Well I recently installed Windows Home Server (CTP) and I must admit that it’s coming together as a very nice product. I love the monitoring and backup options it providers, and the remote connection possibilites offer a few very good options.
I however do feel that the WHS console should integrate with Windows Live OneCare (yes, that product that finished last in a recent A/V test) I would also love to see something along the lines of WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) and WSS (Windows Sharepoint Services) But overal, I am very pleased.
One of the first things I however did, was adding the DNS-server option. After reconfiguring my router, opening up the approperiate ports on the firewall on sheepy (that’s the name of my server :)) it is working like a charm. Now you might wonder what the use is, but well – simply put it’s a really simple way to filter out certain sites and services. I can import lists of sites / servers that distribute spyware, virusses etc. on Sheepy and immediately my entire network can no longer access them. It’s a really simple method of protecting your (home)network just a little more. Plus I now have a fallback if my ISP’s servers go down (I configured sheepy to forward all ‘unknown’ domains to the OpenDNS.com DNS-servers)
This has proven itself to be a really good solution and I must admit that I am very pleased overall. I will continue testing out ‘sheepy’ and will post from time to time on my findings. Microsoft just might hit the nail straight on the head with WHS.
Now only if I could find a decent mail-server…