you install FreeNAS, you can remove the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
You might get away with using as little as 192MBs of RAM. The newer (FreeNAS 8.x) version requires a USB or compact flash drive with at least 1 GB. Just make sure it has a bootable CD-ROM, network adapter, and a drive big enough to store your files. It can be installed via a LiveCD on a variety of 32-bit and 64-bit PCs and architectures. It’s not as plug and play of a solution as WHS.įreeNAS is an open source project released under the BSD License. Keep in mind that installing and using FreeNAS is best for technically inclined individuals. Plus, it features a torrent client to manage BitTorrent transfers. It also lets you stream media to computers, gaming consoles, and mobile devices via the UPnP, Apple, and Xbox (with plug-in) protocols. This gives you a place to centrally store and access your files, instead of using simple shared folders. FreeNASįreeNAS is a possible free alternative if you primarily want just NAS functionality. On the other hand, you’ll likely find them not as well integrated with Windows desktops. Some may not even cost a dime if you install on an old PC. Here we’ll review three different alternative solutions to Windows Home Server that are not so expensive and performance-hungry. Plus, Microsoft announced this version will be the end of the Windows Home Server product line. Additionally, the newest version, Windows Home Server 2011, lacks one useful feature (Drive Extender), and now the server only runs on PCs with a 64-bit processor. However, WHS requires at least $100 for the operating system and a decent PC to install on, or $350+ for a pre-built server. Among providing network-attached storage (NAS) functionality, it enables quick and easy backups, remote access, media streaming, and more. Microsoft’s Windows Home Server (WHS) is an interesting product to help families and small businesses store, organize, protect, and access files for up 10 PCs. Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 Unleashed, 3rd Edition
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